I called out to her and she looked a little surprised to see me.
"Oh",she said.
Trying to be polite I spoke in a kind voice with a smile on my face.
"Excuse me, but are you the lady accompanying Prince Edward earlier?" She looked slightly taken aback but I couldn't see why.
"...Yes".
"You seemed to be quite well acquainted with him and I find myself curious as to where you're from".
"Where I'm from...?" She asked confused.
"Yes. Are you by chance of royal blood? Or perhaps the daughter of a nobleman?"
"Oh no...I'm just a normal student". Now I was confused and my smile faded. Student? What does she mean a student? And why is she with Prince Edward then?!
"A student...?", I asked skeptical.
"Yes. I'm on an exchange to a university in Charles. It was there I..." she started to say but I cut her off and finished her sentence.
"So you met Prince Edward out on the street somewhere... And he invited you here?", I asked matter of fact and she nodded and shrugged.
"Yes."
There goes all my reason to talk to her. If she is not royalty or nobility there's no use in asking her to a dance. So she's a commoner and that's why she was like that. I sighed audibly.
"I'm sorry, but I don't see any merit in asking you to dance." I said but I felt kinda...down? I didn't know why though.
She looked shocked. "Huh?", was all she said.
"I made a mistake...excuse me" I said and turned and left. But I couldn't get her shocked expression out of my head. Then I left for the dance floor with another noble lady.
As we danced my eyes fell upon her again ...dancing with Roberto. Of course, at first she was clumsy but soon adjusted to his lead and smiled. As she stumbled he said something to her and she looked into his eyes smiling. I felt a prick in my chest and I must admit I didn't particularly like her dancing with him or looking at him like that. So I looked away. This is a first for me...so I didn't know what it was. As the song ended I curtised and left the dance floor. My eyes looked to her again and I saw Roberto waving to her smiling. I stared at her back and she must have felt my eyes so she turned to look who it was. Our eyes locked for a moment but I quickly averted them and walked away as if I wasn't staring leaving her to her thoughts. She must think I'm a jerk now...wait why am I worried about what she'll think of me?! I couldn't seem to find out what's going on with me.
I wasn't sure what it was about today but I kept seeing her. As I was sipping the Charlesian red wine along with the princes I saw her to the side of the room a couple of tables away and Zain, the head butler of the castle, called out to her.
"Excuse me, but am I right in assuming you to be Miss Odette Willows?" She turned to look.
"Huh? Yes, that's right." So her name is Odette. What a cute na-?! Though I startled myself with the thought a smile formed on my lips. The guys gave me looks but I couldn't care less.
"Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zain, butler to Lord Michel."
"Lord Michel...?" she said and looked confused and deep in thought.
"Would you please consent to coming along with me?" But why?!
"Why do you need me?" She asked him my question.
"My Lord Michel has expressed his wishes to meet with you", Zain answered smiling.
"Alright", she said decidedly.
Now this got me even more curious. Then she followed Zain though looking bewildered. Today my body seemed to have a control of it's own and my mind seemed to flow along with it. I excused myself from the princes and followed them out to the hallway. They entered Lord Michel's meeting room. I stood there leaning against a pillar quite a ways from the room with my mind swirling.
'Firstly what am I doing stalking a lady?' 'Why would Lord Michel have an audience with a commoner?' 'Maybe she's a noble and not telling? But why wouldn't she?' 'And what's gotten into me?'
As I was standing there with all these thoughts she and Zain came out of the audience room. As they made their way down the corridor first thing Zain did was bowing low to her. I heard tidbits of their conversation and he said something like, 'keep this a secret about Lord Michel' 'We'd like to be of service to you' and the like.She got flustered and bowed to him.
'Maybe she's someone special to Lord Michel? Like a granddaughter?! And they want to keep it a secret?'
I wanted to know for myself. As she walked towards my direction away from Zain I called out to her.
"So you were just pretending to be a commoner. You must be quite the difficult woman to deal with." She turned to look at me a small sound escaping her lips. "Uh.."
"There's no way Lord Michel would call a commoner to have an audience with him", I stated. She seemed to be choosing her words and it just confirmed my doubts. Then she opened her mouth and said nonchalantly.
"Oh Mi-... Lord Michel is an old acquaintance..."
Huh?! Old acquaintance? Was she going to say Mike?? So she definitely is his granddaughter!!
"Oh...",I looked at her curiously. I looked straight at her and asked.
"Are you Lord Michel's granddaughter?"
"What?...No!" She said flustered.
"Well, I don't expect you can tell me if it hasn't been announced publicly. That would explain why he called you back here in secret." I said rather proud of myself but she looked like she had enough and started to leave.
I followed her.
"I was hoping to talk with you a little longer". But she didn't give a damn about what I had to say as she walked all the way to the party hall. It looked like she was running away from me and I felt...sad,maybe just a little.
I then had Jan, my butler, to search for her to invite her to Dres Van. I told him her appearance and dress. I once again stepped into the ball room and was scanning the heads for her when Jan shouted.
"I found her Your highness! There she is, over there!"
And there she stood staring at Jan clueless and he started to explain. She looked shocked at some point and I assumed Jan told her about my invitation.
Now that she's Lord Michel's granddaughter I thought I'd first apologize.
"Miss Odette, please allow me to apologize for my rudeness earlier... Allow me to express my apologies with an invitation to visit us in Dres Van. I hope you'll accept."
Only then I noticed Roberto's presence. "Oh Prince Roberto, I didn't see you there."
"I'm sure you didn't...but this is a strange step for you...I wouldn't have expected you to invite a girl like Miss Odette to visit." He said with a thoroughly confused and shocked look. I didn't know what to say to that.
"R-really? All I want was for people from other kingdom to know more about Dres Van", I forced a reply though I know it wasn't one bit true. Roberto seemed to accept this reason and nodded.
"I see...well it couldn't hurt once in a while", I sighed in relief inwardly. He then placed a hand on Odette's back. "Then I shall come along as the representative of Altaria." I wasn't expecting him to say that.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Just as it sounds...I shall accompany her to Dres Van as well." He smiled amused. "Is there some reason I shouldn't go?"
I frowned as I sighed softly at the turn of events. It was like he didn't accept my reason and was coming to see what I'm actually up to. But in truth, noble or not I didn't really know why I invited her in the first place. It was like deep down I know that I'm using whatever to just invite her to go with me... just a ruse. But there was no reason to tell him not to come though I would have preferred it the other way around. So I gave in albeit reluctantly.
"Alright, you should come as well."
"B-but I...", she started to say something but I didn't want her to refuse which she probably was going to if I let her so I smiled kindly at her cutting her off.
"I'm ashamed of myself as a prince to have been rude to a lady of another kingdom... Please allow me to make it up to you."
"Th-that's...", she found that she couldn't refuse and agreed reluctantly.
She was sitting across from me in the limousine on our way to Dres Van when she spoke up.
"Um...are you sure this is alright?" She sounded unsure and so I put on my best smile.
"Of course",I said with the smile still on but she didn't utter a word and looked like she would better not talk to me. It was like she saw straight through my mask. As she fell silent Jan spoke to her cheerfully.
"No trouble at all. Please relax and think of this as a vacation". Then we heard the toll of the midnight bell. Jan turned to me.
"Your highness, I believe that was the midnight bell", I can see what he's getting at so I nodded.
"Yes, it is."
"Is it alright for Miss Odette to have arrived before midnight?" She looked puzzled at that and he turned to her to explain.
"When entering Dres Van, all immigration paperwork must be completed before midnight on the day of arrival...To not to do so is considered as a criminal offense."
"Isn't that a problem then...?", she asked but there was no reason for a problem. So I calmly stated.
"It won't be an issue. She is Lord Michel's granddaughter after all."
She looked stunned for whatever reason and Jan spoke surprised.
"Really!?",He sighed in relief.
"Please excuse my rudeness. In that case everything will be fine." He said with a big smile.
"I wouldn't have brought her along at this time of night otherwise", I said matter of factly.
"Of course not. My apologies"
"And according to the law changes that came into effect last week...a member of the general public cannot enter the kingdom after 10pm",I told Jan. "Oh really...?" That was because of a border problem we have with our neighbor kingdom Nerwan and there had been bad blood between both of us for quite long.
She interrupted anxiety showing in her voice. "E-excuse me..."
"It's different for those of royal blood or are associated with sacred grounds... So this law will not pose a problem for yourself or Prince Roberto." He explained to her with a reassuring smile. I could see the gate closing at the border of Dres Van.
Then she said something unexpected and I found myself frown.
"But... I'm not Lord Michel's granddaughter. I'm not someone associated with the sacred grounds either!"
"What do you mean!? You said you were his granddaughter, right?" I asked irritated. If she was not then she is a criminal now.
"I never said that!", she said bluntly and I found myself snapping back her.
"You didn't deny it either!"
She looked straight at me and snapped.
"Don't blame me for a mistake you made!"
I raised an eyebrow questioning. "Don't blame you? I don't recall you telling me it was a mistake! Did you see how far pretending to be Lord Michel's granddaughter would get you?"
She looked at me like I was despicable and Jan cut in.
"Please stop. What do you propose we do about her, Your highness?", he got right to the point and I sighed.
Now that I think about it I didn't give her a chance to speak thinking she would refuse the invitation. But she was at fault for not denying it in the first place. Actually, I think she did, I was the one who was not ready to accept it. 'Yes,I wanted to believe there should be one reason so I could talk to her or get to know her'. This thought feels weird to even myself but I can't say it's not that if I must be honest.
"She will need to reside within Dres Van for a while".
"What do you mean?" she questioned me as if it wasn't obvious.
"You've just entered the kingdom illegally." I said flatly.
"What..?",she looked taken aback and lost for words as I continued.
"You will need to apply for special dispensation before you can leave the kingdom again."
"Would I be able to do that tomorrow?" She asked and I frowned. 'What was she thinking asking if she could leave tomorrow? She didn't think it was that easy does she?'
"It isn't that easy. It will take at least a week to ten days to get this sorted out"
"So..."
"So as of this moment you're unable to leave the kingdom" I lost my temper and said in a stern voice.
"Wha...!?" She looked pained.
"There's no point in making a fuss about it now. We have enough trouble to deal with." I sighed and turned to look out the window not wanting to look at that regretful expression of her's any longer.
But in the middle of it all I felt somehow happy that things turned out the way they did. I agree that she's annoying with her comebacks sometimes but I'd be lying if I said I didn't like her at all. When she looks sad or upset I feel an urge to comfort her. When she smiled at Roberto I felt a strange sensation in my chest. And here I'm now happy that she's staying even after knowing she's a criminal. But we both share the blame don't we? After all it was her fault for being interesting to me, maybe my fault too, just a little! We entered the manor as my mind wandered.
