"My bad, I'm sorry," I said, brushing myself off and getting up. When I looked down to help the other person up, I found out that it was none other than Princess Piper.

Piper smiled shyly. "No, it's alright, I wasn't looking."

"Hi. I'm Ben-" I began, but she cut me off."

"Ripley. Nice to meet you. I've heard so much," she said. At my confusion, she couldn't help but smile. "My parents have CIA connections, remember?"

I nodded, realizing that I was a fool not to remember. "Right."

"Do you like it here?" she asked.

I nodded. "It's a huge place, but it's very welcoming."

She laughed. "It's so big that even I get confused sometimes. Luckily, there are always floor guards who know what they're doing."

"How does it feel? To be royalty?" I asked.

PIper's face fell. She motioned for me to join her, and we sat at a small table. "It's honestly sort of tiring and it just...doesn't make any sense. I mean, we live in Alaska. Part of the United States. You guys have a government and a President. We don't exactly rule over any place."

"Yet there's a royal family?"

Piper twirled a lock of hair in her fingers. She was wearing a light pink dress with black leggings underneath. She also sported no crown on her head, just a small rose behind her ear.

"The thing is...I'm not going to get married to royalty when I grow up. I'll only marry some famous guy, and the royal line will not continue thereafter. My ancestors ruled over a part of Europe once, long before World War One."

"So, you're the last one?"

"Yeah." Piper looked down at her feet, then stood up slowly. "I guess I'll see you for dinner, then?"

"Yeah, of course," I said, almost too immediately, running a hand through my hair. "See you."

She walked away and I spun around to find Erica, who had a rather annoyed expression.

"What?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Nothing. Waiting for you. We need to talk. And also, if you're going to open your mouth to tell me about your conversation, don't, because I already heard it."

I closed my open mouth, trying to hide a smirk. "Alright. What do you want to talk about?"

"Doesn't she seem a little...shady?" Erica asked.

I frowned at her in confusion. "What do you mean? Piper's nice."

Erica grunted. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive, Erica." I started walking down the hallway, and she followed me.

"I'm not that convinced. I'm going to keep a close eye on her whenever she's around."

I shrugged. "Sure."

"Do you have any clue where we are?" she asked.

"Yeah. We just have to go back downstairs," I said, but I couldn't find the staircase.

Erica muttered something under her breath and asked a nearby guard to guide us back. Five minutes later we were back in front of our rooms.

"See you later, then?"

She smiled. "Yeah."

That evening, we met for dinner in the dining room meant for about twenty people. The king and queen were already seated at the head of the table, and the rest of us piled into the rest of the seats and a chef served rows and rows of dishes.

I sat next to Catherine and Erica immediately slid into the seat next to me. Zoe, Cynthia, Mika and Jamie sat opposite to us. It was only later that I noticed Piper on the other side of Catherine.

"Thank you for joining us today," the king began as soon as the chef walked away. "Normally we have others seated with us, but today I requested for only your presence. I would like to talk about what happened a week ago."

I already knew what was happening, so I silently picked at my soufflé as he spoke.

"It was about a week ago, a little past midnight. I was in my quarters, resting alone. I don't know how, but someone slipped into my bedroom as both of my guards were off-duty."

"Off duty," Erica muttered under her breath, and shot me a do you believe this? look.

"Anyways," the king continued, after briefly pausing to take a bite out of his chicken, "I woke up to the sounds of metal and heavy footsteps. Hovering above me was a figure. I could see the metal in his hand clearly, and I screamed. My guards somehow heard me and dashed into the room, tackling the attacker as I turned over to my side, avoiding the knife."

I frowned. Something didn't make sense. I tore away from the king's gaze and looked at Mike. He looked at me with a I don't believe this look.

I silently signaled that we would talk later, and I quickly finished up my food as dessert was served.

"We will certainly look into this," Catherine said. "You may be the last line of royalty, but after SPYDER's confirmed existence, we will have to take necessary actions."

"Thank you," the king continued, and as if on cue, the queen stood up with him. The rest of us arose from our seats, and we walked out of the dining area quietly.

"My room in ten," Catherine said, almost so quietly that even the guard about two feet away from us couldn't hear.

We all silently parted ways, walking to our respective rooms. I entered my own room and changed out of my jeans and t-shirt and slipped into my sweatpants and a soft shirt. I smoothed my hair back, checked the time and walked out of my room.

"Come in, Benjamin!" Catherine said cheerfully. I walked in and almost dropped my phone in shock. Catherine Hale was wearing fluffy pajamas and her hair was in a messy bun on top of your head.

Catherine frowned when she saw my expression. "What? I'm a normal human. I'm on vacation. Fluffy pajamas are normal. I have a handgun inside for protection, though."

I closed my open mouth. "Oh. Okay. Great."

Erica smiled, but only for a brief moment before turning back to her mother. "Alright, everyone's here except-" she didn't get to finish because Zoe walked in with Mike on her heels.

"Alright then, now everyone's here," Cynthia said, then eagerly turned to Catherine. "Alright, let's do this, Mrs. Hale."

"For the millionth time, call me Catherine," she sighed, then turned to us. "Is it just me, or does anyone else not believe the king?"

Seven hands went up.

"He was half-asleep during midnight," Erica reminded everyone. "How could he have seen so clearly?"

"I don't believe it," Jamie said. "Like, I'm used to a house with bodyguards. They can't just be off-duty."

Zoe cleared her throat, directing everyone's attention her way. "The king said 'he'. How did he know the attacker was a man?"
I wasn't believing anything he said either. "The story doesn't seem real."

"I'm not ready to believe anything about the story," Mike said, standing firmly.

Catherine scanned all of our faces. "Let's not jump to any immediate conclusions, though. He could be telling the truth. Maybe he's lying."

"Where is SPYDER?" Cynthia asked. "Are they still here?"

"The king said that the attacker was identified as Joshua Hallal, and what are the chances that another person named Joshua Hallal who's an escaped man try to murder someone of high status?" Catherine countered.

Erica thought long and hard before answering. "So SPYDER's behind this."

"So we believe," Jamie said. We all turned to him.

"What do mean, J?" Cynthia asked.

Jamie placed his palms on his lap and stared at everyone. "What I'm trying to say is, we only believe that SPYDER's here. The king told us that. The CIA hasn't confirmed it. How does the king know SPYDER?"

"He probably does, considering the fact that he has alliances with the CIA," Mike replied.

Catherine shook her head. "The CIA did confirm SPYDER crossing this place at some point last week."

I stifled a yawn. I was exhausted, and waiting to get into bed as fast as possible. Beside me, Cynthia stifled a yawn as well.

"Let's talk some more tomorrow," Catherine said. "Hopefully we'll be able to find out some more."

We all shuffled out of Catherine's room. Erica stayed back for a moment, whispered something to her mother, and walked out. As soon as everyone was in their rooms, she pulled me aside.

"Can we do some reconnaissance?" she asked. "It's not a question. I'll come and get you."

I hated reconnaissance.

Erica didn't wait for an answer. She just ducked into her room, leaving me alone in the hallway. I walked into my own room and got into bed. Once the covers were over me, I closed my eyes and turned the lamp off.

Within minutes, I had drifted away.

Erica's POV

As I felt my eyes grow heavy with sleep, I felt a hand clamp my mouth, then the familiar smell of chloroform, and the smell of blood.

What the-?

Then the world went black.

Sorry, I have to leave everyone on a cliffy. Cross out what I said before, it's a TRIPLE UPDATE, not a double update. Have a wonderful day!