Sorry, but this fanfic might go a little slowly. ^^ I didn't wait until I'd written a lot of chapters before I uploaded it, like my Shugo Chara fanfic, so it might go a little more slowly... ^^ Sorry. Okay. I know that, so far, this plot has almost nothing to do with Gakuen Alice, but just wait. It'll all come... later! *sigh*

The chapters are longer in this fanfic, too... hope you don't mind! ^^ Please please pretty please review!!!

The wagon kept going. By this time, my stomach felt horrible. It was partly the danger that I felt with such intensity at the castle, the murderous, treacherous aura.

Mostly, though, I was just sick. Motion sick. It was, after all, my first time riding on a wagon…

The carriage lurched, and I gasped as my stomach lurched with it.

"Oww…" I moaned. The merchant chuckled.

"First time riding a carriage? Well, it's like riding a ship, makes you sicker than a hippopotamus."

"Yes…" I said, a bit faintly. "What's a hippopotamus?"

"Well, it's a big gray thing, it lives in the rivers." The merchant told me, with an air of importance. "It's quite interesting, actually. Did you know, they…"

Listening to his lectures calmed my stomach down a bit. He told me a lot, about places like Egypt and Africa and China. They seemed so strange and faraway.

"And, there's this place called Japan, too." he laughed. "They have the prettiest cherry blossoms that you'd ever have seen! And, they have this nice little city, Tokyo, too. I swear, though, soon it'll be as big as anything, even though it started—"

"Tokyo?!" I asked excitedly. "Does it have huge buildings as tall as the sky and moving carriages?"

The merchant looked at me like I was crazy. "Of course not. 'Tis like… Oh, I can't really say… like here, I suppose, only the houses are different. And it doesn't have a king, but an emperor. Japan, I mean."

"Oh." My disappointment crept into my voice. Then, another thought perked me up. "But, how do you know all this? Do merchants know these kinds of things?"

The merchant shrugged mysteriously and left it at that. "We're here."

I gasped with delight. The palace was big, and there were these beautiful little marble statues on it – gargoyles, I supposed, from the merchant's ramblings. And, just like he had promised, there was a beautiful dome on the highest point, covered with gold, and Our Lady's statue stood on it, magnificent.

As I arrived at the strange place, I noticed a boy standing in the doorway. He looked rather out of place, with his coal-black hair and his air of arrogance.

The merchant raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be in the palace."

The boy just glared at him. "Say one word and I'll have you hanged."

The merchant shrugged. "You know you can't do that. At any rate, I'm seeing this girl off for now." He looked at me, then laughed. "You're feeling sick again?"

I nodded. "Stupid horses…" I moaned.

The boy looked coldly at me. "Are you pregnant or something?"

There was a silence. The merchant shook his head, and recovered first. "You know you really shouldn't say such things."

Obviously, though, that stupid arrogant kid didn't care. " 's her fault she came here in the first place."

I would have retorted, but I was feeling too sick to muster any good insults, so I just waited.

That brat went away.

---

"Yuzu-chan, I'd like to introduce you to the kitchen staff… uh, servants." The head cook smiled in a motherly way.

I was excited. I'd have new friends! I'd never had any friends before, except for Mikan, of course… and… "Who are they?" I asked.

"These are… Yuri… Sakura… Nina…"

I tried to remember the names, then gave up, and concentrated on their faces. When I saw the last person, I gasped. "… Midori?!" I cried.

Midori blinked. "Yuzu? Is that you?"

I laughed happily. "I never thought I'd see you again!"

Midori shrugged. "We had to move after the tax collectors took away our home. So, we found this abandoned hovel near the beach and fixed it up. And, since we needed a money, I started to work here. I was lucky to get a job, really. So many people want to work at the castle."

"Well… I can see you two are acquainted…" the cook remarked dryly. "Midori, see if you can help Yuzu around the castle. Just to make sure… you know…"

Midori nodded.

The cook hesitated, than shrugged. "Well, it couldn't possibly hurt. Yuzu, go deliver this to the nobles in the courtyard. They're having a… picnic." The cook snorted, as if something amused her. "Like a picnic with a glass table and a roof and food brought to you actually counts as a picnic."

"You have to be careful." Midori warned me. "They're all nobles. Cook doesn't like them, because they are a bit… brainless. You'll see what I mean. Just, whatever you do, don't insult anyone!"

I nodded. "No problem. I'm pretty easygoing."

Midori looked skeptical, but shrugged and started walking, so I followed her.

The castle was marvelous! The walls were all flawless and made of marble, with intricate pictures carved into them. I wanted to touch them, but I was holding two trays of food as it was, so I couldn't. The table the nobles were at were in the middle of a beautiful rose garden. The pretty flowers came in all different colors, from red to yellow to pure, dazzling white, and beautiful purples and blues.

I was too busy looking at the scenery to notice the occupants of the table, but I wrinkled my nose when I saw who one of them was."

I set the trays down on the table none too gently, an irritated expression on my face. "You're that pervert!" I exclaimed, my teeth gritted.

The black-haired boy looked bored, and turned a page of his book. "A pervert is someone who has weird interests. I was just asking an honest question."

"Honest? Honest?! Are you crazy? How can you ask a girl something so… so… so indecent!"

Midori had a pained expression on her face. "I told her…" she muttered.

"Hey, brat. That's his Highness you're talking to!" One of the boys snapped. "You'd better apologize to Natsu-sama!"

"Apologize!? For what?!" I shouted.

Midori looked around nervously. She put a hand on my shoulder. "Umm… Yuzu-chan… you should probably apologize. C'mon. You shouldn't have shouted at His Highness, right?" She forced a smile. "My friend gives her apologies… we beg your pardon, Your Highness."

I stuck my tongue out at her, but when Midori was retreating, it was probably better to follow suit.

"I'm sorry." I snapped, then stomped away.

"Wait." The perverted idiot – the prince – and what a joke of a prince he was – looked up from the book. "You know you could be arrested for treason, right?"

"Treason?" Midori blanched. "B-but…" she bowed nervously. "I'm sorry, but… she's not used to the palace, she meant no harm, really. Surely, you can give us another chance, your Highness! Please."

I brushed her aside. "That wasn't treason, and you know it. Treason is the act of trying to betray one's country. It only includes things like harboring one's enemy, attempting to overthrow one's sovereign, trying…" I rattled on and on, proud of the things I had learned from the merchant on my five-day trip here from my hometown, though I was still a bit suspicious as to how in the world he knew about all these exotic places and all this law stuff. "Even if you arrest me, you can't kill me. Worst you can do is imprison me for two months."

Natsu-sama shrugged. "No, we could do worse." He said monotonously. "There doesn't need to be evidence. We can bribe or blackmail the court. We can fabricate evidence. There's lots of things we could do."

I narrowed me eyes. "Then everything that his Majesty and Jii-chan told us is a lie!" I snapped. "I don't believe that! His Majesty is magnanimous, one of the greatest kings ever! Jii-chan told me that, and I don't believe that he's a corrupt person like you are!"

Natsu just shrugged again. "I'm just telling you what I could do. So, if you don't want that to happen, then I want you to go to the Northern Woods and get… a little something for me." He looked at a blond boy next to him, who gave him a worried look.

"Fine!" I accepted the challenge – if it was even a challenge – and laughed triumphantly. "Then if I get it, you have to apologize for saying that!"

"That you were pregnant?" He asked in a bored tone.

"H-hey!!" I blushed. "Yeah, that!"

"Sure, whatever." He shrugged.

My fleeting feeling triumph ended as I looked at the dense and dangerous woods outside the castle.

Is it feeling familiar yet? *cackle* Okay. Well, anyways, that's not the point here. I'm sorry, I really couldn't fit the rest of this chapter in without making it too long, so I made it into two chapters... Anyways, though, the next chapter should explain a bit more about this weirdness... not much though... ^^

By my estimation (which may be wayyy off) the more... exclusive... secrets may not even get hinted at until... about chapter 6 or 7, I think... (Don't trust it. It may be wrong.) But, until then, enjoy! AND REVIEW!!! DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!! That's right! Click that little button with the magic word RIGHT now and tell you what you thought about this story!