Chapter 12: Reminisce

"What are you doing up here?" He asked of her.

"I was having flashbacks, and it led me here," she told him

"But no one in the castle knows the ways up here," He said, and she was in question.

"I--I was lost, believe me," she said

"But I clearly saw you in Kaastiana's soil," she said

"And not to mention YOU ARE THE CROWN PRINCE OF SERDRUAN," she said as she was shocked when she realized his identity.

"Yes! I am the Crown Prince of Serdruan, but I haven't seen you before," He told her as he approached her by the door.

"Kaastiana's soil? You're a spy!" he said as he crossed his arms

"I am not a spy!" she said

"But what will the king or queen do when I tell them that you were in Kaastiana's land days ago" she warned

"Then you might as well lose your head because you just revealed that you are a Kaastianan," He said and smirked.

"Don't use the country I came from to kill me. I was washed away by the ocean," She told him.

"Then you should keep your mouth shut and leave an engaged man alone. I have no business with you," He said as he closed the door.

"Engaged man?" she said as she was furious.

"But why did the kid run inside?" she asked herself.

"Most of all. Why do I have such memories?" Ayla again asked herself

She walked back to the party and waited for more flashbacks to come.

"Where did you go?" Elijah asked as he stood by her side.

"I had some flashbacks again," she said

"Did you have a migraine?" He asked her

"My head hurts for a while, but then I had some hallucinations of two children running around the castle," She replied as she crossed her arms.

"What exactly did you see?" He asked again

"Can I ask, who owns the room in the top most of the castle? The one in the right portion side?" She asked him with her full curiosity.

"Why would you ask that?" He said

"It's because of the flashbacks! I saw two children running the halls in the topmost portion of the castle," She explained.

"How can you have memories of those?" He asked me.

"I don't know. I might have been bewitched or something," Ayla said, making them laugh.

"How did you meet your adoptive parents?" He asked her.

"My father told me that he found me by the streets starving and was near to death eight years ago," She shared

"Then you are not her. The Queen of Egothedia was lost in the sea ten years ago," He said as he was thinking hard about her identity.

"So the chambers I just told you was Queen Erytheia's room when she was a kid?" she was going insane because of the uncertainty of the flashbacks she was experiencing.

"I need my belongings. My parents said that I could find my birthparents with it," she told him, but he was pushing her back.

"Where are my belongings?" She asked him.

"All I have now is your sword, your locket, and your hairpin," He said as he slowly stepped back.

"Where is my chest?" She asked him

"I threw it away because the guards told me the contents of it; it was just a dress of a child," He replied, and he was so confident that it had no value.

"That child's dress might help me find my birth parents, and you ordered them to throw it away?" she said furiously said

"I will take it back. I promise," Elijah said as he held Ayla's hand

"Without them! I can't find my birth parents; I have no hope of finding who I truly am and where I truly belong," She said as she was troubled about what to do next.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

The guard tasked with throwing the clothing brought the child's dress to his home. It was a unique dress from the one and only powerful woman in the land. The dress was a design that the Reagent Queen of Egothedia made for her only child and was sewed by her hands.A royal guard's daughter now owned the dress.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"I requested my mother for your chamber," Louis told me as he kept me by his side.

"You have a lot of noble playmates, but why would you waste your time with me?" she asked him.

"I know, but they are way boring to play with. You're a bit fun in many ways," Louis replied

"So you are Ayla? My son requested me to give you a lady's room in the castle," a woman with a crown said as she approached them.

"Mother," Louis said, making her bow for her presence.

"Mother~ can you also give her some clothes? I would like to see her live a comfortable life in the castle," Louis said as he clung to his mother's hand.

"Well, now ~ you should attend your noble friends in the yard. You must not spend your time with a commoner," she said, which made Ayla a bit hurt by her words, but she didn't have a choice because she would lose her life if it were revealed that she came from Kaastiana.

Prince Louis followed her mother's command and walked away from them.

"I do not know why my children are so close to you, but they deserve more. What do you want? Gold? Jewels? A land?" Her Majesty said as everything about her presence made her feel uneasy.

"I do not want anything from you or your children," she replied as she kept her head high.

"Oh! But keep your distance from my children. I heard Elijah brought you home, and you stayed in his chambers for a long time. Not to mention that you are eyeing my firstborn as you two dance at the party," she said as they walked by the hallways.

"It was not my fault---" she was stopped by the Queen

"I can instantly ruin your life by saying that you are not a virgin anymore," She said as she turned around to look at Ayla.

"You would rather raise a rumor about me if I wouldn't keep my distance?" Ayla said as she was very displeased by the Queen of Serdruan.

"I will do anything for my children. I wouldn't want to ruin their reputation for just a mere commoner," she said

"I am ve---" she was cut.

"Queen Alexandria... The female bastard from Egothedia just arrived," a servant said, turning the Queen's face dark.

"female bastard?" Ayla questioned herself.

Queen Alexandria went out of the castle to greet the girl, and Ayla stood by the window, looking at the ladies in the yard.