18. Better Preparation

When the sun had set, Frans and a bodyguard had come to pick Royce up in front of the apple orchard. Of course Frans came in a bigger horse-drawn carriage. Because Athena also came with them.

Royce, Lucy, and Athena. They took turns getting into the carriage. Then the horse carriage began to speed towards the back of the palace.

Of course Royce and Lucy were back in their royal attire. Likewise Athena, who had returned to wearing a simple dress. In Athena's secret place there was of course an area that could be used to change clothes. In the right corner area, there is a small area surrounded by a wall, in the shape of a square. That small area is used to change clothes.

Athena herself built the wall. She is also smart in terms of development. She used bricks and cement to make simple walls to form a small room where she could change clothes.

The journey to the palace was very quiet. Lucy was fast asleep as the girl's head rested tiredly on Royce's right shoulder. Athena just smiled at that.

Arriving at the palace, Royce immediately carried his sister. The man couldn't bear to wake his sister. It seemed that Lucy was very tired after a long day with Athena.

Athena followed Royce's footsteps towards Lucy's bedroom.

After laying Lucy down in the middle of the bed, Royce smiled. Then Athena immediately covered Lucy's body with a blanket.

"This is the first time Princess Lucy has fallen asleep after doing activities with me. Maybe it's because you're willing to come, Prince Royce." Athena said.

"Was she very enthusiastic when I was willing to fulfill your request to come there?"

Athena nodded. "Yes. Although Princess Lucy was a little worried and scared, she was very happy when you came to my place. Do you think Queen Victoria and King Arthur will find out about it?"

Hearing Athena's question, Royce gave a small smile. Of course Athena was worried about that, because the king and queen always had someone they could trust out there, to keep an eye on where Royce and Lucy were going.

"Take it easy, Athena. My mother's only confidant was Helen. And now Hellen is always busy taking care of many things in this kingdom. Meanwhile, my father is also busy managing the economy of this kingdom. For now, I think everything seems safe. But I have a suggestion." Royce said.

"What advice would you like to give me, prince?"

"It's best not to do that activity every day. I also know that Lucy wants to quickly master the martial arts, but please don't do it every day. Hellen will definitely be suspicious and my sister will be sent to the school again. So, it's best if you can practice on Thursday and Friday. You also know that in those two days, my father and mother must be busy with many things. Just two days a week. And I'm sure that Lucy can learn quickly."

Athena immediately nodded her head politely. "I will take your advice, prince. Thank you very much."

"Why are you two talking in the bedroom without anyone's supervision?" The question succeeded in making Athena and Royce look simultaneously towards the doorway. It turned out that Victoria was already standing there with a stern look on her face and Athena immediately lowered her head.

Athena also immediately stepped back to make the distance from Royce look further. "My apologies, Your Majesty. I'm the one who asked Prince Royce to talk about something. We didn't do anything but just talk about something." Athena said quietly.

Royce just let out a long breath and he was a little lazy to look at his mother. "Mom, Athena and I were just talking about Lucy. Then why did you come here, mom?"

"I've been looking for you since this afternoon. You'd better go see your father soon." Victoria said firmly. "And you, Athena. You'd better do something else."

Athena nodded again, then she walked out of Lucy's bedroom. And Royce also walked away without showing his mother a smile.

Meanwhile, Lucy seemed to be fast asleep. The girl was completely exhausted, so that in her sleep she did not hear any sounds around her.

***

"We can't just attack them. Look at this point, a lot of royal soldiers are always on guard at night." Theo said.

Jackson looked at the location point Theo pointed to on the wide map. "How do you know that at this point there are many royal soldiers on guard every night?"

"Last night, Thomas and I came there. We saw with our own eyes that there was a hut. And there were dozens of soldiers standing around the borders of the kingdom. It turns out that they are also always active on guard every night, even though they are in the forest. I don't think it will be easy to attack them. I also saw a lot of sturdy weapons like rock-throwing devices and bombs." Theo said.

"I think the two of you need to go there again for another week. There must be a day where those soldiers take a break from their work. If you and Thomas already know when the guard looks slack, then we'll have to rearrange our strategy. So that we can attack them at the right time." Jackson said.

Theo smiled lopsidedly and nodded his head. "Then what about your lover? Didn't Bella give us any more information?"

Jackson immediately shook his head. "For a while I purposely didn't meet Bella. She was being watched by the butler named Hellen. I didn't want to put her in danger and I didn't want Bella to go through anything bad because of me. After all she had already given me a map containing the layout of each point of the kingdom. We just have to set the time."

"Okay Jackson, then I just have to make sure our weapons are complete."

"Yeah, do well, Theo. I think we have enough weapons. Some swords that have been stored for a long time should be sharpened to make them sharper."

Theo nodded obediently. "Don't worry, I'll make sure all our weapons are in excellent condition. Then, are you sure you want to invite all of our troops?"

"Of course. How many troops do we have now?"

"Probably around four hundred people. Thomas is very good at finding groups of men who like to attack. Some of them even come from any island. Our troop numbers are perfectly safe, Jackson. I think we can attack them all." Theo said with a sly smile.

Jackson burst out laughing. "Hahahaha, I feel so happy. I think I can really be the leader of this island and Bella be my queen!!"

*****