Chapter Forty

"Am I interrupting something?"

"N-No, of course not, princess." Nicholas quickly answered, nervous.

With the sudden presence of the princess, I bowed respectfully, not saying anything, trying not to call any attention to myself. But when I raised my head Princess Isabel was staring at me.

"Is there anything I can help you with, princess?" Nicholas politely asked, approaching the princess, blocking my view of her.

"Oh, I was just passing by when I saw you, Nicholas. I heard your family is coming for the ceremony, is that true?" Princess Isabel asked.

'Nicholas's family is coming to the palace?' I thought, surprised.

"Yes, they are. I think soon they are arriving, princess." Nicholas answered.

"I see, it has been such a long time since I saw them." Princess Isabel said, but then she looked behind Nicholas, and her eyes met mine.

"I have been wondering who is he, Nicholas?" Princess Isabel asked Nicholas, though her eyes were focused on me.

"Greetings, Your Highness, Princess Isabel. I am Alex, Prince Noah's servant." I presented myself, bowing respectfully again.

"My brother's servant…" Princess Isabel said, looking at me surprised, but then she quickly hid her surprise with a polite smile and asked. "I see, so you must know where my brother is, don't you?"

"Prince Noah is in his bedroom, Your Highness." I answered.

"In his bedroom at this time? Did something happen to Noah?" Princess Isabel asked, worried.

"...His Highness was not feeling well so he decided to stay in his room resting, Your Highness." I answered, unsure of how much I could tell her about what happened to Prince Noah.

"And what are you doing here?!" One of the maids with Princess Isabel suddenly shouted at me.

It took me a while to realize who she was. 'T-The Head Maid?'

"As His Highness's servant, you should be by his side helping him at times like this!" The Head Maid shouted, scolding me.

"Hmm, I…" I mumbled, nervous.

"He is with me. Noah ordered him to accompany me for today." Nicholas lied.

The Head Maid's face softened after hearing Nicholas's words. "Huh, I see. If it was Prince Noah's order, then I will let it pass, but just this time."

I sighed relieved.

"If it was all, let us take our leave, then." Nicholas suddenly said.

"Yes, of course, you may go now." Princess Isabel said, with a polite smile on her face.

Nicholas hold my wrist and said. "Let's go, Alex."

I nodded, but then I changed my mind. "Wait a minute, Nicholas."

I looked at the princess and said. "Your Highness, I think it would be a good thing if you could go see Prince Noah. I think he would be glad to see you."

'I think Prince Noah is feeling lonely and sad right now. He seems to not know where he stands in his family, not knowing how they feel about him. Maybe seeing that Princess Isabel worries and cares about him will make him feel better.' I thought, optimistic.

Princess Isabel seemed surprised by my words, but then the Head Maid started to shout mad at me.

"How dare a servant as you tell the princess what she should do?! Someone like you should be pun-"

But then, Princess Isabel raised her hand in front of the Head Maid, making her stop.

"It is fine, Aurora. I'm actually grateful for Alex's suggestion. I think it is a good idea to see my brother now." The princess said, smiling at me.

"Then, excuse us." Princess Isabel said, and without expecting a word from us, she turned her back and walked away, followed by her maids.

The Head Maid looked at me reproachfully one last time before leaving, following the princess.

I sighed, relieved. 'I should be more careful from now on.'

Nicholas looked at me and said. "I think we should leave too."

I nodded, after all this, I wasn't feeling comfortable being there anymore.

***

After leaving the inside garden Nicholas and I were walking through the palace's hallway aimlessly.

"I just remembered that you were trying to tell me something before the princess's arrival, what was it?" I asked him, curious.

Nicholas's face turned red, and he seemed suddenly nervous. "I-It was nothing… J-Just forget it!"

"Alright…" I said.

'Why is he acting like this?' I asked myself, staring at him.

Nicholas then looked the other way, avoiding my gaze.

We stayed in silence for a moment before I asked, curious.

"So, what do you think about the princess? It has been some time since you last talked, right?"

Nicholas looked at me, and then looked away, but this time he seemed to be thinking.

"She seems pretty different from the princess I knew two years ago." Nicholas answered, pensive.

"I see." I said without thinking too much about his answer.

'Well it is not surprising, two years is a lot of time, it's normal for people to change over the years, and even more children, they can quickly change over time.' I thought.

"What about you? What did you think about the princess?" Nicholas asked me, curious.

"Princess Isabel is pretty… pretty different from Prince Noah." I answered.

"What do you mean with that?" Nicholas asked, confused.

"Ah, well, since they are twins I thought they would resemble each other, but Princess Isabel seems to be pretty polite and calm, she seems nothing like Prince Noah." I explained.

'She seemed pretty nice, actually.' I thought remembering how she helped me with the Head Maid before.

"I liked her." I said out loud, without thinking much.

'Between the royal children, she seems to be the most easygoing, different from her brothers she doesn't seem troublesome at all.' I thought.

"D-Do you like her?!" Nicholas suddenly shouted, surprised.

It took me a moment to realize why he seemed so nervous.

"N-Not this way!" I shouted, embarrassed. "I just meant that she seems nice, that is all!"

Nicholas seemed to be relieved by my words for some reason. "I see…"

And then again we went silent, but this time it was a pretty uncomfortable silence.

"So…How Princess Isabel and Prince Noah's relationship was before the princess left the palace?" I asked, curious, hoping it would change the mood.

"They were pretty close, it was hard to not see them together… But why do you ask, Alex?" Nicholas asked, looking at me.

I looked away and said. "…I was just curious."

'Prince Noah this morning seemed so excited to see his sister again, but when they actually met, both of them behaved distant towards each other.' I remembered.

["…the only person I had by my side was Isabel, but even her became different and abandoned me"]

'That was what Prince Noah said to me, but Princess Isabel seemed worried about Prince Noah when I told her he wasn't feeling well. She seems to also care about him, so what happened between them?'

"How did they become so distant?" I asked myself out loud.

Nicholas looked at me surprised, jus then I realized I had spoken that out loud.

Nicholas looked around for a while like he was making sure there was no one near, and then he hold my hand saying. "Come with me."

Following Nicholas, we entered a random empty room.

"Why are we here?" I asked, curious.

Then, behind me, Nicholas locked the door, surprising me.

"W-Why are you locking the door?" I asked, confused.

"You asked why the princess and Noah's relationship turned apart, so I am going to tell you, but." Nicholas said, then he grabbed my shoulders, and with a serious look in his eyes, he said. "You have to promise me you will not tell anyone."

I was surprised because he seemed pretty serious about that. "Y-Yes… I promise you."

Nicholas looked serious into my eyes, and then he released me. "Alright."

Nicholas took a deep breath and said. "There are rumors that the King ordered everyone in this palace to stay silent about what happened two years ago."

"What happened two years ago?" I asked.

"You know, two years ago was when Princess Isabel was discovered to be a light mage… After that, she changed." Nicholas said with sorrow in his voice.

"What do you mean? Did she change just because she discovered she was a light mage?" I asked confused.

'Did she let the power get over her head?'

Being a light mage is a very important and special thing in this world. It is not just the most powerful magic, but there is also a lot of social prestige accompanied by it, even more now that this magic is so rare.

'Is that why she became distant from Prince Noah, just because she is a light mage while Prince Noah is a fire mage?' I asked myself, starting to get mad with the princess.

"No, Alex, it wasn't like that…" Nicholas explained with a complex expression on his face.

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

Nicholas crossed his arms, he seemed unsure if he was going to tell me or not, but then he sighed and said. "After her magic was awakened, the princess changed, she started to act… weird."

"Weird?" I asked, confused.

"The princess's mood changed, she was always demanding to be alone and treated her family like strangers, saying that they weren't her family and that she didn't know any of them." Nicholas explained.

"So the princess lost her memories?" I asked, surprised.

Nicholas nodded. "It seems so."

"But, I don't get it, Nicholas. How could the King, her father, send her away to the temple after she lost her memories?" I asked, mad.

'I don't expect much from the King, I know he is not a good father, but… How could he send his daughter away just after she lost her memories? Was he ashamed of that? Is that why he doesn't want people to know this?' I asked myself, confused and frustrated.

"I think it was because of Princess Isabel's behavior, Alex." Nicholas said, avoiding my eyes.

"Her behavior?" I asked.

Nicholas nodded and then he explained. "After the princess's power was awakened, she became pretty aggressive. She hurt the servants and even… Attacked Noah with her magic."

'She attacked Prince Noah?' I thought, surprised.

"Princess Isabel was too dangerous to everyone around her. Her power was unstable and she wasn't coming to her senses, that is why the King decided to send her to the temple hoping that she would get better… This was the only way to help the princess, and protect everyone in the palace. To protect Noah and Dylan too." Nicholas said with sadness in his voice.

"I thought… I thought the princess was in the temple just to learn about light magic… How could this be possible?" I asked, feeling too confused.

Nicholas's words weren't making sense to me.

'Is this true?' I asked myself, unsure.

But then I remembered about this morning.

I remembered how everyone, the servants and even the princes seemed tense when Princess Isabel appeared.

But then she said. ["Greetings, brothers… Long time no see."]

After she greeted them smiling in a calm posture, everyone relaxed.

'Is that because they were afraid of her? Afraid that she would attack them? Then, what Nicholas said is true?' I asked myself, surprised.

"Well, she was in the temple studying and learning how to control her magic indeed, but it was just the explanation the King gave to everyone, after all the temple is not the place where light mages go to study light magic, it is here in the palace." Nicholas explained, trying to convince me.

"But there is no book teaching anything about light magic in the library!" I shouted, confused, without thinking too much about my words.

'I've been looking for books to teach me about light magic for years there in the royal library, but I didn't find any!' I thought, frustrated.

Nicholas looked at me surprised. "So you tried to look for those books there."

Just then I realized what I had just done.

"I-I mean… I was just curious!" I said, ashamed.

Nicholas chuckled at me. "You know that library is open to any guest that visits the palace, right? There wouldn't be any important or valuable book there."

'Is it open to everyone?' I thought, surprised.

"Y-You lied to me, then! You said that people couldn't get in there without permission or they would get executed!" I shouted, embarrassed.

Nicholas looked at me confused. "I didn't lie. I said that if you were caught you could get executed because you are a servant, and servants need permission to get into the royal library, but nobles and guests can freely enter there. I never said it applied to everyone."

I felt frustrated and embarrassed by Nicholas's words, but I knew he was telling the truth.

'I was already suspecting that there were other libraries in the palace... Just as Nicholas said, if it were a place with important and valuable things there, there would be guards guarding the place.' I realized.

"T-Then… what happened to the princess? How did she lose her memories?" I asked, curious, though I was just embarrassed and wanted to change the topic.

Nicholas's countenance changed, he suddenly got serious.

"There is a rumor that after a light mage has their magic awakened, they pass through something called awakening phase. Their magic is too unstable during this time. It seems that is too much power for a child to handle, and in the worst cases, it can damage their body and even their mind... Maybe that was what happened to Isabel."

'Awakening… phase?'