Chapter Twenty Seven

"Princess Annanyla!" I paused my conversation with a few of the girls from my class and looked over at the group of four older girls stomping down the hall towards me. Behind them were the three boys who had attempted to surround me.

I raised an eyebrow as they all stopped in front me and the girls I was talking with moved back. It has been a few days since the incident in the hallway and I hadn't seen the boys since. I assumed that they had learned their lesson and decided to leave me alone, but apparently I was wrong. "Can I help you?"

The girl in front, who I recalled seeing at the coronation, folded her arms and glared at me. "You dare to bully my little brother and his friends?"

I could sense the ominous aura radiating from her. If it would have been before, I probably would have been terrified. However, I had been surrounded by so many overpowered family members, I didn't even beat an eye at her display of dominance. I just smiled politely and said, "My apologies, but I don't bully people."

"My brother wouldn't lie on you!"

The ominous aura grew heavier and my smile widened. "Then he and his friends misunderstood."

She huffed. "Princesses shouldn't try to weasel out of their problems!"

My expression instantly turned stoic. "Are you hard of hearing or slow? I just,"

Before I could finish my sentence, she lifted her hand and swung it towards my face, attempting to slap me. However, my instincts kicked in and my body automatically reacted defensively. My left arm went up, blocking her attack, while my right arm punched out. I hit her in her chest, causing her to stumble back into the group behind her.

"Rachelle!"

"Sis!"

"Nyla!" Michaelis yelled as he and my cousins rushed over.

My heart thumped as I realized what I had done. A wave of guilt rushed over me as the girl straightened herself and pressed her hand over her shoulder. "Oh my gosh! My apologies! That was a reaction! Are you alright?"

Shawn frowned at me. "Why are you apologizing? She attacked you!"

"Because, you don't hit girls!" I said as I frowned at him.

Michaelis's face turned stoic. "You are a girl!"

I blinked as realization set in.

"You little half blood pipsqueak! You actually hit me!"

I looked at the girl, who was glaring at me and noticed that there was a golden aura covering her hand. I was just about to apologize again when prince Damien stepped out of the classroom and in between our groups. "That's enough!"

The girls gasped. "Prince Damien!"

"Your highness," the girl said.

Damien looked at her with a stoic expression. "Picking fights to show dominance is foolish. Especially when dealing with a Meldrake. I hope you have learned your lesson, Princess Rachelle?"

"I," she said before she bowed her head and nodded. "I understand."

He folded his arms and frowned at the boys. "And you three. Getting princesses to fight is trash behavior."

One of the boys stepped forward. "My apologies. None of this was my intention. I just wanted to speak with princess Annanyla and things got out of hand."

"Huh?" Princess Rachelle said as she looked at him. "I thought you said she bullied you?"

He frowned. "I never said that! You all just assumed that because we were too frightened to explain."

Damien looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "What did you do to them?"

"What? Nothing," I said, a little shocked by the question.

"Princess Annanyla didn't do anything. It's her dragon fear," one of the boys explained.

"Hm?"I asked.

"It's my fault," the third boy said as he closed his eyes. "I lost my self and tried to grab her."

"No, it's me. I stopped her when she tried to leave," the other boy admitted.

"You two, stop. I asked you to come over with me. None of this would have happened if not for me."

Prince Damien put a hand up. "Enough! You all were in the wrong. Take your sister to the infirmary and learn to control your urges." He looked back at me. "As for you,"

I frowned as he pulled out a pink cloth from his pocket and tossed it to me. "What's this?"

"A face covering. Put it on."

"Eh?"

He rolled his eyes and turned around to walk back into the classroom. Michaelis chuckled and patted my shoulder. "He is saying that you are too pretty and need to keep your face covered."

Prince Damien stopped and looked back at Michaelis. "Zip it and come in. Break time is over."

He glanced at me, doing a quick scan of me from head to toe before turning around and walking back in the room. My stomach fluttered and I knew that he was serious. Heat rose to my face as I quickly tied the face covering over the lower half of my face. I frowned as I realized a problem. "Wait. My doesn't Tyna have to wear one? We look just alike!"

"I'm not the one causing men to lose their minds," Antyna said as she patted my shoulder and smirked.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

The rest of class was uneventful. My uncle Antonio picked us up after class was over. I couldn't help but feel a little irritated when prince Damien told my uncle about the situation and asked if I could wear a mask every day for class. However, I was slightly comforted when he said that Antyna should wear one as well to avoid further incidents.

Needless to say, our grandparents were not pleased with the situation. I was scolded, not because of scaring the boys nor hitting the girl, but for leaving my cousins side. "Did I not tell you to look out for them?"

My stomach fluttered at the anger on my dad's face. "That's what I was trying to do!"

"By leaving them alone when they were weak?" Papa Ry asked.

I felt tears stinging my eyes. "I was trying to get them water!"

"Foolish!"

I jumped at papa slamming his hand on the arm of his throne, causing a loud bang to reverberate through the air. "I'm so," I started to say and he glared at me, "I apologize!"

"You apologize? I don't need you to apologize!"

My heart sank. I trembled, trying my best to hold back my tears. However, it didn't work. Tears began to stream down my face. "I... it won't happen again."

"It better damn well not or I'll bend you over my knee. Got it?"

"Yes sir," I choked out as I nodded.

"Now go to your room and stay there until you are called for dinner."

I pressed my lips together and wiped my eyes as I left the great hall. I wasn't sad that I was scolded. After all, it's an adults job to scold when kids mess up. I was sad that I had disappointed my family. I was sad because I wanted to fix my mistake but didn't understand what I had done wrong. The only thing I knew was that I could no longer leave my cousins side.

I was sitting in my room, staring at the wall contemplating my crazy life, when my mom walked in the room. "Hey sweetie. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," I said softly.

"What are you doing?"

"Just contemplating things."

"I see. And how is that going for you?"

I looked back at her and smiled. "Mom, don't worry about me. I'm fine."

She smirked. "Are you saying that to me or trying to convince yourself?"

I shrugged and sighed. "A bit of both, I guess."

"Mn," she said as she walked over and sat down beside me. "I understand that you are probably sad and feeling bad about being scolded, but know that your dad and grandpa are only scolding you because they care about you."

"I know."

"Did you know that your cousins were very weak before you were brought back?"

I was completely taken back by that. "What? Were they sick?"

"They weren't sick. They were incomplete."

I frowned. "Huh?"

"You and your cousins are not just hatched on the same day, honey. You are connected both physically as well as mentally and spiritually. Since you are the oldest and were not able to awaken your drakkon side before you fell into the void, it caused their drakkon to weaken. That caused them to be vulnerable to attack."

My heart squeezed. "So, that's why dad said that this was their first time being instructed by someone outside of the family?"

"Mn. They were not allowed to leave the castle grounds," mom said as she nodded.

I sucked in a breath and pressed my hands on my heart. "They must've been so lonely!"

"They were, but not because they couldn't leave." She placed her hand on my head. "They were sad because you were not around to guide and protect them as the eldest. You are not just the first rare blood of the drakkon and Naga. You are not just the future ruler of Nagaria. You are your cousins guiding light in life and the reason why they are able to grow into their positions in the clan. Which is why it's so necessary that you not only look out for your cousins but yourself as well."

My heart thumped. "I understand."

"Good. Now, let's go to dinner."