Chapter 69: Mysterious girl
Still laughing, he picked up the fancy teacup he stole and drank from it straight to the mouth, not even bothering with proper manners, since he didn’t bring any cup or plate with him. As the warm tea slid down his throat, he suddenly froze and tilted his head up, eyes narrowing.
"Whoa," he murmured under his breath, "this is the first time I saw someone with the same hair color as mine."
Owen blinked, licking a bit of frosting from a small cupcake he was nibbling. "What are you talking about?"
Axelius stood up and pointed to the tree in front of them. Owen followed his finger and saw it too—a girl sitting high up on a thick tree branch, her back leaning against the trunk, a book in her hand. She had soft black hair just like his, tied loosely behind her back, and wore a simple black silk mask that covered her lower face.
"She didn’t hear us, did she?" Axelius asked, lowering his voice a little.
"She’s pretending," Owen replied, already bored. "Don’t bother her. Just finish your food and get back to your room before someone sees you."
But when Owen turned to look back at Axelius, the boy was already halfway up the tree. "Axel! Seriously?! You’re so stubborn!" he shouted, hovering helplessly below.
Axelius climbed with ease, swinging around one branch, then jumping to another until he reached the other side of the tree and sat down on a branch opposite the girl. His legs dangled lazily, and he leaned forward slightly.
"Hi!" he greeted with a big grin.
The girl didn’t say anything. She just looked up at him with calm blue eyes that shimmered like glass, then returned to reading her book like he didn’t exist.
Axelius blinked. "Whoa... what beautiful blue eyes. They look like stars," he whispered to himself, feeling oddly drawn to the way she didn’t care about him at all.