I felt so much more calm, seated on a log next to Asher. The sun was setting, the sky painted red, purple and pink, blended together perfectly.

  He was talking to me about a fight he had with his father. He didn’t give me specific details, just told me that it had to do with the kingdom and his duty or something like that. He sighed in stress, leaning his head against his palm. I put my hand on his back reassuringly, hoping to comfort him somehow.

  He lifted his head up, making eye contact with me so I could see his deep brown eyes. He smiled slightly and chuckled.

  “What about you? You seemed pretty upset when you came here. And you were very out of breath. Did anything happen?” He asked me. His gaze made me want to tell him the truth, but I also didn’t want to tell him my problems while he was in the middle of dealing with his own. I would tell him, at a ter date.

  “I’m fine. I just ran here because I missed a couple of our meetups so I wanted to be here in time to talk to you again,” I gave him a mouth smile, no teeth. It was a mistake because that just made Asher suspicious but luckily, he didn’t question me anymore. He just looked at me with a raised eyebrow before tilting his head back and looking at the beautiful painting of a sky.

  I followed his movement. It was so peaceful. All my worries, all his worries, dissipated with the passing wind. I smiled. With teeth that time. That was a moment I could’ve lived in forever.

  “Hey Lily?” He asked.

  “Yeah?” I responded, wondering what he was going to ask.

  “Would you come to my coronation? It’s in four days and it’ll be in the castle hall.”

  I was stunned. I knew he was my absolute best friend and I hoped I was his, but that was not something I expected to be invited to. Traditionally, only nobles or any higher ups were invited to a coronation. But I was ecstatic. A little nervous, because I knew I was going to be out of pce there, but excited nonetheless.

  “I would love to come. I’m sure I have a purple dress in the back of my closet. It’s pretty. Not a ball gown but still nice-”

  “I’ll buy you a dress,” he interrupted me, looking at me with a dead serious face.

  “We can go to Gariet’s Dresses.”

  I looked at him like he was crazy.

  “That’s in the upper vilge. Upper vilge dress stores are very very expensive,” it was stupid of me to say, I knew he had a lot more money than a single expensive dress, but I still felt bad for even thinking of taking his money for something with a such a high price.

  He shrugged.

  “The allowance I get in one week is more than one singur expensive dress. Don’t worry Lil. I owe you for listening to me rant.”

  I let out a small ugh and nodded. I didn’t want to argue. And plus, it would be fun to have a day in the vilge with Asher. He could help me pick my dress as well, I thought.

  “Ok then. I’ll see you tomorrow for that dress shopping.”