Kai got his ears ready to listen as he held his breath in order not to miss it. The seconds kept on moving because time doesn't wait for anyone.
After 20 seconds
He was still waiting for the name as he kept his breath held.
The worst part is that her eyes were closed; she didn't see Kai's reactions or what he was doing.
She sighed, thinking about how to release her name, while Kai's face reddened after he held his breath for a whole minute plus. He didn't want to release it because he thought that he would miss her short name since he didn't know how long or short it was.
Two minutes passed, as his body started to tremble; he was about to faint since he hadn't been breathing for 2 minutes.
Sonia reached the point when she ended up spitting out her name.
"My name is…." Kai's eyes widened as he gained strength after he heard her voice.
Her voice echoed, barely above a whisper. Lucky Kai; he was expecting such a sound. "I'm Princess Sonia Silvercrest of Luminaris, the daughter of King Thalion Silvercrest of Luminaris!"
Kai's eyes widened as he inhaled Princess Sonia's words. His heart raced, and shivers ran down his spine as he got frightened after disrespecting the crowned princess of Luminaris. His knees were almost losing balance, as his full body trembled.
Surprisingly, he forgot that he wasn't breathing. He stayed for 5 full minutes without breathing. After a bit of a tremble, he heard Sonia's voice echoing in his ears.
"Are you okay?" Princess Sonia asked as she saw Kai frozen, with his orbs wide open without a word from him. 'Did that actually land an impact on his loud, noisy mouth?' She muttered under her breath.
Kai's breath was heavy and labored as he deeply exhaled, his body lowering to his knees, making a ground impact that scared away the nearby birds.
The princess was thunderstruck by the sudden reaction. Firstly, exhaling, it was too much, and she wasn't expecting such a reaction. The sudden landing was a hit as she heard his knees thudding on the ground full of leaves. Her eyes widened, her breath was absolutely taken away, and fear arose in her heart as it suddenly beat fast.
She struggled to breathe as surprise stuck on her neck. She didn't know what to do in that second, only her exhales coming out like a ticking clock.
Suddenly, Kai turned his kneeling body to the right, where Princess Sonia was, his eyes tearing as his hands clenched, trembling with a plea for forgiveness.
He experienced a mental blank, unsure of where to begin asking for forgiveness. His loud voice silenced, his cleverness faded away.
He thought of going with the basics of asking for forgiveness since his mind failed to search: "P, P, Princess Sonia Silvercrest, I, I'm sorry for my lack of manners. If I hurt your feelings or anything like that, please forgive me."
The princess's eyebrow went up as astonishment filled her up. "Huhh, w-what are you saying?"
"I'm truly sorry; please forgive me. I don't want to be arrested or spend my life in jail." Kai pleaded, as tears flowed on his cheeks like water in a river.
"Wait, what? No, I already gave you a job, and it's not for disrespecting; it's a favor!" Her hands were swinging around with no right place to rest.
"Huh? What favor?"
"Before we go to that, introduce yourself and tell me everything you remember, and I'll tell you where you are, and you might consider getting in an alliance or agree to be my servant!"
Kai looked down as if he was embarrassed. "Ohh, that servant talk again. Sure, how hard can it be to be a servant for the hottie princess?" Oh dear, his tongue slipped, making the princess blush; after he heard himself, he blushed too.
"Huh?" She surprisedly asked with her eyes wide open, her face reddened, and her eyebrow quirked.
"Ah, ahh, ahh, sorry, I didn't mean to."
Her head became an engine and exhaust at the same time as the reddened face went back to normal.
"It's okay; now tell me, servant or not?" She sneered while she showed a tranquil face, sending shivers down Kai's spine.
"Sure thing, I'll be your servant, Princess Sonia."
"Good." Princess Sonia's face glowed with a smile as happiness filled her body, sending chills down her spine. She continued as she craved an introduction, "How about those other things I spoke of earlier?"
"Ohh, sorry. My name is Kai."
"Mhh, Kai, what a nice gentle name!" She blabbered, with her index finger on her chin.
Kai's face turned a bit red as he blushed with her back on a tree.
"Continue, please." The princess asked for a continuation.
"I'm from the lost county in Asia…."
"I don't even know it, so don't bother."
Kai's eyes widened as he heard those words. "Ohh, so we aren't in…"
She cut the question off and said, "No questions; tell me what you remember, Kai."
"Sorry. I was in a war, where our team was losing. When I was running away, thinking that I was away from the enemy, I stepped on a landmine, and I don't remember what happened after that. I woke up here, as I landed there, where you saved me," he briefly explained to the princess, who was surely concentrated, as her eyes were closed, only her ears open.
"Ohh, I see, but I don't know what a landmine is; would you mind explaining it? Just a brief explanation."
'Is she for real? He silently said as he got astonished. "Okay. A landmine is a bomb."
"What is a bomb?"
"Huh?"
"I don't know anything from your world!"
"What do you mean, 'my world'?"
"No questions."
"Okay, a bomb is a round thing, or metallic ball that was fixed with exploding substances. So it causes a lot of explosions that kill a lot of people. A landmine is a type of explosive device designed to be hidden underground or on the ground, detonating when triggered by pressure, movement, or a tripwire. Landmines are often used in military conflicts where I was in order to deny enemy movements, protect strategic areas, or as a form of area denial. They can be very dangerous because they may remain active and hidden for years after a conflict has ended, posing risks to civilians and demining efforts. There are various types of landmines, including anti-personnel mines (designed to target individuals) and anti-vehicle mines (designed to damage or destroy vehicles)."
"Wow, your world is amazingly scary." She grinned.
"Yeah, maybe!" "What's amazing about that?" she continued, saying, "my world."
"I guess that's all, Kai."
'Pheww, at last, no, my questions…!' He thought of asking, "Then you are…" He received a scary glance from Sonia. "Sorry, sorry."
"No, it's okay; I'm going to tell you.
This place is called the Soul World; everyone who dies lands here. Strong souls with a will to live again can successfully live here. But some souls with the will to live always land in some ways that get them in mounds. So they die in their world and then die here too. By the way, it's rare for someone to land on their feet."
"Does that mean I died, huh?"
"Obviously you did."
Kai looked down; his mind replayed his sick mother.
"Okay, so that means I'm rare?"
"No, you are lucky."
"Ohh, my luck is w...." A scary tension appeared, blowing like wind to the two. The princess realized that it wasn't just the air, but as for Kai, he was lost. The princess trembled and crashed down on her knees, since she was on her feet.