There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 442 - 435. Shapes of Love

"She loves her," Zein said in the empty pavilion with just them and the closed chest. "She still does."

Zein could tell that Princess Devika wasn’t the type to use a soft approach like her stepmother, the Queen. She could not bring herself to feign a smile and disdain as she spoke sweet words to entice others. She did not want to stay in the shadow; she wanted to be the light.

She wanted to be the Queen ruling the kingdom, not a consort for some rich businessman.

In a way, she knew it was her fate. She probably looked upon Svadeva, who had to receive the same treatment. She wanted her Aunt to show her that there was a way out. And yet, she was left in disappointment; the only answer she got was that...she had to run away.

But a runaway could not become the Queen, and so she persevered. She fought her way to escape political marriage, even after she was in her thirties. Her young look helped curb the criticism, but she knew her clock was ticking. As her time was running out, her love was marred with disappointment.

"Haa..." Bassena exhaled heavily. "It’s not like I don’t understand her, but..."

"She’s not the one who did all of this, anyway," Zein stroked the back of Bassena’s head. "If anything, she wants you out of this place as much as you."

If I have to ask for something as payment, then just promise me one thing; that you will never accept the offer to be a part of the royal family.

"Well, that’s a very easy payment," Bassena shrugged as she recalled the Princess’s one condition.

"She even threw a promise that no one will disturb us anymore during our vacation," Zein chuckled. "Doesn’t it mean her influence is pretty big?"

"I heard she’s a member of the court too," Bassena replied, despite saying he didn’t care about the royal family.

But Zein refrained from making any comment, and just observed as the esper stroked the intricate carving of the chest. It was made of high-quality teak wood and thus pretty heavy. The size was only a little bit bigger than a briefcase, and from the way the Princess said it, it seemed to be filled with items that Bassena’s mother personally made in secret as an aspiring artisan.

Thus, it was truly her belonging; not the stuff being gifted by anyone else.

Bassena caressed the chest with his fingers, stopping them at the border between the lid and the base. Zein had thought he would open it now, but Bassena put the chest inside his storage ring.

"Not checking it now?"

"Not here," Bassena shook his head. "Not in this place."

Zein looked around and nodded. "Right; let’s get out of here first," he stood up and looked at his commlink. They ended up spending exactly one hour here, funnily enough. Right on time for afternoon tea, followed by that dinner reservation Bassena had made. "I don’t think we can use that portal again, though."

He had no idea how far the Capital was from Udra, but he didn’t think two or three hours of car ride would be enough. Otherwise, they wouldn’t use the portal to come here in the first place.

"Let’s find the nearest commercial portal, or we can see if someone rents a private teleportation service," Bassena tapped on his commlink to search for some information. If they were lucky, sometimes espers with long-distance, multiple-carry teleportation skills like Senia would be willing to teleport them for considerable money.

"Can’t you do it yourself?" Zain tilted his head. "You can teleport."

Bassena smiled cheekily. "Only if you want to do like...fifty of those."

Bassena’s shadow teleportation, after all, was more like a blink--fast and mid-distance; perfect for battle, but not so much for traveling. Zein wasn’t one to feel queasy while getting teleported with Bassena, but doing that fifty times in a row was still...

"Ugh..." he felt like throwing up already.

Bassena chuckled and continued to scroll down the map as they walked out of the shaded area toward what they presumed to be a palace gate. But before they could reach the place, they were stopped by a guard. Bassena was about to scowl, but the guard greeted them politely.

"Excuse me; I am to guide the two of you to the nearest commercial portal available. If you would follow me..."

"Are you sent by the Princess?" Zein asked curiously.

The guard, however, did not reply. She merely smiled and gestured toward a certain direction. It’s not her, then--Zein raised his brow in amusement. If it wasn’t her, then he could only think of another person.

"I can’t read her at all," he chuckled.

"Who?"

"Hmm...your Aunt?"

"Huh..."

Zein saw the guard’s ears twitch a little bit, which showed his conjecture was rather on point. How weird...he thought the Queen would support her son, the Crown Prince, rather than her stepdaughter, who was only ten years younger than her.

Or perhaps...was this a warning to tell them that she knew what transpired here? That she knew what the Princess was up to? Perhaps it was also a silent request for Bassena to never grace the royal court with his presence anymore.

Or perhaps...it was just her way to show her love and support for her stepdaughter. Who knows.

"Hmm...I can never do politics," Zein shook his head while Bassena laughed in response.

Indeed, such complicated, headache-inducing things should be done by someone like Radia. He could barely face the daily report on his desk, so he was sure he wouldn’t be able to survive the palace.

Rather just faced the clear danger of Deathzone than gambling his life with family members.

"I’m so glad you’re not a prince."

"Thanks," Bassena grinned. "I still think I’d run away and come to you either way."

Zein curled his lips and patted the bronze skin that was glowing even more under the bright sunlight. "Good boy."

"I am, rather."

Although, in that case, there would be a conflict between House Rakai and House Ishtera. Well, it was all not real anyway. In that light mood, they entered the car provided by the guard, and were driven to the edge of the Capital.

"You must have understood already, that the portals in the palace are heavily monitored. It is unfortunate, but the King had ordered to close the portal for you," the guard explained on the way.

"It’s not hard to guess," Bassena shrugged.

His mother rarely talked about her family, and if she did, she talked about it vaguely, without telling him where they were or what they did. But he remembered her mother talked about her annoying brother who was very petty and always relied on the fact that he was the eldest son and the heir; even before he became the official Crown Prince.

Seemed like the man hadn’t changed even after successfully becoming the King. Or rather...having authority might only boost the negative trait more.

"Doesn’t the palace monitor the other portals too?" Bassena asked curiously.

"It depends on who you are talking to," the guard answered simply with a subtle smile, prompting Bassena and Zein to raise their brow and glance at each other.

"Seems like running things in the shadow isn’t that bad, after all," Zein shrugged, before leaning back and deciding to look at the Capital for the last time--since he didn’t think he would be coming here again.

At least, not while the King was still that side of the family.

Aside from the fact that it was more orderly than Urda, the city was more or less the same. It was as noisy and lively in a different sense. Rather than tourists, it was filled with merchants, because apparently, the Capital was also the heart of the economy. Perhaps it was easier to do it near the heart of the government--shorter time for procedures and bureaucracy.

But then again, perhaps Zein just felt everything to be the same because he was rather impatience. He kept pressing his lips and put his hands in the pockets of his jacket to prevent them from fiddling about. Bassena glanced at the tapping foot and smiled, cheekily slipping his hand inside Zein’s pocket so he could hold the guide’s warm fingers.

"Soon," he whispered, and he felt Zein tensed up.

And just as Bassena said, the car soon arrived at a building at the edge of the city. It seemed to be a mid-sized guild building, and the car went straight to the basement. Zein wondered if this was a guild made by the Queen as her secret card--who knows; it was probably better not to know.

They were led through an elevator that seemed to be used by no one but people with special a passkey--liked the guard. If Bassena wasn’t here, Zein would never have followed this woman to this suspicious building by the order of a suspicious person. But wasn’t this why Bassena was his guarantee?

Looking at it, their drive here was pretty fast, and their ride in the elevator was even faster, with no queue to hold them back. The portal had even been activated, so all they needed to do was wait for the controller signal to input the coordinate Bassena mentioned.

But Gods--everything felt so slow for Zein. The moment he heard the controller give them an okay, he practically dragged Bassena inside, not even bothering to say goodbye or give his thanks to the guard.

But who could bother to think about that, when the moment he stepped out of the portal, he was greeted by the bright sky that seemed endless without being obstructed by buildings or wires. And as he followed the sky to the horizon, the blue still did not end. It only became deeper, with a smear of lighter greenish color, as well as white foam and sparkling sunlight reflection.

Without caring for anything anymore, Zein ran toward the railing.

And feast his eyes on his first sea.