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"That's not good enough!!"

Kel roared, brandishing her pillow as a weapon.

After living out her imaginings of pummeling the Emperor with a pillow, she finally dragged the details of his plan out of the stubborn man.

Apparently, he had planned for them to depart with the caravan as normal and break away discreetly when they had reached a certain distance from Halseva. At that point, his First General would take over as a stand-in and continue leading everyone to Vitocia. If necessary, he, along with the Emperor's shadow guard, would handle any issues that arose in the Western Kingdom.

"It's difficult to tell because we're so far south, but autumn has only just begun," Calix yawned. "We will have plenty of time to get to the White Mountains."

"Was all of that really so hard to tell me?" Kel rolled her eyes, settling back into the bed.

Calix, for the first time since Kel woke him, opened his eyes, his face growing serious.

"I'm.. not accustomed to sharing the things I am thinking with other people," he admitted. "The last person I had to share such things with was probably Itzae."

The Emperor's words caused Kel a sting of pity.

Though she had never known her birth parents, she couldn't say she grew up without a family. It was messy and patched together, and she ended up being betrayed by her so-called family-

But still, she had grown up being able to fully depend on other people--to share all her worries, desires, and plans.

Calix had friends and trusted subordinates, but as she thought about it, Kel couldn't remember a time she'd seen them discuss anything deeper than normal business.

While she'd been learning many things during her relationship with Calix, he had also been learning how to share his life with another person. And that meant that sometimes (as in this case) things that seemed simple to Kel were completely lost on the Emperor.

"You'll have plenty of time to practice," she shrugged rolling over. "But I'd especially like to be updated on things that concern me directly from now on."

"Ok I got it." Calix snuggled up behind her, pulling her back into his chest.

"Seriously. What if I wanted to separate from the caravan earlier?" Kel couldn't resist a final jab. "You didn't even ask me."

Behind her, the Emperor froze.

"Obviously that wouldn't be as practical as-"

"Ugh! I was just teasing!" 

Kel rammed her elbow back against Calix's ribcage. In response, he let out a snort and then hugged her tighter so she could no longer move.

"Go to sleep," he whispered, his voice growing drowsy once again.

Finally feeling satisfied, Kel allowed her own eyelids to droop closed.

Early the next morning, she went out to search for Lucy.

She had a few last minute requests that she was hoping the woman could help her with.

"You want to borrow some.. pants?"

Lucy put one hand on her hip as she used the other to rub a towel across her hairline.

When Kel had gone asking about the woman's whereabouts, she was told that Lucy and a few other knights, coincidentally also members of the Emperor's Shadow Guard, had last been seen going toward the beach.

Kel found them clashing swords and exercising in a sandy flat behind the palace.

"Do the Shadow Guards always train in the mornings like this?" Kel asked, peering around the woman at the three men still hard at work.

"Depends on the morning," Lucy shrugged. "Anyway, so you want me to lend you some of my uniforms?"

"Ah, I'm sure Calix told you, but we'll be traveling quite a long way on horseback," Kel explained, tugging at the corners of her skirt, "and this sort of attire just isn't going to work."

"And you have to borrow from someone because you just thought of this now and it's too late to get some clothes made before we leave?" Lucy raised an eyebrow.

Yes, that was exactly right.

Kel hung her head, fidgeting with her fingers.

Silently, she cursed herself for not thinking ahead. She'd gotten angry at Calix for not telling her anything, but then done nothing of her own accord to prepare for the journey.

"Hey, cheer up," Lucy playfully smacked Kel's shoulder with a chuckle. "I'll hand over some of my training clothes and see what else I can round up for you, alright?"

"Thanks Lucy!" Kel smiled.

"And if all else fails, just request more traditional Pandreian clothes," Lucy teased. "Those slitted skirts would be perfect."

They both laughed at the joke, but later, Kel found herself doing exactly that.

Though extremely uncomfortable in a room full of eyes, the slitted skirts would be quite comfortable for horse riding, hiking, and fighting (if necessary).

Since autumn had just set in and they still had to work their way up through much of the South, she would get plenty of use from the skirts before having to switch to the warm pants Lucy gave her.

As she finished selecting clothes from the dozen maids holding up outfits, she turned to see Calix watching her intently.

"Are you wondering why I'm taking so many of these with us?" Kel smirked, handing Lucy's pants over to the maid packing her clothes.

"No. I'm already accustomed to your taste in clothes," Calix shrugged with a smirk of his own.

Kel frowned.

She couldn't tell if he was teasing or if that cursed misunderstanding really still persisted.

"These are for riding a horse," Kel huffed. "And the pants for when it gets colder."

The Emperor didn't respond, instead he just kept watching her as if he was trying to figure something out.

Honestly, she was surprised he had not already taken her attire needs into account with all the planning he'd already done for their trip.

"What! Did you expect me to ride all the way across the continent in this?!" Kel snapped, motioning to her cumbersome dress.

Calix shook his head.

"Of course not," he paused, raising an eyebrow. 

"But it's not as if there isn't a single shop between here and the White Mountains, right?"