"𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞?" "𝒏𝒐, 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒚." |𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚎𝚏 𝚡 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜

☀︎︎𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝓇ℯℯ☀︎︎

The young princess sat at her desk, writing in her notebook. It has been four days since she danced with Xander under the moonlight, and he wouldn't leave her mind since then. They sometimes met in the village when she went there, but today, she wanted to show him her favourite spot. The voice of the old lady came from the other side of the room, making Allice smile. "You know, it's kind of like I don't exist in your world, dear." A chuckle left the princess' lips, and she shook her head as the old lady continued. "I entered this room around 20 minutes ago, but you just sat there, writing the whole time. Not one word left your lips! Not one 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, not one!" Aliice turned to her, smiling. "My apologies, Miss Maldow, I was just so infested in my writing. How have you been on this fine morning?" The older woman smiled, satisfied with the young princess. "See? That's how you treat your elders! I've been great, dear. What about you? You seem deep in thought..." The old lady went back to organising the young girls wardrobe, immediately noticing that something was off about the girl. "Well... you knew my grandma, right, Miss Maldow?" The woman stopped, looking at Allice. "Well.... she always told me about her teenage years.... about all the adventures she went on, " Allice looked out of the window, "about her love story..." Miss Maldow sighed, hugging the young girl. "Oh, Alli dear..." Alli.... the nickname her grandmother gave her. Allice broke down, hugging the older woman, who just comforted the young crying girl.

The library of the castle was always empty, except for when it wasn't.... and that was almost always, but nobody really knew. The young princess sat somewhere deep in the giant library, many books scattered across the desk as she read. The history of Esynia. All the wars, the pacts, the betrayal, the downfall, the rebuilding.... the rise of her family. All of it were things she studied until she passed out when she wasn't in the village. She knew better than anyone the history of Esynia and the bloodline of royalty she came from. It wasn't the same as the original royal bloodline that first discovered the place and made it a kingdom. That family was hunted down and killed brutally after crimes that were never named. The kingdom was burned down and destroyed until her ancestors swore to rebuild it and protect it with their lives, and they kept that promise until now. She looked up as she heard her brother Matthew and his maid come in, talking about some things she didn't deem important enough to listen to. "Hey Matthew, what brings you here?" The young princess said as she walked towards her brother, who was just picking up a few books. His eyes widened as he saw his little sister, and his expression brightened. "Alli!" He went and hugged her before showing her a few books he picked. "So, I wanted to give Joanne a few books to read, are these good?" He looked at his maid and smiled. Allice smiled at his behavior. "Such a gentleman, huh? Well, these are all pretty good, but I would say that one,"

After an hour of talking about which books are worth reading and which aren't, Matthew and his maid Joanne left Allice alone in the library again, giving the young princess the chance to continue learning about the history of this kingdom. She only found interest in it after her grandmother told her stories of the great war, the revolution, tales of warriors long forgotten, and so on. Allice always loved spending time with her grandmother, especially when she told her stories. Everyone around her deemed her naive for believing all those stories, or for believing in soulmates and true love, but Allice didn't. She wanted to be like her grandmother. Wanted to experience that love she always heard about, live the life she could never have. Her grandmother passed when Allice was still a child, and it hit her hard. She was always close to her grandmother, so losing her was like a punch to the gut.

At dawn, a woman could be seen sneaking out of the castle, notebook in hand. She snuck to the river where she looked around. Xander saw the woman and smiled, knowing who it was. He put the stolen jewellery into his pocket and slowly walked towards her. "You look eager.... looking for someone specific, princess?" Allice looked shocked as she saw the man, but smiled shortly after. "Xander! I have to show you something, come with me." She grabbed his hand and dragged him with her into the forest, a smile forming on the man's lips. His hair was messy as ever, his eyes filled with more life than the first time they met, and the stubble on his face was more visible now, too. "Careful now, what if I was actually a murderer, and you just took me into the forest with you?" Allice chuckled, walking faster. "If you were, your eyes wouldn't sparkle like that." Xander was shocked by her response, his heart beating faster in his chest. "You're talking nonsense again, princess." "So are you, Xander." The man chuckled. "Touché."

His grey eyes widened as he saw the beautiful spot the princess showed him. It was a quiet lake somewhere in the forest, untouched by human society. It was magical. His hands went to his head, fixing his messy hair, before he turned to Allice. "I must say, beautiful, I feel honoured to be here...." the young woman chuckled, sitting on the grass near the small lake. "Well.... it just felt right...." her eyes wandered to the sky, closing as she breathed out. Xander walked towards her, sitting behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder. "Thank you...." With a nod, Allice closed her eyes and leaned into him, enjoying the warmth of the man behind her. Sighing, Xander also closed his eyes, his heart beating faster. While pretending to fall, he actually started to fall. The princess was just so mesmerising in his eyes, so charming. She had him in her grip, and she didn't even know. Their breathing synced, and so did their hearts.