38: DO YOU LIKE HER?

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...38...

DO YOU LIKE HER?♥️

The little prince dismounted his horse alongside his aide, Octavia afore the royal manor and stared at the letter in his hand. The envelope, it was green which was the colour of the Draco Kingdom. It was a letter of petition. It was written boldly on one side of the green envelope with black ink. It meant that the court had summoned the emperor. He turned towards the entrance of the first Prince manor -who the emperor. He strode towards it with Octavia just behind him and came into the manor, received by Peter, the butler who paid obeisance to his title and led him into the receiving area. He waited until he sat before speaking to him.

'My Lord, Do you perchance want to have an audience with my Lord?' Peter asked him.

'Yes I do,' the little prince said.

'Well My Lord, the emperor is not in at the moment. He has gone to the armory for a royal inspection,' he informed him.

'Oh, that,' the little prince said. 'I forgot even when I was the one who sent him there,' he mused.

'But I shall send word to him that you await him My Lord.'

'Do so, I shall have to await him for the information I bear is crucial.'

'Shall you need anything my Lord? Tea? Refreshments? Food?' Peter asked him. He began to shake his head but stopped short.

'Lunch,' he said after a moment of thought. 'Now that I think of it, my aide and I have had nothing to eat since the morrow,' he told Peter. The butler smiled at him.

'I know you must have been busy with Linamine affairs My Lord, but still, you should not skip breakfast. You might skip any other meal but not breakfast,' he chastised. 'Your aide should have made sure of that,' he turned to Octavia who smiled apologetically.

'I am sorry Peter. I forgot to care for my master,' she apologized.

'Please do not let this happen unless it is inevitable.'

'I shall listen to you.'

'That is good,' he told her. 'I shall get the kitchen to arrange a sumptuous meal for the both of you. Lunch shall soon be served. Shall your escort join you my Lord?' he inquired. 'Or shall I secern her?'

'She shall sit with me at my table,' he said to Peter who nodded. Anyone present would have thought Octavia was his lover for he treated her as an equal. It was an honour to sit with the Prince at his table.

'Yes My Lord.'

'Peter?' the little prince called as the butler turned away. The man turned to him once again.

'My Lord?' he answered.

'Remember that she is a vegetarian Peter,' he said then.

'I have yet to forget that important piece of information My Lord,' Peter told him. Then, he left to do as he had told them. The little prince turned to his aide who was standing beside him the moment Peter left.

'Octavia,' he called her, beckoning for her to come forward with his hands. She did so.

'My Lord?'

'Please find me a maid named Jaele,' he said to her.

'Jaele,' Octavia repeated and he nodded. 'Shall I bring her to you when I find her?' she inquired.

'No Octavia, do me a favour and study her keenly. Ask about her if possible and gather as much information as you can on her.'

'Is that all you desire My Lord?' he nodded tiredly at her. 'I shall do as you have said My Lord. I will be back before lunch is served,' she told him. He nodded once again.

'Thank you Octavia.' It was her turn to nod before she turned away and left to do what had be requested.

Octavia returned to him just as the maids began taking food pass his eyes and into the dining area on the other side. She had kept her promise once again. She bowed slightly to him and made to report her findings when Peter came in.

'My Lord?' they both turned to the butler. 'Your lunch is ready. Please, grace the dining area with your distinguished presence,' he said in a flattering way.

'Oh Peter!' the little prince said to him with a small chuckle. 'Well I shall, not because of your flattery but because I am hungry,' he explained.

'I do not mind if it is either my Lord,' he continued in the same vein.

'Well well,' he said as his aide gave her hands to him. He took it and stood but didn't let go of it. 'Let us go Octavia,' he said to her.

'Yes My Lord,' she said. It was not as if she had any other choice but to follow him because he was holding her hands a bit too tightly. When they arrived the dining area, he stopped short. Peter had really outdone himself.

'This man,' he said turning to Peter. 'I asked for lunch and not a feast,' he teased him. Peter laughed.

'My Lord, you deserve a feast. The nosh hour is almost gone. You have been fasting all morning. This feast is a small feat for you.'

'You have learnt to be flattering from who because your master sucks at such a thing?' he asked him.

'It is an inborn talent My Lord,' he continued. 'Please enjoy your meal My Lord. I shall leave you to do so for my presence can be distracting.' The little prince chuckled once again at his words.

'Just go do something else Peter,' he chased him away.

'Yes My Lord,' The butler laughed. He bowed slightly then, turned and left him and his aide.

'Take a seat Octavia,' he said guiding the silver haired woman to one of the cushions by the set table.

'My Lord!' Octavia protested. She could not sit before her master had done so.

'Sit Octavia,' he said to her in a more commanding tone. 'I am very hungry and have no strength for this and you know that.'

'My Lord,' she complained but did as he was asking. He went to the other side and sat on the other cushion which was larger and fuller. Peter knew that the little prince liked to eat sitting close to the ground rather than using a chair and a table.

'There,' he said with a sigh, almost salivating at the sight of all the dishes placed afore him. 'Let's eat.' Then, he took a spoon and began to help himself to the food. Octavia began eating after he had taken a spoon. She ate silently, head down. She could never get used to sitting at a table with her Master even after almost twelve years of serving him. 'What sort of person is she?' he asked her midway into their meal.

'She is a reserved person,' Octavia answered as she tried to peel a banana with her hands. She was much more relaxed than when they had started eating earlier. 'She is mini me,' she said again as she finished with peeling. She bit into the soft yellow fruit. He stopped eating and stared at her.

'She is nothing like you,' the little prince said to her. She shrugged at his denial.

'Have it your way my Lord, but she reminds me of me.'

'Octavia,' he said to her with a warning in his voice. She looked up at him and gave him an apologetic smile.

'Forgive me My Lord but I am always honest with you and you know. I know how much you hate deception,' she continued.

'Okay, fine, be honest,' he said placing his spoon in his bowl of food. She nodded and sat straighter.

'She is quiet and reserved like me. She is cheerful nonetheless when the situation calls for it. She is an introvert which I am not. She also loves plant as much as I do. She is keen and observant. She felt me watching her from the shadows but I did not reveal myself. She has the agility of a warrior and the grace of a lady. See, she is everything me, but only just naive.'

'What a lecture!' the little prince said with a broad smile.

'And you can smile just like that?' Octavia said looking back to the bunch of banana on the table.

'Smile?' he said with the gesture vanishing. 'I did not smile,' he denied instantly. Octavia shrugged nonchalantly at his denial.

'My Lord?' she said lifting her head and dropping the bunch of banana that she had just lifted. She was tired of it. The little prince looked at her, giving her his attention. 'Do you like her?' she asked as she leaned forward, reaching for some rolls. They were still quite warm. The little prince stared at her, unmoving.

'Is it proper for you to ask me that?' he said after he had quickly recovered his momentary lost bearing. She nodded at his words.

'Yes My Lord. You shall soon ask me for advice so it is best that I know now,' she simply said as she stuffed her mouth with the rolls. The way she sighed after chewing told him that they tasted really good. He made a mental note to try it next.

'I shall soon know,' he said with a smile, admiring the lady for her straightforwardness and audacity. He liked it anyways.

'Alright My Lord,' she acknowledged, reaching for something else on the table. The lady was slender, but she could wolf down a mountain. He wondered where it all went, the food and surmised that everything went right to her brain. The silly thought amused him. She looked up at him suspiciously. 'The lady overrides your mind my Lord,' she pointed out to him. He chuckled.

'This time, it is you that curve my lips Octavia.'

'And what have I done my Lord to amuse you?' she inquired of him with raised brows.

'I just wondered where everything you wolf down always go to,' he said to her. She blushed lightly.

'Forgive my crude table manners my Lord. I do not mean to eat in a hurry,' she apologized.

'It is adorable when you do it, do not apologize.'

'Meseems Peter learnt his act of flattery from you My Lord. You are so adept at it,' she informed him.

'Eat up Octavia.' She nodded and went back to eating alongside him.

When they were done with eating their meal, the sunset hour was already come. They ambled to the receiving area with their filled bellies. Peter came to them then as the Little Prince took a sit.

'I trust that you enjoyed your meal My Lord?' he asked both of them with a very proud and yet satisfied smile on his vis.

'Oh yes, yes I did, we did,' he corrected himself with a hearty chuckle, one that being drunk on food could generate. 'Did we not do so?' he asked turning to his aide who was standing at his back.

'Yes My Lord, we did enjoy the meal Peter,' she supported her master with a grateful smile.

'Ah, I am glad that you enjoyed the meal My Lord. And please, both of you should not fast when the empire is filled with delicious bounties. If you are tired of your manor, vome here and I will treat you like the kings of this empire,' he rambled.

'Oh Peter!' the little prince rambled. 'He really does crack me up Octavia, doesn't he?' he said turning to his aide who nodded at him.

'Yes My Lord, he does. You are almost always amused in his presence, without any form of tension. He humours you,' she finished.

''Yes he does. I just think that-' He suddenly stopped short and stared at Octavia. 'Wait,' he began. 'Why on earth are you standing? Did not I tell you to sit and let the food that you have swallowed settle properly? Did not I Octavia?' he demanded of her. She made to speak but thought better of it at the last minute.

'My Lord, it is just that-'

'The first Prince is here,' the little prince cut her off so suddenly. They all stared at him. The sound of horses outside reached them all and they all turned to the direction of the entrance, staring.

'You are right My Lord, I hear horses,' Octavia said to her master. 'But it could be anyone,' she argued further. The little prince shook his head at her statement.

'It is the first Prince,' the little prince said to her with certainty.

'Yes My Lord, I agree with you that it is him. The emperor's arrival brings some sort of quiet and order to the manor. It is as a result of his very prominent overpowering and overflowing aura,' Peter said to the little prince, supporting him with his words and enlightening Octavia at the same time. 'I shall go to receive him at the entrance My Lord,' he told the little prince. Then, he walked to the entrance to do so.

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...OmaPhinaPhire🔥

GLOSSARY

* The Nosh Hour: The hour between three and four o'clock.

* The Sunset hour: The hour between four and five o'clock.