Be My Princess (FanFiction): Summer in Altaria

Chapter 10

Roberto and I stayed in the Café a while longer, after we had finished our drinks. If Alberto hadn't reminded Roberto, we probably would have stayed there until closing time, which I wouldn't mind at all.

Whelp, time to go back to hell, I thought as Roberto and I followed Alberto out of the Café and into the waiting car.

I let out a depressing sigh as I watched the sky turn a light orange.

The sun will set soon.

I kept my gaze on the sky and before I knew it, we were already in front of Dres Van Manor. I could make out Jan, who was waiting for us at the entrance.

Huh, I would have thought that he or my brother would look for me in town...

"Strange," I muttered under my breath.

"Did you say something?" Roberto asked as he got out of the car.

"No, not really." I said as I reluctantly followed after him.

He shrugged as we made our way to Jan.

"Welcome," He bowed to Roberto respectfully. When he saw me, let's just say he looked a little pissed and a little disappointed in me.

I guess he wasn't expecting me to leave the Manor, I thought as he gestured for Roberto and Alberto, who was carrying my bag and suitcase, into the Manor.

Just when I was about to follow after them, Jan stopped me.

"A word, Princess Katerina." He gave me a very stern look, and I've never seen him this serious before. To be honest, it kind of scared me.

Roberto disappeared down the hall with Alberto as I was stuck at the entrance with Jan.

"What did you want to talk about?" I tried to sound nonchalant as my heart pounded against my ribcage nervously.

"There are a lot of things that I would like to talk about with you, Your Highness, but I'm afraid that you won't listen to me."

"At least you got one thing right." I smiled, trying to lighten the mood. Though, I think I had made the mood just a tad worse.

"Princess Katerina, do you have any idea how worried your brother and I were when we couldn't find you anywhere-- and when I say anywhere. I mean anywhere."

"Well, I'm here now so--"

"That's not the point, Princess." He cut me off. "You deliberately left the Manor without notifying anyone. We were worried sick about you. What if something had happened to you? What if--"

"I ran away again?" I finished for him.

He didn't say anything.

"Even if I wanted to run away, I couldn't." I looked down at my shoes. "I left everything here at the Manor. When I left earlier this morning, it was just an outing-- to get fresh air."

Jan sighed. "Next time, if you want to go out into town. Just tell me, or your brother. We won't bite."

I chuckled half-heartedly.

"Yeah, you won't, but my brother would." I muttered. "Speaking about my brother, am I scheduled to have a very long lecture from him?"

"Of course," Jan led me inside the Manor then. "Your brother doesn't want this sort of thing to happen again, nor do I. I believe...a lecture will be in order. However, it will probably after Roberto has left or before you retire for the night."

"Great," I said sarcastically.

Just awesome.

~~~

Jan had led me back to my brother's office, where Roberto and my brother were. They seemed to having a nice, calm conversation.

Of course, that all stopped once I entered because, you know, I'm the "problem child" and all that good stuff.

I knew that greeting my brother before sitting down next to him was in order, but I didn't want to do that.

So, instead, I didn't greet my brother and I sat down next to Roberto. I felt safe somehow as I sat next to him.

Joshua smirked as he watched me pluck a cookie from the tray on the coffee table.

"You're not going to greet your brother?" He challenged.

"Do I really need to every single time when I enter a room that you are in?" I challenged back.

"If you want to be considered a lady." He said nonchalantly. "Or a Princess with good manners." He added.

Okay, I have to admit. That last bit pierced through my heart.

"Joshua, don't you think you're being just a little hard on Katerina?" Roberto piped up, seeing how the atmosphere was beginning to get just a tad bit awkward.

"Hard," Joshua repeated in question. Roberto nodded. "No, I don't think that I am. As she is acting out."

"Acting out," I scoffed. "You make it sound like I'm acting like a child."

Joshua stared into my eyes. "But you are acting like a child. I'm glad that you realize that."

I bit down on my lower lip to keep myself from saying anything that I would regret later.

"Yeah, well, we all can't be like you, Joshua. All perfect and not breaking any rules or laws."

No one said anything, which let the awkwardness that was felt before become thick. Thick enough that it almost felt suffocating even.

I stood up from my spot next to Roberto on the couch.

"Can I go to my room now?" I asked my brother.

Joshua nodded. "I think that would be best."

"Thanks," I tried to keep the sarcasm to a bare minimum.

I muttered my goodbye to Roberto before I left to go to my room.

Jan was following right behind me, which was annoying, but I understood why he was following me though.

"Can I ask you something, Jan?" I asked once we were in front of my bedroom.

"Of course, Your Highness." He said as I turned around to face him.

"Why didn't you come and search for me in town? I know, you said that you had searched for me everywhere, but did you really?"

Jan bowed his head before he spoke.

"No, I didn't, but I did get a tip-- no it wasn't anonymous-- that you were with a certain Crown Prince from Altaria, roaming around the town."

"Alberto!" I exclaimed, knowing who Jan had meant.

Jan nodded. "Since I knew then that you were with them. There was no need to bring the search party out to town."

I nodded and entered my room.

"Makes sense."

"Do you need anything?" Jan asked as he began to close my curtains.

I wanted to ask for tea, but...eh. That wasn't what I really wanted at the moment.

"Nothing, thank you. All I want is to lay down." Sleep, that's what I wanted.

Jan nodded. "If you need anything. Please don't hesitate to call me."

"Okay," I said as I went to lay down on my bed.

I heard Jan close the door behind him as he left, and then I heard a click after that, which only meant that he had locked the door.

Again, awesome.

Author's Note:

Okay, I'm going to stop there for now.

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See you in the next chapter, my lovelies!