As we returned to the manor after the party and I was now sitting in my room reading through the documents regarding the current bills in the parliament. I had left it to Jan to make arrangements for her stay. As I was sipping the tea Jan had prepared for me when the day's incidents flashed through my mind. What an odd day!

On the way home when I told her she'll be staying in the manor for a while and she looked unimpressed. Rather depressed.

"Do you not have hotels in Dres Van?", she asked in a quiet voice reading the atmosphere.

"Of course we do but...", Jan started to reason with her but she cut him off.

"Then I don't see why I can't stay in one..."

Just what is she saying? Does she not grasp the situation yet? She's a trespasser and I'm offering a stay at the manor but she wants to stay at a hotel?! What a weird woman! I had thought it's an honor to let her stay in the manor, after all she's a commoner getting to stay at the royal grounds. But she looked reluctant to do so for whatever her reasons were. Not to mention the unnessecary bills. Then I had a sudden thought, Maybe she doesn't want to be near me? I didn't know why I had that thought but it made me feel strange. So I addressed her coming up with a reason.

"Why do you insist on doing something that will obviously cost money?", I said with a tone as if to say no room for argument. She fell silent and Jan spoke with his cheerful voice.

"I shall arrange a room for you at the Manor. How about you come and stay there for the time being?"

"But...", she looked to me and I was already in irritation which I bet showed on my face.

"I'll wait on you myself to make sure you're well cared for", Jan said with the biggest smile and she nodded. Hmph, whatever!

As my mind wandered, feeling eyes on me I looked up to see Jan watching me with an incredulous look on his face.

"If you've got something to say then say it."

"I've never seen your highness spaced out before to not even hear me calling your name...", he said in a surprised tone, eyes wide. I didn't hear him call out to me as I was lost in my thoughts. So to hide it I cleared my throat.

"I was merely thinking about how to get this over with as soon as possible. Prepare the immigration papers for her departure", I said in a flat tone and he bowed.

"Of course, your highness. I'll take my leave now."

As the door shut I put the documents down and sighed. The King was away on diplomatic visit and won't be back for a while but I hoped this doesn't turn into a big deal.It was already late so I thought of getting some sleep. As I was lying on my bed my thoughts drifted to the girl in question, Odette Willows. The only woman I've ever had thoughts about twice, thrice... many times, for the first time in my life.

I woke early as usual the next morning. I felt myself feeling more positive than usual. I washed my face and got dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. It's is my morning routine to exercise everyday. And according to the rules a civil servant, a prince no less, should stay fit. As I was at my morning jog in the castle gardens I went over the schedule for the day in my mind. I had paper work to do and a few meetings so I knew the day won't be hectic. I then saw her face in my minds eye and a smile came to my lips. Not meaning to I stopped and looked up at her room. 'She must be asleep...I should pay her a visit later.'

Stunned by the thought, shaking my head I resumed running.

As I returned to my room I had a shower and was getting things ready for the day's duties when Jan entered with tea.

"Good morning, your highness", he bowed with a smile and handed me the cup.

"Is she awake? Did you take tea to her?", as I said this he had the same look as the last night while responding.

"I have yet to your highness."

"Fine. I'll see her once she's awake. Probably she won't understand the language, so get a Learner's dictionary and the computer ready at once", I gave out orders to him but he was still looking at me like that.

"As you wish, My lord. I'll inform you when Miss Odette is awake. Now if you'll excuse me", he then left with those words his expression the same wonder all the time.

Quite some time has passed and I didn't see any sign of Jan. 'Is she still asleep? Hmph...a commoner without any discipline! I'll go see myself!' I got to my feet with these thoughts and headed to her room. As I reached her room I heard voices and someone chuckle. Hmm...who's that? Then Odette's and Roberto's voice reached me.

"Alright then...Would I be permitted to contact my parents though...? I'm living alone at the moment and if they can't get through to me then..."

"Oh, to your Mama and Papa?", Roberto said in that loud voice of his.

Her question took me by total surprise. Why would she need to tell her parents? Is she underage? But I thought she'd be around 20 or 21...hmm. I then entered her room asking her.

"Are you not of age yet?" My question got me response from both the men but her.

"Y-your highness!", Jan wasn't expecting me there from his voice. Then Roberto said amused much to my irritation.

"Good morning Prince Joshua. You are looking wonderfully fierce this morning", I sighed and said somethingto just cover my irritation which has now turned into worry for her.

"I was born looking fierce. Now, Odette...", her head snapped to me.

"Y-yes"

"Are you underage?"

"No, Not at all. Why?", she looked at me incredulous. Now I failed to see the problem.

"Then isn't about time you stopped crying for your mommy and daddy. You shouldn't need to call them about everything", I sighed inwardly at her behavior. "There's honestly no hope for a commoner woman who act's like a child." Her face froze then she snapped at me.

"What's so childish about calling worried parents!?"

"If you continue to rely on them and can't stand in your own two feet, then you're no more than a child", I said flatly. Actually I didn't get why they'd be worried at all. 'How much of a child she is to call her parents for every little thing? At this rate she'll never be strong enough to take care of herself.'

"If I don't contact them they'll only become even more worried! I think a person who'd allow that is the childish one!", she said indignantly. Now she's called me a child, pompous little...!

"They won't worry after just one week...", I said my voice nonchalant and she shouted at me.

"A normal parent would!"

When I heard the word normal parent my chest felt tight. Even after all these years I couldn't forget the pain of not being able to experience the love of my parents as a kid.

"A normal parent...", I muttered to myself. As I stood there lost in my mind Roberto spoke up.

"Parental issues aside, when there's trouble don't you have the duty to contact someone? She's doing her duty by contacting them, that's all", I felt like he's said something truly meaningful in a while and nodded. So that's how it works, huh? I decided to go with his reasoning but not entirely convinced. Still she could do with a week of stay without telling her parents.

"I see... so it isn't a lack of independence then." As I prodded his words loudly how she shouted at me flashed in my mind.

"Although you should show more respect when you speak to me. I'm the Crown Prince of this Kingdom!", I said a little coldly. She's the most insolent woman I've ever met.

"I-I'm sorry...", she bowed. Then Roberto stepped up to her, placing a hand on her head and stroking her hair with a smile. As she looked at him I felt... sick in my stomach. Why? I didn't know.

"You must watch your tone as well, Prince Joshua... People will start to doubt your capacity as a man." At that my face flushed and all the words I had to say caught struck in my throat. Prince Roberto is sometimes just too much, well he usually is. To change the topic from me I called out to Jan who, up until now, was standing nearby watching everything silently.

"Jan, bring that thing to me."

"What? What thing?", he asked as if he was only hearing it now. I shot him a glare and slammed my fist in my hand in frustration. It must have dawned on him because he bowed.

"Oh! Right! Understood. I'll bring it right away." He then sprinted out of the room. A sigh escaped my lips. This guy!

"Honestly, it's like he's in his own little world. He's always going to be useless", I whispered to myself. He sometimes wanders off in his mind and this ain't the first. She was looking at me with her face screwed up. I wonder why?!

"He's brilliant and seems to care for you most of all", Roberto said softly hitting the nail on the head. I frowned visibly. He's not wrong about it though since Jan has been the only one I had with me since I left my parents for the Royal training. But what does Roberto know? Almost nothing.

"What would you know?"

He just laughed. "I think you would know Jan's true nature better than myself, Prince Joshua", he said in a tone that was part chiding and part mocking. His implication on my words piqued me so I bit back on my responses. It was suddenly silent and her scrutinizing eyes made me feel awkward. Then I heard Jan's footsteps in the hallway.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Jan came with the documents needed. It will be quite some work but she must get it done if she were to leave. Imagining her shocked reaction to the stack a smile tugged on my lips.

Those will be permit forms for visa to enter and exit the kingdom. We maintain detailed records for security reasons. Once she fills them out and it's approved she can leave and I'll have one less thing to worry about. Anyway she's no heiress or noble woman so sooner she leaves the better. I guess she wants to leave too, more badly than me.

"Departure papers. Here we have everything you need to fill out before being able to leave the kingdom", I tell her with the smile still on and as expectedshe had the look of 'impossible' written all over her face. Ah, that funny face!!

"I have to fill out all of these!?"

"Yes. You want to leave as soon as possible, right? Then get these filled out." I speak in a monotone. She was eyeing those papers when Roberto said something completely unexpected which threw everyone into a state of shock.

"Dear me...would you rather become my bride instead?"

I forgot to breath for a second there. His... bride?! My heart skipped a beat hearing the word 'bride'. Seriously he'll take a stranger, that too a lowly commoner for his wife? How useless! But I guess she was shocked too. A 'Huh...?' was all she could manage eyes popping out.

"That way you could leave easily, as a member of the royal family", he looked completely serious and I began to doubt if he's really at it. I couldn't hide my surprise that he'll ask her that.

"What are you thinking!? She's a commoner. You can't possibly want...", my voice was an octave high than usual which baffled me.

"I'm kidding! Really Josh... You shouldn't take everything so seriously", he said so casually that I wanted to land him a punch. He's the one who should stop saying weird stuff like it's nothing.

"Oh. But I don't really have a problem with marrying a commoner." As I heard him say that I gritted my teeth to give my next rebuttal when Jan came between us.

"That's enough. If you would consent to stopping this conversation here, Prince Roberto. I'm sure you must be leaving soon and we do not want to get in the way of your public duties." Roberto came to his senses and looked at the clock.

"Oh yes...I'm sorry my dear Odette, I must go now." He then retrieved his mobile. "If you have any problems, let me know. Here's my cell phone number."

I can't believe this guy would give his personal mobile number to a commoner girl, who he barely knew. Roberto's insane acts knew no ends. But he forgets often that he's a prince.

"You are a curious person Prince Roberto, exchanging phone numbers with a commoner", I said inquisitive and she looked at me with judging eyes.

"See you later", as she watched him leave she looked like she didn't want him to go. Then Jan turned to her with that butler smile.

"Now Miss Odette. Is it alright to leave you with filling out these papers?"

"O-okay"

"I want you gone as well, so get to it", I spat out in my irritation.

"Wha!?" She choked and Jan sighed.

"Your highness shouldn't speak to her like that." Not wanting to continue this pointless talk anymore I turned my back to them.

"I'll leave everything else to you Jan. Got it?" He bowed low. "Your will is my command, Master." Then I left the room swiftly.

I entered my office and floped down on my chair. There was more work that needed my approval than I thought because of the party yesterday. Ugh...that's how this started! I tried my best to keep my mind to work. As the day wore off and I was done with the meetings I thought of going to see how far she's gotten with the papers. It was quite the late hours but I could see light through the crack in the door. Whoa, she's still working on it?

I knocked on the door due to the hour and her being a lady but no response. After another knock I pushed open the door to see her sleeping on the desk halfway through writing with her pen open and all. She was no where near completion but the amount of papers she completed so far was quite impressive. It's just been a day and in an unfamiliar language too. I guess she must be really desperate to get the hell out of here.

The thought of her wanting to leave that badly made me feel a bit down, though I don't know the reason. Actually it was fun to have someone to bicker and banter with for all that I might sound insane now. Someone unpretentious and definitely different from the rest of the harpies I've met. The only woman who didn't think of me as a prince let alone want me or chase me around. More like ignored me when I tried to talk at Nobel Michel. But by the promise I made during coronation as Prince and the rules of Dres Van I'll marry a princess or a noble woman.

Oh, wait! Where'd the thought of marriage come from all of a sudden?

Still, at that moment, watching her sleeping peacefully she looked so innocent, kind of cute and I stood there forgetting who I'm completely.

"Sleeping like this you'll catch a cold", I said softly taking a blanket from the cupboards and placed it over her shoulders . She stirred slightly muttering unintelligible things but showed no sign of waking up. I've never watched someone sleep like this and I found myself smiling. With that I left to my office to get the rest of my work done.

Some time has passed and Jan brought some tea along with my schedule for the next day. As I was listening to him what she told about calling her parents came to my mind and I interrupted him.

"Jan, get a new cell phone tomorrow first thing in the morning. National and international calls enabled. Got it?"

He blinked at me for a moment but nodded all the same. "Of course, Your highness. And I believe it's for Miss Odette?!", he half questioned and I nodded wordlessly. Then I looked down to the documents again and heard the click of the door closing.

The day was not very busy but I had a hard time keeping my mind in work. As I said earlier I tried my best to concentrate yet a part of my mind was thinking about Odette. Maybe I'm like this because it was unexpected and she's unusual?! I guess I'll forget all this once she's gone, though I'm not sure.

'What's wrong with you Joshua?! You're a prince of this Kingdom and she's a worthless commoner. You shouldn't be thinking about a woman so pull yourself together', I ordered my mind but it seemed to have it's own control. My body too, with the odd workings I've never felt before in my chest and stomach. Anyway it's frustrating and thrilling at the same time. And I like this new me!