Chapter 36

Alastair held out his hand and the princess took it, shaking his large hand with a small, soft and fragile one.

"Such delicate hands", he lifted her hands in his own, "definitely hands that belong to a prestigious lady".

Alexis almost had a heart attack.

'What the hell is he doing? Why is he flirting with her??!' Alexis knit her brows at the strange thing happening right before her.

"Y-your highness, you flatter me" Felicia's face was in flames as she fanned it down slowly. It was very visible against her pale skin, like a ripe apple.

"No, I wouldn't utter anything meaningless. Speaking of which, I heard you enjoy horse riding? I'd say it's an admirable sport for a woman to partake in" he leaned down closer to her and Alexis felt a strange stinging in her chest at the sight.

"Oh you've heard your majesty, it's nothing" she bashfully waved off.

"Nonsense I'd love to ride with you someday".

'Okay... what is going on? No matter how I look at it, this is flirting, isn't it?'

Alastair ordered the dwarfs to take their belongings to their rooms, to which all the dwarfs shuffled about, running this way and that, with large bags held above their heads. Despite their small statutes they were strong creatures.

"Please, let me give you a guide of my gardens, they are a splendid sight", Alastair said and just like that the princess and the ambassadors who were all charmed by the emperor were lead away.

Alexis stared after them with a frown.

"Miss Alexis, you must follow the Emperor as his Mage", Agathus nudged her as he whispered.

"Okay..."

She caught up to the group and stood beside Alastair who gave her an annoyed stare.

"You got pretty distracted didn't you Dirt" he scowled, "even after I followed your advice..." he murmured.

"What?- y-you followed my-" she recalled her earlier words and held her head as she realised.

'Oh god... why was I so worried' a smile lit up her face as she chuckled at Alastair's confused face.

The more she stared at it, the more she laughed and Alastair who looked a bit mesmerised by her, quickly turned away. His ears were red and Alexis' who continued to laugh didn't notice at all, as usual.

"Your highness you have the most splendid garden" Felicia interrupted, a bit more briskly than usual. Her hands wrapped around the emperors arm.

"Thank you princess, but that's mostly thanks to my dwarfs", Alexis couldn't help but feel a bit weirded out at his switch of behaviour, it reminded her of the scumbag prince.

She glanced at the princess, who groped Alastair's arm while smiling coyly up at him. A strange irritated feeling washed over her and a familiar feeling pulled at her heart strings. She knew it well and instantly dismissed it.

'I'm overthinking this, Alastair doesn't even like girls... or boys... he's asexual' somehow that didn't make her feel any better.

"Miss Mage, are you actually a fairy who disguises herself as a human?" One of the ambassadors, a rather young one asked.

"Where did you hear that?" Alexis narrowed her eyes, her first suspect being Joshua.

The ambassador blinked, "everyone knows about you miss, rumours are swirling all around the Empire and even in Arkala".

Alexis felt the blood drain from her face at that. She recalled Dwaynes words when he first threatened her and wondered if they might be true. If it was then she had to be more careful.

"I'm not", she answered absentmindedly, "I'm not a fairy. I'm a human. I'm not even half so don't bother asking", she replied.

"Oh I see. I thought that was why you were so...-" he fumbled with his words as his face blossomed a deep red.

Alexis felt a bit insecure at his lack of description and leaned towards him inquiringly. She lifted a peculiar brow at him as she spoke.

"Why I'm so?" She pressed.

"So-" she leaned in closer to the boy and his face reddened even more.

"Go on".

"P-pretty" he confessed and Alexis, taken aback, stared dumbfounded as the boy quickly ran off to the other ambassadors.

"Pretty..." Alexis touches her face as she grinned a bit. 'Oh ha ha ha, pretty" she smiled wider and then suddenly she felt a glare directed at her.

She turned her head slowly and met cold red eyes. They glared at her for a bit and then with a burst of blood lust glared at the young boy who had complimented her.

Finding his behaviour strange, but not daring to question it she shrugged and continued to stare at the flowers with a delightful smile.

The walk soon ended and the princess and ambassadors were shown to their rooms, leaving a smiling Alexis and a frowning Alastair in each others company.

"Why are you frowning so much? You didn't have a good time?" Alexis asked as she approached him.

"Why are you smiling so much? You had a good time?" He returned. He sounded angry for reasons Alexis didn't know.

"I did". She grinned again and leaned to whisper to Alastair, "one of the ambassadors told me I was pretty", she gave him a bashful look which he returned with a scowl.

"Then he must've been blind!" He exclaimed destroying Alexis' momentary joy.

"Blind?.. why would you say that?" She frowned at him.

"Well look in the mirror and you might know".

"No- why are you being so horrible right now?" She said indignantly. Her brows arched as she spoke again, "you've been rude to me for a while now! Why?"

"I haven't. You're just so bothersome I can't help it!" He retorted.

"Why?" Her voice suddenly became soft and broken. Alastair looked at her startled as he realised tears would soon drop. "Why am I so useless? Why do you hate me?" She questioned as her throat quavered.

"You're not. You're none of those things", he said gently, her tears always made him feel miserable, "I don't hate you".

"You don't?" She asked, a bit surprised.

"No, of course not, I lik"-

"So your personality is just that rotten", she laughed at him and soon he patted her head, holding it tightly as he loomed over her.

"What did you say, plebeian?" His forehead veins visible as Alexis gulped in fear.

"N-nothing your highness".

"That's what I thought".