All Hail The King

Chapter 7

A few days had passed after Y/n's unforeseen meeting with Adonis. He had wanted to see Y/n again and told her to meet him at the lake that Y/n still hadn't had the chance to see yet. Though she thought about seeing the third prince again, she decided against it, seeing that it would be best to keep her contact with people outside of the room limited to not risk her identity and have Andrias find out.

She did not doubt that Andrias would be disappointed if he ever found out that she had been sneakily leaving her room to go outside. Especially after promising him that she would stay in the room for her safety and to not foil Andrias' plan in helping him win the king's competition.

Y/n just hoped that Adonis didn't find himself disheartened after she didn't appear, besides, she was sure that there were plenty of girls that could keep him company. She wouldn't be surprised if he had already forgotten about her existence and moved on to another girl to woo and seduce.

She recalled how her mother would always tell her to stay away from boys like Adonis as it would always lead to trouble so perhaps she didn't need to feel slightly guilty about standing him up.

Y/n's mother always had some useful advice to give Y/n even if she didn't always agree with the advice that she gave her, however, she was still thankful for all she had told her. She just wished that she could see her mother again. The last time she was with her, they had an argument over a matter Y/n had brought up and that was months ago.

"Y/n!" The h/c girl turned around to see that Andrias had entered the room in a rather cheerful mood which she wasn't used to.

"Did something good happen? Is the competition over?" Y/n asked, her voice rising in pitch slightly when she asked her last question.

"No, the competition is still going on," he said, which caused Y/n to frown. "But I do have good news for you," Y/n's face lit up again as she waited for Andrias to tell her the good news.

"Well, what is it?" she asked, her voice wavering with impatience.

"I Just finished talking with some of the soldiers this morning and they informed me that they haven't seen any of the duke's men patrolling the streets looking for you for the past week. They were waiting to see if any of his men suddenly appeared before confirming that all of the duke's men were gone before telling me. It seems that they have all been called back," he explained.

"That must mean that the duke has given up and stopped looking for me if he has called back for his men. This is wonderful news Andrias!" she exclaimed. Y/n immediately went over to Andrias and hugged him tightly, unable to mask her relief. She wouldn't have to worry about the duke finding her anymore. She pulled away from the hug and smiled at Andrias instead who seemed to have a flushed tint on his ears.

"Does that mean I don't have to stay here anymore?" she asked not realising soon how the message may have come across to Andrias. She noticed his cheerfulness die down and sink into his neutral expression. "Wait, that's a silly question. I still have to stay here and help you win your father's competition," she corrected.

"Well, we can't be sure that the duke won't send his men back out again and seeing how he's been so persistent in finding you after all these months I wouldn't be too surprised if he ever sent them out again so we can't be complacent. Therefore it's best if you stay here and because of the competition as well," he clarified.

Y/n let out a frustrated sigh. "When will this competition be over anyways? It's been months. Surely it can't be taking this long for the king to decide who he wants as crown prince," she vented.

"There's nothing I can do about the competition. That's all in my father's hand. If I could speed up the process, I would've done so by now but we just have to wait. I'm sure it will be over soon anyway. I'm sorry, Y/n," he ran his hand through her hair as his fingers gently caressed her locks before tucking a strand behind her ear, eliciting small shivers that shuddered her back.