The Lost Princess (1)
Even though the banquet was over, the palace seemed busier. The palace maids kept on whispering to each other and the knights were guarding the palace tighter than usual. And ever since the night of the banquet, I haven't seen the Imperial Family, not even once.
"Lydia, is Max coming over later?" I asked as she prepared our food.
"Yes, My Lady," Lydia replied. "Lady Lemaitre is also visiting you."
"Eat first. The food will be cold,'' Papa said, feeding me.
After we ate our lunch, we strolled through the garden of the palace. Well, we can't just stay in our room all day, and walking is good for our health. While on our walk, I noticed the statue of a golden lion at the center of the garden. It definitely symbolizes the royal family, especially Emperor Ian. Those gold eyes were the same as the lion.
"Get out of my way!"
"I'll get there first!"
Afar was Halley and Max running their way towards me. The servants of Halley were also running after her. How come they compete with everything?!
"I got here first!" boasted Halley.
"My L-Lady y-you sh-should n-not r-run like that. Your t-the esteemed da-daughter of the Marquis Lemaitre," said the servant, panting.
"You're cheating! I should come first if you don't trip me a while ago," Max complained.
The servants glared at Max for not showing respect to their Lady Halley. It's a custom in the Empire to treat the higher status with respect, despite their age or gender.
"Roselyn, it's okay," Halley said. All the servants turned away their gaze to Max. "You all can leave. Just come back before the darkness enveloped the sky."
"Yes, My Lady," chorus the servants as they leave the palace.
***
At the grass, laying.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard it also from the knight a while ago in our training," said Max.
"The duke found the princess of the Imperial Family and they said that she will be staying here in the palace," whispered Halley. "Perhaps, you saw the princess, Brielle and Sir Atlas?!"
"We don't know her appearance."
"According to Roselyn, the princess has red hair and golden eyes," described Halley.
"GOLDEN EYES?! JUST LIKE THE EMPEROR!" blurted Max.
"Keep it down, Max!" scolded Halley.
"Hey, you two," Papa said, staring at Max and Halley. "You're great idle chatter."
"Mister, are you not curious about the princess?" asked Max.
"Why would I? And we will leave the palace so there's no point of knowing."
"YOU'RE LEAVING!" chorus the two.
Papa glared at the two; threatening them to lower down their voices. It's bad if the words get out before we inform the royal family. They should first be the one who knows that we 're leaving. After all, they are the one who gave us a place to stay.
"You're leaving," they whispered.
"Yes. We were temporarily living here while I'm recuperating, and right now I'm all better so I guess it's right to say that we need to go."
"Does His Majesty know about this?" Halley asked.
"Not y-yet…"
A wavy red hair similar to a rose, and eyes that looked like a replica of the emperor was in front of us. The girl that has been the topic of the Empire- the princess of the Ronian Empire.
"Halley is that her…you know… the one we're talking about," murmured Max.
"So, you're talking behind my back."
"N-no, we're only cu-curious about it,'' replied Halley, shaking.
"You must be the daughter of Marquis Lemaitre," she said. "I'm Princess Oriana. Pleasure to meet you.''
"Oh. Uhm…It's my pleasure to meet you too, Pri-Princess Oriana," greeted Halley.
"And you there? Who are you?" Oriana asked, staring at us.
There is rudeness in her voice. And I don't like it.
"I'm Max. Prin —"
"Why would you want to know?" Papa savagely asked.
"Why can't I? I'm the only princess of this Empire so I'm allowed to do what I desire," Oriana replied.
"A princess huh. But from what I remembered the palace doesn't have an official announcement yet. Did we miss it?" Papa asked, smirking.
"Though they still have not announced it yet, it's obvious that I'm the princess," Oriana said, gritting her teeth.
"Only your eyes and hair are the evidence of being a princess. Nothing more," Papa mocked, looking at her from head to toe.
Oriana's eyes flared with annoyance. She is so proud of being a princess that Papa's words annoyed her. Well, I couldn't disagree with Papa because he was right. Without those golden eyes, she can't be a princess.
"Pfft…ahem," Halley snickered.
"Lady Oriana, you're just here. We've been looking for you for an hour," said the maid. "Oh, greetings Lady Lemaitre, and Lady Brielle. Also, to the Lord Atlas, and Sir Max."
"You're just in time. LADY Oriana has been lost on her way. Luckily, we are here. You should teach her well because it looks like she often gets confused about her place."
"Forgive me, My Lord," the maid said. "We will keep an eye on Lady Oriana so she will not get lost again."
I could see that Oriana is very angry at what Papa's said. She was clenching her fists, holding back her anger. The maids guided her back inside the palace, and we were left at the garden.
"Her presence annoys me," Papa said.
"Mister! You did a good job a while ago," Max chuckled.
"She is so arrogant," Halley stated. "Her reaction when Sir Atlas talked some sense into her was so satisfying."
While Max and Halley were laughing about what Papa did to Oriana, Papa leaned toward me and asked, "Are you going to scold me about my attitude a while ago?"
I shake my head.
"No. I also don't like her."
Yeah, I don't like her. There was something aside from her attitude that bothers me. Perhaps, Papa also felt that. And that black aura I saw when she stared at me; it's frightening.