PeaceMaker

"My escort," Dominic repeated.

"Escort?? What for?" Desilva asked, still trying to comprehend the words that Dominic muttered.

"As you said, I'm basically bedridden and even when my body is ready to move, I will still be weak and unable to perform a third of the things I used to do easily," Dominic explained, "that's why I need someone beside me who will help me do those things and help me throughout my day with my duties."

"D-don't you have Mr. Silver-haired man or that tough war lady?" Desilva asked nervously.

"They may be the closest to me, but they have jobs. Litian is the lieutenant general, meaning she has to look after the soldiers and war affairs while I'm gone, and Axel, the silver-haired man, is the head medic, so he too is going to be busy working with the other medics to help heal the injured people," Dominic continued, "I need someone who is fairly known around the camp by both the soldiers and the villagers to help me move around and keep an eye on me."

Desilva slowly leaned back into her chair as she understood Dominic's explanation. "But why me? There are so many other people in the camp who are also in the village and are familiar with the soldiers," Desilva muttered, "why is it me?"

Dominic paused before replying, then gave a soft chuckle, "you expect me to hire someone I barely know to protect me?" he asked mockingly, "out of all the people in this camp, which village person do I stay around the most?"

Desilva thought about it for a second. 'Out of all the people there,' she pondered, 'who does he talk to the most?'

The answer was almost too simple for her to believe it. Memories about Dominic weren't hard to find, in fact, she had memories of him throughout a whole day in which they were in, or near each other. She even remembered moments when she was just observing him from afar while he went ahead with his duties and he would just randomly turn around and lock eyes with her, almost like he knew exactly where she was at all times.

"Ok, so maybe I am around you most of the time," Desilva admitted, " but I can't be the ONLY one around you that you trust."

"Have you seen me in a group of villages without you near?"

Desilva thought about it again. She remembered him being surrounded by villagers multiple times in a day but she was never too far away from him. Sometimes she was right beside him.

"Nooo?" Desilva replied skeptically, "what about the trust part? It may be hard to trust, but you've spent some time with us so you should have some people that you trust."

Dominic laid in contemplation before breaking into laughter again.

"Is everything I say a jest or something?" Desilva pouted, "you always find some way to laugh about it."

"N-no..haha..it's just- ha," Dominic tried to explain, his words cut up by a mix of laughter and gasps of pain that came after each chortle.

"Wowww, still can't manage to stop laughing at me?" Desilva rolled her eyes in irritation.

"Haha, sigh," Dominic slowly pulled his laughing to a stop, it's just that, sometimes you talk so innocently and I'm not used to that."

Desilva's face heated up slightly, and she turned away with a huff, "innocent?"

"Yes," Dominic honestly replied, "time does not equal steady increase in trust, it depends on the interactions in that period of time."

"Hmm?" Desilva mumbled, prompting Dominic to continue explaining.

"Just staying around somebody won't be enough to start to trust them more. Trust is built after someone shows that they are someone you can rely on, trust with most of your issues and have been through some issues together without them leaving you behind," Dominic explained, "just because I spend some time around them, doesn't mean that I trust them more."

"Oh… that makes sense," Desilva nodded.

She wasn't used to these 'trust concepts' since from the very beginning, the entire village was her family. She had grown up in a tightly knit environment where everyone is considered the other's sister or brother, regardless of genes. In Dominic's situation, he grew up in an enormous environment where he barely knew the names of the people he was supposed to rule over, nonetheless trust them. The contrast between their upbringings was something Desilva had to constantly remind herself of.

"You are really the only one from the village that I have grown to trust. I am around you daily and we've been through a few situations in which you helped me significantly and showed that you cared for me," Dominic continued, clearing his throat as it began to dry up.

Desilva stood up from her chair and walked to the other side of the room where a water canteen was kept. She picked up the small bottle and walked back to Dominic, leaning in to help him drink the water.

"Thank you," Dominic muttered, swallowing the water slowly. The cool touch of the water to his parched throat released a wave of refreshness through his body.

"Your welcome," Desilva smiled.

She put back the water canteen and debated wiping away the water that had spilled down Dominic's chin and decided it wasn't necessary but ended up wiping it off anyways.

"You're also the only one who acts genuinely around me," Dominic continued, his words flowing much easier due to his hydrated throat, "others seem like they walk on eggshells around me, trying to get close to me for a reason."

"Oh," Desilva blushed, "I guess the fact that I'm also involved directly with the elders might help too right? Since I can be used as a bridge between the villagers and you."

"Correct!" Dominic grinned.

Desilva stared at him for a second before releasing a sigh, "the fact that you do all that thinking while bedridden, is something I would never be able to do."

"It's a prince's job," Dominic shrugged.