"Thanks."
That was the only word that Sasha could muster.
Alia paused for a mont, thinking whether she had really done sothing that important.
"Sure."
Alia too, despite being smart, wasn’t the best at social interactions. She could speak with new people, but didn’t know the exact words to say in many situations, making others view her as soone different.
"Do you train?"
"Huh?"
This ti it was Sasha who had asked the question.
"I do. Sotis."
Alia’s response seed to have surprised her, as could be seen from the widening of her eyes.
"Why the surprise?"
Alia was quick to notice the reaction.
"No, I an... You told everything about being able to do what you like, but you train despite not liking it."
Sasha stood at the sa place while narrating her thoughts.
"What made you think I didn’t like training?"
"Your eyes."
"Sorry?"
"Your eyes."
"I heard that."
Alia rubbed her eyes, thinking about Sasha’s words.
"What about my eyes?"
Sasha looked down as she processed the words in her mind.
"I an, your interest in reading can be seen from your eyes, so I just assud that you didn’t like training. Usually, scholars don’t train."
"That’s it. I thought you were being all philosophical while describing my eyes."
"Philosophical?"
Sasha didn’t know the aning of the word.
Alia, who was confused at first seeing Sasha repeating the word, soon realised her error.
"What’s your age?"
"Huh? Seven."
"Thought so."
Not every seven-year-old was like Alia.
"Is it compulsory for the princess to learn such words?"
Sasha’s ek voice brought Alia out of her thoughts, as she placed the book on the desk before motioning Sasha to bring a chair to sit.
The girl hadn’t sat the entire ti, and though Alia didn’t comnt on it, she found it insensitive of herself to make her guest stand like that.
Sasha, seeing Alia pointing at one of the chairs behind her, walked towards it before picking it up—
Or at least tried to, but her little hands couldn’t really muster that much strength.
"Let help."
Before she could try again, Alia had appeared beside her, holding one end of the chair.
Appreciating the gesture, Sasha awkwardly bowed her head once before holding the other end of the chair, as the two of them sohow managed to lift the chair and place it near the desk, just beside Alia’s own chair.
"Haa... That chair is kind of heavy, isn’t it?"
Alia took a deep breath as she completed the sentence.
Sasha, on her part, couldn’t even reply, as she was far more drained than Alia, though she managed to nod her head.
The chair, being made from sturdy wood, was relatively heavier than the normal ones available at Sasha’s house. Not relatively, but far heavier to be exact.
"Yeah, so what was your question? That compulsory one, right?"
"Y-Yes."
Alia paused once again to steady her breath.
"No, it isn’t compulsory for us to learn sothing like that. And why would it even be compulsory?"
"You speak weird words, so I thought it was necessary for a princess to speak like that. It’s not cool."
"Sorry?"
"Why are you apologizing?"
Sasha asked, her brows raised in confusion.
"No, I an, please repeat what you said at the end."
Alia clarified, seeing that Sasha’s vocabulary was quite limited.
"It’s not cool?"
Sasha was confused by the sudden interrogation.
"So you think that I am not cool."
"..."
"It should be cool. I an, I know every word out there. Do you even know anyone my age with the sa level of knowledge? I am cool!"
Alia’s ego was hurt a bit too much, making her a little frustrated.
It wasn’t like Alia was angry at Sasha... But every now and then, she would keep receiving taunts from people who looked down on her just because she was more into books than weapons.
That had subconsciously created an inferiority complex in Alia that she herself didn’t know existed deep in her mind.
Now, Alia was smart enough to know what was good for her, but there was a limit to how much could be expected from a seven-year-old.
At the end of the day, she was still a kid.
And going through the sa sarcastic comnts every day had edged on her patience more than she might have known.
"Uh... I ant about those weird words, not you."
Sasha spoke as she used one of her hands to cover her mouth.
"Are you laughing at ?"
"..."
"Haa..."
Alia sighed.
She was being childish.
"Forget about , tell about yourself. What do you like?"
"?"
Sasha pointed at herself.
Alia nodded her head.
"I... I don’t really know what I like, but maybe... eting new people and visiting new places gives a pleasure that I can’t find in anything else."
Sasha now had her lips stretched into a small smile as she rembered all the other experiences in her life, or at least those that her little brain could rember.
"Are you sure about that? From the way you were shaking after coming here, I don’t really think you like anything to do with new people or places."
On hearing Alia’s words, which were true to a certain extent, Sasha sheepishly scratched the back of her head.
"That... I really do get scared, but I still love exploring new things."
"Hahaha... You are kind of weird yourself."
Alia laughed for the first ti in their conversation.
She found Sasha to be the most unique person that she might have ever t. Being scared of sothing while liking it at the sa ti was surely a contradicting feeling.
Sasha too chuckled awkwardly, as she didn’t know whether she was being praised or insulted by the princess.
"So, tell , what places have you visited till now."
Wiping the tears that had ford at the corner of her eyes, Alia turned her focus to the girl before her.
"That... There’s this market at my place. You see, a shop there sells—"
"Market?"
"Um... Yes."
Alia frowned.
"I thought you were about to speak of so cool destinations."
"Market is cool!"
Sasha pouted.
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