BOOK 1 OF THE NOBLE SERIES.
An island girl with no memories, and a prince in line for a tainted throne. Two souls in which the world believed would never mix. But in this world of magic where people can control elements to their will, you can never...
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--Alexa POV--
As the three of us left my secluded bathing area and leisurely strolled through the forest to get to the edge of the island where Valentino's ship was waiting, the soldiers following behind us and walking ahead of us stuck out like sore thumbs, their black uniforms a stark contrast to the gentle nature that surrounded us.
"Your people are quite protective of you," I pointed out, keeping my eyes from wandering too much as I felt the said soldiers judging my every move.
"It's out of fear of my father. They couldn't care less about me." He half-interestedly spoke, but despite the monotone voice, there was a dark gloominess to it, telling me that this wasn't a topic of conversation that he wanted to have.
So, choosing to respect his thoughts, I changed the subject.
"Say... Your name is Valentino. And mine, Alexandria." I spoke in a hushed tone, cautious not to let anyone other than John listen in on my words.
"As we've previously established, yes. What about it?" He spared me a curious glance from the corner of his eyes, already knowing that whatever I was about to say was going to be something unexpected for his.
"Well, since Alexandria is a mouthful of a name, John calls me Alexa, and you, Alexia... and I've noticed that your name, like mine, is also quite long. So, I've come to the conclusion that I'll be calling you Val from here on out." And this time, it was me that was surprised rather than him.
Contrary to his previous reactions, this one was much more on the gentler side. With a smile lighting his whole face up, a soft laugh resonated from him as he looked ahead of him, seeming to be lost in thought for a moment.
"Is that... not okay?" I asked.
"Do as you will." I'll take that as a yes.
"That counts for me too, right?" John piped in as Val shrugged.
"Once you leave the island, we'll most likely never see each other again. So, I think it should be all right," He added as Val hummed, arms linked behind his back like a wise old man as we left the border of trees, looking out onto the beach where everyone else was located.
"I have no quandary over what you decide to call me. But I advise that you be more careful with your words in front of my father, he's not a man that takes nicely to being informally spoken to." And his eyes specifically looked at me as he spoke, clearly not worrying about John.
And puffing air into my cheeks, I glared up at him as he replied with a satisfied smirk, going back to looking ahead of him where he stepped ahead of us, going to whom I believed was his father. It wasn't hard to miss that man; Unlike most other people who were dressed in uniform, this older man stood out like a sparkling sore thumb, bathed in expensive jewels with a firm frown on his ageing face, and, not to mention, he looked like the spitting image of Val, just older.
