7 You Again?!! 2

Getting into the room, Adriele climbed on the bed and tried getting some sleep, " I might have been hallucinating, how else do you explain him being here" she thought to herself. Since that day they met and he called her a weakling, she had been thinking about it so much, which made her wonder why the words of someone she didn't know mattered to her enough to make her feel bad about herself. A few minutes later, she eventually went to sleep.

************

"Come over here dear," a woman called for her little girl who had been watching her cook up some leaves. " Do you recognize this?" she said holding up a stem of leaves in her hands

" No mom, you have never shown this herb to me"

"Well this," she said pointing the leaves, " is called *Wonder light"

" Really mom? Why is it called that?" the girl asked excitement. Her mother was into herbs and she knew the use of both medicinal and poisonous plants.

" It's called that because it can cure and rid the body of any disease or poison no matter how deadly within six months of the poison or disease in the person's body."

" So that's what you used to help nanny Cynthia when she got bitten by the snake"

"Yes, always remember my teachings of these plants, you should help others and yourself with them. Okay, Adriele."* Adriele... Adriele

The voice became faint in her memory as she woke up to see the room she had lived in for five years, the bright-colored window blinds, the large and soft bed she laid on right now, she remembered how many nights she had sobbed on this bed after her parent's demise. Though it had been more than a decade since her parents passed, she has never stopped missing them, and every once in a while she would have dreams about them. During the time they died, it was a nightmare she couldn't escape from. Getting out of bed, she went to the bathroom to freshen up when a knock was heard on the door. In came Giselle the only servant of the palace who could handle her while she was here.

" Good morning Lady Adriele," she said with a curtsy bow.

" Good morning, Giselle"

"It's time for your bath," she said walking into the bathroom to get the water ready for her bath."

"Oh my, Giselle, you got in and you didn't even give me a hug

" I'm sorry my lady but commoners and the high class should not interact with each other especially not a servant" the woman answered politely.

" Giselle, I've told you more than once, when you're with me, lighten up. So how has the state of the royal household been?"

" It has been great, I guess. And I did miss you, to think the little girl who couldn't stop crying after her parent's demise has grown up to a beautiful young lady, so I thought you might have finally learned to use the etiquette of a Lady better, but now I see it is not so"

" Hey, I do practice it"

" You're not supposed to be talking with me then"

" Whatever, Giselle, I missed you," she said giving the woman a tight hug.

" Okay, the water is ready, you can go take a bath now. Your clothes are on the bed when you're done come downstairs and have breakfast." and then she left the room.

Unlike others who prefer to be served bath, Adriele wasn't like that. Her bath time was her alone time to pull herself together so she can handle the day.

Back at the dining room the Prince's and Princess's were getting into their seats and likewise so were Darren and Killian. Adriele left the room, coming downstairs with a pale yellow slim gown which revealed her figure when Darren caught sight of her yesterday, he was sure she'd come for breakfast and that was the reason he came down today. Seeing her walk down the stairs, he felt a sense of joy just by watching her, and he didn't know why it felt that way. Adriele who had noticed the eyes on her not bothering to look up fixated her eyes on the floor.

"Adriele" someone called out to her, it was Dennis the youngest in the room and he was her first friend when she first got here.

" Greetings your Highness, she bowed to Dennis when he pulled her in for a hug.

" I've missed you, big sis"

" Missed you too, Dennis" hand in hand Dennis and Adriele walked towards the others at the dining table where breakfast was being served by the maids. Going over Adriele bowed and greeted everyone present there when someone with a smirk winked at her

" He's here? What is he doing here" Adriele thought to herself and just then the King and Queen came in. Everybody got up from their seats and bowed to them before they sat down. The maids served the food on the different plates in front of them.

" Welcome back Adriele," the King said

" It's an honor, your Majesty" she replied.

" Prince Killian and Darren meet our godsister Adriele, she's the goddaughter of the King and Queen of Silverland" Derick Introduced her to them Killian, and Adriele exchanged bows, while Darren winked at her again which went unnoticed by all except Killian.

After breakfast, Darren was having a chat with the Princesses, Derick had gone for a political errand sent by his father, Dennis, on the other hand, went to find Adriele's favorite flowers as compensation for not being able to attend her birthday party. Adriele was in the garden staring at the environment. Killian came outside only to find Adriele gazing into space.

" Didn't expect to see you here, Miss" he said to gain her attention.

Startled by him, she turned around and gave a quick bow, with a composed expression making sure he doesn't know he startled her. But Killian knew very well she was caught off guard by him, he was very observant and that was why he could easily figure out what was going on with Darren.

" Your Highness"

Killian returned the bow and said, " It's a beautiful garden isn't it?" she gave him a nod. " What is your favorite flower here miss..."

" Adriele, your highness," she said.

" Adriele, hmm, you have a strange name, I mean to say it's unique, never heard of it before," he said not wanting to come out to be rude.

" It's okay, I hear that a lot and my favorite are the lilies over there."

" Why, if I may ask?"

" It was planted by my mom"'

" Oh, why didn't she come with you, I heard it's the King and Queen's anniversary two days from now."

" Naturally, they would have been here a week before the anniversary, my mom and the Queen would be the ones to personally organize everything, but unfortunately my parents are of late," she said giving him a sad smile.

" I'm sorry for your loss"

" Thanks, your Highness," she said and then added" Why don't I give you a tour of the garden"

" Sure,"

Adriele and Killian walked around in the garden and she gave him full details of the flowers there, their origin, use, and their catchy nicknames which got him laughing out loud. They bonded well with each other until Killian was called by Derick to discuss some matters of the state with the King. She was all alone again at least that's what she thought. A voice came from behind the tree she sat on "Hey, Adriele, didn't think I'd find you in the Palace."

" Hello, Your Highness," she said. After she found out he was a prince she couldn't help but feel sorry for herself and embarrassed after their first meeting.

" Hello, Adriele, how was your trip, did you encounter any hooligans on the way," he said with a joking smile.

" It was great and I had some guards accompany me, thanks for asking" she answered trying to be as polite as possible, considering this man was still emphasizing on her being a softy who couldn't protect herself which made her annoyed but she couldn't afford to offend him as he is a Prince. " That's good to know," he said knowing full well that she was annoyed and he would pay any price to see the look on her face.

Not wanting to continue this conversation and maybe lash out at the Prince she better leave. " Excuse me, Your Highness, I have to go back now"

" So soon, nonetheless I have to talk to you about something, meet me out here during the anniversary party," he said with a serious look.

" But why?" she asked curious about why he was asking her to meet him, if it was something she could do immediately, she wanted to get it over and done with.

Leaning forward towards her side he whispered into her ears" Come and you will find out" and he walked away. Adriele felt a rush of blood through her veins which gave her a slight headache as he whispered into her ear.

---------------

On the border of Kleevland and Lakewiston, the men in black cloaks had gathered again except this time the purple cloak man was not present.

" What do you mean we should not attack now, should we wait when the treaty, has been renewed and their forces have united, I don't think so," an average-height middle-aged man said angrily. He was a man from Lakewiston. Lakewiston has been known as the murderous kingdom because of their bloodthirsty King, Linus Linn. The members of the elders in the council who were against the Royal Family had been instigating a war between Kleevland and Lakewiston for a while now, Darren has been to the border so many times fighting the war and he always came back victorious, he was a good strategist so even with his arrogant attitude the generals where willing to take it and try to work with him. Darren had been trying to figure out the mastermind of these acts and knew the traitor was among them because the enemy knew most of his plans but unlucky for them, Darren was like a chameleon changing by the second and he would quickly come up with another plan and defeat them.

" Mr. V said so and if your King wants to get his hands on Kleevland he has to wait until Mr. V gives you guys a go signal.

" How dare you belittle our King, saying he should wait for a lowly Elder to give him commands" the men began to argue among themselves.

" Calm down men, if you continue at this rate you won't kill the enemies but yourselves"

" But Mr. Edgar," a man said only to be stopped when the man called Mr.Edgar, raised his hand to him.

" We are in this together, so chill"

Mr.Edgar Phills who was a member of the council of Elders in Kleevland was one of the people who were against the Royal Family.

------------------

At the party, Adriele was chatting with Dennis and Harley. Harley is a Princess of Silverland and she was friendly to Adriele. Derick and Killian were talking to some Elders and Darren as usual was entertaining himself with some women. "Are you enjoying the party?" Dennis asked Adriele,

" Yes, I am Dennis," the trio chatted for a while, and every once in a while Adriele will glance at Darren which he had noticed. After some time Darren was nowhere to be seen in the hall, thinking he had gone to the garden as he had said, she went outside too. Arriving there not finding Darren, she waited and waited until it was about thirty minutes of her being there " He asked me to come here but he's not here what a spoiled brat" she said out loud as she was about to storm off with anger, just then she heard a voice from behind her. " Your patience is so thin"

And that was it, she has had enough of this spoiled brat and she lashed out at him

" Patience, my patience is thin, you asked me to come out here in the middle of the night and watched me stand here for close to an hour with the cold and mosquitoes, and you tell me my patience is thin? You must be sick, go get your head checked"

Hearing this Darren couldn't help but laugh at her being angry at him. No one had ever dared to talk to him like that before, and if they did their tongues would've been one with the ground right now, but this one was special. As she saw him laugh she was even more pissed than before and as she turned to leave, Darren held her arm and pulled her close to him " "Where are you going, little girl" Darren asked with a raised brow.

" Let go of me" Adriele struggled to get out but to no avail

" Is this how you had planned to protect yourself from those hooligans?" he asked and with the last strength in her, she pushed him away but he still caught on to her hand, and now with a serious tone he said " I heard you have magical hands and can cure any disease

" Yes, I know herbs which can cure diseases but it depends on the disease, its duration, and its host, nothing magical about it" she shrugged

" Well, I need you to cure a life-threatening disease"

" How long is its duration?"

" A decade-plus "

" What!!, there is no way it can be cured then"

She told him

" Well I asked and you're the best, so you have no choice but to do it"

" What if I refuse?"

" The minute I told you to do it, you lost the right to choose"

" That's absurd, who is ill anyway?"

" Not your concern, just get the treatment ready"

" How can I treat someone I don't know, I need to run some tests and observe that person you know," she said ' Is he sick?' she thought to herself, 'well it explains his behavior '

" You'll be provided with everything you need" good night little girl and remember no one should know of our little chat tonight or else," he said, and if looks could kill, she would have been six feet under now. Placing his hands on her jaw he said "Get some sleep you have a lot of work beginning tomorrow" then he walked away from there