The Princess Outside A Fairytale Story

Saturday with Syr

Ryuu is now starting to regret her decision of letting Syr stay in her apartment for two weeks. After they finished their breakfast, Syr and her left the apartment because Syr will go buy few pairs of clothes. Ryuu no longer became shocked at the fact that Syr ran away from home, bringing only a few pairs of clothes. That can really happen when you hurriedly left home but in Syr’s case, who has her parents knew that she ran away and even where she went, shouldn’t she have clothes packed with her? Ryuu didn’t bother asking Syr why, Syr said it herself. She said, “But bringing more will be hard. It will be so heavy for me and I can always just buy new ones.”

After hearing that, Ryuu just nodded her head then left Syr alone to change so they can finally leave. Now, they are already in the nearest shopping mall and Ryuu is carrying 4 shopping bags in both hands. Not only Syr made Ryuu a travel guide but a chaperone.

Ryuu glanced at Syr, who’s currently talking to one of the salesladies, asking for a smaller size of the shoes since it was too big for her small feet. Ryuu sighed, rolled her eyes, and averted her gaze from Syr. She just stared at the random people walking around the mall, seeing Syr is frustrating her even more. Ryuu wondered when she will be able to get home. She’s tired and her feet are hurting from all the walk they did while for Syr, she doesn’t look like she’s feeling any pain. She looked completely fine walking around the mall and getting inside every store they passed.

Ryuu never imagined that she will spend her Saturday like this. She’s someone who’s not into travels or going somewhere. She’s lazy in terms of those things. She prefers lying on the bed or couch while watching anime or any TV show. Laura is the only person who can make her leave her apartment. Just one glare from Laura and she’s already running towards the bathroom.

A sigh left Ryuu’s lips again when she fished out her phone in her pocket and saw that she has zero messages from her wife. Her wife hasn’t even bother reading her messages last week. She really missed her wife already. It’s been 3 months since Laura left her alone. Since that day, Ryuu never heard anything from her again. She tried to ask Laura’s family about her whereabouts but they said that they don’t have any news about Laura too. Ryuu doesn’t know if they are telling the truth or they are hiding Laura from her. She doesn’t know and it’s not like she can complain about that to them. It was her fault or at least her colleague why everything in her life turned sour. If she can really turn back time, she will never ever come to that dinner party. She will never ever drink at least one gulp of an alcoholic drink and never ever will let that colleague of her touch at least the tip of her hair.

“What’s the problem? Why do keep sighing?”

Syr asked, standing beside her and looking at her curiously. Syr has a new paper bag in her full-of-bags-already right hand that Ryuu assumed was the shoes that she bought at this store. Ryuu just shook her head then motioned for them to leave the store and Syr followed her without asking any more questions. Ryuu didn’t notice that she keeps sighing. She was so lost in her thoughts about her wife that she didn’t even notice Syr standing beside her.

“You won’t buy anything?”

Syr asked while looking around the place again, maybe looking for another store to buy something again. Syr’s mother had sent her more money, spoiling her to the fullest so she’s now rich again. She just kept on buying things without thinking through. Of course, she’s not only buying clothes and shoes, but she also bought some toiletries and some personal things that she will maybe need.

“I don’t have anything to buy. Do you still have something you want to buy? Can we just go home already?”

“Oh, you’re tired already?”

Syr asked and looked back at the sulking Ryuu.

“Well of course. We’ve been walking for hours. I’m not an android or what.”

Syr elicited giggles then wrapped her soft little fingers on Ryuu's arm to pull her somewhere.

“Let’s first grab something to eat.”

Syr pulled Ryuu in the direction of a fast-food restaurant. Luckily there are not that many people inside so they didn’t have a problem looking for a table.

“What do you want to eat? My treat.”

Syr asked, grinning widely, hoping that this treat of her will be enough to remove the frustration on Ryuu.

“Can you even order?”

Ryuu asked while looking around the menu flashed on top of the cashier.

“Hey. What do you mean by that question? It’s not like this will be my first time eating in a fast-food restaurant of course I can do this.”

Ryuu flicked Syr’s forehead which earned a groan and a pout from Syr, making her dimple visible.

“That’s not what I mean. What I mean is you’re a princess, you used to have someone doing everything for you.”

Syr lightly slapped Ryuu’s forearm while glaring at Ryuu.

“What do you think of princesses? Disable persons? Not capable of anything? Lazy persons?”

Ryuu shrugged her shoulders and leaned her back on the backrest of the soft couch. Ryuu crossed her arms below her chest and looked unamused at Syr.

“Hey, you’re the one who said that, not me. What I meant is don’t princesses have personal maids or what? Someone will ready their bath for them. Someone will choose the clothes they will wear for today. Someone will fix their bed for them. You know- if you can call them lazy-”

Ryuu stopped and didn’t bother to finish what she was about to say when she saw Syr’s reaction. Syr is no longer glaring at her but she has this look that says she’s so disappointed at Ryuu. When Ryuu saw that look of her, her mouth immediately snapped close and guilt crept up her face.

Did I take that too far?

“S-Sorry.  I didn’t mean it like that. I just-”

“It’s okay. After all, you’re-”

Ryuu suddenly leaned onto the table and pinched Syr’s chubby cheeks.

“It’s not okay. I’m not right. Sorry about that. Let’s just eat. I’ll order now, just wait for me here, Princess.”

Ryuu no longer wait for Syr to speak and stood up to line up.

Syr was left alone, looking down at her hands on her lap, blushing. Syr doesn’t know but when Ryuu called her princess, it really warm her heart. Ryuu sounds so serious and sincere. That wasn’t the first time that she was called princess, she’s been hearing that a lot back in her country. People there love to call her that instead of her name but when Ryuu is the one who called her that, it really sounds so sincere and serious. It sounds like it wasn’t a title but an endearment.

What the hell am I talking about?

Syr was pulled out of her thoughts when she saw her phone lit up and made a short notification sound. She immediately picked it up when she saw that she has a message from her mother. It wasn’t that much, her mother is just asking her how is she doing in the country. Since Ryuu still won’t arrive any minute from now, Syr decided to reply to her mother’s message.

Syr didn’t mention that incident that happened right after she arrived in the country but she did tell some stories about Ryuu. Though, she kind of lied about how she and Ryuu met. She also said her plan of staying there for 2 weeks. Her mom actually tried to convince her that she should just make it 1 week but Syr said that she really want to stay for two weeks at Viridis. After trying to persuade her mom a few times, her mom finally let out a loud sigh followed by the word “Okay.”

Syr actually doesn’t know why she wants to stay for two weeks in this country. 1 week is the longest time she had stayed in another country. Those 7 days will be spent traveling but this time, the number of days even doubled but she won’t do anything aside from staying at home. Syr doesn’t know but she’s seeing something on Ryuu, maybe it was the sadness because her wife left her or not. Syr doesn’t know, Syr doesn’t need to know.

“What are you smiling about?”

Ryuu asked as she put down the tray and take a seat on the couch in front of Syr.

Syr looked up at Ryuu in surprise, she doesn’t know that she’s smiling. She can’t remember anything funny that made her smile so she just shook her head and answered, “It was nothing.”

In the middle of their lunch, Ryuu was about to take a bite of her burger when Syr asked her a question while wiping the corners of her lips and looking at her curiously.

“I remembered that you said that you have a wife and she’s just not around at the moment. Where is she then?”

Ryuu suddenly feels uncomfortable at the question. She’s battling herself if she will tell the truth or not. She actually doesn’t want to talk about that because remembering everything is just making her even sadder. It’s not like she’s ashamed. She wasn’t after all she really didn’t do anything wrong. Her wife just misunderstood everything. It was her private life and she and Syr barely knew each other, does she really need to answer Syr’s question?

Syr however didn’t get the idea that Ryuu doesn’t want to talk about it. She’s still staring at Ryuu, had one of her brows raised and twirling her pasta with her fork, elegantly.

Ryuu glanced at Syr’s pasta for a moment, if she didn’t know that this girl is actually a princess, she will think that this girl is really flamboyant. They are only in a freaking fast-food restaurant, does the pasta really need to be eaten that way? She can just use her spoon in that, you know, to cut out the pasta and shoved them all in her mouth.

Ryuu sighed before she put down her burger and took a sip of her drinks.

“She ah- left.”

“To where?”

Ryuu cursed internally. She was silent for a minute, still contemplating if she will say everything, pretends she didn’t hear anything, or just tells the truth that the topic is too personal and that she doesn’t want to talk about it. 

“She went abroad to work? Had a vacation somewhere? A business trip?”

Syr again asked, oblivious to everything Ryuu is feeling.

“No. She left me because I cheated, at least that’s what she assumed.”

Ryuu said slightly annoyed. Syr’s lips formed a letter ‘o’ while nodding her head.

Ryuu just sighed and finally took a bite of her burger.

“Why did you cheated on her?”

Ryuu choked at the question so she immediately grabbed her drink and took a big gulp which only made her cough more. After a few more loud coughs, getting the attention of other people there, Ryuu finally gets herself out of the coughs and choked feeling.

Ryuu wiped her mouth first with the napkin provided before she opened her mouth again, “I told you I didn’t cheat on my wife.”

“You just said it earlier.”

Ryuu sighed for the umpteenth time then pinched the bridge of her nose with her elbow placed on the table.

“She just assumed it. She misunderstood the situation but I really didn’t cheat on her. I would never cheat on her.”

“Then how did she misunderstood the situation?”

Syr asked slightly emphasizing the word misunderstood. Ryuu doesn’t know if Syr is mocking her or she emphasized that word to correct her first question. But whatever is Syr’s purpose, Ryuu couldn’t care about it anymore.

Just by remembering everything, Ryuu felt her rage for that colleague of hers went back on her. She clenched and unclenched her fists as she stared at her drinks, placed on the table.

“Three months ago, we had a dinner party after work. Everyone is there because our team leader wants us to be there. I was reckless that night, I took all the drinks that my team leader gave and also every drink that-”

Ryuu clicked her tongue out of frustration then continued, “-that damn woman gave. I was drunk that night but I can still clearly remember everything that happened. She’s the one who took me to my apartment. I was sure that she bid her goodbye before I fell asleep but when I wake up the next morning when my wife went home from a trip, she saw me with that woman lying on the bed. That woman is completely naked sleeping beside me but I’m not. I’m still wearing the clothes I wore last night. Then she left without saying anything.”

“Then did you try to talk with her?”

Syr asked in a soft voice, giving Ryuu a worried glance.

“Of course. I even begged that woman to help me explain to my wife but she lied instead and even fake some cries. She said that there’s something happened to us. When my wife left, I never saw her again after that. I tried to call her and sent her thousands of messages and asked her parents about her but they said they don’t know about her too.”

The two were enveloped by silence after that. Ryuu’s melancholic eyes are just staring at her burger that she only had one bite on it. While Syr is staring at Ryuu, pitying Ryuu.

Syr suddenly cleared her throat, making Ryuu raised her head to look at her.

“Then do you want me to help you fix your relationship with your wife?”