--AN: New Novel Cover! The complete and full size image can be found on discord!--
"Faith!" Adel threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly. "These past few months have been the most fun I have ever had. I truly hope this next month quickly passes by!"
"It really has been fun." I was not lying. The past few months while traveling with Adel had really been fun. The two of us could be said to be close sisters now. We spent every waking moment together and stopped off to see a few of the sights of the kingdom along the way, courtesy of our tour guide Sir Randford.
We saw awesome majestic waterfalls and many villages, towns, and cities along the way, and now I was at the capital, Sky Lake City. The capital that floated in the sky, well, a good portion of it. But sadly I would not get to see the floating island part of the kingdom until I passed through the large gates in front of me and made my way further into the city. The floating island was actually hidden by an illusion spell and one needed to enter the capital's middle region to even see it.
During our travels, I think Sir Randford was only stopping off at demi human welcoming places because we did pass a few places that we could have gotten an inn at only to pass them and camp outside. Which I did not mind, and neither did Adel. I found out Adel is scared of ghost stories. We had quite a bit of fun sitting around the campfire telling scary stories. Adel's face would always pale while holding my arm, shaking in her boots at the simplest story. It gave me a reason to tease her before sleeping.
Sometimes we slept in the carriage, other times, I would put up a protective barrier so we could sleep out under the stars. It was truly a fun time. And like all fun times, they do have to come to an end as everyone has their own duties and lives they need to live.
My only issue is the fancily dressed young man who has the same smirk on his face as the smirking knight who came with Adel to my home in Cyrilia village. It was so similar that I was starting to think that he was indeed that knight. But something felt off. "Adel, who is the dork over there?"
"Dork?" Adel raised her head and looked at me with a confused expression. I kinda figured that the word dork would not register in this world, but I couldn't help but call him that.
"The smirking fancy pants over there." I said out loud, making sure the young man heard me. I mean, he was staring at me, and it was annoying.
"Hmmm?" Adel turned her head, and her eyes went big. "Brother!? Why are you here!?"
"Brother?" I suddenly had a bad feeling. I am not sure if it was the fact that the only princess of Gravos called the young man brother or not, but I can only assume that Mr. Fancy Pants is one of the three princes of Gravos. I just hope my remark just now will not get my head cut off and nine generations of my family killed. I mean, his entire being froze upon hearing my words. The face he was making also did not look right.
"Smirking Fancy Pants…. Pfftttt! Hahahaha! It fits!" Adel suddenly registered my words and began laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes.
"My dear Sister, it is not very ladylike to laugh like this in public. And Lady Faith, we meet again. Let me formally introduce myself. I am the first prince of Gravos. Prince Lance Gravos, The Crown Prince of Gravos." Lance gave me a knightly bow. I do admit he is very handsome when he is not smirking. I do not know if he thinks that smirk of his is sexy or not, but it makes him look -100 points lower than he does now when he is acting regally. Oh…. It's back again.
I bit my tongue in order to not comment before giving a proper curtsey that Adel was kindly nice enough to teach me during our trip, along with other proper etiquettes. "Prince Lance, it is a pleasure. My name is Faith Cyrilia, please call me Faith. The word 'lady' really doesn't suit me."
"It is a pleasure." Prince Lance replied with that stupid smirk. I really can't take it anymore! It just looks so stupid!
"Ummm… Prince Lance, if I may say something that might cause you to want to chop off my head." I just couldn't stand it. For a handsome man to ruin his image by putting on such a stupid smirk just irks me. I mean, I would do the same if this was my father or brother.
Now I am sure there must be quite a few gaga females in this kingdom who faint when they see that stupid smirk but not me. I come from a place where idols were in flow bloom. Jen had even showed me a magazine of some male idol groups before. While I never really understood the appeal, I can at least say they were indeed handsome, and their smirks made them look sexier, but this prince, it just ruined his whole image. And this is coming from someone who doesn't plan to get married. But I do like to look at beautiful people, whether it is a man or a woman.
I saw Prince Lance's lips curl up into a curious smile causing me to wish I never opened my mouth. "Faith, you need to be straight with him. He always does as he pleases. His Majesty will let it slide even if you beat him up." Adel snorted and stood at my side. The way she looked at her brother was as if she was trying to keep a thieving cat from stealing her man.
I watched as Prince Lance glared at Adel before turning to me and smiling: "Yes, please feel free to speak."
"Then…. Can you please stop with that stupid smirk? It really ruins your handsome face." Since I got the go ahead and have Adel's backing, I said it straight!
"Hah…. Hahahahaha! She is so right! I keep telling you that that stupid smirk on your face made you look dumb! Hahahaha!" Adel was cracking up while Prince Lance's face turned black. The smirk was all gone, replaced with a sulking one. At least now, he still looked handsome.
"But the noble ladies seem to like it…." I heard Prince Lance mumble under his breath. I could only scream out, 'I knew it!' inside my head. I mean, of course, the noble ladies will praise him for everything he does. He is the crown prince, after all.
"Well, I just figured I should tell you that… I do apologize if I have offended you." I decided it was best to make sure I apologized. I was pretty blunt just now.
"No, it is fine. What others think does not matter. Only what Faith thinks matters." Eh…. Did I just get hit on? I really wouldn't know, but I might have been. Or else he might just be being nice. I bet in reality, he actually wants to chop off my head for making him lose face.
"Brother, what is the meaning of this?" Adel stood in front of me with her arms stretched out to her sides.
"More like Sister, what are you doing?" Prince Lance and Adel were both glaring at each other? Are they having a feud?
"Ummm…." I decided to cut in before they started brawling here in the middle of the street. I wonder if the two siblings were not on good terms? My brother and I never fought much. I used to pick on him, but he would let me get away with it most of the time. And the times he didn't, he would just tickle me until I almost peed myself. Although, one time, I did, and I ended up kicking him in the face out of anger. That time ended with me getting reprimanded by Father. Not like I meant to break his nose. I mean, he made me pee myself! Anyway… This was a family secret that no one will ever find out. But to have a very serious fight? I have never had the chance to have one since my family always cared about each other.
"Humph!" Adel snorted once more before turning her attention to me and smiling. She even took my hands as she began speaking. "Faith, the inn is right down the road. It is called The Hayward Inn and is very demi human friendly as well as high class. The inn owner is already expecting you. You can stay there for now while we get the house we have prepared for you to stay at prepared."
"Adel, you really did not need to do all that…." I couldn't help but feel that Adel was spoiling me a bit too much. I did have money of my own. But I guess this is all set up by the king himself, so I probably should just accept it.
"No, she did need to. Faith, you must understand that you have done a great deed for our kingdom. His Majesty did not wish to bring you to the capital without having proper accommodations, and we already said that everything will be provided by the royal family. So it is fine." Prince Lance cut in, which for some reason caused Adel's gaze to turn a little scary.
"Then I thank you both and His Majesty."
