Aiden

Today they had to travel to the next Destination. Since the count was not suspicious , they had no more reason to stay for long.

"Your highness , we shall be departing in a few minutes , are you ready?"

"Yes...I'm fine. Can you send Blake in?"

"Of course your highness."

The knight went outside and Blake came in a few minutes after.

"Did you call for me?"

"I feel suspicious."

"Of what?"

"Of the count."

"Why?"

"I don't know...I just have a bad feeling about this....can you do something for me?"

"What is it?"

Aiden whispered something to him and Blake thought for a minute before agreeing.

Both of them came downstairs.

"I hope you liked your stay here?"

Count Jack said.

"It was nice."

Aiden stared at the floor for a second before going outside.

He sat on the horse.

"Don't look for Blake he's in the carriage since he's feeling sick."

He said to the knights loudly,

Count Jack heard him and came close.

"Is there something wrong your highness?"

"No it's nothing , we were just about to depart."

"Okay. Have a safe journey."

He bowed along with the servants and Aiden nodded.

As the horses started to run , Aiden glanced back at a window of the county.

Seeing a small beam of light , he nodded lightly and sped up.

Annette

"Why do I feel like something's wrong?"

Annette mumbled to herself as she read the book in her hands.

'because it is'

'Alexa!! You startled me!'

'oh sorry....I thought you were used to this by now.'

'well....you should ..at least give a sign before you do this...it's scary..'

'what should I do? Spill some water or something? Even better...I should make it rain...or...or maybe I should make weird noises!!! Huh?!! Huh?!!'

Annette sighed and continued to read her book...ignoring the rampaging spirit.

'hey!! Don't ignore me...hey!!'

Alexa's voice slowly started to fade out as Annette focused on the book.

He gave her the letter and their hands brushed against each other ...she withdrew her hand away ...startled by the sudden contact...

She closed the book with a thud. She was in no mood to read romance.

Putting the book back on the shelf , she went outside on the balcony.

It was chilly outside , the wind rustled the plants and the flowers danced in harmony to each other.

Looking at the flowers , she fell in a deep thought , until someone grasped her shoulders.

"What are you looking at?"

Arlen messed her hair and started playing with a strand.

"The flowers. They look like....the ones back home ..don't you think?"

"Yeah.."

"They were mom's favourite...."

"Yeah....."

"I miss her."

"I miss her too."

Both of them looked at each other and then back at the flowers.

Annette turned back to him.

"Aren't you getting bored?"

"Me? Of course not!!"

She squinted her eyes at him and raised her eye brow.

"Yes you are."

"What do you want to do then?"

"Sword fighting."

"What?"

"Yes!!"

Annette took his hands and dragged him downstairs.

"Annette....wait!! It's dangerous..you could get hurt!!"

"I won't!!! I've done it before remember?"

"That was a long time ago!!"

"It was a few months ago Arlen , don't be dramatic...it'll be fun!!"

"No...,"

She stopped and looked him dead in the eye.

"You can make fun of me."

"Okay!! Let's go!!"

This time he was the one dragging her. Annette pouted and kicked him before running outside.

"Hey!! Wait for me!! Annette..!!"

Aiden

They had reached their next Destination. This was a small village...and it had no noble residing there.

"Well...this is new."

Jacob, the vice commander of knights remarked as they got to know that no noble lived there.

"There was a family living here until two months ago , but they suddenly left..."

"The man who was guiding them , said."

"Wait....who lived here?"

Aiden asked the man.

"I don't really remember....I could show you their house though, maybe there's some kind of information about who they were."

"Let's go then...lead the way."

Jacob made eye contact with Aiden. It looked like they had found a lead.

"This is it."

The man said as he pointed towards the bid building.

"Woah...that's big..."

One of the knights said in awe.

That didn't look like a house...it was a whole mansion...no it was a castle

Aiden walked forward and kicked the gate..., It flew open and they all went inside.

"Check to see if you can find some kind of thing that can identify the person who lived here."

Jacob said.

"Jacob, you come with me."

Aiden and Jacob went in the room that looked like the study.

Jacob began opening the drawers.

"Your highness....I think I got it."

"What is it?"

Duke Asher

*What happened?"

He asked Aaron.

"I'm worried about her father....we decided to hide the matter...but what if she finds out? They will be staying at the same place....it will be difficult to hide it.."

"We can't do anything now Aaron...it all depends on faith....Annette is a strong child ...she will deal with it .."

"Still....don't you think we should do something?"

"Do you have any ideas?"

"Well......I thought that maybe we should call her back.."

"Calling her back is not an option Aaron... she's going to find out as soon as she gets here that we called her because of the crown prince....the best thing to do right now is not to get involved in this matter any more and just let them both do what they want.."

Aaron nodded.

"I think there's something Annette is hiding from us..."

Asher opened an envelope and looked at the letter inside.

"I think so too..."

He said after reading the contents of the letter...

'Annette....be safe...'

HE didn't tell anyone...but he was worried about his daughter....Annette knew what was going on in the royal family....

That could be dangerous for her. Even though Henry had assured him that Annette would be safe ...he couldn't stop the feeling in his heart...

His daughter was in danger....and he needed to save her.

(TBC)