Oh My, I Messed Up the Story

It took Abby ages to be able to stop freaking out about being kidnapped and nearly killing someone. This world was terrifying!

Of course she knew things like this were just as likely to happen back home but they had never happened to her there. If Blaise hadn't shown up when he did, who knows how long she would have ended up crouching on the ground in a stupor.

The trembling didn't entirely stop until she was inside her tent after they set up camp a few miles from the town. Even then she was far too keyed up to sleep.

Abby had already embarrassed herself more than enough for one day by having Blaise carry her princess-style back to the wagon. Then protectively keeping an arm around her shoulder so she wouldn't fall over from shaking too hard as they rode to the clearing where they made camp.

But she still was terrified of being alone right now. She was reminded of the way she used to crawl into bed with her parents after a nightmare because she was too scared to be in her own room by herself.

Steeling herself to look like even more of an idiot, she hesitantly called out to her guard. "Blaise?"

He popped his head in, his brow creased with concern. "What is it Miss Abby?"

His hair had grown out quite a bit since they originally left Shibatsu. With how much the ship rocked he hadn't wanted to cut it then and simply hadn't bothered since they arrived on land.contemporary romance

It was now a silvery mop that curled slightly over his ears. Somehow it made him look both more rugged and more whimsical.

Abby wondered if men in Shibatsu weren't able to grow beards because she hadn't seen a single one during her time there and Blaise's face was still smooth after all this time. Now that his hair had grown out he was a lot more handsome that she had originally given him credit for. Very few people looked good with a buzz cut after all.

"Um…could you come in here for a while? Just until I fall asleep. I don't mean anything weird by it, I'm still a little panicked about earlier and I—you know what, never mind It's stupid. Forget I said anything."

She lost confidence with every word she spoke but Blaise's eyes remained kind. He didn't think badly of her for being scared right now despite his strong sense of decorum.

"If it will make you feel better," he said casually.

Abby was relieved. She scooted her bedroll over to make room for him to sit. This tent really wasn't all that big; there was barely room for her to sleep comfortably since she had the tendency to roll around as she slept.

Blaise sat there silently, following her instructions exactly with no room for deviation. He was there but didn't feel the need to say anything.

She sighed. Be careful what you wish for. But this was better than being alone even if it was awkwardly quiet.

"Are you asleep yet?" he asked after a solid twenty minutes.

"No."

Immediately went back to silence. Abby couldn't stand it anymore. She couldn't bear to meet his eyes so she kept them closed and rolled on her side turning away from him but had to say something.

"Your current hair length suits you," she blurted.

Stupid! She really couldn't think of anything better to say?! But it was the truth. He looked like a general from this anime she liked in an fictional ancient Asian country, albeit with different coloring and clothes.

"Does it?" Blaise asked disinterestedly. "I normally keep it shorter because it annoys me when it gets in my eyes."

Abby couldn't help but laugh. That was such a normal thing to say. About half of the people she knew back home hadn't liked having long hair for the same reason. Personally she had always gone back and forth about it.

She hated her hair was when it was long because it was always in the way—caught in purse straps, car doors, zippers and so on. But whenever she cut it she immediately missed being able to do pretty updos. It was a vicious cycle.

Katie never had that problem. She had consistently kept her hair around shoulder length by chopping it every six months. She must have hated having such ridiculously long hair as Catherine du Pont.

Abby was willing to bet every copper piece she had left that her sister had gone right back to having shorter hair once she wasn't a princess anymore. Katie was a fairly predictable person.

At least…she had been. How much had she changed since they were apart? What if she wasn't the same sister she remembered and she came all this way for a stranger?

"That's a fairly common problem," she said lightly in response to Blaise's confession.

"You do not seem to be bothered by it," he noted.

Abby's hair had been halfway down her back after spending two years to grow it out when she came here. There must have been something different in the water because it started growing like crazy after arriving in Shibatsu. Now it was nearly down to her waist.

"…would you believe me if I told you my hair normally doesn't grow this fast?"

He made a noncommittal noise. "I seem to remember it being much shorter when I first met you. Is that the length you normally keep it?"

"I change it up every now and then," she admitted. "I had a pixie cut once when I was in high school and I loved it for about two months before regretting all of my life choices."

"What is a pixie cut? And high school?" Blaise asked in confusion.

She kept doing this. He was such a good listener that she naturally spoke to him she way she would anyone back home sometimes. It was hard keeping track of what a person here would and wouldn't know!

According to the novel, Katie ran into the same problem frequently. Keeping up a charade long-term was more difficult than one might think.

"Ah, it's a type of short haircut for women. It's more common for men to wear their hair short where I'm from. And high school is like an academy for people aged fourteen to eighteen," Abby said lamely. "Sorry. I keep forgetting you don't know these things."

Blaise shrugged it off. "I am not offended. It means you are comfortable speaking to me, does it not?"

Huh. She supposed it did.

done.co