Wolfish Grin

After spending a few minutes in his tent, Prince Nicien Vamieres believed that he was ready to go to his 'curious' wife once again. After all, he ought to give her a tour of the camp and he couldn't finish it before due to the pressure.

He was known for his nonchalance and this rarely happened to him. Though he knew the reason, it was still hard to cope with it. However, it's not like he could run away from it.

Rising from his seat, the Prince walked out of his tent and started looking for his wife. A few minutes passed and not a glimpse of the Princess was seen. Nevertheless, the fact that the Princess had already left the camp didn't even cross Prince Nicien's mind as the camp was too vast. A mere few minutes weren't enough to look at every corner.

As such, he commanded General Elias to arrange soldiers to help in looking for the Princess. Half an hour passed and he was finally told that the Princess was nowhere to be seen.

She was not here?

The news came as a shocking one for the Prince and when General Elias saw the expression on his master's face, he was very quick to dismiss the soldiers. He only spoke up once he made sure that no one was around.

"Please don't worry, Your Highness. I will send someone to the palace to check if Her Highness is there. If she still hasn't returned, I will look for her all around the capital. I will make sure to find her."

There was no response from Nicien Vamieres and somehow, it alarmed the General. "Your Highness?"

"I don't think she went back," the Prince suddenly muttered and looked at his right-hand man. "I will go and look for her. Stay here."

"But -"

"Both of us leaving the camp will bring no good and... " Nicien's voice trailed off and he seemed to be thinking twice about what he was to say next. Then with a low voice, he finally concluded, "I know her better."

With that said, he turned his back on the General and left the camp with his horse right away.

* * *

"Your Highness, it's getting late. We should return to the palace or the camp."

Princess Rizelle was too excited to even care about what Fina just said. With a bright smile plastering her beautiful face, she was going from stall to stall, trying to make sure that she checked out every stall present there.

It's not like she can leave every day!

Not to mention that the royal palace of Esriven was nothing like the one in her Linolia. There in the Esriven royal palace, everyone was so hard to understand and... somewhat scary too. She was used to leading a simple life with her father and brother on her side but in Esriven, it felt as if being simple was a crime.

She hated this.

As the Princess didn't listen to her at all, the maid felt even more anxious. "Princess!"

"It's fine, Fina," Rizelle Vamieres argued in a surprisingly calm voice. "It's only afternoon. We still have time. Right, Vincent?" She shifted her gaze to the guard who simply nodded, making the maid feel even more helpless.

Esriven was still too foreign to them and she can't help but worry. She didn't expect the Princess to be herself again this early!

Once again, just what did the Prince of Esriven do to make her this way?

Just like they did in the past hour, the three spent their time trying out the delicacies of Esriven that they had never tasted before. Through the items that were sold in the stalls, Rizelle also learned many customs and traditions of the Esrivenians.

As a royal, she was more than familiar with things in Linolia but now that she had become a member of the Esriven royal family, she should try to learn everything about the kingdom and the people.

As she was enjoying her time too much, Rizelle Vamieres wasn't even aware of the fact that her husband had already located her.

The Prince first came to the market after he left the camp and he saw her from a distance. However, one glance was enough for him to know that she was really enjoying herself outside the palace walls. So, he decided to not approach her as that would interrupt everything. However, he still worried about her safety and he ended up following her and watching over her from a distance. It had been a few minutes since then.

When Nicien watched his wife being too happy for the smallest things despite being born and raised a royal, he can't help but smile at the sight of it.

Will there ever be a royal like her in this world?

The scene he witnessed right now was just like the one from the first time he ever laid his eyes on her and he was happy to see it again.

Once again, he was glad that she didn't change at all.

While the Prince was staring at his wife with a subtle smile on his lips, the thing that suddenly happened, made his smile slip in an instant.

Rizelle accidentally bumped into someone but... from Nicien's perspective, the other person was bumping at her, intentionally.

"I'm really sorry," the Princess hurriedly apologized, humble and kind as ever. She looked up at the man who was way taller than her but... she was stupefied by the wolfish grin she saw on his face.

What was this?

"I'm the one at fault, My Lady," the man said to her in a deep voice but the grin was still there and somehow, it made Rizelle feel intimidated by it.

What's wrong with the people there?!

When the unfamiliar man suddenly took a step towards her, Rizelle involuntarily took a step backward while Vincent stepped forward in her aid. Maybe the guard realized how uncomfortable the Princess felt.

Standing before the Princess, Vincent didn't say anything but he reached out his sheathed sword to the man, as a way to stop him from coming forward. The man looked at him with a confused face but the rage was also evident in his eyes. He tried to speak up but... someone beat him at that.

"You better stay away from her, General Vilham."