Are you always this happy?

As a teenager, Levina had always imagined what the castle looked like; she had imagined it as twice the size of the village, with an army of fierce dragons forming a protective circle around it.

But as she rode up the dusty road with the castle sitting majestically on the top of the hill, she realized that she might have exaggerated the thought. The castle surely was big, and heavily guarded but not by a herd of fearsome dragons. Both dragon warriors and foot soldiers paraded the castle ground; dragon soldiers wore a green vest atop their amour, while the foot soldiers wore red vests atop their amour for easy identification.

The carriage pulled to a stop in front of the mighty castle, the stones scrunched noisily under the carriage. Levina waited for the cloud of dust to settle before she stepped out of the carriage.

The crown prince stood atop the perron, waving at her with a wide smile on his face. She wondered if he was always this happy or if he just wore a smile to melt the heart of whoever he flashed a smile at. Not that his smile melted her heart or anything like that, she shook her head.

She hesitated before she started the climb up the stairs. She had never imagined that she would be this close to the castle, much less able to enter into the building. She had expected her father to flip and drag her out of Arvenia that very night but instead he had bent to pick up the broken pieces of the bottle.

"Okay", he muttered inaudibly, when he disposed of the broken medicine bottle. She had stared back at him suspiciously but didn't say anything so he wouldn't change his mind and drag her out of Arvenia and dump her at another forgotten village.

"Welcome to my humble abode, pretty lady," Lucien announced, spreading out his arm.

Levina bowed her head slightly, "My lord." She nodded at the plump, elderly woman standing at his side. Her hair was a fine mesh of gray and black and was packed neatly in a bun.

"This is Seilah. She is like a mother to me," he said to Levina, then he turned to the smiling woman, "Seilah, this is Levina, my personal nurse."

"Welcome my dear. I am the caretaker of this beautiful Castle and I oversee domestic activities and domestic staff."

"Lovely to meet you Seilah," Levina smiled at the petite woman.

"I will give you a tour of the palace so that you will know your way around."

Levina nodded.

"Wait," Lucien grabbed Levina's arm. Levina jerked her hand free almost immediately, Lucien smiled gently at her, then spoke to Seilah; "I will give the pretty lady a tour myself."

The woman looked like she was about to disagree but changed her mind, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, don't bother yourself," he replied, his gaze never leaving Levina's face. He saw her nose twitch and worry lines form on her forehead.

"That wouldn't be necessary. You shouldn't stress…umm… Seilah would give me the tour," she stuttered nervously.

"I don't mind;'' Lucien chirped in immediately; ''Seilah, breakfast would be nice," he said with finality.

Seilah nodded, she gave Levina one last glance before she left.

"It's you and me again today," he grinned mischievously. "Come with me."

Levina followed Lucien quietly, her feet barely making any sound as they came in contact with the floor. She was excited to be in the castle, but she made sure not to show it.

After walking for a while he paused at the first room. The door squeaked open when Lucien pushed it. The men in there stood to their feet, and bowed, Lucien waved at them in response.

The room was spacious, and well-lit by the sunlight that filtered into the room through the big window. The room was filled with spears of different sizes, swords, and shields, all properly arranged on the racks, and stapled to the wall.

"This is the guard post. This is where the palace guards take their breaks and pick up or drop their weapons," Lucien explained. Levina nodded, her eyes swept the room and she followed immediately behind Lucien when he left the room.

They must have crossed about twenty rooms before they found the flight of stairs that led to the bedrooms. The first room up the stairs was another guard post and the next room was Zarek's, Lucien didn't open the door, he just continued to the next room. He opened the door and stepped in.

The room was poorly lit as the curtains were drawn shut, Levina hesitated before she stepped in. It's not like the prince would hurt her or anything like that, and should he try to do something to her she would smoke his cocky ass with her powers. Or just run, running was the safer option, she couldn't go around casting spells in the palace, and besides she promised her late mother never to practice witchcraft.

Sunlight filled the room as soon as he drew the curtains open. The room was five times the size of her room back at home and the properly dressed bed was big enough to contain three fat adults, comfortably.

Levina let herself wander a bit, her eyes examined the properly arranged room. There were three swords hanging from the wall just opposite the bed. Her eyes fell on a huge portrait hanging from the wall, very close to the second window.

It was a portrait of a younger version of Lucien, sitting on his father's thigh, with his signature smile on his face.

"Are you always this happy?" she asked her eyes glued to the portrait. I mean she knew that it wasn't possible for anyone to be happy all the time, but she just had to ask, for clarity's sake.

She felt his presence when he came up behind her, "Is it possible to be happy all the time?"