"We have a large number of guests due to the party held yesterday, so we have prepared a continental style breakfast out in the courtyard."
"..."
"Will you be joining the other guests in the courtyard?"
"..."
"...Miss Halle?"
"Huh?" Halle shook her head and snapped her eyes wide open, staring at Jan before her in bewilderment. "Oh, I'm sorry, Jan... I completely spaced out there for a moment." She frowned deeply as she looked completely apologetic.
Jan's expression faltered slightly, and he worriedly peered into her eyes. "Miss Halle... Is everything alright?"
Halle rubbed at the dark circles under her eyes, and she crossed her bedroom over to her makeup table. "Yes, I'm fine." She flat-out lied convincingly, masking her true depressing feelings that weighed down her heart presently. "I suppose that I am just tired this morning after last night's party."
"I suppose that is understandable..." Jan frowned a little, continuing to worry about the young woman's well-being as she applied makeup to the skin underneath her eyes, attempting to hide her insomnia and look cheerful. "So, if you don't mind me asking... About breakfast..."
"Oh, that's right. I haven't given you a proper answer yet." Halle unraveled her messy, braided hair and began brushing through it, and she pulled her gorgeous brown hair down over her left shoulder in a cascade of wavy curls. "I suppose I'll... Actually..." Halle paused her train of thought, and she turned and looked to Jan from where she stood. "Where will Prince Joshua be eating breakfast this morning?"
Jan's typical smile returned to his face as he found himself genuinely happy with Halle's interest in his master's whereabouts. "He will be taking breakfast in the dining hall, just as usual..."
Halle pulled her light pink sweater over her white undershirt, rubbing her arms mechanically as she tried to warm herself up. "I actually would like to join him for breakfast, if that is possible..."
Jan grinned brightly upon hearing Halle's request, and he bowed a little out of respect. "Understood. I will arrange for your breakfast as well."
Halle found herself smiling brightly at Jan for the first time in a long while, feeling very grateful for his constant kindness towards her. "Thank you, Jan..."
Halle stretched her arms upwards as she stepped from her room, and the sound of her black high heels clicking against the marble flooring filled the entire corridor. She was making her way towards the dining hall she had eaten breakfast in for the past two weeks when she crossed paths with someone she recognized.
She stopped right where she stood when she saw who it was, and he caught sight of her and smiled.
"Hello." Prince Edward approached her with a kind smile on his face, and he was dressed in a casual blue and white striped hoodie and white jeans. "Were you here for the party?"
Oh, right... Prince Edward didn't know that she had been staying here, as well as the other princes, with the exception of Princes Roberto and Wilfred.
Halle grinned awkwardly as she greeted Charles' crowned prince. "Good morning, Your Highness. Thank you for your hospitality at the last party..."
"Don't mention it." His smile was warm and soft, and his lavender eyes were inviting; polar opposite to Prince Joshua's typical facial expressions. "I had wondered what had happened to you after that night, but I didn't think I would run into you here..." He drew closer and romantically took Halle by the hand. "It must be fate."
"Aha ha...hah..." Halle laughed awkwardly, not really knowing what to say to that.
He must have sensed her hesitance, because Prince Edward drew back a little as his kind smile only grew kinder. "My apologies. I am just happy to see you again." He suddenly looked in the direction she was going in, then looked back at her. "Are you on your way to breakfast? If so, would it be all right for me to join you?"
Halle hesitated a little, wondering what to say to that exactly, since she was going down to eat with Prince Joshua rather than the other guests...
"Oh, actually... I'm sorry." Halle smiled awkwardly, trying to appear sincere. "I have already had breakfast this morning. I thank you for your offer though, Your Highness."
Prince Edward's eyes wavered at this news, and he was obviously disappointed with her answer, yet he understood. "I see... That is a shame." His smile returned to his face as he looked down at the petite young woman before him. "Perhaps next time?"
Halle looked very guilty as she spoke. "Yes... Perhaps next time."
"You needn't look like that." Prince Edward chuckled a little under his breath and his eyes crinkled a little as he naturally smiled. "It doesn't suit you." He let go of her hand and kept his positive grin on his face. "I look forward to the next time we meet, Halle."
Halle was about to respond to that when she felt the weight of someone's arm suddenly be rested on top of her head, and she narrowed her eyes in annoyance as she turned to face this person. "Robbie, cut it out! I'm not an arm rest!" Halle reprimanded Prince Roberto as she jerked his arm off of her head, which only caused the Altaria prince to laugh.
"Morning, Halle!" Prince Roberto completely ignored the angry look on her face as he greeted his friend with the biggest smile he could muster. "Are you on your way to breakfast?"
Prince Edward answered for her. "She's apparently already had hers."
"Oh, okay." Prince Roberto's mouth fell open as he listened to Prince Edward, and he worriedly turned to look at Halle as he remembered something. "Oh yeah, Halle, how are you feeling after last night?"
Halle was confused by the question, and she unconsciously tilted her head to the side like a lost puppy. "Last night...? What do you mean?"
"Yeah, you seemed to have had too much to drink or something." Prince Roberto smiled casually, and he shoved his hands into his brown jacket's pockets.
Halle blinked at him owlishly, starting to put the pieces of this puzzle together. "Why do you say that?"
Prince Roberto's mouth fell open in surprise once more as he looked at her with widened eyes. "Well, Prince Joshua did need to carry you off like that, so..."
Halle's face grew as hot as the sun at these words. "Prince Joshua did WHAT!?" She involuntarily shrieked as she slapped her hands over her mouth, causing both princes before her to bust out laughing at her uncouth reaction.
"Well, I didn't see your face..." Prince Roberto smirked a little, taking this opportunity to tease her. "...but I caught a glimpse of Prince Joshua carrying a woman with a dress similar to yours in his arms, and I figured it had to be you."
Halle thought back to her conversation with Prince Joshua from the night before as she stared down at the floor. "That liar..."
"Did you say something?" Prince Roberto rose an eyebrow to her, staring at her curiously.
"Oh, no, I..." Halle stumbled over her words in attempt to cover up her curt remark. "I'm sorry for my disgraceful conduct last night... I should have paid more close attention to how much wine I consumed."
"Don't mention it." Prince Roberto waved her off, seemingly unconcerned. Prince Edward appeared to feel the same way based on the relaxed smile he wore. "You know, Halle, Prince Joshua seems to be quite taken with you."
Halle's face flushed red as a strangely depressed look crossed Prince Edward's face. "Is that so?" His tone was quiet, weighed down with heavy disappointment.
"Ohoho..." Prince Roberto laughed bemusedly, winking at Prince Edward like the total goofball he was. "Are you after Halle as well, Ed?"
Prince Edward took this teasing with good grace as he just smiled in response. "What could you possibly mean by that?" He turned and began ushering Prince Roberto away from Halle, successfully getting the spotlight off of him as he changed the subject. "We should go and have something to eat now, or we will be late for the party at Nobel Michel."
"Oh, right..." Prince Roberto seemed to have been effectively distracted by Prince Edward's sound reasoning, and he smiled and waved good-bye to Halle as he walked away. "See you later, Halle."
Halle watched as the two disappeared from the corridor, and she couldn't help but compare those two to the other princes she had come to know in the past few weeks. They were all princes too, but quite different to Prince Joshua... In like, every single way possible.
Halle smiled to herself as she resumed walking to the dining hall, not realizing she looked completely smitten to anyone passing by her as she thought of the unique and mysterious Prince Joshua. "What a weirdo..."
"I was just about to go looking for you." Jan sighed in relief as soon as Halle stepped into the dining hall, glad to see that she was here now.
"I'm sorry for being a bit late..." Halle shrugged apologetically, twisting a piece of her hair around her finger nervously.
Prince Joshua's low voice echoed through the room as he looked at her. "Were you feeling sick?"
Halle widened her eyes slightly before she vigorously shook her head. "Oh, no. Not at all. I just ran into Prince Edward and Robbie in the hallway, and they kept me occupied for a little longer than I intended..."
Prince Joshua nodded his head a little as he accepted this reason, and Jan stepped up to him and looked down at his plate as he spoke. "Shall I have your meal made fresh for Your Highness?"
"No, it's fine." Prince Joshua shook his head, instantly dismissing his question.
Jan frowned just a little while his eyebrows knitted together with worry. "But it must be cold..."
Halle stared at the two quizzically for a moment, confused as to what was going on. Prince Joshua's breakfast was cold...?
"I said it's fine." Prince Joshua bitterly waved Jan off, ignoring him as usual.
Jan shrank back a little and retreated to his position. "Understood..." He turned to Halle as she finished listening to their conversation, and his eyes grew wide as he appeared to remember something. "I shall have your breakfast brought out in just a moment, Miss Halle."
"Thank you." Halle responded mechanically as she stared at Prince Joshua's meal, and she slowly sat down in her chair at the table next to him. He hadn't touched it at all, and just as Jan said, it appeared to have gone cold. Was he waiting for her...?
But Prince Joshua seemed not to care as he stared out of the window. Halle noticed that there was something different about him today, and she was a little worried. However, her thoughts were interrupted by Jan coming back into the room with her breakfast.
"Thank you for your patience." Jan placed the plate delicately down in front of her, smiling as usual.
"Thank you." Halle grinned with excitement as she eyed the amazing breakfast before her. She was really going to miss the luxurious food here after she left... "This looks great."
Halle started to eat, and Prince Joshua did the same. He really was waiting for her...
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting..." Halle's lips turned down into a slight frown, and she awkwardly glanced at Prince Joshua as she spoke.
Prince Joshua stopped eating to look at her. "What do you mean?"
"Oh." Halle blinked repeatedly, caught off guard by his response. "I thought you had perhaps been waiting for me..."
Prince Joshua sighed, and his expression faltered as it reflected a look that of sadness and disappointment. "Well, today is the last time we can eat together like this..."
Halle felt like it was impossible to breathe as she looked at his saddened face, and she lowered her head slightly. "That's true..."
And with that, they both returned to their meals, eating them mechanically as silence was cast over the room once more. It was no longer an awkward silence, though. Actually, to Halle, the silence felt more like a comfortable silence now, if anything.
However, she quickly noticed something was missing from the breakfast table.
Halle looked over at Prince Joshua curiously, a little interested. "Are you not going to read the paper today, Your Highness?"
Prince Joshua just snorted derisively at her innocent question. "I forgot to bring it."
Jan reacted immediately to Prince Joshua's reply with a smile on his face. "Shall I have it brought to you?"
Prince Joshua lowered his brow, and his mouth opened slightly as he frowned. "Oh, no..."
"Sorry?" Jan thought he didn't hear that quite right, and he strained to hear his master some more.
"It's fine..." Prince Joshua prodded his food with his fork, losing his appetite as this conversation continued.
Jan's jaw fell to the floor, and he was completely unable to comprehend this sudden change in his master's behavior. "Are you sure? It isn't like Your Highness to be so reserved."
Jan's tone was a little forced, and Prince Joshua's cheeks flushed a little red at the comment. "You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?" He cleared his throat as he shot his butler a harsh glare.
"Doing what...?" Halle thought to herself, staring at the two's exchange with an odd look on her face. "Please don't feel like you need to refrain from reading the paper on my account..." She awkwardly stared down at her lap, successfully snapping the two boys out of their stare down with one another.
Prince Joshua glanced back at her, completely expressionless as if to hide what he was feeling at present. "You were the one who told me I shouldn't read it that other time."
Halle's eye involuntarily twitched as she pulled her lips into a sideways frown. "I believe I said that it would be better if you didn't read it at the breakfast table."
Prince Joshua used his hands to gesture to himself. "And so I'm not reading it."
"What?" She gave him the weirdest look ever before retracing her gaze back to her plate. "Well, that's good then, I guess..."
"You guess?" Prince Joshua's expression fell once again into an even more depressed look, if that was possible. "First you tell me not to read it, then you make a fuss if I don't. You are a difficult woman."
After he said that, his face was once again devoid of any emotion as he continued to eat his breakfast.
Halle felt oddly pleased with that odd compliment, if you could even call it that. She smiled softly to herself as she thought about how he waited for her because it was their last meal together, and now he wasn't reading the newspaper for her sake...
...since when did Prince Joshua listen to what a woman, and a commoner, no less, had to say?
Halle was so filled with emotion that she couldn't take another bite of her food. It was only for a short while, and it was quite torturous at first, but...she was so glad that she came here.
Prince Joshua caught her staring at him, and he stared at her oddly. "What is it? Do I have something on my face?"
"No, it's nothing." Halle shook her head, turning her gaze back down to the table.
Finally, Halle's "visit" to Dres Van is coming to an end. Wow, she's been there awhile. I think she's actually been there since the end of chapter four, if I'm not mistaken XD dang...
So, now that we're leaving Dres Van, and our princess is on her way to the next ball at Nobel Michel Castle, she'll return to her normal life living as a commoner. We'll get to see Halle work some more court cases, and very interesting ones at that, so that's exciting! We haven't gotten to see her be much of a lawyer lately because of her little...er, "situation," but Halle will be getting back into her game very soon.
So, to anyone who played any of Roberto's stories, you know a bit about Altaria, the royal family, and then of course there's Cynthia, who you will be introduced to soon XDDDDD we'll be getting to know Halle a lot better after she gets back home to Altaria. But the question is...
Will she be staying there long?
Read, review, and enjoy!