Hand in hand

Even after I went inside, I felt that wasn't the right time to talk about how I was going to leave since the whole point of my visit was to meet him, and he kept going on and on until I agreed with him on it. So, if I told him that, not only he would have felt bad and probably angry while dealing with his work at the same time, but he might as well have arranged another meeting where I again had to set Mireya and my work aside for the whole day. However, while I was done with the tea Alphred poured for me, his highness got up from his seat with a bunch of papers in his hand and gave it to Alphred, "Take this and go". Alphred looked at it with a surprised yet confused look, "Your Highness, this is just a portion of what you have to do. This is not enough."

"Now, now, look at it again. I have done my work. Signing, reviewing, and approving mostly all of the documents addressed to ME. Send all the others to Jonathan, and if he sends them back, BURN THEM. I have much better things to do, and I won't lose any minute doing other people's work for them. Understood?"

He didn't look happy, but he agreed. Then he saw something that made him freeze in place. Standing with a strange look he tried and double-checked the documents, "Your highness with all due respect…this is important, you cannot turn it back. And prince Jonathan is absent due to an unexpecting event coming up."

"Right, and if I am current, that event is being held in the north…he just found his opportunity to leave and hang around with that girl now that he had the chance to dump all his work on me and call it a 'payback' for what he did while I was away."

'I think that that's the most responsible thing to do actually. Jonathan did his job when he messed up my vision, now it is his turn to give him a hand while he lives his own life, and not complain about the timing not being right for you. And there is no hard evidence, yet he suspects that his brother is meeting a girl, which is probably Nasya, but Alan also lives in the north so if he went there we cannot tell who he is meeting with.

Still, he should keep his thoughts to himself and not make a big deal out of it. Like come on now, you want to marry a rapha and no one is interfering or pointing to the fact that you are making the wrong choice, not yet. I can't complain when things go smoothly, but everyone is strangely calm about it... way too calm in my opinion.'

Holding the black envelope in his hands, he turned to Alastair who came near while ignoring his words and reached his hand to me, "Raeliana, you have been waiting for a long time right? Should we go now?", I froze. Looking back and forth between him who was excited and Alphred who was lost for words, I couldn't think of an answer that couldn't create a conflict between them. He had to do what his aide told him and I was going to be a reason for him to ditch his work if I took his hand, but if I didn't…was he going to get impatient and grab it by force? I wanted to see that reaction actually, but I didn't expect that it was going to turn into a run that left me out of breath that lead to another unpleasant event.

Alphred wasn't getting an answer and was losing his patience with his highness's behavior. On the other hand, Alastair was not paying attention to him since he was looking at me and I was looking at Alphred like, "Don't expect something from me. I won't do anything.", as he let out a sigh like he understood my message, he shook his head in disappointment.

"Your highness, you have to watch your manners. If you behave this way, the young lady will get the wrong idea and think that you are misbehaved and childish."

"Hmm…Raeliana doesn't care about my work, right Rai~? That's why I don't have to waste my time on stuff she doesn't find interesting enough to enjoy. And I was the one who came up with the idea of this visit, so if everything she does here is sit in silence while I work then our time together is going to go to waste. In the end, she will feel neglected and I won't have another chance to meet her."

'This is making me nervous. Now I am scared to know what he had planned for today before Alphred bombarded him with work, and I don't know if I should thank him or feel sad for how things turned out this way. On the other hand, he is right, I don't care what he is up to and those documents mean nothing to me. I am not curious to the point I have to put my nose on other people's business and especially on something related to this kingdom's prosperity.'

While I was taking my time, looking at the cup on the table and thinking about what he had said and found that intriguing and cute at the same time, his highness had come closer to me and I noticed his presence only when I felt that someone was breathing down my neck. Before I could turn my head, I heard that boy's soft voice, whisper in my ear, "Rai~!!! You have to get me out of here. Alphred is actually thinking about it, but I can't wait for his response.", I blinked in surprise, but it was also impressive how he could snick up like that and be so close to people while they have no idea there is another person was glued to them. Like a shadow.

I saw the hand in front of me and took it letting out a sigh, however without saying a word I heard him chuckle at my "respond". He made a sign with his finger on his lips that we shouldn't make noise and while Alphred was going through the documents on the desk and sorting some of them one by one, I felt my heart pounding as we slowly made our way to the door.

I was not sneaking out on my own and I wasn't trying to escape either, but the thought of getting caught leaving while he had turned his back on us was a childish action. Still, we got out without a problem and continued walking without saying a word to one another, passing each and every hallway I had seen while exploring on my own when he was still working. The walk was slow and silent, that way I actually felt like he was doing that to give me time to see everything around us, but I had seen anything so I lost interest. The only thing I did was look at his back while still holding his hand.

That made me think about the time I took that hand and walked around the garden just like this, I actually lost my breath that time when he run and almost felt like he was dragging me, but still, what would have happened if I didn't take it? Maybe everything was going to have taken another turn, for the better or the worse.

"How was the tour around the palace, Raeliana?"

"…It, it was all right!"

"I am happy you came here today. Even though I wasn't of much help before, it's great that you enjoyed it, and even if you didn't it's fine too."

'Then why ask me in the first place?', that took me by surprise, I didn't expect he was going to talk since it was so quiet. I see that breaking the ice is not my thing and since I don't know what to say first in a conversation, it is more like taking a step forward in a dark place where there is no beginning and no end, but this definitely makes things easier for me.

"So… what now?"

"Hm?! What do you mean with … Oh right, you want to know where I am leading you? I almost forgot. Come this way!"

With that, we began to walk faster to what looked like a road in between or a shorter way from the right to the north wing. I didn't go through that side since he was the one to say that it was prohibited for non-royal members to be there, but nothing seemed to be different from the other side, it was just...brighter and everything was well organized in my opinion. In fact, it looked quite feminine with this kind of arrangement and it almost felt like it had a woman's touch on it.

As I was looking at the surroundings briefly since his highness was going pretty fast, in one moment something familiar caught my eye. I stopped immediately holding on to a door frame to get a better look at that thing I saw, but now that I think about it, I shouldn't have done that so suddenly and without saying anything to his highness beforehand.

Basically, what happened was that we collapsed into each other, his highness who was still holding my hand and leading me to whatever place he wanted me to see, but I pulled him toward me when I stopped, so he fell down and so did I. Looking at me full of surprise and confusion, he saw my hand on the door frame and said, "Raelian, at least you could have told me to stop or warned me beforehand. Anyway, did you get hurt anywhere?"

"…N-no, I am fine…what about you?"

"Don't worry! I fell on a soft spot so I am fine."

I said it just to make him get up, 'Soft, huh? You do see where you landed, don't you?", but that response left me speechless because it looked like he got the wrong idea and thought that I actually cared about his condition. When he got pulled he fell on top of me, and his face was right above my shoulder so he definitely had hit his head too, still, he wasn't complaining so everything was indeed good. When he got up it felt like I was hit by a truck and my head hurt like hell after hitting it on the marble tiles of the hallway, 'Sigh. I don't want to move. That was so impulsive of me. Why did I do that just now, why?'

"You said that Rai, but you don't look that good."

"I said I am fine your highness, just let me calm down for a moment.", is not that big of a deal, actually I deserved it for being impulsive, but I didn't expect to lose my balance and get knocked down by him. I thought that my body was stronger since I could lift heavy heights with ease, so the outcome was a little bit underwhelming. Still, even though I mean it when I said that I was fine, he seems sad. Is like I am looking at a little puppy being worried about something he did wrong. Should I be concerned that I find him cute or is it a genuine reaction I have toward pretty faces?

"Come on now your highness, I am not going to die from a little blow in the head. In fact, I am feeling better now, so why don't we keep going?"

"…?! So, I did hurt you, didn't I?"

"Sigh…", how can I change the subject without having to look at the puppy, I mean to continue looking at his change from being a little arrogant to care. I feel uncomfortable. Hmm…?! Oh, that thing I just saw. It was something hanging on the wall that looked exactly like a picture I had seen before somewhere, but since we were particularly running I didn't see it that well and after a little, the image was already gone from my memory. If I could find it where it was it would be ni…

"Oh right, there is something that catches my eye. Can you please show me what it is?"

"Hm…?! Something that caught your eye?"

I knew I had seen something like that before but I didn't know that it was this one. I found it and honestly learned the hard way that I should act impulsively even if I see something out of place.

"Was it this what you wanted to see?"

"Y-yes … and actually now that I think about it, I would have appreciated it if you didn't show it to me your highness, but thank you anyway."

What a waste of time. Unlike the one I saw in the academy, this one is such a large painting that it takes almost the entire wall, and there is only the image of one person. An old man that had such a long white beard, that touched the ground and…ahem, I mean, the man in the painting is sitting on a high-backed wooden chair, and on one hand, he had a sword and on the other an empty skull. Now I got the chills looking at it again, and after so long that still gives me the creeps looking at a human holding another human's skull like that for everyone to see.

"Pfft…hahaha…you seem to not like that picture, I feel you though, but I assure you that that's not a bad painting, it's just that the emperor is kind of…hahaha… kind of ugly."

"?! That's the emperor?"

I had seen the painting of the emperor before, but each time I climbed the stairs of the academy I looked away for obvious reasons, and that time and this time I still think that this painting is…not quite normal. His whole face and body reflected his pride and arrogance, rather creepy for someone to hold a skull proudly and pose, not only that but he put that picture on display for all the kingdom to see, 'Where was that painting made? Wait no, that's not important right now. What in the Albus Dumbledore and Jedidiah style is that?! …no, I know I shouldn't laugh, but…pfft, that's creepy as hell!', I don't know what face I was making since I couldn't understand if I was creeped out or just found that funny after his highness said that he was his father, however since he was on my side I understood one thing.

"Sigh! So different, yet have the same problem. Genes are a pain, but now I know what to expect."

"…?! What's that supposed to mean?"

***