Garden

"Princess!" Vaughn called as he waved his hand. I looked around the halls to see if someone else was there, and when I confirmed that there was no one else in the halls, I immediately lifted my dress and ran towards him. "That was very unlady like, and I'm sure my etiquette teacher would throw a fit if she saw me running down the halls," I said when I stopped in front of him. "Well, I'm sure my etiquette teacher would scold me as well if she saw me yelling and waving my hand, especially now that I am at another empire's palace," Vaughn said and chuckled.

"Now, shall we head to my secret place?" I said and smiled. "As you wish, my lady," he said as he offered his arm to me. I linked my arm in his and we started walking to the direction of that room.

"Where exactly are we going, my lady?" He asked as we walked. "You'll see," I said and smiled as I looked straight ahead.

I haven't been to that place since forever. I'm very delighted that Vaughn can go to that place with me. I wanted to bring him there before, but I thought it would be a bother until I never had the chance to bring him there because we had already left my empire to go to his.

"Here we are!" I exclaimed as we stopped in front of a big door. "And this is..." He opened the door and his face brightened as he looked at the scenery. "... another garden with a pond," he continued. "Well, yes. The garden in the west wing of the palace is certainly beautiful, but for me, this garden is breath-taking," I said as I walked to the garden.

"Not many people go here since it's quite far. Also, my brother is not really a big fan of frogs, so he doesn't go here," I said as I turned to face him. "Why? Is he afraid of them?" Vaughn asked as he followed me. "You could say that. But he just finds them disgusting and unsightly, for he finds their appearance hideous and slimy," I explained as I walked to the pond.

"Aren't they the cutest?" I said as I looked at the two frogs sitting on top of a rock. I looked at him and saw that his face was blank. "Well, I have no right to judge your definition of cute. If you find them cute, then let's just say they are," he said and chuckled.

"How dare you!" I said as I pouted. "Well, just like your brother, I do not want to be with frogs, my lady," he said as he stood next to me. "They look absolutely adorable! What's not to like about them?" I said as I adored the frogs.

Well, it is true that they are very slimy, but they look so adorable. How could someone say they don't want to be with frogs?

"Alright, alright. Fine, they're adorable. Are you happy now?" He said and chuckled. "Yes. Yes, I am," I replied as I smiled at him.

We spent the whole morning chatting, and for lunch, we had the maids bring us food here in the garden so we could have a picnic.

"How many gardens do you have here in the palace?" Vaughn asked as he wiped his lips. "Well, I think we have three gardens? One near the entrance, one in the west wing, and one here, in the east wing of the palace," I replied. "You certainly have a lot of gardens," he said and chuckled. "Well, my late Mother loved gardens so much. She used to tend to them, especially the one in the west wing of the palace. That's the reason why my Brother frequents there. He probably misses our Mother as much as I do," I said and smiled.

"Late Mother? Did His Imperial Majesty remarry?" Vaughn asked as his forehead creased. "Well, he had to. An emperor has his own duties, so does an empress. Had my Father not remarried, he would have to do the empress' duties and his work would have piled up. And even though I could do the empress' duties with my abilities now, I couldn't do it back then because I was only 9," I answered and shrugged. "Oh, yes. Of course," he said and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, there is no need to be so hung up about it. Although I would have preferred it if my Father did not have any other woman in his life besides my late Mother, I still wouldn't like it if he had to stress himself out just because of what I wanted to happen," I said as I put the food we had left inside the basket one by one.

He cleared his throat and said, "Should we—" He was cut off when we heard someone speak from behind.

"Your Majesty!" He called. I turned to the direction where the voice came from and I saw Noah standing by the door, smiling at me. "Noah," I said and stood up. He walked towards us and stopped in front of me, "Your Majesty." He bowed his head to show his respect and raised it afterward. "What brought you in this garden?" He asked as he looked at the surroundings. "Well, I wanted to show the Crown Prince of Rosiello Empire the beauty of the garden in the east wing of the palace," I replied as I looked at Vaughn who was still seated at the cloth laid on the grass.

"Oh, you have company," Noah said and smiled. Vaughn stood up to level his gaze with Noah. "Your Imperial Majesty, the Crown Prince, a pleasant noon to you," Noah said as he bowed his head. "And who might you be?" Vaughn asked as he stared down at Noah who still hasn't raised his head. Noah lifted his head and smiled at Vaughn.

"I am the Princess' trusted knight, Your Imperial Majesty."