2 Chapter 2

I walked into the hallway with an arm looping around my father's. Lifting my dress with the other hand, I smiled gently and stepped inside.

"Please remember your promise, Father." I whispered.

"Yes. I allowed you to verbally offend someone of a high rank. I remember."

I smiled. "Thank you." I let go of his arm.

I walked further into the hall towards a corner with a particularly noticeable crowd.

"Excuse me, if you would let me through...." I said as I squeezed through the crowd.

At the other end of the crowd were two young men, one of them quite familiar. With silver-grey hair and green eyes, who else, the First Prince. The one I had been planning revenge on for four years. Next to him was another person with reddish-brown hair caressing his forehead, swept slightly to the side, and amber eyes that drew your eyes to them. His sharp nose and chin were lifted slightly with confidence and his thin lips rose at the edges into a small smile. This person was the Second Prince. It was said that his features resembled his dead mother hence he looked nothing like his stepbrother, the First Prince.

Slowly walking towards them, I bowed. "Greetings, Your Highnesses the First Prince and the Second Prince. It is a pleasure to meet you again, Your Highness First Prince Xavier."

The boy with reddish-brown hair, the Second Prince, looked at me with intrigue while the First Prince blankly asked, "Who are you?"

"Oh?" I cover my mouth with my fingers. "Does Your Highness not remember? It is my fault for not mentioning my name. I am Aster Saravelle, the daughter of Marquis Saravelle."

"This Prince does not recall meeting you before." He said.

"This is my first meeting with the second prince but I have met you before, your highness." I tilted my head slightly and said. "Perhaps I was forgotten. It has been four years, after all. I was scolded by Your Highness at Miss Irene Ruebel's claim that I bullied her when I was only asking her why she was at my house uninvited."

He stared at me with wide eyes. "Wha-What did you say?"

'Ah, perhaps he didn't expect me to be openly hostile?'

"Perhaps you don't remember me because I have changed. Back then... I was quite chubby. I was called vile by Your Highness, do you remember now? If I recall correctly, you had said, 'A person that looks vile on the outside must be vile on the inside too'. You looked VERY heroic, your highness, defending a pitiful girl that wandered deep into the inner gardens of private property in search of flowers for her sick mother." I said narrowing my eyes slightly with a smile.

"Pu." A sound came from the side. I looked in the direction of the second prince. "Ahahaha!" He burst out laughing.

'Oh, that's right. There are rumors that both the princes are at odds due to having different mothers. It seems they are true.'

I looked at the Second Prince with slight mock reproach. "Your Highness, Second Prince, forgive my impudence but it may be a bit rude to laugh at your brother's expense. He might not like it."

I sneaked a glance at the First Prince. His face turned white and then green.

"Well then, it seems like I have taken up plenty of your time... If you would excuse me. I have heard that the royal chef's Osmanthus cakes are divine. I must have a taste." I walked away. Sneaking a peek at the first prince, I noticed his face turn purple as I walked towards the table with food.

'Hmph! Serves him right! I am not as generous to let a comment like 'vile' slide by!'