Chapter 32

"find her!"

The servants immediately scattered stumbling over each other at their attempts to get as far away from their angered ruler. He's usually aloof and composed in most situations, but this one seems to be an exception, special thanks to their highnesses.

Very few people have seen him angry before, and so, they tried avoiding him at such times. Even the empress tried breathing as quietly as possible to avoid angering him any further.

He paced back and forth and occasionally sat down in a failed attempt to calm down. He bounced his legs anxiously, then got up and started pacing again. At last he couldn't take it any more and decided to search for her himself.

livid with rage, the emperor swore to punish every single person connected to the princess's disappearance.

The empress and the royal princess exchanged a glance of concern and relief. As worried as they were, they were glad the emperor's pressuring presence left the hall along with some stress.

They both sent their attendants to search for the princess, leaving only madame Zelda with them. Madame Zelda was the butler Bastian's older sister, she too had served the emperor since he was but an infant, previously serving the late empress dowager, and was known for her loyalty. Although she was a mere palace maid, even the empress had to give her some face as the emperor held her in high esteem.

Seeing as everyone left, they couldn't see why they shouldn't join the search as well. The three got up and as they almost stepped out, the emperor's face popped in their view.

"stay here." he ordered firmly, sending Edmund and Avyanna tumbling in, with Edgar close in tow.

At his abrupt appearance, they clung to each other's arms. As soon as he disappeared again, they quickly let go, clearing their throat and pretending as if nothing had happened.

"humph!"

*****

"what's your favorite color?" Amourora tried to balance on the short brick wall separating the walkway.

"I don't like answering basic questions to make small talk." he held her hand in fear she would fall.

"oh... so deep down do you actually believe you are a good person?" she raised a challenging eyebrow. "If so, what is your purpose in life, and what are you capable of achieving that would benefit the empire?"

"... green. " he quickly added. "Like the fresh blades of grass after the spring rain. Heh heh, and you?"

"Lilac. It represents youthful innocence and looks absolutely beautiful. It's calming but passionate, it's neither a hot color nor cold color it's nice. It's just right. "

"I thought you were going to say it was the color of your eyes." he looked at her now brown eyes. They were 'colored lenses', or at least that's what uncle George said. He had been helping Andrew hide his identity all this time.

As everyone knew purple eyes belonged to the imperial family, or most accurately, the direct descendants of the ruling monarch, going out on the streets like that would be a dead giveaway.

"... So?"

"Oh, right. It's my turn." he tapped his chin pondering over what question to ask. "what...is your favorite dish?"

"st—"

"besides strawberry cake."

"ra—"

"and raspberry tarts."

"b—"

"or black berry yogurt. And you can't say mangos either. "

"wow... is it that obvious?"

"yeah" he chuckled. "you have a sweet tooth... and a thing for berries."

"hm...well I like chicken. Roasted chicken with rice or bread."

"really?" he didn't expect that. It was too simple, and when did the royal kitchen ever make that?

"yeah." she smiled. "What about you?"

"I like the biscuits Anthony makes." he replied honestly.

"they are good. Well, my turn." she jumped down from the wall and looked into his eyes 'nonchalantly'. "did you ever fall in love?"

"hm... No! No. No, of course not." he denied. "absolutely not. Pftttch, love. Tha–that's not even a real thing."

"mhm..."

"next question." he changed the subject. "puppies or kittens?"

"kittens!"

He laughed. "I can already see you growing up to be a cat lady."

"careful, I might scratch you!" she giggled wiggling her nails in his face. "and I assume you are a cat person too, so... What's your goal in life?"

"whoa whoa, the questions are getting too deep, what happened to colors and food? Plus, it's my question, don't try to trick me." it wasn't his question. He lowered his voice, as if about to ask something extremely important. "in all honesty... Am I awesome, or super awesome ?"

"I'm not answering a stupid question." she rolled her eyes.

"then, who do you like more, your mother or father?"

"I think...you are super awesome for bringing me out." she smiled flatteringly, holding his arm. "the capital is nice.

"it's even better in festivals. Especially the autumn festival!" little stars appeared in his eyes as he talked about it passionately. " there are people laughing everywhere, eating food, shopping, and simply being nice and friendly to one another. When I was younger, dad secretly took me out to enjoy the lantern festival in Qi. There lanterns hanging everywhere, or flower lanterns floating in the river... We ate this amazing food and watched fireworks exploding brilliantly in the sky... It was amazing! Best part is, we didn't take anyone else with us, not even Angie. It was just me and him. Our little secret. We kept it even from mother ! "

"... You must miss him. "she squeezed his hand.

" yeah... When he wasn't so uptight about my education as a prince...he was fun. He was pretty awesome. He didn't force me to follow rules when it wasn't an official event... And he let me carry his sword, 'ice blade', he didn't allow anyone else, not even Anders or Andy. I felt... Special. "he smiled gazing at the clouds." hey, how about playing another game? Like, 'shapes of clouds. That one looks like a turtle! "

"... "Amourora felt a little bad for bringing up a sensitive topic, but was glad she got to know him better. " that one looks like a baby bird spreading its wings."

"really? It looks more like a duck to me."

"wha—? how does it look like... a duck?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

"you're right, it's a chicken."

"it looks nothing li—"

" it's definitely a chicken."