Princes In Hiding

Three Princes

I stopped at the house where I have lived my entire life. It looked nothing special with its brick walls and old window frames. However, what's nice about our home is the isolation it has from the chaotic world. No cars pass by and only a few houses are built nearby. It is perfect. I opened the door and found my father on the dining table with his laptop. He looked at me a smiled. "Welcome home princess," he said. Despite being 17, he never stopped calling me a princess even if I told him to. According to him, it is a very special nickname.

"Did you have lunch?" I asked him.

"Of course I had. Your cooking gets better everyday," he compliments me.

"Well that's good," I tell him, "As part of our deal, you must make our dinner this time." I smirked at him as he whines.

"Do I have to," he said. I rolled my eyes at my father's childish reaction. He smiled at me, "What do you want?"

"Well... the only thing we have in the fridge is chicken," I tell him.

He clapped his hands, "Fried chicken it is," he exclaimed before jogging to the kitchen. I shook my head at his ridiculousness. I was very close to my father especially after my mother's passing. I looked up at him. He may be holding a small job but he is still one of the strongest person I know.

I suddenly hear a knock on our door. "Princess, can you get that? It might be the shoes that I asked for," he said. Why would he ask for shoes? I don't know.

I walked to open the door, expecting a delivery man but was greeted by something else. When I opened the door, I saw three familiar people. Joseph Alderis, Harold Wellings, and Vincent Xavier. I looked at them confusingly and they reflected the same look. "Uh... is this the right address?" I hear Vincent ask the two. I immediately slammed the door. What were they doing here? I was certain that they aren't delivery men.

A few seconds later, there was another knock on the door. I opened the door again only to see the three boys behind Florence Tirol. A senior student that just applied this school year. He's also part of the football team with Joseph. He looked at me intently, "Is your father here," he asks. The three boys at the back still looked as confused as I am.

I crossed my arms. "What is this all about," I asked him, "I see no reason for you four to be on my property."

"Natalia, what's going on," my father asks as he exit the kitchen. When he saw Florence at the door, he stopped on his tracks.

"Sir," Florence said with a small nod. My father immediately motioned them to come in the house and I was confused as ever. The four boys enters the house. Joseph, Harold and Vincent made brief eye contact with me before passing by. Besides confusion, they also had something in their eyes. Worry? Sadness? Pity?

I closed the door again and walked towards my father. "Dad, what's going on," I ask him. I look at the boys and they were just standing and watching us. "Take a seat if you want," I motion to the empty couch which was a feet away from them. They nod and take a seat. I sit down on the other couch with my dad. I turned to him, "Why are they here," I ask him in annoyance. I can see that he too had a change in expression. Gone is the happy old man that I saw a few minutes ago. He had a face of worry and stress.

He takes a deep breath. "Natalia, before you were born, your mother and I didn't live in this region," he said.

"I know, but what does that have to do with them?" I ask him.

"Your father is in association with our king, King Gerome, King of Elpis," I hear Florence said. I looked at him with confusion. How? How can my father know the King of Elpis? "King Gerome and Queen Aria has three sons. However, fifteen years ago, the King received a threat and there have been constant reports of rebellion happening within and outside the region against the king," he explain.

Harold suddenly spoke up but keeps his head down. "More and more threats from the same sender comes in everyday. The sender threatened the family themselves. Whoever they are wanted nothing but the death of the royal family. In result, the king and queen decided to send their sons away from the region to hide until everything was under control," Harold said.

"Natalia," I hear Vincent speak, "Joseph, Harold and I are really brothers. We are the princes of Elpis."

I started to laugh, "What? There's no way you three are-" I suddenly stopped when they showed me their hands. On their ring finger, were gold rings with silver jewels and the crest of Elpis. The symbol of royalty.

I see Joseph smile at me, "In addition to that, your father is the head of the royal guards." I stand up and look at my father. They can't be serious, however, his expression didn't show anything that leads to the hint that they're lying. I didn't know what happened next. I just left the room. I think my father called me but I didn't look back. I went straight to my room and shut the door. As of the moment, nothing makes sense. It's like everything is just a nightmare. I just want to wake up.

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Author's Notes
It has been a long time since I last wrote on this website. This new story of mine came to mind after I played a Kingdom story game (?).
Even though I haven't been writing here, I have been writing (with verification) in a social networking app called Amino. If you are there as well, feel free to contact me.
This is the third chapter and I will be writing the next chapters in a much slower pace but expect for it to be published three days after the previous chapter. Feel free to comment concerning corrections and suggestions in order to improve my writing. I will make the corrections during the editing period (every 5 chapters). Thank you.