the kiah

chapter 12: the crown prince visits

ailith found herself tired after a few days.

she had rejected many suitors, who sent her gifts and letters and even gave her visits. her stepmother was not pleased at the rejections but only kept herself from occasional lectures and untraceable taunts.

her father was growing overwhelmed at the flattery and gifts from her suitor's guardians and so was Nickoli her brother.

after replying to those letters, returning gifts with gratitude and ending the visits, ailith learned during breakfast that the second prince was going to visit again today.

the second prince had given her a visit every other day if possible, though it had been thankfully enough to help her reduce the number of suitors, the rumours had not died down. instead, there were a lot more rumours going around.

how the second prince was trying to woo her, the crown prince was soon going to lose his position, and how she was going to get married to the second prince and he would become the next emperor used to be some common topics.

even the queen sent her a gift!

ailith had rejected the second prince one day and still remembered what he had said

"i don't want to marry you, i want you to give my brother a chance. until you agree, i will continue to pester you with all kinds of competitions until i win and demand that you agree to my terms"

ailith sighed closing her eyes as she remembered the competitions that caused tons of rumours.

horse riding, running, staring without blinking, chess, badminton, eating (given ladies were not allowed to eat in front of others more than necessary much to her misfortune; the prince suggested that she cook and he would eat. The one giving up first would win). much to the amusement of others ailith accepted all the challenges and won. 

the second prince was yet to win. but ailith was already tired of the new rumors.

 lady ailith is more elegant than what was thought, she has amazing skills and stamina, her mental ability is on another level, etc. while the rumours regarding the second prince changed slowly from their engagement to the next competition they were going to hold.

it was exposed that they were having these competitions when the second prince demanded one in front of one of her visitors. 

though these competitions were mostly within limits of what was allowed for both males and females, they were starting to get outrageous and tiring.

"Father, i suggest that ailith should leave for her maternal grandparent's house for some time. she must be overwhelmed by the number of proposals arriving daily, and also the regular visits of the war general should be intimidating enough." nickoli spoke hearing the butler speak about the visit of war general again.

even he was growing tired of the second prince and his unreasonable demands for competitions, much less ailith. nickoli grew more concerned regarding ailith after overseeing their competitions.

he knew it was only about time, that the prince demands a spar and ailith was going to suffer.

"i think it is a great suggestion, ailith could also take some time and think about her future partner properly" duchess ophelia also agreed.

ailith glanced at them silently coming back to present from her thoughts and suddenly remembered an important piece of news.

she glanced at her father who was already facing her and nodded

"i also want to visit grandfather and grandmother. it had been years since i last met them" ailith smiled excitedly

"then you are allowed to go visit them. i would write to them about the visit and send the pigeon after breakfast, you should also prepare to leave in a few days" 

the family all relaxed with that settled matter, but suddenly the butler announced yet another news that made ailith sigh, ralan and nickoli to tense and ophelia to exclaim in delight.

"his highness the crown prince would be accompanying his highness the second prince on their visit today"

.........

the zosia family stood to welcome the two princes, given the second prince was the only one who usually visited them, the zosia household was getting used to him, but the crown prince was not a common visitor.

previously ralan and ophelia were not present during the visits hence ailith and nickoli had to entertain him, but now the two were present they were at least demanded to greet the two princes.

"greetings his highness the crown prince, his highness the second prince, welcome to house zosia" ralan greeted the two princes as they entered the estate.

"greetings, your grace. i sincerely hope we are not intruding. we just came to visit lady ailith and master nickoli" axelle smiled as he gave ailith a glance. she was just as beautiful as always, though she seem tired.

"not at all your highness, please; the children would be delighted to have you accompany them" ophelia spoke inviting the two prince inside and under the escort of nickoli and ailith the four went their way towards the drawing room.

ralan and ophelia had left them alone, thankfully. and even the servants excused themselves after serving tea and snacks.

leaving the four alone.

"i am back to challenge you today lady ailith." aziel grinned as he placed a paper on the table.

"this is today's challenge, a music piece written and composed by an unknown artist. it is said to be difficult enough that not even famous musicians could play it properly. i consider myself talented enough to try it once. and to enjoy it to the fullest i have decided that it would be our next challenge" aziel nodded proudly. 

he had been trying hard to find for things he can do with ailith, given women were not allowed to do everything. he had to find common activities. he even took a long break from his work to continue pester ailith and axelle.

today he finally succeeded. he and axelle had been sharing their afternoon tea together ever since that one time, eating the baked goods together that he wins after losing the competitions as a compensation.

he kept boasting ailith's beauty, intellect and skills until finally axelle broke down and decided to accompany him.

aziel knew today he would win, the competition and also his family, his brother.