"P- Prince Andrew?"

I stare at Camara, unsure of what to say. I can't let her know he gave me a book, I can't let her know he told me anything about his or this kingdom's past.

"Well, after my fight with Prince Drake, he took me to the library and cheered me up. That's all," I tell her.

She stares at me suspiciously, her eyes narrowing, trying to tell if I'm lying or not. I'm actually not lying, I mean, he did cheer me up, I'm just not telling the whole truth. 

"Did he give you anything?" she asks me. I shake my head vigorously and later notice that I shouldn't have done that.

I shook my head way too dramatically. She raises one eyebrow and keeps her hand on her sword. I just aroused her suspicion.

I gulp.

"Well, he did give me something... He gave me advice! On... how to... sword fight!"

"Advice? What type of advice did he give you exactly?"

"Um, I should hold on my sword tightly, but not too tightly. I should fight freely, loosen up, not stay tense, you know, that kind of thing," I say, giving her a smile. Wow, now that I think about it, I just gave myself advice.

She looks at me up and down, as if still not believing me but decides to let go of the topic. Unfortunately, not letting go of the conversation.

"Did he say anything to you? Related to this place or our plan or Prince Drake?"

"Nope. Why would he? It's not like I belong here anyway..." I say, this time not giving myself away.

She lets go of her sword and sighs, "Prince Maximillian is in the room waiting for you to have breakfast. He'll be going back to the Good Souls kingdom in the next two days. I'm sure he'd like to spend some time with Princess Liferia. DON'T give yourself away." 

Her voice was low enough for only me to hear her, but alas, she doesn't know that Prince Max already knows the truth.

Prince Max has been here since the attack on the Good Souls Kingdom. And yet, it felt like he's not here. He's been really quiet since he found the truth out.

She bows to me and just before leaving, whispers in my ear, "Be careful."

I look at her, my eyebrows creasing. 

Be careful of Prince Max? Why? Not like that kid would do me any harm...

Still, what was that supposed to mean?

I decide to let it go and go inside the room. Prince Max will hopefully brighten up my mood.

He sits at the far end of the table looking around and studying every detail in the room. The shades of blue on the wall, the melancholy yet beautiful paintings, the candles placed alongside every wall 5 meters away from each other, illuminating the light. Even though it is day, it is still dark.

He notices my presence and a smile builds upon his face. 
"Hey Leaf!" he says energetically and then gives me a wink. I know he's thinking the same thing as me, I'm not actually his 'Leaf'.

"I haven't seen you in days. How've you been?" I ask him.

"Good. We got word from Papa, he's fine. I'll be going back in two days. By the way, this place is eerie."

"That it is. C'mon, let's eat. I'm starving!"

"Aren't the two princes supposed to eat with us too?" he asks me, his expression confused, yet a bit angry, like it's disrespectful if they don't show up.

I just shrug and his expression softens. How would I know?

The food appears on the table. Waffles, pancakes, milk tots, fruits, and all those things you can expect in any breakfast. We both start digging in as soon as the food appears and smile at each other.

I am about to take my fifth waffle when Prince Max asks me, "Hey, you wanna go horse riding? I haven't in days. I can teach you how to! Plus, if we want to keep anyone from getting suspicious that I know, we need to spend time together, as if I still think you're my sister."

I smile at the idea. I've always wanted to learn horse riding! And he's right. I nod and start pushing the food in my mouth, excited to do this.

After we finish eating, I head to my room so Laura and Kyra can get me into horse riding clothes. 

Kyra and Laura look surprised at my wish to be put into horse riding clothes but help me without any questions. 

I wear a black, tight full sleeves top, dark green yoga-type pants, and black boots. My hair is tied into a high ponytail. They give me the helmet in my hand and then I head out to the stables, where Max and I agreed we'd meet. 

Just before leaving, I say thank you to Laura and wink at her. She winks back, knowing I said thank you for hiding the book, but Kyra doesn't know and frowns because I didn't say thank you to her for helping me wear these clothes.

"Um, thank you, Kyra! I look like a professional horse rider because of you!"

She gives me a proud smile.

As I'm walking to the stables, I bump into Camara.

Why does she keep appearing out of nowhere at the wrong times? I get ready to be interrogated, again.

"Where must you be going Analia? Horse riding? Do you even know how to?" she asks me.

"Yeah! Although I don't know how to... But that's why I was going! Prince-"

 I shut my mouth.

Crap! I can't tell her Max was going to teach me. Princess Liferia would already know how to horse-ride. She'd suspect me.

I'm about to go back to my room and tell her it was a prank or something when I spot Prince Drake. 

And without thinking, I tell her, "Prince Drake agreed to teach me!"

Her eyebrows shoot up, surprised, while Prince Drake turns around and looks at me, alert because he heard his name.

No going back now... I'm dead for sure.

I half-walk, half-run up to him at the end of the corridor and say, "You said you'd take me horse-riding. Let's go now!"

I look at Camara then back at him, his expression perplexed. 

I start sweating, even in this cold. 

I'll be caught, I'll be caught, I'll be cau-

"Of course. Let's go."

"WHAT?!" Both me and Camara scream at the same time.

He played along?! My mouth hangs open as I stare at him. What kind of game is he trying to play?

He raises his one eyebrow and takes my hand in his and starts pulling me through the corridors, to the stables.

"Later Camara!" he yells to her.

I follow him outside, still in shock.

What just happened?

We go to the stables and luckily Max isn't there. Until I spot him hiding behind the hay. 

I mouth "Stay hidden" and he ducks his face behind the hay again.

"You were going to go horse riding alone? It really isn't a thing you can learn by yourself," he says. "Or maybe, you had some other plan..."

I gulp. "What? Noooo... I was going to learn myself." I look at him from under my lashes. He might know something isn't right if I look him directly in the eyes.

I shrug and look at our linked hands. He follows my gaze and lets go, and I pull back my hand.

"Yesterday didn't end so well. I guess I put you under too much pressure. So rather than sword-fighting today, would you like to go horse-riding?" he says it as if he shouldn't have, yet wanted to. His fists clench, not in an angry way, but in a way as if he's scared of what I would say. He looks around at his surroundings, waiting for my response.

He never said sorry, which is not a good thing, but even though he's not saying it, I think he wants to make it up to me.

I stare at him, noticing his wet blonde hair for the first time, some of it sticks to his forehead. Looks like he just had a shower. His white skin is now a bit red on the ears. Is it because of the cold, or because he is... blushing?

I smile a little on the inside, thinking he is blushing.

He notices the tiny smile on my face and says in an even voice, smirking, "Or we can just sword fight. I love seeing the way you lose."

Nope. It's the cold. 

"I was going to learn by myself. I've been self-taught a lot of things you know. But sure, if you want to join me, you may."

As if to prove my point, I stand up straighter and walk to the nearest horse and start climbing up on it. She's a black horse, and her eyes are light brown. Her mane is silky and soft and her hooves look pretty like she's wearing beautiful sandals. 

I'm not able to get my legs over on the other side. I try pulling up, but I just can't get on the horse. I struggle and try, embarrassed that Prince Drake is right behind me, watching me, probably even smiling. 

I should have taken that yoga and stretching class Mari told me about.

Now it's me who's gone all red. This is so embarrassing!

And then, out of nowhere, I feel hands on my waist, helping me get up on the horse. I gasp as he sets me down on the horse gently. 

He takes his hand back quickly and doesn't look me in the eye. His ears are still red. I murmur a thank you, startled at his help and he walks to the horse next to mine. 

His horse is snow-white, just like him, and he gets on the horse in one go. I stare in awe at how swiftly he gets on the horse.

"You'll get there one day, Analia. And for the millionth time, close your mouth before a fly goes in there and builds a house," he chuckles.

I look away, even though I'm smiling. He's not exactly the very 'Cruel Prince' I thought he'd be. 

Maybe, he has a little, tiny, sweet side too.

And maybe it's just me, but I feel the atmosphere becoming a bit warm as Prince Drake strokes his horse's mane.