Cousin!

The crowd of people was massive. It was like every student had shown up to look at something. There was a lot of whispering and talking between everyone.

Ian and the gang were also curious about what was going on. They entered the crowd and tried to push their way to the front. Along the way, they heard more and more talking.

"Are you sure it's them?"

"Of course it is. Who else would attract such a large crowd?"

"I can't believe she's here."

"Look, she's got her escort too."

"Wait, do you mean?"

"Yes, it has to be. No other person has long messy fiery hair like that."

"Then it must be true. I can't believe I'm going to be in the same academy as her."

There were so many students talking about someone but Ian and the gang didn't know who. Soon the crowd started to move as if to make a path.

As the crowd shifted, Ian and everyone else were pushed around and ended up near the front. They finally were able to get a better look at what was going on and who everyone was looking at. 

They were able to see a tall woman walking through. She was tall enough for everyone to see her, even those in the back of the crowd. Even though she was tall, she was still a bit shorter than Frida's height.

She had long messy crimson hair that reached down to her lower back. She looked extremely fit with muscles most guys would envy. She wore leather gear with small amounts of metal accessories. She looked like a warrior who could snap a person's neck with one hand. Her face was very serious and angry looking.

As she approached, the crowd moved away even more. No one wanted to impede their path.

"Look, it really is her. It's the princess. Princess Amanda."

"Then that must be her personal guard, Ash."

"You mean that Ash? As in the Ash of the five Royal Guardians?"

"Who else would I be talking about?"

Hearing what people were saying, Ian and the gang had a better understanding of who was approaching. They now knew everyone was gathered to see the princess and her guard, Ash.

However, they were only able to see Ash as she stood tall over the crowd. They weren't able to see the Princess.

The crowd kept shifting some more as the princess and her guard walked closer. This allowed Ian and everyone else to move closer to the front. Once the crowd settled, they all found themselves pretty much at the front. Now they were able to get a better view.

Upon closer look, Ian, Ellie, and Emmett were given a shock. They could now see what the princess looked like.

She had long smooth silky dirty blond hair. Her face was flawless and beautiful. She was dressed very elegantly. She wore a short royal blue dress with a matching blazer. Alongside that, she also had white thigh-high socks with a pair of lovely bar shoes.

Her outfit did not show off much skin. Instead, she looked very reserved and elegant. However, her clothing did hug her body perfectly, showing off her curves and hourglass figure. Nobody could help but stare at her. She was shockingly beautiful.

However, this was not what shocked Ian, Emmett, and Ellie. For them, what was more shocking was that Princess Amanda looked extremely familiar to someone they knew. They even shared the same name.

Ellie was the first to realize something was off. She stepped forward from the crowd as the princess and her guard walked by. Everyone looked at her weirdly as she stepped out from the crowd. Some looked panicked.

Ellie stepped closer and said, "Amanda? Is that really you?"

Upon hearing this, Princess Amanda stopped walking and gave a look of shock. Ash immediately became aggravated and turned her head to give Ellie a mean look. She was going to walk up to Ellie and say something but was stopped by Amanda.

Seeing as Amanda stopped her, Ash backed down immediately and stepped off to the side, bowing her head.

Amanda stepped past Ash to see whose voice she had just heard. It sounded very familiar to her. When she saw Ellie stand in the middle of the path made by everyone, Amanda became shocked.

Amanda looked at her and said, "Ellie? Is that you?"

Upon hearing this, Ellie was given the confirmation she was looking for. She had a surprised look on her face and said, "So, it is you?"

Amanda looked ashamed and embarrassed, almost like she was caught doing something she wasn't supposed to. She quickly changed her demeanor into a smile and said, "I guess the cat's finally out of the bag." Afterwards, Amanda began walking towards Ellie.

Ellie too began moving towards Amanda. But she ran up to her with her arms stretched out to hug her.

Amanda saw this and opened her arms to greet Ellie's hug. When the two finally wrapped each other in their arms, they both said, "Cousin!"

Everyone in the crowd was deathly shocked to hear this. They had just witnessed some random girl run up to the princess, hug her, and call her cousin. What was more shocking was that the princess was hugging the random girl back and also called her cousin. No one would have expected this.

Suddenly, a group of four pushed their way through the crowd and walked up to the two girls hugging. It was Ian, Kevin, Emmett, and Zoey.

Zoey was holding on to Emmett's arm as she didn't know what else to do. Kevin walked behind Ian staring off into the distance trying to avoid making eye contact. Ian walked up nervously, not knowing what to make of this situation. Emmett was a bit confused but also happy.

When Ash saw them approach, she immediately became defensive and gave them all a death stare. However, she didn't move as Amanda seemed to know who they were.

Once Ellie and Amanda saw the group approach, they let go of each other and turned to face them.

Emmett was the first of the group to say anything when he got close. He said, "Well, well, well, If it ain't Amanda. So what's this I hear about you being some big shot princess." Emmett stopped to get a good look at her before continuing, "That outfit doesn't suit you, or at least the version I know"

Amanda gave Emmett an annoyed look and said, "It's nice to see you too, Emmett." Her eyes then darted to Zoey wondering what was up with her. Zoey was still holding onto Emmett's arm as she hid behind him. Amanda gave Emmett a confused look before asking, "What's with her, Emmett?"

Emmett took a moment to look at Zoey before turning back to Amanda and saying, "This is Zoey, remember? She's the one who worked at the restaurant we would all go to. She's also my girlfriend now."

"Interesting. I do remember her but she looks a bit different from before. Almost a bit more womanly. But I do remember you talking about how you liked her so it's nice to see that you two got together. Congrats," Amanda said.

Amanda then turned to Kevin who was standing behind Ian and said, "It's nice to see you're doing well, Kevin. I hope you haven't been causing too much trouble for Ellie. I'll have you locked up if you do."

Kevin was shocked by this and bowed to her before jokingly saying, "If I had known you were the princess, I wouldn't have acted in such a way back then. Forgive me." He was a bit more nervous and was starting to sweat.

Amanda turned to Ellie and in a very caring and sisterly voice said, "If Kevin gives you trouble just let me know. I'll have him dealt with quickly."

"No need for that, I have everything under control. He's actually calmed down recently." Ellie said in an innocent yet malicious tone.

Amanda smiled at Ellie before finally turning to Ian. Ian was looking away from her, feeling a bit nervous. He never interacted with Amanda as much as Ellie and Emmett did. Whenever he did, she always acted a bit differently. He wasn't sure what it was but it made him feel a bit uneasy.

Amanda looked him up and down thoroughly. She was taking in the sight of him since he looked a bit different. He was more fit, more muscular, more manly looking.

Ian could feel Amanda's eyes on him and it gave him a chill. It was like his body was telling him to run because danger was near. However, he didn't move.

The crowd and Ash were looking at this scene weirdly. They couldn't make out what was happening. They were all still shocked that a group of nobodies had walked up to Amanda and started casually talking to her, almost like they were family.

But now, Amanda was checking out someone in a not-so-elegant way. They weren't sure what she was trying to do but some had an idea. However, what surprised them more was that the man Amanda was looking at was just looking side to side awkwardly. He seemed uncomfortable.

After a moment, Amanda said, "You look different, Ian. What happened?"

"I've just been training more, that's all." Ian sounded like he wanted to just get things over with and walk away, but too many people surrounded them.

"You look… different, I guess." Ian was having trouble speaking. This was mainly because he hated unwanted attention. Since Ian was an ambush hunter, he would try his best to avoid being seen or detected. But now, not only was Amanda looking at him, but everyone in the crowd was looking at him. He was in the spotlight and he wanted to get out of it as soon as possible.

The way Ian acted confused many students, especially the boys. They would have all liked to interact with Amanda, not because she was the princess but because she was very attractive. They would give so much to be in Ian's position.

Amanda gave Ian one last look before saying, "It's nice to see you're doing well." She then turned back to Ellie and said, "Hey, Ellie, Would you like to join me? I'm going to fully register for the academy. It would be nice to have someone I'm familiar with to tag along."

"I'd gladly join you. I'm happy to be with my favorite cousin," Ellie happily said. She then stood next to Amanda before walking to the main building with Ash following from behind.

As Ellie and Amanda walked together towards the main building, the crowd continued to make a path for them to pass. Everyone just stared as Ellie and Amanda walked away next to each other.

Ashe followed them without saying a word, but she also looked at Ellie and Amanda weirdly. She didn't know what to make of them or the information she had just heard.

Once Ellie and Amanda entered the main building, Everyone in the crowd turned to face Ian and the others. They all looked at them with conflicted expressions. Even those who traveled with Ian and the others were conflicted.

Kevin and Emmett didn't seem to be bothered by the staring but Ian and Zoey did.

Emmett looked around at everyone with a big smile before grabbing Zoey's hand and walking forward. Ian saw this and followed them. Kevin stayed back a bit longer looking at everyone before eventually following them as well. 

When the group walked near part of the crowd, a path for them began to open up. No one wanted to get in their way since they all didn't know what to make of them. All they knew was that the princess and a random girl had called each other cousins and that this group knew the princess in some way. That was enough for the crowd to stay away and not impede their path.

Eventually, Ian and the others made it out of the crowd and began to walk away. Soon, everyone would start to talk about the unusual scene that had just occurred.