‘A beautiful ceiling, painted in red, greeted me as I opened my eyes. ‘Looking around, no one was in the room but me on a soft carpet in the middle of the room. I slowly stood up, groaning as I put my head in my hands. ‘I tried to think as to where I was. But even though I looked around the room, nothing could give me the slightest clue. No matter how hard I tried, I just didn’t know where I was. Then, a bit of shuffling came from outside the door. ‘I wonder what that could be? ‘Cautiously, I stood up as I didn’t want to garner any attention. I could be trespassing, for all I know. ‘I approached the door, turning the knob as quietly as possible. As I peeked my head out of the door frame, maids ran around in a panic. They paced back and forth, coming from a room that was at the very end of the corridor. ‘Stepping out of the room, I closed the door behind me. It was easy to see that something serious was happening. ‘“Excuse me?” I called for a maid but was ignored. I tried to ask

Moments later, Gonzalo has finally arrived. “Your Highnesses,” he bowed to the both of us. “You called for me?” “Can you tell us what you need?” Elizabeth asked as she turned to me. I smiled as I cupped her cheek. “Check… Mother,” I slowly spoke, trying not to hurt myself in the process of talking. “You want me to check on Mother when you’re in a lot of pain?” she asked in disbelief. With a deep breath, I replied, “I… will be… fine. I need… time… alone.” “But, Robert–” “There’s no need to worry, Your Grace,” Gonzalo interrupted as he approached us. “I will not leave the young prince until you return.” Elizabeth looked at Gonzalo and returned to me, unsure of what she was going to do. “I will… call… for you…” I assured her, trying to be strong amidst the strain I felt. She sighed. “You are such a stubborn person, Robert,” she patted my hair gently, shaking her head with a smile. “I’ll go and accompany Mother for a short while. I beg you, don’t do anything reckless.” I scru

I bit my inner cheek as I avoided her gaze. I knew that look on her face right now and she wasn’t amused. “Robert?” a stern voice came out from her lips. I sighed in defeat, looking at her apologetically. “Would you mind explaining to me why Gonzalo entered your room with a stack of reports?” she asked as she gestured at Gonzalo briefly. “As I said, Mother, I’ve been feeling better since last week. And instead of staying in bed or doing nothing the whole day, I figured I could go back to my reports,” I explained. “Robert, your father and I already gave out orders for you to be exempted from royal duties until we see fit,” she scolded. “Why do you keep defying our orders? Is that hard to follow?” “Mother, it’s not that I want to disobey your orders,” I protested. “But what you want me to do will just keep me sick for a much longer time. If I continue to do nothing, I will never truly heal.” “But do you have to do an immediate stack of reports on your first day out of

“What do you mean? What happened to my sister??” I asked without hesitation. “She’s currently in the garden but an unknown man entered and he’s been harassing her,” my page said. “They said she tried to have a decent conversation with him to make him leave but he is now resulting in violence.” “Doesn’t she have any guards with her?!” I exploded, grabbing my coat. “Where is she right now?! Why would you allow this to happen?!” I continued my rant as I sprinted towards the garden, my page, and Gonzalo right behind me. The two guards by my door followed us as well. “There were guards with her but the man put a petrifying spell on them. She’s now left to her own devices,” my page continued to report. “Why didn’t she use her magic against him? She’s the daughter of the ruling monarchs!” “The man put some kind of hex on her so she won’t be able to use her magic. She’s now holding a sword against the man and the man is doing the same.” Without any sort of thinking of a plan to

With his serious tone, I turned to his direction and paid attention to what he was about to say. He continued after a sigh, “Please be careful with Laura as I’m being cautious with letting her spend time with you. His request spurred confusion inside of me. My brows met as I grew more confused and nervous as well. I wasn’t sure where he was trying to revert this conversation into but I was starting to worry. Could it be that he saw me as a bad influence on Laura? Was I a distraction to her? Or could it be that he knew something about my true identity? Has he seen right through my disguise? Has he seen through the facade used by ancient immortals to keep us safe in their realm? We stayed silent once more. After the silence became deafening, Grandpa Ben proceeded, “I know what you truly are. Your guards didn’t spend any effort hiding your true being the last time you visited this place” My eyes widened. Was he referring to the little fiasco that happened the last time I visite