Chapter Thirty Nine

"I don't want to go."

Prince Noah said after I suggested that we should go back to the palace.

After I said that I would stay at the palace working as his servant, Prince Noah said nothing, since then he was silent, but he was still holding my sleeve like he didn't want to let me go.

'We have been here for a while already, I wouldn't be surprised if all servants of the palace start to look for him if Prince Noah stays hidden any longer. The last time he was gone he came back with his leg hurt, after all.' I thought, worried.

"Why, you don't wanna go Your Highness?" I asked.

Prince Noah looked at me, but then quickly he looked away, he didn't seem to want to answer me.

'Is he embarrassed that people will know that he was crying?' I thought, looking at Prince Noah's swollen eyes.

"Your Highness?" I called him, after a moment in silence with him still avoiding my eyes.

"...they are annoying." Prince Noah suddenly said.

"What do you mean, Your Highness?" I asked, confused.

"The maids, they make a show about any small thing." Prince Noah answered, irritated.

"Well, it's because they worry about you, Your Highness." I said, trying to reassure him.

"They don't worry about me. They just worry about getting in trouble if something bad happens to me." He said, looking away, showing he was pretty aware of the reasons behind their behavior towards him.

'Well, he is not wrong.' I thought.

If something bad happens to Prince Noah the ones that will get in trouble will be his maids, since they are responsible to look after him.

"Then, if you know that let's not let them worry any longer. Let's not trouble them, alright?" I asked, standing my hand to him.

To my surprise, Prince Noah didn't reject my hand, he clicked his tongue and said after holding my hand. "Alright, let's go back."

Though I held his hand to make sure he would go back, Prince Noah was the one to take the lead. He walked in front of me, still holding my hand all the way to the palace.

When we entered the main hall Prince Noah looked at me and said. "Tell everyone that I will be in my room and I don't want to be bothered."

I nodded. "Yes, Your Highness."

Prince Noah then released my hand and walked away, but he suddenly stopped and looked back at me.

"Thank you, Alex." He said.

Looking at Prince Noah's eyes I saw that he really meant that. But before I could have said anything to him, he left.

'He seems exhausted.' I thought, remembering Prince Noah's countenance.

'As I thought it wasn't just a childish tantrum… Maybe Prince Noah was having anxiety crises back then.' I thought, worried.

But then I shook my head trying to stop thinking those things.

"Let's just look for the maids for now." I whispered to myself leaving the main hall.

***

"Alex!" Someone suddenly shouted my name, startling me.

After I left the main hall I started to look for Prince Noah's maids, after founding some of them and explaining what Prince Noah told me, I decided to look for Nicholas.

But it seems Nicholas was the one to found me first.

"Nicholas." I said after I looked back and saw it was Nicholas the one that called me.

"Did you find him, Alex?" Nicholas asked after approaching me.

"Yes, Prince Noah is in his room now." I explained.

"I see… Then I'm going to talk to him." Nicholas said, determined.

But before he could leave I held his arm. "I don't think now is a good time for you to see him, Nicholas. For now, I think it is better to let him have some time alone, alright?"

Nicholas seemed hesitant, but then he agreed with me, though he didn't seem happy with that.

"Alright, I can talk to him later." He said.

'Though I was the one that convinced Nicholas that he should talk to Prince Noah, I don't think a conversation between them would be good for Prince Noah right now.' I realized.

I released Nicholas's arm, and then looking at the royal library's door not too far away from us, I asked, trying to change the subject. "Were you looking for Prince Noah in the library, Nicholas?"

"Yes, but not at first. I remembered here was one of his hidden spots whenever we played hide-and-seek, so I thought he could be here." Nicholas explained.

'Is that why I first met Nicholas in the royal library back then? If I remember, Prince Noah was looking for Nicholas there, back then.' I realized.

"Alex." Nicholas suddenly called me.

"What, Nicholas?" I asked looking back at him.

Nicholas was looking at me, his cheeks were red, and he seemed nervous.

"Do you have any plans-" Nicholas started to say, but then he was interrupted.

"Young Master!" Someone shouted calling our attention.

It was a young maid at the end of the corridor coming toward us. She had blond hair and blue eyes, and for some reason, she seemed familiar.

"Phelicia, what are you doing here?" Nicholas asked the maid.

"The other maids told me what happened. Since Prince Noah will not attend the afternoon classes, the other maids told me to accompany you to your classes, Young Master." The maid explained.

"...I see." Nicholas said, crossing his arms, he seemed frustrated for some reason.

But then Nicholas looked at me and asked, holding my hand. "Do you want to go with me, Alex?"

"Hmm… Yes, of course." I said.

'Well, there is nothing much for me to do now.' I thought.

"Why are you going with this boy, Young Master? He should stay with his master serving him, not playing around." The maid said, mad, looking at me with eyes that I once was pretty used to, full of contempt.

'She does not like me, huh.' I realized, feeling uncomfortable.

"Alex is my friend, and Noah is now in his room with a ton of maids serving him, he won't care if Alex accompanies me for today or not." Nicholas said, serious, holding my hand even tighter.

The maid didn't seem to like Nicholas's answer.

"Young Master how can you call a boy like him your friend?! He may be using nice clothes now, but he is nothing but a lowly servant, Young Master shouldn't be friends with someone like him!" Phelicia shouted, furious.

"Phelicia! Don't you dare to say words like this about Alex ever again!" Nicholas shouted, mad.

He had the same cold and scary eyes from earlier when he met Theo. I still couldn't believe that the kind and gentle Nicholas had a side like this.

Nicholas then looked at me and then his expression softened, he hold my hand more firmly and whispered. "Come with me."

I didn't have time to react before Nicholas started running, making me run with him, quickly leaving the maid behind.

"Young Master!" The maid shouted in vain already far away from us.

***

"Is this… the inside garden?" I asked panting.

After running with Nicholas for a while he suddenly stopped and released my hand.

It took me a while to recognize that we were in the inside garden of the palace, a lovely place, full of bushes and flowers.

I came here a few times in the past out of curiosity, but I never stayed too long since I was too afraid of meeting one of the princes or the princess here.

'But I serve one of them now … Huh, such irony.' I realized.

Nicholas turned around and looked at me, he seemed like he was about to cry.

"Alex, I'm sorry you had to hear that." Nicholas apologized.

I was surprised to see that Nicholas was feeling guilty, he couldn't even look me in the eyes while apologizing.

"You don't have to apologize, it wasn't your fault, Nicholas." I said, trying to comfort him.

"No, it was my fault. Phelicia is one of my servants, so I'm also responsible for her attitudes… I am sorry, Alex." Nicholas apologized again.

'So Phelicia is his maid.' I realized.

"It wasn't such a big deal, Nicholas. I'm not offended, so it's fine." I said, trying to calm him.

"No, it's not fine! I don't want you to think what she said is true! I don't want you to think that we shouldn't be friends!" Nicholas shouted surprising me.

"Nicholas…" I said, unsure of what I should say to him.

"If you are a commoner or a servant it doesn't matter to me, I just want for us to be together, Alex..." Nicholas said with teary eyes.

I was surprised by his words, I wasn't expecting this subject to be so important for him, but for some reason this made me happy.

I patted his head, and smiling I said. "I'm glad you think this way, Nicholas."

Nicholas looked at me surprised, blushing. He started saying something, but for some reason, he seemed too nervous. He couldn't even finish a sentence.

"A-Alex I… I… I think that I-"

"Nicholas." Someone said, interrupting him.

At one of the entrances to the inside garden, there was Princess Isabel accompanied by some maids. She looked at us for a moment and then asked with a polite smile on her face.

"Am I interrupting something?"