Book Five, Chapter 76: Return to Camp
It amazed me how early exploration quietly became my favorite part of a storyline.
It amazed me that I even had a favorite part of a storyline. It wasn’t too long ago that I couldn’t bear to think about them at all.
Exploration was the only time I felt safe… I would usually have to pretend I was having fun. Sometimes, I could actually feel it. Talking to NPCs, finding new locations, the thrill of a discovery that could take the story in a whole new direction—the innocence before the killing starts.
I didn’t want it to end.
But it would. It always did, and in the worst of ways.
Carousel had warned me about pigeonholing myself as Antoine's love interest, but because of my trope Get A Room, we had to add that to the story. It seemed Carousel was going along with it.
As much as I liked exploration, the trip down the forest trail to Carousel River Camp was still tense. It was too early in the Party Phase for me to worry about getting attacked, but the forest was thick, and I couldn’t shake the feeling we were being watched from the moment we stepped into it.
Antoine was on alert. Was that because he was a protector and ready to fight, or was the anxiety of being in a forest getting to him?
I didn’t know. He swore to my face that he had everything under control, and I wanted to believe him. But I also knew that Antoine could keep secrets better than most—even from me.