36 Chapter Thirty Six

'I have never seen them so excited before.' I thought looking at the princes and Nicholas waiting for Princess Isabel.

The princes and Nicholas were in the center of the main hall, and some servants and I were standing near them, all waiting for the princess's arrival.

Prince Noah usually seems mad while talking about his siblings, but even so, he couldn't hide the excitement he was feeling about being able to see his twin sister again.

Though he tried to maintain his usual grumpy attitude, his flushed face and impatience exposed his true feelings.

"You said Isabel was coming, where is she?" He asked impatiently to the same butler that announced Princess Isabel's arrival.

"I-I received the message that Princess Isabel arrived in the capital not long ago, so Her Highness must be near the palace by now…" The servant said, trying to calm the prince, though it was apparent he himself wasn't sure about that.

Prince Noah wasn't satisfied with the answer, but he didn't say anything, he was back staring at the main gate of the palace, hoping to see his sister's carriage.

I chuckled seeing Prince Noah acting like that.

Even Prince Dylan seemed different, though he maintained his usual polite and mature facade, I saw how bright his face was when the butler announced Princess Isabel's arrival in the dining room.

I was glad to see that their relationship wasn't as bad as I thought.

But I couldn't stop thinking that, although Princess Isabel's brothers, her cousin, and also many servants were waiting for her arrival, the King, her father, was nowhere to be seen.

'Though I know the King is a busy man, at least he should appear to see his daughter's arrival after years away from her, shouldn't he?' I thought annoyed.

"It must be her!" One of the servants said, taking me out of my thoughts.

The palace's main gate was open and carriages were getting in.

One of the carriages, followed by knights on horseback stopped in front of the palace's door.

Then, one of the knights quickly got off the horse and opened the carriage, standing his hand soon after to help the passenger inside to get off the carriage.

A small hand then held the knight's hand, it was a young girl with a long dark blonde hair in a beautiful pink and white dress. When I saw her I knew it was Princess Isabel, she was just like I remembered when I saw her two years ago.

But the moment she entered the palace and stood in front of her brothers, something changed, the excitement was gone, and for some reason, everyone seemed tense.

Even the servants that were excited to see the only princess of the realm seemed nervous when she arrived.

The princes were just standing there staring at Princess Isabel in silence.

"Greetings, brothers… Long time no see." Princess Isabel said smiling, but she wasn't happy as I thought she would be after seeing her brothers for years, actually, she seemed sad.

It was Prince Dylan the first to finally say something to her.

"Welcome home, Isabel, I am glad to see you had a safe trip. Are you alright? Aren't you tired after such a long trip?" Prince Dylan said, filling his sister with many questions while approaching her.

"I'm alright, don't worry, brother." She said smiling.

Princess Isabel then looked at Prince Noah, probably expecting him to say something to her, but Prince Noah stayed in silence staring at her.

"...Welcome, Isabel." Prince Noah said with a weird expression on his face.

Princess Isabel smiled, she seemed like she was going to say something to him, but she stopped herself when she saw Prince Noah looking away.

'Why is he acting like that?' I thought worried looking at Prince Noah that was staring at the floor evicting eye contact with Princess Isabel. He was so excited just a few minutes ago, but after seeing his sister his excitement was gone.

"Nicholas is that you? You grew a lot since the last time I saw you, I barely recognized you now." Princess Isabel said smiling then looking at Nicholas.

"I'm glad to see you again, Princess Isabel." Nicholas said bowing politely.

But then, Princess Isabel looked at the other way of the main hall surprised.

"Father?"

On the other side of the hall, the King was coming down the stairs with Mr. Williams and other servants following him.

The other servants all bowed with the King's presence, and quickly I did the same.

"I'm glad that I arrived just in time to see you, Isabel." The King said approaching her. "Are you alright, Isabel?" The King asked with a worried expression on his face.

"Y-Yes, I am, father." The princess said avoiding the King's eyes.

"It is so nice seeing the royal family all reunited again." One of the servants near me whispered, excited.

I looked at them, all together, and for a moment I saw myself standing there with them, being part of the family. But quickly I got ashamed of myself for doing that.

'Stop thinking nonsense, Alex.' I thought mad at myself while shaking my head, trying to stop imagining weird things.

"Williams, escort my daughter to her room and order some maids to prepare her a bath, she must be tired and need to rest after this long trip." The King ordered Mr. Williams.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Please, follow me, princess." Mr. Williams said, promptly following the King's orders.

Princess Isabel just nodded, and before she followed Mr. Williams she looked back at her siblings and said. "Then, see you guys later."

When Princess Isabel started to follow Mr. Williams, all servants bowed in respect to the princess, and so did I.

But I felt a weird sensation, like something was happening, and decided to raise my head.

That moment I saw that Princess Isabel wasn't following Mr. Williams anymore, she was standing there staring at me.

I gulped, nervous. 'I-Is she staring at me?'

"Is anything wrong, princess?" Mr. Williams asked her when he noticed she wasn't following him anymore.

Princess Isabel kept staring at me for a moment with a weird expression on her face, but then she looked at Mr. Williams and said smiled as if nothing happened.

"No, there is nothing wrong." She said, following Mr. Williams again.

I kept my eyes on her all her way to the stairs and sighed relieved when she left.

'She was staring at me, wasn't her?' I asked myself remembering Princess Isabel's gaze at me.

When I looked again at the princes and the King, their conversation seemed to have already ended since the King was leaving followed by some servants.

I didn't know if I should approach the princes and Nicholas or not, the mood between them seemed odd.

Prince Noah seemed distant, lost in his feeling, while Prince Dylan and Nicholas were there looking at him without knowing what to say.

"Excuse me, but Prince Dylan, your tutor is waiting for you for a while now." Said one of Prince Dylan's maids.

"Alright." He said, but then he looked at Prince Noah and asked. "I have to go now, but I see you at dinner, right?"

Prince Noah just nodded.

For a moment I could see Prince Dylan hesitating if he should say something or not, and then he said. "...Bye, then."

Prince Dylan then left, followed by his maids.

Nicholas and Prince Noah were left alone, I looked at Mary and the other maids, but they were all there standing looking at Prince Noah without knowing what to do.

"Noah, let's have a match!" Nicholas suddenly said, excited.

"What?" Prince Noah asked confused.

"Let's have a sword fight! I have been training a lot lately, I want to show you how much I improved." Nicholas explained.

"...I don't want to." Prince Noah said, turning his back to Nicholas.

"Why? Are you afraid of losing?" Nicholas asked, teasing Prince Noah.

Prince Noah then looked back at Nicholas and said mad. " I would never lose to you."

"Then prove it." Nicholas said with a grin on his face.

Prince Noah stared at him for a moment and then sighed. "Alright, let's have a match."

Just when I saw Nicholas's genuine smile when Prince Noah accepted the match I realized his true intentions all along, he just wanted to cheer Prince Noah up.

'Even though they were fighting not much long ago, it doesn't change that they care for each other, huh.' I realized smiling while looking at them.

***

'I thought it was supposed to be just a friendly match.' I thought, watching Prince Noah and Nicholas's match.

At first, they were trying to strike one another cautiously, being careful with their moves, but now they were quickly launching their attacks at each other with all of their strength. If one of them is not fast enough to block or dodge the other's attack he will definitely get hurt.

'If they weren't using wooden swords I would be pretty worried now.' I thought, looking at them.

Though they are both pretty skillful, it is not hard to notice Prince Noah's advantage. His moves are faster and stronger, not giving much time for Nicholas to block and recover from his attacks. It is surprising how far Nicholas is enduring this fight, though.

'But at this rate, Nicholas will lose.' I thought, worried, noticing how exhausted Nicholas was.

"Hey, you! Hey!" Someone shouted repeatedly.

For a moment I thought it was just the people in the training ground nearby talking to each other, so ignored it.

But the voice got closer and then someone grabbed my wrist from behind and turned me around to look at them.

It was the red-haired boy that saw me in the infirmary days ago.

"I found you!" He shouted, calling the attention of the people around us.

I didn't know what to say, the boy was firmly holding my wrist with a serious look on his face.

'W-What should I do?' I thought, desperate.

Prince Noah and Nicholas stopped their match and were looking at us.

"Who is that, Alex?" Nicholas asked, coming toward us.

"What are you doing to one of my servants?" Prince Noah then asked, staring at the boy, annoyed.

When he noticed Prince Noah, the boy quickly released my wrist, and then he bowed. "Greetings, Your Highness… I am deeply sorry for disturbing your training."

"You still didn't answer my question! What were you doing to my servant?" Prince Noah shouted, mad.

The boy started to tremble, unsure of what to say. "I…I'm…"

I quickly stepped in front of the boy, before he could say anything. "He is my friend, Your Highness!"

"Friend?" Prince Noah asked looking at the boy.

"Y-Yeah, it has been some time last since he saw me since I started to work for you, Your Highness, that is why he behaved like that. I apologize." I bowed, trying to be convincing.

"I see..." Prince Noah said staring at us.

"Can I talk to him for a moment somewhere else, Your Highness?" I decided to ask.

Prince Noah stared at the boy, and then back at me, before saying. "Alright, but don't take too long."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" I said, relieved.

I quickly held the boy's hand and forced him to follow me as far as I could from Prince Noah and the others, when we were already far enough I made sure there was nobody near, then I stopped and looked at the boy.

He was just staring at the ground, quiet, but then he asked. "...Are you really Prince Noah's servant?"

"Yes, I am." I answered.

"Why?" He asked, finally looking into my eyes.

"What are you talking about?" I asked though I knew why he was asking me that.

"What are your intentions? What are you doing here in the palace?" The boy asked me with a serious look on his face.

"I don't know what you are talking about… I am just a servant, I work here." I said, trying to convince him.

"You are lying! I know what I saw that day!" He said, then he suddenly grabbed the collar of my shirt.

"W-What are you doing?!" I shouted, surprised.

"I know that you are a shapeshifter creature, your facade can't fool me anymore! As a page of the royal family, I will end with you right now!"