Bab 9. Gaze

"We have never even seen the world outside the palace," said Nathania. She was aware that her current scope was only around the palaces in Lithonia, even she had never mingled with people outside the palace.

"You're right, we never got a chance to see the outside world,"

"I want to try it,"

"What are you trying?"

"Go out of the palace and meet a lot of people. I'll do it!"

"Are you sure? you know we are not allowed out of the palace without the knowledge of the King and Mother,"

"But, why aren't we allowed? What's the problem?"

"Because it would be dangerous to meet a bad person, because the King's children could potentially be kidnapped. We can't go outside the palace without an escort."

"Nathan ..."

"What ?"

"You don't want to go? We can go together for a while to see what the world outside the palace is like. I also want to have friends," Nathania lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. Her mind was filled with the desire to see the outside world and meet many people.

Nathan was silent and watched his sister's face for a moment, Nathania looks very lively and radiant. Nathan was grateful that he was the one with this disease, not Nathania.

"I think we can ... ukh ..." as soon as he finished his sentence, the painful attack was felt again, pressing very hard into his veins.

"Nathan? are you sick?" Nathania who saw Prince Nathan's reaction suddenly grabbed his chest began to worry, it always happened every time his illness recurred and made Nathan go back to undergoing treatment for days.

"Ukh ..." Nathan groaned in pain, the pain was very difficult to endure.

"Na ... Nathan hang on! I'll get Doctor Franz, wait a minute!" she said as he ran outside and sought help.

"Nathan hold on,I beg you ..."

***

"Listen to me, don't go into Nathan's room for the moment. He has a relapse and he needs to be treated. So, don't bother him, okay?" said the Queen while holding the shoulder of the Princess who bowed languidly hearing the bad news about her brother.

"I understand," she said.

Yes, it happened again. They have to separate for a while. In fact, they had just enjoyed the beautiful days they had together again. For Nathania, Nathan was not only a brother, but also a friend, teacher and a loyal listener. The one closest to and understanding herself the most.

Princess Nathania walked with a gloomy face towards the front yard of the sapphire palace. Today, the palace grounds are very busy, there are the Kings, Queen Mother and important dignitaries and nobles in the Lithonia Kingdom.

"Nathan? here you are, come on over here!" asked the Queen Mother who noticed the presence of the "Crown Prince"

Princess Nathania approached her grandmother. This crowd is because the King and the royal family of Fotia will return to their country. So, this is an official farewell between the two countries intending to pursue a path of peace after nearly 100 years of cold war and threatening each other.

Next to King Fotia, there is a boy who Nathania met in the Lavender Garden that burned yesterday. Behind him, there are four girls who seem to be the daugthers of the King.

"That boy ..." saw the figure, his guts immediately shrunk. That boy has an unusual, creepy and very mysterious aura. He didn't show any expression other than that murderous gaze.

When the two Kings talked to each other before separating, the two potential heirs between the two great kingdoms also communicated in different ways. The boy glancing at Nathania certainly without a smile. Nathania swallowed, her body trembling. She did not understand what those eyes meant.

Only 10 seconds, then he shifted his gaze elsewhere. Nathania almost stopped breathing, if the boy continued to stare at her, maybe she could die from fear, not from the mysterious fire.

After paying their respects, the King of Fotia in his entourage left the palace in their horse-drawn carriages. Nathania saw a flag flying on one of the chariots, a flag with a symbol of a monster or a horned animal with a half like a horse holding a sword and armor.

Even though the boy had left, the terror he left behind was still felt, even though Nathania was the only person who witnessed this miraculous and terrible event firsthand.

***

Nathania breathed the refreshing morning air, after breakfast she immediately ran to the garden to escape from her daily routine which was very boring for her. Namely, study and study.

"At least for today I want to skip," she thought. The sentence for today alone didn't really apply because she said it almost every day.

10:00 am was the time for her to enter the classroom in the palace, where she was the only student to study. Since she is the crown prince, it is certain that the upbringing given to her is very special.

There are five teachers who used to teach her to study every day, except weekends and those teachers teach different subjects such as arithmetic, languages, history, royal politics, music and art.

"Huh ..." Nathania sighed. After successfully exiting the palace, she only needed to pass a few paths to completely escape surveillance.

"Prince Nathan ..." Diana's voice began to be heard. Compared to Helena and Jia, Diana was much firmer and could not tolerate the prince's mischief including running away from study hours.

Nathania is hiding behind a tall pillar carved with silver flowers. As usual, trying to peek at the atmosphere within the palace whether it was safe enough for her to escape or not.

"Have you seen Prince Nathan?" Diana asked the three palace maids who had been known to be very weak against the Prince's adorable seduction.

"No, we didn't see the Prince!"

"Don't lie to me! you guys helped him escape several times!" Diana began to intimidate these innocent people because of her famous influence as the Empress's personal butler.

"We really don't see the prince!" answered one of them with a scared expression, Diana's scary face really able to bully her opponent.

After staring at them with all her strange judgments, Diana returned to the main task that the Queen had given her, namely making sure Prince Nathan did not miss her class.

"Okay then, now help me find the Prince. Because a new teacher is waiting in his class,"

"New teacher? Is the Prince's new teacher still young?" asked the servants enthusiastically, remembering that these three women were still young.

"If still young, why?" asked Diana, somehow annoyed.

"If he is young and handsome, it must be good. Who knows we can meet the Prince's teacher."

"That's right!" said her two friends, laughing flirtatiously.

Diana who has been serving the Queen for almost 15 years is still single. Even though she is 33 years old, she also has the same expectations as women in general is married and has a relationship with her.

"The Prince's new teacher is indeed a young man and also very handsome," she said.

"Is it true?"

"Yes, I think he is only 18 years old. But I heard, he is very talented in music and art."

"Oh...it is fitting that he was chosen to be the Prince's private teacher, then we are lucky!"

"Why are you the lucky ones?"

"Because seeing his handsome face every day in the palace, kyaa..." they said screaming hysterically.

"Don't dream! you better be aware of yourself than you will be disappointed later!" said Diana who felt that only she had the right to expect more.

"We won't know until we try,"

"That's right!" because their obsession with the presence of the new teacher Prince Nathan caught them off guard. Just now they passed the pillar where Nathania was hiding.

"New teacher? young?" she muttered after hearing the conversation between Diana and the three young servants.

"Then, this is my chance to escape. The new teacher must first test his patience, hahaha ​​..." she thought. Somehow that cute little girl, now grows up to be a cunning girl.

Princess Nathania ran to her and Prince Nathan's favorite garden. The garden is covered with very pretty colorful flowers and a large fountain surrounded by a statue of a small winged child made of gold.

"Once upon a time we will meet ... under the blue sky ... in a beautiful expanse of meadow ... we sing together ... you and I ..." Nathania heard a singing voice coming from the garden. 

In the middle of pansies, a girl with red hair was picking flowers by herself. Nathania had never seen that girl before. However, her singing voice sounded very beautiful.

Princess Nathania walked slowly, suddenly her feet stepped on a tree branch, making a sound. The girl immediately turned her head.

He had very white skin, with red hair in two braids, bright green eyes and freckled cheeks. The girl looked at the figure of a cute boy with light brown hair and round sapphire blue eyes. She looked fascinated, as if he had never seen such a beautiful creature before.

"Wh ... who?" asked the girl, still stunned barely blinking.

"I'm Nathan," she replied confusedly.

"Nathan? as the name of the Prince," she said. Nathania was just shyly silent, she had never met any other girl besides her half sisters, she also rarely met let alone played together. Not just anyone can be close to the Prince and Princess, even if the children of the king's concubine.

"Prince Nathan?" the girl was amazed, she had never met the Prince, even though she had seen his face in a painting in the palace. However, she did not expect that the real Prince Nathan was so much cuter than the one in the painting.

"Who are you?" asked Nathania trying to be brave, maybe she could be friends with that girl.

"M ... my name is Judy, Your Majesty!" she replied nervously, remembering the message her parents who worked in the palace, that she must show respect when meeting with the royal family.

"Judy, huh? let's be friends!"

***