Sneaking Royalties (3)

Laif was still looking at her when he realized that the girl had stopped abruptly. He turned around and tilted his head as he frowned. "Why did you suddenly stop?"

Amelia hesitated. His questions earlier had thrown her off her guard. She raised her head to study his expression and wondered whether he had learned of her identity.

Her intuition told her that he did not know anything about her, or else, he would not be speaking to her casually like this. Either she was right or Laif was a very good actor.

Her thoughts were brought back to their accidental meetings. After interacting with Laif for a few times, Amelia had a good impression of him.

Suddenly, she wondered what will be his reaction if he found out the truth.

"W—well," she hesitated. Amelia looked at the man dressed in his uniform and whispered, "The truth is, I'm—I'm the crown princess of this country."

He looked at her in disbelief. His gaze lingered on her maidservant's outfit before he let out a chuckle. "Well then, let me tell you a secret."

"What is it?"

Laif held his hand up to his mouth and leaned forward. "I'm actually a prince from the Western Continents," he whispered.

Her eyes grew wide at his confession. "You don't believe me," she said, noticing his playful expression.

"I'm sorry," he raised both hands and smiled. "But you don't look exactly like a princess."

Amelia looked at the dress she was wearing. Because she was sneaking out with Lady Evans earlier, she had chosen to borrow Sara's dress—a simple olive green colored dress with white linings made of cotton.

Now that she thought of it, Amelia realized that she would always dress in something that was very not-a-princess like whenever she happened to run into him.

As the thought crossed her mind, Amelia chuckled inwardly. "That's true. I am not dressed like a princess."

"You don't have to tell me your position if you're not comfortable with it," Laif said. "I wouldn't mind."

Amelia pursed her lips into a thin line. Then, she turned around and continue to lead him to their destination. For a while, there was silence between the two of them.

As they crossed a bridge to a small stream, Amelia suddenly broke her silence. "You will eventually find out what my role in the palace is when the time comes."

Laif raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"The time will come when our path will cross again and we eventually will have to work together," Amelia explained. "But of course, you will have to pass the audition to be the Princess's Royal Knights first."

"I am going to pass the test and become one of the Princess Royal Knights," Laif said with full confidence.

"You're quite confident of yourself."

He grinned. "I do believe in my abilities."

Amelia gave him a look over and smiled. "I think you will definitely pass the test," she chuckled inwardly when he had a confused look on his face. "You saved my life once. I know that you're very good at both swordsman skills and martial arts. I think it would be a waste not to have you as a part of the Royal Knights."

Laif was taken aback by her comment. There was another long pause between them before Laif decided to speak up. "Can I ask you another question? If that's not too much." he watched her nod and took that as a cue to ask his question. "You seemed very familiar with the Princess. Can you tell me, what does the princess is like?"

Amelia looked at him questioningly.

"I just wanted to know what is the Princess like before I start working for her," Laif explained. "Rumor says that she's very difficult to deal with."

"Difficult?" she echoed. There was a hint of shock in her tone.

Laif nodded. "Well yes. She did postpone the Royal Knights selection because she wasn't in the mood for it."

Amelia frowned at the news. "The selection was postponed? Where did you hear that?"

"Some of the Royal Knights candidates were talking about it earlier today." Laif cleared his throat when he noticed the tensed expression on her face. "The news wasn't real?"

"No," Amelia shook her head. Her voice firmed. "Of course not. The Princess knew nothing about this. She would not postpone the selection just because she was not in the mood for it. After all, the Princess was not directly involved with the selection. The whole process was handled by Comandder Irvine." Amelia halted. Blood rushed to her face as she realized her action. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." she unfinished her sentence and bit her lips.

"That's alright. I deserve to be scolded for badmouthing the Princess," Laif raised both his hands and smiled. "And I know that I deserve to be scolded earlier for trespassing the Princess's garden. You were only doing your job to uphold the Princess's name and reputation. I think that the Princess is very lucky to have you as her maidservant. You... care about her."

Amelia swallowed before she marched away from him. She was still embarrassed by her sudden outburst.

"Hey," Laif said as he caught up with her. "What's wrong?"

Amelia shook her head emphasizing that there's nothing wrong.

"We're nearly there." She pointed up straight to the direction of the training ground.

From where they stood, Amelia could see the Royal Knight's sleeping quarters.

"You will get to the training ground if you proceed straight from here." She turned at him and said, "I have to go now. Will you be fine to travel to the training camp on your own?"

He nodded.

"Then, I will leave."

"Wait!" Laif said immediately.

Amelia halted suddenly when she felt his hand on her shoulder. Laif had unintentionally tugged at her shoulder, causing her to turn around and face him.

Laif retracted his hand when he realized what he had done. "Uh," he swallowed to get rid of his uneasy feeling. "Thank you. For showing me the way."

"You're welcome," Amelia said quietly. She noticed his gaze lingered on her and looked away. "It's getting late. I should get going now."

"Oh," Laif snapped out of his trance. "Right. Okay."

Amelia turned around to head back to her quarters. But after a few steps, she stopped to look at him again. Her gaze softened when she saw that he had turned around to go back to his sleeping quarters.

"Good luck with the royal guards' selection," she spoke suddenly. A smile curled on her lips when he turned around. "I look forward to seeing you again next time as the princess's official royal guard."

Laif laughed at her words. "Don't worry. I guarantee that I will pass the test without difficulties. And the next time you see me, you're will see me dressed in my new uniform!"