The Dragon's Kiss

"So you're saying that a suspicious man has been chasing you? And he's waiting outside right now?"

Kel nodded awkwardly as Mae clarified the situation she'd just finished describing.

Given that Lucy had actually left Kel without so much as the coachman to watch her, it meant some of the emperor's people must be crawling around keeping watch. If Kel wanted to escape, to make a short rendezvous with Dash, she needed to go out a less conspicuous exit than the front door.

The problem, however, was that the excuses she'd so carefully rehearsed didn't seem to be convincing enough for Madame Mae.

"If there's even a chance the man you described is stalking you," Mae reiterated, "then it's even more imperative you stay here and wait for the constable. Kelsey!! Go get the consta-"

"No, no!" Kel waved her hands. "That's not it'¦"

"Then what is the problem?" Mae questioned in a worried voice. "You can tell me no matter what it is! Keeping secrets is my specialty!"

"Well, you see'¦" Kel trailed off, glancing around anxiously. There had to be some believable issue she could conjure up that required her to sneak out the back.Â

Whether due to God's blessing or an incredible stroke of luck, suddenly, a believable issue appeared before her eyes.

"That man!" she exclaimed, pointing to a young noble who'd just come through the door.

"What about that man?" Mae questioned, studying the man.

He was dressed nicely in a navy blue suit, complete with a black tophat. As if the hat was an attempt to hide it, his height was definitely less than average. In fact, he stood just a finger taller than the shop girl he was speaking with.

In addition to his neat attire, his dark hair was carefully arranged around his warm hazel eyes. No matter which angle Kel looked at, he seemed like a perfectly respectable man.Â

I screwed up, she winced, racking her brain.

"Have you, perhaps, met him before?" Madame Mae whispered, leaning closer. "He appears to be a fine gentlema-"

"He's my ex boyfriend!" Kel blurted.

Mae's eyebrows lifted in surprise and she glanced back and forth several times between the man and Kel.

I'm done for, Kel cried to herself. Why couldn't she have thought of any other excuse? She could have said he was a con artist or that he had a grudge against her. Why did it have to be ex boyfriend?!

"Aren't you a war hostage, though?" an eavesdropping worker chimed in.

And there was that.

Kel would be lucky at this point if they didn't chase her out for being deranged.

"Leana!" Mae gasped. "Are you insane?! Why would you say that?"

"Ah, sorry, Ma'am," the girl ducked her head timidly.Â

Kel was certain her cheeks couldn't possibly turn any redder.

"We met at.. at the ball," she explained nervously, desperately trying to see her idiotic excuse through till the end. "It was a bit of a s-secret affair."

If the man could hear the ridiculousness spewing out of Kel's mouth, he pretended not to. Fortunately, he was too focused on his discussion about the latest fabric samples to pay any heed to one woman's silly words.

The workers, however, buzzed straight over to Kel's side, unable to resist the tantalizing scent of drama.

"Is that so?" Mae said thoughtfully, still sneaking glances at the young man.

"A secret affair!" one of the girls gushed. "That sounds so romantic!"

"It's like a forbidden love," another added, clasping her hands together joyfully.

"Ah, yes," Kel mumbled, "but it ended rather badly."

"It must be so hard for you," Leana pouted as she stroked Kel's head, flaunting her position as the first eavesdropper.

"Madame, why don't you let her wait out back until he leaves?" one of the other girls pleaded on Kel's behalf.

Still lost in her own thoughts, Mae nodded slowly and gestured toward the back of the store. In response, the small army of shop workers eagerly began guiding Kel out with various pats and sympathies.

Kel breathed a sigh of relief that the girls had come to her rescue. Since earlier, she was sure Mae was entirely unconvinced with her absurd story.  As the workers dragged her along, she looked back to see if she could decipher Mae's expression.

"Ex boyfriend.." she saw the woman mutter to herself before turning her gaze back to the nobleman. Suddenly, she jumped to her feet. "Well we can't just let him get away with breaking such a cute girl's heart."

Kel's guilt toward the poor man intensified as she watched Mae stomp over to him.

"I owe you one!" she whispered inaudibly, making a mental note of her debt to him.

Though she felt ashamed, Kel had more important things to worry about, and quickly pushed her fake ex boyfriend out of her mind.

Standing in the alley behind the dress shop, she hurriedly tied her hair into a tight but with a red ribbon she'd borrowed from one of the shop girls. A hooded cloak would have been more ideal, but she would make do.

"Certainly not the most fashionable," she sighed, patting the last of her golden locks into place, "but at least I'll catch fewer eyes this way."

There was a chance that the emperor's people would also be watching the back of the shop, so Kel needed to move quickly. She had a rough idea of where Dash's house was, so hopefully she could find it before someone found her.

Darting mainly through the back streets, Kel finally managed to reach the street she thought Dash's house was on.

Something she hadn't considered beforehand, though, is that she'd never gotten a good look at his house during the day. She had no idea which one of the many identical gray brick homes belonged to him.

"Which one is it?" she wondered aloud, surveying the row houses.Â

Just as she had finally made a decision and was about to enter, she heard a thud nearby.

"Ke-Princess??" Dash shouted bewilderedly from two houses away.

The contents of the paper bag he'd been carrying covered the ground in front of him, but he was holding his arm up, close to his body, as if the bag was still there.

"Ahem." Attempting to brush off the fact Dash had caught her about to break into a random stranger's house, Kel strode over to him.

"How funny," she said, picking up an apple and handing it to him. "Running into you like this."

"... Weren't you looking for me?" Dash raised an eyebrow.

"I did want to talk to you," Kel smiled. "So this worked out nicely."

"..."

"Aren't you going to let me in?"

Feeling her cheeks heat up for the second time that day, Kel brushed past Dash and reached for the door handle.

"Whose house is that?" he asked, turning to follow Kel.

"It's my ex boyfriend's," Kel winked, ducking through the doorway.