Still crouching on the floor, Sara raised her head to see Aster standing next to her.
"What do you want, Your Highness, shouldn't you be with Cara right now?" She asked in a tone that suggested she was upset and sad at the same time.
"From what I can see, you seem to enjoy her company more than mine." She added as she slowly looked away and turned around, backing the dragon prince.
'Is she sulking?' Aster couldn't help but wonder as the edge of his lips slowly lifted up into a smirk.
Although it was strange to see the scary female ghost sulking, he certainly couldn't deny how cute it was to see her act in such a way.
From what he could see, it seemed that Sara was jealous of how close he was with Cara, unlike his relationship with her.
Realizing this, Aster bent down and patted her head gently before saying. "I'm sorry, Sara. Do you wanna do something fun with me?"
Sara's cute ears twitched slightly at his question then she lifted her head up to ask. "Just the two of us?"
"Yep."
Hearing this, a small smile finally appeared on her lips and she turned toward him to hear what he had to say.
She focused all of her attention on him. "Okay, Your Highness, what do you want us to do?"
Seeing that she was now smiling, Aster couldn't help but smile in return as he asked. "You're strong, right?"
"Of course, Your Highness. I'm the strongest spirit in the demon continent." Sara stated proudly as she puffed out her marvelous chest, which wasn't as big as Vivian's but was certainly not small either.
"Oh, really? So you're stronger than Hallie and Cara too?"
"Yep, definitely. But…" Sara trailed off as she leaned closer to whisper into Aster's ear. "But you mustn't tell them I said this, okay?"
Aster smiled even more before assuring her. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me."
Sara nodded before asking. "So Your Highness, why are you suddenly interested in my strength?"
"Well, I saw that there was a training hall in the castle, so I was wondering if you could teach me how to use a sword." Aster had noticed the training hall while he was trying out his dragon eyes abilities earlier today.
"Oh, actually I'm not that good with a sword. But if Your Highness doesn't mind having me as a sparring partner, then I'll be happy to spar with you."
Since this was the first time they would be doing something together, and alone at that, Sara didn't want to miss the chance to bond with her prince, even if it meant doing something she wasn't used to.
But Aster didn't mind either way, he just wanted to spend time with Sara, hoping it would at least allow them to become close.
And the best way to do that right now was to tease her.
"Oh, so you're not good with swords huh? Is that your way of admitting defeat before our spar even begins?" Aster asked with a playful smirk on his face.
"I'm not admitting defeat…"
"Oh my," Aster said, stopping her mid-sentence. "I never knew Sara, the scary ghost was actually a coward who's afraid of losing to a little boy."
"Your Highness? Did you just call me scary?" Sara asked as the warm and inviting air around her suddenly turned cold and distant.
Aster's eyes widened in surprise, and he immediately regretted what he had just said. "Uh… Oops??"
"So, His Highness thinks I'm scary, huh? Is that why you've been avoiding me since you arrived last night?" Sara asked, walking closer as a chilling puff of ghostly frost seeped out of her lips.
"Oh, um. I was kidding. There's no way I would think you're scary. That was just a um... a joke. Yes, I was simply joking." Aster chuckled weirdly as he slowly took three steps backwards, but his eyes suddenly noticed Sara's fingers twitching and moving on their own as though they had been possessed by someone else.
"Hey, um, why are your hands moving like that?"
"They want revenge," Sara replied as she continued walking closer to him.
"Revenge? Revenge for what?"
"Revenge for calling a lady scary, and now they have a mind of their own."
"Wait a minute, Sara. We can…"
"Run."
"Huh?"
"Run, Your Highness or I'll be tickling you just like your mother and sister did to you last night. I know you're ticklish, Your Highness, so you better watch out for my fingers."
Aster's eyes widened even more and he took a few more steps back. "Wait, Sara. Let's settle this like adults, okay…?" Aster said, trying to placate her, but Sara wasn't in the mood to listen to anything he had to say.
So, he kept moving backwards until he suddenly felt his back press against a wall.
'Shit!!'
He fixed his gaze on Sara and the beautiful banshee licked her lips as she spread her arms wide, to make sure he wouldn't be able to escape from her.
"I've got you now, Your Highness. There's nowhere for you to run."
"No, wait, Sara. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something…ahh!!!"
"Tickle, tickle, tickle." Sara began to tickle him and Aster's laughter echoed loudly as she continued her barrage of tickles all over his body.
Even Hallie couldn't help but giggle as she walked through the corridor, seeing Sara continuously tickling the life out of Aster.
"Hallie!!! Hahaha... Help!! Please!!! Hahaha... Help!!! This is too much!!"
Hallie felt pity for him and was about to help her prince, but the moment she made eye contact with Sara, her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Sara's expression, which clearly said, "If you disrupt my bonding time with his Highness, I'll be tickling you as well. And trust me, you will not like it."
"Eiii!!!" Hallie shrieked cutely before bowing respectfully to her young prince.
"It was nice knowing you, Your Highness." The jack-o'-lantern said with a bow before sprinting away from the corridor.
Meanwhile, Vivian couldn't help but giggle as she watched all of these happen from her private study, with the help of her dragon eyes.
Time passed and now Sara was completely pleased with herself and with how she had tickled Aster to her satisfaction.
"Do you still think I'm scary, Your Highness?"
Aster quickly shook his head in response.
Although he had been bombarded with an unimaginable amount of tickles, Aster was still pleased with his progress because it had really helped to bring them closer, and he couldn't help but smile as he glanced at the beautiful banshee sitting next to him.
Sara smiled in return before helping him back to his feet. "So, Your Highness, shall we head over to the training room?"
Aster nodded in response and the two of them made their way to the training ground.