Arthur led the little fox away after Gabriella had pulled the horse to a stop, not noticing anything was wrong.
After feeding the little guy, Arthur took his time to caution its movements.
That was too deadly!
If it wasn't for the system, Arthur was certain they would have been caught.
The little fox glanced at Arthur with tear-filled eyes at how much he was shouting at it.
Reluctantly, Arthur softened his voice and kept advising the little fox in a low tone.
After the fox consistently nodded at Arthur's words, he finally rubbed its head in praise and gave the little fox the remaining food in his hand.
Once they were done eating, Arthur returned to Gabriella, who was just staring blankly into the distance.
The moment Gabriella noticed Arthur, her eyes fell on the little fox on his head.
Rather than wrapping itself on Arthur's shoulders like before, this time the little fox wrapped three of its tails around Arthur's neck while the remaining curled around his head. On Arthur's head was a pair of curious, black watery fox eyes.
The fox's expression was lazy as it casually stared at Gabriella, then stuck its tongue out.
Gabriella didn't know, but Arthur understood that the creature was probably mocking her after stealing a few treasures from her storage space.
He coughed awkwardly and mouthed, "Let's continue on our journey."
Feeling that the little fox was slowly warming up to her, Gabriella smiled sweetly at it and then hopped onto the horse.
Arthur climbed after her, and after a momentary hesitation, wrapped his arms around her waist.
Gabriella showed slight surprise but then acted as though nothing was happening, urging the horse onward.
…
Along the way, Arthur and Gabriella bonded more. After all, being in close proximity made it inevitable they would develop some companionship.
However, it was nothing too prominent—they were merely 'friends.'
Sitting by the calm fire, Gabriella took a piece of meat from the tender steak Arthur had prepared and casually took a bite.
"Impressive texture and taste, as always," Gabriella praised with a warm laugh.
She then raised her hand toward the little fox on Arthur's head.
Surprisingly, the fox didn't resist and instead took the piece of meat from her hand with a bite.
Gabriella giggled in a lady-like manner. "Such an interesting fellow."
"Yeah," Arthur casually replied, also stuffing his mouth with meat.
'I truly have to applaud myself. This is far better than the ones I've been preparing before…' Arthur lampooned internally.
Since Gabriella had joined in on their meals, he didn't know why, but subconsciously, his food started getting better with each dish he made.
He guessed it had to do with making an impression on her, but he wasn't too certain.
It had only been barely two weeks since they met. No way was there anything like 'emotions' between them.
Placing the thought at the back of his mind, Arthur continued eating.
"Tomorrow, we will finally reach the Sentient Academy. Are you prepared for lessons? The instructors there can get a bit difficult…"
Arthur casually shrugged.
"I'll be able to handle it. There's no need to worry about that."
Leaning in curiously, he asked, "You still haven't told me your reason for heading to the academy…"
Gabriella chuckled before replying, "You will find out. Don't worry."
Arthur stared at her for a few more seconds before casually nodding.
"Fine. I'll still find out anyway."
Gabriella focused on her meal, eating gracefully.
Arthur also maintained the etiquette he had learned back in the Pendragon family, eating calmly as time went by.
Finally, after they were done with their meal, they freshened up before Gabriella set up the tent and invited Arthur in.
Arthur calmly entered, as he had always done for the past two weeks, and lay beside her.
It was surprising that despite sleeping together for over two weeks, aside from a few awkward moments, nothing 'interesting' had happened.
As Arthur lay down, unlike before when Gabriella would usually face the opposite direction, leaving her back bare to him, this time her face was turned toward him.
Arthur felt slightly unsettled and turned around to face the opposite direction.
However, feeling that her gaze might be roaming over him, his heartbeat sped up, and steeling his resolve, he turned in her direction.
Gabriella looked at him in surprise but casually shrugged and closed her eyes, as though unfazed by the situation.
Arthur's eyes couldn't help roaming over her rosy, flushed pink cheeks and her lips.
Then, he noticed something stuck to the corner of her lips.
It seemed that while she was eating, it had mistakenly stuck there.
"Gabriella?"
"Yes?" she opened her eyes, curiously staring at Arthur with a wide pair of eyes.
"You have something stuck there…" Arthur used his own face to gesture at the location.
Gabriella reached her slender hands toward the place and calmly wiped it off.
However, it seemed that by mistake, she missed it by a hair's breadth.
"I'll handle it…" Arthur stated, then reached out his hand toward her face.
He could feel her warm breath on his hand as he wiped the smudge from her face.
"Thank you…" Gabriella looked into Arthur's eyes and whispered.
Arthur felt his heart skip a beat upon meeting her gaze and unconsciously leaned closer.
At this moment, their faces were close…
A little too close for 'friends.'
Arthur's heart pounded wildly, and a thought within him warned that if he took that step, a snake would definitely turn him to ashes.
However, another part of him urged him forward.
'You only live once, Arthur Pendragon! Get on with it and face whatever fate awaits you…'
Arthur listened to the second voice and leaned even closer.
Their lips met…
Arthur felt Gabriella's body stiffen slightly.
Gabriella's eyes went wide, and her face turned beet red instantly, as though she couldn't believe what had happened.
For a few seconds, her mind went blank.
Taking this time, Arthur probed further and deepened the kiss, feeling her lips part slightly.
Finally, Gabriella regained herself and pulled back instantly.
"You… what are you doing??"
Although her voice was filled with anger, she didn't make a move to attack Arthur.
"I…" Arthur quickly came up with an excuse, "was cleaning the stain."
He couldn't help praising himself internally for the quick save.
"Oh," Gabriella exclaimed shyly. "Thanks. We… better go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day…"
Arthur wanted to try continuing once more, but Gabriella had already turned to the other side.
He could hear her heart beating louder than normal.