A safe distance was between us as I stalked their path. Crown Prince Lander was the same as me so there was a chance he could sense my presence if I came too near. 

When they separated, I pursued the other guy until we reached the balcony. I sauntered right in, and there he was with his eerily familiar back.

The man wheeled back slowly. He did not even seem to question why was I behind him. He must have detected me earlier on. However, I wondered why do I recurrently meet people when it's dark and I could not see their faces? It happened twice and this was the third time.

"Greetings, princess. What can I help you?" 

As soon as he spoke, I knew it was him. The magic of disguise allowed me to differentiate each person's voice and I swore, the person in the woods, and the one in front of me were the same.

"Who are you?" I asked.

Unlike the last time we met, this was entirely the opposite. He was the one fully covered while my face was bared. I found myself not worrying about this situation where my identity could be revealed since I could just act like a nosey girl. This was where the fact that I was a princess came in handy since they would never relate me to a thief.

"I'll ask you again, who are you?" I inquired but it sounded more like an order.

I thought he wouldn't answer but he did.

"Reichen."

"Reichen," I repeated automatically. It was a beautiful name.

I didn't know how long I was staring at him and he didn't seem to leave either. I wanted to ask him to have a fight but I could not with my current outfit. For now, I need to know his real identity since there was nothing to indicate his physical appearance. Only his voice was my guide to recognize him.

"Do you work here? Are you a knight? Who do you serve?"

Before he could even answer, I sensed someone approaching.

"Carline!" That was Willow's voice.

I did not respond as my eyes were fixed on the man. The footsteps were getting nearer. Reichen waved his hand and jumped down as a shadow came in sight.

Willow appeared right before me.

"You run so fast, Carline! I cannot even catch up to you."

"Oh, sorry," I muttered an apology and took her hand.

"Why did you have to leave in haste and what are you doing here? It's cold," stated Willow with her face scrunching.

I ignored her questions and took her hand. "Let's go back inside and get some refreshments. I'm parched. What did you say about the Princess of Carrion again? "

***

It was already near the end of the party but there was still no presence of the Crown Prince. Many were anticipating his arrival and my interest was piqued too.

"By the way, Willow, do you know what Crown Prince Freed's look like?" I asked, recalling the topic my sisters were having when we came here.

"Well, from what I heard. He was as short as a dwarf, fat as a pig, and his face was a crossbreed of a donkey and a monkey," she replied with glass on hand.

I could not help but arch my left brow. "You're exaggerating, right?"

"That's what they said. Crown Prince Freed is like you, you know? They don't know your face or anything about you. And remember? Some people said you are an old ugly hag with horns," she retorted.

I laughed recalling that. Willow told me about stories made by the townspeople since nobody had ever seen me. There was only one time I got out when I was young and it got worse when Mother died so they satisfy themselves by imagining what my appearance was.

"Kidding aside, no one apart from the people in this castle knows his face. So mayhap, similar to you, all of it was a lie and perhaps he's actually handsome," she said positively and finished her glass.

Without notice, the sound of trumpets vibrated across the hall. It was the entrance of the Crown Prince. As an honor to the current king, the future king would come when the party was about to close.

"Welcome! Prince Freed, Crown Prince of Deliora," announced the man in a minister outfit.

The Crown Prince crossed the threshold and as he went down, the gasps and murmurs turned louder. Unlike me who made people bewildered, his welcome was full of horrors. When he reached the last step, the crowd became more unrest.

Holy damnation! He was not short. He was towering over everyone that I need about three heads until I can reach him. He was not fat either. He was as skinny as a skeleton and it seemed like he hadn't eaten for days. And his face...

His face was covered with bandages except for his right eye and his mouth. The majority of the guests were practically gaping while others were not even trying not to be obvious with their disgust.

"Good evening!" his voice echoed through the room, totally unbothered by the people's cold reception. "Welcome, royals and nobles! We are..."

His speech continued as my frown grew deeper. The longer he spoke the more I felt like that certain timber was familiar. I listened more intently and I could not mistake it. It was really the same as Reichen!

But how come?! There was no person with exactly similar voices. Each individual had their own unique voice. Reichen and the man in the forest could be affirmed as one based on physical stature but the Crown Prince? Definitely not.

Still, how did he and Reichen have identical voices? I was literally starting to get confounded. This was wholly different from before and nothing I had ever expected. From my view, his eyes were clearly not violet. I did not even see Reichen's irises so there was a chance he was similar to me. Does he have the same magic as mine?

Nonetheless, Night told me that there were no two people who had the same magic. How he knew, I had no idea but I believed him.

"And now we're going to present our most precious treasure, 'The Golden Pearl'."

That finally brought to my attention. I was so distracted by their voices, I almost forgot about it.

The Crown Prince raised a small wooden chest. It had a matching gold lid with the Deliora's crest, frozen icicles, and a sword piercing through it at the top. He opened it, and the Golden Pearl lay there. It was big as a pebble and had a luminous glow. The pearl was simple but it was undoubtedly worth millions of grands.

I checked my pocket watch. I estimated the time the pearl will be shown and I was right. There were still a few minutes left so I excused myself. made sure that I was away from Willow. I did not see Crown Prince Lander but there were a few more nobles with violet eyes inside. If I could slightly see from the dark, I was sure they could too.

Five more seconds.

3...

2...

1...

The lights precipitously switched off. Everyone was in a state of panic and it was better than I expected. It would take an hour at most before the lights would turn on so I had lots of time to finish my task. 

I immediately went straight to the pearl. I was pretty sure it was not guarded properly because of the commotion. But I was wrong, the prince was holding the chest tightly with both his hands.

Dread swallowed me. Don't fail, Carline. I cheered myself up as I was thinking of many options. I could not afford to awaken here. But then, I noticed that even though he was holding it, the chest was open!

Was he careless or was it a trap? Still, I took the risk.

I slipped through the crowd. And when I was near him, I listened to the voices around me and picked one I could easily copy. Without awakening, I could disguise a voice and adjust it at will. An ability that was extremely helpful at the moment. 

"Prince Freed!" I shouted mimicking the voice of the minister from before.

 That took the attention of the prince. And in that few seconds, I grabbed the pearl without hesitation and left the note.

I already had the pearl in my hand and was running to the place where I will hide the pearl. Since it was a challenge I did not actually want to keep it. Unexpectedly, someone held my other hand. I quickly slid the pearl in my dress out of alarm.

"My name is Blaze, awaken."

Suddenly, torches of fire lit the room. Not too far ahead from me was Crown Prince Lander whose body appeared to be engulfed in flame. I turned back and faced the person holding me.

"Willow?!"

"What were you doing roaming in the dark, Carline? I can't find you a while ago. What if the thief, Ace, catches you?" she said, regarding me with full of concern.

"Don't worry, he won't. So please let go of me," I told her.

But then her words registered in my mind. How did she know that Ace was going to come? I did not send any letters. It was the opposite so surely not everyone knew about my arrival.

I let go of her hand just when a piercing scream cut through the commotion. It was surely one of the noble ladies who were invited. We hurried towards the sound but I lost her when I arrived at the scene.

The King of Deliora came over to see what arose. He picked up the letter where the pearl should have been.

"'The challenge was accepted. Find it. ACE.' The thief Ace has stolen the pearl! Find him and retrieve the pearl!" read the King out loud with a complex gaze.

The room buzzed from his words. The atmosphere became anxious and there was endless chattering in every part of the room.

"Is he still here?" asked the woman near me, looking about to faint.

"I heard he can disguise into anyone," answered the man with her, he was bald and old.

"Then that means he was still here," said another man's voice.

He appeared far distinguished from the two with his slicked black hair and pair of glasses.

"So will he kill us all?" asked the woman.

"Ace is a thief but not a murderer," I said without thinking.

They all looked at me like I was insane.

"Your highness, how can you say that?" asked the black-haired man. "The thief Ace has the same notoriety as that slaughterer Anon."

"They are not the same," I pointed out but they were not listening.

Anon was as infamous as Ace but unlike Ace who was praised by the commoners, be it noble or poor, everyone feared that man after the mass massacre he did.

"Those eyes. If he can disguise then you are the same monster as h---," accused the old man but was interposed.

"Lords and ladies."

It was Cindra. I had not seen her the whole time and was surprised to see her now. I stood behind her and I felt secured somehow.

"The princess meant no harm. As we all know Princess Carline is new to this environment that was why she openly said her opinion," said Cindra, taking it to herself to defend me.

"Are you protecting your kin, Duchess Pheles?" asked the black-haired man.

"Why not? She is the daughter of my precious friend," Cindra put her arm over me, and was sneering at the man.

"You know that was not what I mean, Duchess."

"Then are you planning to insult your ruler who held us with great prestige, Duke Lindor?"

So the black-haired man was Duke Lindor. It was a title from the kingdom of Carrion.

"But a thief is still a thief. Even if he is the same as you," the duke emphasized and took a side glance at me.

That conventional displeasure did not affect me. He was just someone insignificant in any case.

"Yes. We are talking about a thief but you are persecuting a princess," countered Cindra.

"I was just saying how she could defend a thief. Not to mention, it is disrespectful to even talk in this party when we were not even introduced," said Duke Lindor who was clearly getting irked based form his expression.

"As I've told you, too, she is new here so she was not aware of society's decorum. Now, why don't we act like the noble we are and pretend nothing came about?"

Duke Lindor wanted to retaliate but Cindra was already gesturing for me to leave. We did not even bid proper goodbye and just left. I went along behind her as we head to the exit. Unfortunately, we were abstained by a knight.

"There is currently an inspection, my ladies. No one is allowed to leave," said the knight.

"Is that so? You're letting all the women stay here in a place where there is a potential danger?" said Cindra.

It was the right sentence at the right moment. With Cindra's prompt, it was supported by other ladies' arguments. They had no choice but to let the women leave the venue.

***

Note: This chapter is dedicated to her. Thanks for the comments and votes. ^^

Reichen is pronounced as "rey-ken" I really love this name and I got it from one of my favorite books

Grands is their currency

I used the photo of young Tom Welling to portray Lander because why not? Tom Welling is one of the best faces to bless this Earth lol