A New Friend

Theodore kept glancing at Adeline and thought, "I'm not sure if I can make her one of my servants. At this rate, I think she will end up making me her servant, and not the way around." A soft chuckle left his mouth.

Theodore was intrigued by the way Adeline was eating. The fork was too big for her small hand so she was holding it very awkwardly using her whole fist. Then she would pick the piece of meat and put it in her small mouth. And with each piece that went in her mouth, she would shake her tiny body as if the taste of the tender meat was making her dance.

And once in a while Adeline would glance at Theodore and smile to show off her cute baby teeth and dimples. It was clear that she liked him. After all, babies aren't that hard to please. All you need to do is feed them and play with them.

"Are you that happy to eat the meat?" Theodore was trying to understand the actions of the little human beside him.

Adeline nodded her head while chewing the food. "Yes. It is very tasty."

Theodore forgot to eat. His golden eyes were just following each and every little detail of the Princess and analyzing her actions. He was never this interested to watch a toddler before.

Adeline continued eating until she cleared the plate. Then she turned towards Theodore and said politely, "Thank you for food, Prince Theodore." And she didn't forget to smile and bow softly.

Theodore was amazed by how well-mannered she was "How interesting!" The corners of his lips slowly curled up to form a smile. "You even remember my name."

"Who would want to abandon such a lovely child? From her talks it sounds like she is very close to her father." He thought to himself.

Suddenly an idea came across his mind. "I would have loved to keep her here but I think I should investigate her family myself. I need to find out more about her, which Kingdom she is from. If she is a Princess then there's a high chance that the King's enemy might have kidnapped her and left her here."

Then he turned towards Adeline and asked her, "Do you know what your father's name is?"

But Adeline didn't know her father also had another name so she replied, "His name is 'father'."

Theodore wasn't expecting to hear this so he pursed his lips and asked again, "Yes, I know he is your father. But do you remember what others call him?"

Adeline thought for a while and tried to recall what the people around her would call her father. Then she proudly replied, "Others call him 'Your Majesty'."

Theodore couldn't help but laugh at the little Princess's innocence. Then he thought of another way to figure out what Kingdom she was from. He decided to figure it out from the kind of dress the King wore. He was unable to do that by looking at the Princess's dress alone because the children didn't wear elaborate dresses, they looked pretty much the same in several Kingdoms.

"Can you tell me what kind of clothes your father wears?" Theodore's golden eyes lingered at Adeline with hopeful look. He hoped that this time Adeline would give at least a hint to him. He didn't want to waste his energy checking each and every Kingdom.

"He wears dragon clothes." She pointed at the carpet where they had played earlier and said, "Like that."

He turned his gaze to where the Princess pointed her little finger at, "Oh! You mean his clothes have painting of dragon on them?"

Adeline nodded to confirm what he just said. Theodore's eyes twinkled because he got a hint that he needed. He knew at once that her father was King Dragomir of Wyverndale. King Dragomir always wore a long red robe made out of silk with a golden painting of fire-breathing dragon on it.

Adeline started to rub her sapphire blue eyes and yawned. She was too sleepy and tired from the rough horse ride.

Seeing the sleepy look on Adeline's face, Theodore picked her up and walked towards his bed. He lay her down and then he carefully tucked her in the soft blanket. He had not even imagined in his dreams that he would allow someone to actually sleep on his bed.

He then smiled at the Princess who was looking at him and said, "Get some sleep. I have some place to go."

Theodore turned around and was about to get up from the bed when he felt a tug on his robe. He turned back at Adeline and saw that she was tightly clenching his robe. "What is it, little human?"

She hesitated for a while but eventually spoke to the Devil Prince. "I am scared. Will you please sit with me for some time?"

Theodore's eyes glistened in the candle light. A devilish grin appeared on his lips while he said, "You are a weird one. Others are scared when I'm around. But you are saying that you want me to stay with you because you will get scared without me?"

Adeline didn't understand the speech he just gave so she just kept on staring at him, her hand not leaving his robe.

Theodore felt defeated in front of Adeline's request. He felt like he was being held by a very strong hand that he could not get out of that easily.

So he chuckled and then tucked himself inside the blanket, right next to Adeline. He rested his head on his palm and looked at the toddler who had called him beautiful. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't help but smile. "Am I that happy to hear a compliment from a toddler?"

When Theodore was lost in his thoughts, Adeline wriggled closer to him. She closed her eyes and whispered, "Will you tell me a story?"

Theodore hummed for a while. But he didn't have the heart to reject this request from his new friend so he replied, "Sure. What kind of story do you like?"

Adeline whispered back with her eyes still closed, "Tell me a story about you."

He had not expected this answer. The toddler never ceased to amaze him. "Where shall we begin? Let's see." He pursed his lips for a while and thought for some time. Then he started to tell his story to the little human who seemed to be interested in him.

"Once upon a time, in a Palace far far away, there lived an Almighty God. The Palace was also called Heaven by the mortals. He had many sons and daughters in the Palace. And he had given certain tasks to each of his children."

Unknowingly, Theodore had now begun to caress the silver hair of Adeline. And Adeline was slowly travelling to the dreamland while sleeping close to the Devil Prince.

"But not all of his children were obedient to him. So the Almighty cut the wings of all those children who disobeyed him and threw them out of the Palace. Some of them fell to the place called Hell and some fell on Earth."

Theodore looked at Adeline who was now already deep in her slumber. He kept on staring at the little human with his keen eyes and realized how comfortable he felt around her.

After a while, he slowly slid out of the bed, trying not to wake Adeline up. He then locked the door of his room to prevent Adeline waking up from her sleep and wandering around the cave full of mystical beings. He waved his hand around him and in an instant he vanished into thin air.