Chapter Forty Nine

"Two… Erick?"

For a moment I couldn't understand how two Erick were in front of me until the "Erick" behind me started laughing.

"You didn't know we were twins, did you?" He asked, smiling.

"Twins?" I said, surprised.

'That… actually makes sense.' I thought, embarrassed about myself, realizing how obvious it actually was.

"Do you know this boy?" The "Erick" that entered the library after me, asked his twin, frowning.

The twin looked at me while answering his brother. "Yes, we have met before."

"We did?" I asked surprised, but then I realized. "T-Then you were the one I, huh… met not so long ago near the training ground?"

The boy nodded and said with a playful smile on his face. "Yes. I am Ethan, sorry for not introducing myself properly earlier."

'So the one I met while following Theo was Ethan, not Erick.' I realized.

'Then, this one is the real Erick.' I thought looking at the other twin that had the same despite in his eyes while looking at me as he did earlier when we first met.

'Now…it all makes sense why "Erick" was so nice to me earlier.' I thought, ashamed of myself.

"If I'm not wrong you didn't introduce yourself as well. What is your name?" Ethan asked, smiling.

"I am Alex." I said.

"He is Prince Noah's servant." Erick said soon after me, surprising Ethan.

"Y-Yes, I am Prince Noah's servant." I said, feeling a bit unsure. Usually, I wouldn't care much about my status, but after Erick's reaction, I didn't know what to expect from Ethan.

Ethan had a weird expression on his face for a moment, but then he surprised me with a gentle smile.

"I see. Then you are here to pick up some books for Prince Noah, I assume."

"Y-Yes, t-that is exactly why I'm here." I lied, nervous.

"Do you want any help? I can help you if you want." Ethan said, approaching me, friendly.

Before I could answer him, Erick pulled Ethan away from me.

"What are you doing? Didn't you hear me? He is that prince's servant." Erick said, mad.

Ethan was silent for a moment before he said. "...I don't care."

Erick seemed shocked by his twin's answer, he seemed to get even angrier. "How can you-"

Erick was interrupted by Ethan suddenly grabbing Erick's arm tightly, saying firmly, looking at his twin eyes intensely. "I said I don't care."

Ethan suddenly seemed like a different person, totally different from the gentle boy from a second ago.

Erick kept staring into his brother's eyes, frowning, mad. It seemed like the two boys were about to fight each other, but then Erick backed off, clicking his tongue.

"Tsk." Erick took his brother's hand off his arm and said. "Do as you wish."

Then to my surprise, Erick left the library without saying anything else or even looking behind, like he didn't care anymore.

Ethan looked back at me smiling gently. "I am sorry for my brother's behavior he can be hard to deal with sometimes."

"It is alright…" I said feeling uneasy knowing that Erick's treatment of me would just get worse, after all his twin sided with me and not him.

"Don't worry, I will talk to Erick later, he won't do anything against you, I promise." Ethan said with confidence like he knew how I was feeling.

"Thank you, Ethan." I said, forcing a smile.

'At least different from his twin, Ethan seems pretty nice.' I thought, feeling relieved. 'But I doubt that Erick will change how he feels about me just because of Ethan.'

Ethan smiled at me and then asked, changing the topic. "Were you able to find your friend?"

I was confused at first until I realized what he meant.

"Yes, I found him thanks to you." I said, remembering that it was Ethan whom I met while I was looking for Theo.

Ethan smiled then he asked. "You said before that you are here to take some books to Prince Noah, do you need any help?"

"N-No, there is no need. I can do this on my own." I said, nervous, remembering that it was all a lie.

Ethan seemed disappointed.

"I see. Then, I will be over there finishing my book." He said, looking at one of the tables in the library with books on it. "Do you mind passing by before you leave?" He asked, hopeful.

"Y-Yes, of course, but I might take a while looking for the books." I said, unsure.

"It's fine I have plenty of time." Ethan said, calmly.

"Alright, I will take my leave then." I said, bowing respectfully.

"See you." Ethan said, smiling.

***

'It is this book, isn't it?' I asked myself, unsure.

After leaving Ethan and walking through the many bookshelves in the royal library, I found one book that seemed to be the one I found in Prince Noah's bedroom earlier.

Since Erick was gone, and Ethan believed that I was in the royal library because of Prince Noah, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to find the book just as I initially intended.

'The Little Princess and the Dragon.' Was the title of the book.

"This… doesn't seem like a book Prince Noah would read, though." I thought, out loud.

The book was a typical 'fairy tale' book.

The main character was a young girl from a fictional realm. She was born into the royal family, she was the youngest child of the King and Queen.

She was beloved, pampered, and cared for by her parents, siblings, and all servants in the royal palace.

The little princess had a privileged, happy, and carefree life until everything changed. It wasn't sudden, but for a young girl like the little princess, it was like everything in her life fell apart overnight.

It all started after her ten years old birthday. The treatment she received from her parents and later her siblings slightly changed after that. The usual warm and affectionate behavior they had towards her started to change.

The affection in their eyes the little princess was so used to, disappeared. And whenever they smiled at her, the princess knew that none of them were real anymore.

The little princess that had never needed to do anything to gain the affection she had always received all her life, started to work hard to please her family, trying her best to make things go back to how they used to be.

She studied more, trained more, and did everything possible to become the best princess she could be, all for the sake of trying to have back her family's love.

But it didn't matter how much she tried, her relationship with her family never improved, actually just got worse.

The little princess never understood the reason behind her parents' cold attitude toward her, why her beloved siblings suddenly distanced themselves from her, or even why the servants that used to always be polite and kind to her started to be rude and mistreat her.

It was just after her twelve years old birthday she finally discovered the reason her life was torn apart.

It was all because she had no magic.

Over the years, since when she was just a little child, the princess never showed any trace of magic. During her magic training over the years, never once the princess succeeded to use magic.

From her own beloved siblings, she discovered that she was widely known as 'the royal family's disgrace'. That her own existence tarnished the reputation of the royal family.

All royal members were notorious for being powerful and skilled mages. Not just that, being a mage was a symbol of nobility, so how could a princess be someone that doesn't possess magic?

From then on, the little princess felt like an outcast in her own home.

The mistreatment the princess was receiving from everyone started to become more and more open, getting even worse as time passed as everyone realized how an easy target the little princess was since there was no one that cared enough about her to defend her.

The first and last time the little princess cried to her father, the King, asking for help, she realized that the love her father had for her was fully gone. There was nothing but contempt in his eyes when he looked at the little princess, blaming her for the treatment she was receiving.

And then, it didn't take long for rumors about the Queen having an affair with a peasant starting to spread around. And that the youngest princess was not the King's child.

So then on, the little princess wasn't just known for being 'the royal family's disgrace', but also the Queen's bastard child. All that, just because the princess wasn't born as a mage.

These rumors affected not just the princess but mainly the Queen's reputation and her relationship with the King. It didn't take long for the annunciation of the King and Queen's divorcee to happen.

Naively, the little princess went after her mother to console her after learning about the bad news and apologize knowing she was the reason for their divorce.

The little princess couldn't even imagine how horrible her mother would react to seeing her. An alcoholic and distressed Queen blamed and even assaulted the little princess for being the reason for her misery.

Hurt and humiliated, the little princess ran away from her mother, her family, and from her home.

Taken by her emotions, the little princess didn't notice where she was going. She just wanted to leave everything behind, she just wanted to get away from all her pain.

It was too late when the little princess finally realized where she was. She was lost deep in the forest all alone.

And to the princess's misfortune, she was startled by some sounds around her that soon revealed to be a pack of wolves.

Even though the little princess ran as fast as she could, in the end, she was surrounded by the wolves, and there was no way she could escape from them.

The little princess lost her hope, thinking that she would miserably die, attacked by wolves just after she had finally freed herself from her miserable life in the palace.

But as a miracle or maybe a nightmare, a dragon appeared flying over them. The pack of wolves instinctively ran away, leaving the little princess to the dragon.

The princess blocked her eyes with her arms, protecting herself from the strong gust of wind the dragon caused while landing in front of her.

No words came out of her mouth as she faced the dragon. The princess had already lost all hope, she just closed her eyes, wishing that at least she would have a quick and painless death.

But then, feeling the dragon's warm breath on her skin, the princess opened her eyes and was shocked to see how close the dragon's face was to hers. She fell back in fright, shaking with fear.

The dragon was still staring at her, but he seemed more curious watching her than wanting to make her his meal.

He brought his face even closer to the girl, sniffing her.

The princess, realizing the strange attitude of the dragon touched the dragon's face, then got surprised to see how he let her pat him. Looking into the dragon's eyes, the little princess realized that the dragon had no intention of harming her.

A day passed and the dragon didn't leave the little princess's side.

It didn't matter if the little princess ran the faster she could, the dragon stubbornly kept following her. The little princess gave up on the idea of staying away from the dangerous and scary dragon, accepting the dragon's company, though she still felt scared of him there was nothing much she could do.

She was just happy that the dragon didn't want to harm her.

It didn't take long for the dragon's presence to be the least of the little princess's problems. After more than a day with no food the hunger was too painful for her.

Even though she was constantly abused at the palace the little princess never had to worry about food while she was there. And then the princess started to questioning herself, and blaming herself for leaving the place that only hurt her.

She didn't know if it was the fear of being lost in a forest, the hunger, or if it was the painful realization that even if she went back to the palace only horrible things waited for her, but the little princess couldn't stop crying.

The little princess tried to stop her tears, but she couldn't control her sobbing.

And so the last cruel hit on the little princess's heart happened. The dragon suddenly flew away, leaving her behind, devastating even more the princess's feelings.

All the little princess could think was that her crying annoyed the dragon and that even he couldn't bear to stay around a girl like her. And that maybe she indeed deserved to be left by everyone.

But then the dragon was back, surprising the little princess flying above her. Before landing he tossed a whole tree he was holding with his claws into the ground near the little princess, startling her.

It was an apple tree full of apples.

The little princess was confused looking at the dragon's big eyes that just stared back at her and then at the apple tree.

["Is it… for me?"] The little princess asked, surprised.

The dragon didn't answer, but he kept impatiently staring at the little princess like he was waiting for a reaction from the girl.

Uncertain, the little princess picked one of the apples from the tree and took a bite.

With tears in her eyes, the little princess said to the dragon.

["Thank you."]

Since then the dragon never left the little princess's side, or you could say it was the other way around.

It took a while for the princess fully understand the dragon, but when she did, the dragon wasn't intimidating anymore. For the princess, being around the dragon was more comforting than being around other people.

With him, she felt safe.

And that was the reason why when the little princess found the way out of the forest leading back to the capital she decided to stay, to stay with the dragon.

Several years have passed since the princess met the dragon.

In these years they lived like nomads never staying too long in the same place until the princess decided to establish her life in a lovely small town.

The little princess wasn't little nor a princess anymore, she was already a beautiful young woman that worked as a waitress in a small town far away from the capital where she used to live.

But every weekend, the princess went to a forest nearby the town to meet her oldest friend, the dragon.

The princess feared that one day the dragon would fly away leaving her behind since in the last few years he never stayed too long in the same place. He was the only one she could call family.

The dragon all those years was always by her side, protecting and taking care of her. He was always there for her, taking more care of her than her family ever did. And it seemed like he knew that the princess didn't want to leave that town, so he decided to stay as well, always waiting for her next visit.

But as the months passed by, the princess discovered in the worst way why the dragon never stayed for too long in the same place. Tons of mercenaries and royal knights appeared in the town one day wanting to kill the dragon.

The news and rumors that there was a dragon living near that town spread quickly calling the attention of many people and the authorities.

The princess fearing for the dragon's life ran in the direction of the forest hoping she could find the dragon before any of them.

But on her way, she was stopped by a group of mercenaries that had the worst intentions in their minds. The princess tried to run but was caught, she started screaming for help and in a blink of an eye the dragon appeared flying above them.

The mercenaries quickly wield their weapons, but the dragon's reaction was faster than theirs, before they could even try to defend themselves, the dragon still in the air released his flames, pulverizing all of them.

The princess after recovering herself ran in the dragon's direction as soon as he landed on the ground, trying to tell him to go away, but it was too late. A bigger group of mercenaries had appeared.

The dragon placed himself between the mercenaries and the princess, defensively, blocking her from them.

A ferocious battle began.

Hundreds of well-equipped mercenaries weren't enough to put up a fight against the dragon. The princess had never seen the dragon this way, he seemed to be out of his mind, furiously killing all mercenaries in front of him.

No mercenary was left alive.

For a moment the princess thought that she would face the same fate as them if she dared to get closer to him, but then the scary and mortal aura around the dragon disappeared when he looked at the princess.

Then, gently the dragon caressed the princess with his face, he seemed relieved to see her well. The princess started crying hugging the dragon, relieved, knowing that her dear friend was safe.

But then, the dragon suddenly distanced himself from her. He was standing still, staring at her.

The princess knew right away what the dragon wanted to say. He needed to go and leave this town.

And so, she had to choose if she was gonna stay or leave with the dragon.

The princess knew that if she stayed she would probably never see the dragon again, but if she left with him she knew she would have to leave behind the normal life she has been learning to cherish.

Before the princess could make her decision, the dragon suddenly became wary quickly looking up, there was a barrage of arrows flying in the sky coming in their direction.

The dragon blocked the princess with his body and then burned most of the arrows in the sky with his fire before they could hit them.

The ones attacking the princess and the dragon were the powerful royal knights that arrived with the mercenaries in the town under the King's order to hunt the dragon down.

They were miles away from the dragon and the princess, shooting arrows at them again.

The dragon once again used his fire to protect them from the arrows that came from above, but it made him undefended from the fire magic launched by a group of royal knights that hit him hard on the chest.

Trying to counter-attack, the dragon threw his powerful flames trying to hit all of them in just one attack. But the knights received no damage thanks to all the earth mages that used their combined power to block the dragon's flames with a thick and resilient earth wall.

Realizing how strong and organized the royal knights were, the dragon quickly decided to retreat taking the princess with him. He knew that if he tried to fight them head-on, he wouldn't be able to protect the princess and fight all the knights at once.

But the royal knights wouldn't let him go so easily. The moment the dragon began to flap his wings, beginning to fly, air mages all together used their magic to create a powerful blast of air that pierced through his exposed chest.

Both the dragon and the princess fell. The princess was harmless thanks to the dragon using his last energy to protect the princess from the impact, but the dragon otherwise was severely hurt.

The princess cried calling for him, running toward his face. She couldn't stop her tears after seeing how injured the dragon was, he could barely keep his eyes open while trying to look at her.

The princess hugged his face, crying. She didn't stop apologizing, blaming herself for the dragon's fate. But in the dragon's eyes, there was no remorse. He just seemed relieved for seeing the princess safe.

In the dragon's last moments, all he could hear was the princess saying how much she loved him, begging for him to not leave her.

And then, when the princess thought the dragon was gone, a miracle happened. The dragon's body was covered by light and then the princess couldn't believe it when right in front of her the dragon became a human man.