This Princess Is Duped

''We won't,'' he halted in his tracks as he spoke, a hint of surety in his tone. 

''That's what I thought too. That I missed my opportunity of thanking you. But here we are. You already have my name so it is only fair that I get to have yours as well…'' 

''Rafe,'' he dropped his name indifferently and walked away. 

''Rafe…'' As she looked at his retreating back, she whispered his name, quite liking the sound of it. 

''Princess, what are you doing here? Are you alright?'' James came rushing towards her as he examined her from head to toe. 

Amara rubbed her nose, slightly guilty as she looked at her bodyguard who seemed to have suffered from a nightmare. In fact, she had wanted to leave this place as soon as she came here and sensed someone's presence but knowing that it was him, she had been drawn to the deck like the fire to a moth. 

Fine, she knew it was vice versa but she in no way was she was the moth. He was obviously the moth, sitting there, manipulating the fire to come over... 

Amara held her forehead. Perhaps all that alcohol from Leah was rubbing onto her as well as an extension. 

''Princess, earlier it was your heart, now your head. Let's quickly go to...''

''I am fine, James,'' Amara cut his overthinking short, ''I just came out for a walk. How did you find me here?'' 

''You should have woken me up, princess. It's not safe out here,'' he was speaking in a hushed voice as they proceeded towards the room, ''I got a call from Miss Sybella because she could not reach your phone. She was asking when we will be back from the pool party then I realized you left the room.'' 

''Sorry to have bothered you,'' Amara spoke softly, her thoughts lingering elsewhere. 

''No, princess. It's my fault. I should have been on guard. You don't have to report me about all your schedules…'' 

"James…'' Amara called out to him suddenly, interrupting his words. 

The man glanced at her, ''Yes, princess?" 

''I want you to find someone for me. Things like, in which room he is staying. Where is he from and where is headed to? Can you do it?" 

''Who are you looking for?" 

''The man who saved me earlier tonight. Rafe.'' 

…

The rest of the journey was rather smooth and Amara no longer got to see Rafe again despite leaving her friends' side occasionally in hopes that she might bump into him somewhere. The words he had said before they parted lingered in her mind. 

When she had asked him how she was supposed to address him when they met again, he said 'we won't' with conviction as if he was certain they would never see each other again and while she hadn't taken him seriously at that time, now she did. 

Especially after James came empty handed and told her that there was no such person named 'Rafe' in the cruise. That made her realize that the probably gave her a false name to shrug her off. Perhaps it was the first time Amara had expressed her interest in getting to know a man but it turned out to be the first time she was duped by a man as well. 

She did not hold it against him. Probably he was a private person, or not. Or probably he had his own reasons behind doing this but that did not help the little knot in her stomach. 

Sybella and Leah exchanged glances as they looked at Amara who was listlessly leaning against the window. The royal family had made arrangements to pick Amara up and they were currently in a grand black sedan which was being followed by a few cars in the back and in the front with security personals.

''What did we miss out on?" Leah looked at Amara, ''Shouldn't you be excited? What dampened your spirits just in one night?" 

Amara lazily turned her head towards them, ''My spirits are not dampened at all.'' 

''You look almost wronged…'' Leah shook her head as she whispered, ''How do I put it? You look as if you have been betrayed.'' 

James was speechless. His face screamed 'who would dare to betray princess? I will bury them all' no matter how one looked at it. 

Leah noticed that face, ''Nothing is impossible in the world, Jimmy.'' 

''I did not say anything at all,'' the man said as he raised the partition, giving the women some space to talk and also making an escape from the 'nickname' in the process. 

''He is still unconvinced,'' Leah shrugged a shoulder, ''But you tell me, what happened to you suddenly? Sibby and me have noticed it since a long time but we thought we can discuss it later. You are acting suspicious…'' 

Sybella nodded. 

Amara looked at them for a few moments before she opened her mouth, ''I met a man.'' 

'Silence' 

She raised a brow at both the women who were looking at her somewhat dumbly, ''What?" she hesitated. 

''Spill the beans!" Leah shifted her position instantly, looking at her with full focus. 

Sybella also craned her neck, nodding at her. 

Heaving a sigh, Amara briefed them about everything, skipping out on the tidbits of their conversation that happened on the deck and the butterflies that fluttered about in her stomach occasionally as well as the part where she still hoped they would have been able to meet a third time. 

But her friends were not dumb. The look on their faces told her that aptly filled in the blanks where it was needed. 

"So, you are saying a man gave you a fake name?" Sybella crossed her legs and lowered her eyelids gracefully as she spoke, ''He has to be blind.''

Except he was not. Amara thought. He had a pair of beautiful eyes that had looked at her when she talked. 

Leah shook her head, ''That's not how you reach to conclusions. Let's do a root cause analysis instead. Say, even if he saved you out of kindness, he had no reasons to indulge with you in a conversation.''