Devon's chambers

"If you let me, I will..." Lily muttered under her breath, but Aziel's sharp hearing picked it up.

He smiled and stood up shrugging off invincible dust from his clothes.

He took two steps and when he saw Lily not making any attempts to leave, he spoke loudly, enough for her to hear, "Are you coming or do you want to go to that ugly prince?" He asked in undeniable disgust.

Lily pursed her lips, stood up, and closed the long distance between her and Aziel.

"Good," Aziel commended before he began walking with both hands crossed at the back.

The awkward silence between them was unexplainable. Lily wondered why Aziel who always had so much to say, was suddenly mute. It was very unusual.

Was it because of what that man had to say about his mother? She thought to herself.

Everyone had a soft spot for their parent, but taking a life was too much. Of course Lily wouldn't say that out loud.

Well, she was supposed to be happy he wasn't taunting her, but she had no idea why his being silent bothered her so much.

"Uhm, where are we going?" Lily asked trying to break the silence.

"To sleep," Aziel curtly answered and said nothing afterward.

Lily nodded her head and the same awkward silence continued. She bit her bottom lip as she searched for what to say but could find none.

"This afternoon..." She started and observed him from the side of her eye, "...at the field...you suddenly disappeared. Where did you go?"

She had wanted to ask about his mother but asked this instead.

Aziel halted his steps and turned to Lily with a smug smile on his face. "Do you want to hear my voice that bad?"

Lily was irritated by his smile and scolded herself for feeling worried about him. "Don't twist my curiosity to feed your ego. No one wants to hear your despicable voice." She scoffed.

Lily felt proud of herself for her good comeback when Aziel backed away and continued walking forward. She quickly ran to meet his steps as she had no idea how to navigate this huge castle.

"So you chose to hear the voice of that ugly prince, huh? Is that why you sat next to him?" Aziel asked calmly with a tinge of anger laced underneath his voice.

"Why do you keep calling him ugly?" Lily frowned, "He's a very fine man; I'm sure every lady will jump at the offer to the seat next to him."

Aziel swiftly turned and pinned Lily to the pillar next to her, "do you like him?" He seethed angrily.

Lily was taken aback by the sudden intrusion in her personal space but quickly composed herself. Staring straight into his pale gray eyes she replied bravely, "Why do you care if I like him? who knows, he might just be the one who'll save me from a monster like you."

"Save you?" Aziel chuckled like it was some funny joke before, "May I remind you that you will be rotting in a cell by now if not for my intervention."

As Aziel finished saying those words, he let go of her chin and drew himself away from her.

Lily knew he was right, but she couldn't let him have this one. She felt manipulated.

"And may I also remind you that none of this mess would've happened earlier if you had just let me go. No matter the method, I'll surely get away from you."

Aziel frowned. He hated hearing her talk about leaving. She could say anything, but not that. Just not that.

"No one can save you from me, not even yourself. The sooner you realize that, the easier it'll get for you," Aziel said dangerously and walked away.

Lily angrily stood rooted to where she was and refused to follow him.

She was surprised when Aziel did not call for her and hurriedly walked forward to see if he was in sight. Unfortunately, he wasn't, and she was left with no idea of where to go.

She looked around and could only see dark hallways with dimly lit candles. Huge Portraits of past kings and warriors were mounted on the wall.

After standing for a while with no sign of Aziel coming to get her, she cluelessly tried to find her way.

She entered one of the hallways and walked for a while before she found stairs leading downwards. At the end of the stairs was a wooden door.

Lily gently knocked on the door, but the door creaked open instead only to reveal another hallway instead only that this time, the hallway had doors facing each other like in a dorm.

She entered the hallway and closed the door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the first door to her right.

A lady dressed in a servant's uniform had a frown on her face when she opened the door but quickly wore a smile when she saw it wasn't another maid like her.

"How can I help you milady?" She asked with a deep bow unaware that Lily was just human and had no relevance. If she had known, disgust would have claimed her face instead.

"Umm..." Lily stuttered at the respect. She was surprised news of her being a human didn't travel that fast. "Sorry to disturb your night, but I don't know my way around the palace. Would you be so kind as to help me find my way?"

"There's no problem," The maid answered with her head still lowered. "May I know where you wish to find?"

"One of the princes' rooms, his name is Aziel."

The maid was confused as she didn't know the identity of the princes from Arendell.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with Maximilian princes. If you'd like I'd take you to prince Devon's chambers. I'm sure he'll know the prince whom you wish to find."

Lily stood as she thoughtfully went over what the maid had suggested. She wasn't comfortable around Devon, but it was better than wandering helplessly around the castle.

"I would very much appreciate that," Lily smiled, and the servant led the way to Devon's chambers.

They came out of the servant's chambers and passed through a series of hallways before they stood at a section of the house. The section was secluded from the rest of the castle with a single stairs leading to the huge space.

"Are we here?" Lily asked when they stood in front of the stairs without moving.

"I'm sorry, but you need to find your way from here. Prince Devon hates intrusion at nighttime," The maid reported.

"Oh..." Lily muttered.

"Once you reach the end of the staircase, take the second turn to your right. The third room is where Prince Devon sleeps."

Even though the directions were complicated, Lily smiled at the servants and said her thanks.

"You're welcome, milady," the maid said and took her to leave.

Lily climbed the stairs and walked for a while before she found the second turn the maid talked about.

She saw five rooms in a long row and knocked on the third one as the maid had instructed.

She knocked again when she got no response and was still met with silence.

She was about to knock the third time before the door swung open, and her hand froze midair.

Devon had just finished taking a shower when a knock sounded. He dismissed it at first and carried on with applying oil to his body when the knock sounded again.

He had clearly warned that no one should visit his chambers during nighttime, so who the hell was it?

Pissed, he wrapped a cashmere towel around his waist and angrily opened the door.

When he saw who it was, the tight muscles on his face loosened.

"It's you," he said smiling. He hated intrusion in his chambers, but maybe he could make an exception this night.