"Don't move an inch..."
"...Stop the carriage now..."
"...Immediately..."
As soon as the girl's hoarse voice fell, everyone became stone.
It's been four years since she last spoke! They never expected she'd talk again.
After that incident, she had isolated herself in her room and stopped approaching them. She didn't talk to them nor even smile. Eventually, everyone in the palace ascertained that she had been suffering from long-term depression and the reason was loneliness. Soon they realized what a terrible mistake they made by secluding her.
All she wanted was their company but they inadvertently turned her down.
'By changing your perspective on the situation, it may be easier to have a positive attitude.'- They thought.
Now the tables had turned! Soon they started to visit her frequently. Their attitude became friendly. The maids, who avoided her most came to her begging for forgiveness. They were consoled when Princess nodded at them as accepting their apologies. They were relieved that the Princess was soft-hearted and merciful.
"Hail to the Princess!"
They began to pray to Buddha every day for Princess' well being.
However, the reason behind her forbearance, was not as they imagined; she completely disregarded them.
Why would she care for this insignificant stuff when her life was already so chaotic and disgusting?
She just wanted to live alone. She did not like when they were uttering their high-pitched piercing voice and made a racket out of nowhere giving her headaches.
'Stop spouting bulls***ts…, you are getting on my nerves ' she always yelled at them inwardly.
Since she was a Princess, she could not lose her calm and utter those curses. It'd be a disgrace to her family.
The coachmen gulped his saliva. There was no way he could disobey her. He caught a glimpse of the queen as he was asking for her permission if they should be stopped in the middle of the road or not. It was their job to obey the princess' order, but when superiors like the king or Queen sat next to a princess, the situation changed.
Queen Lin understood everyone as they were giving both of mother-daughter different types of looks.
She then thought of her daughter's sudden mood change. She understood that Liena must have found something which would divert her frustration. Thinking about this Queen Lin's mood got better. She then ordered everyone,
"Let's stop the journey."
The carriage door finally opened and a girl stepped out.
She wore a violet colored robe which had golden colored embroidery, flower designs. Her height was slightly small. Although she was thin, her cheeks were not skinny or chubby. It was just perfect.
She had a straight nose, big light brown colored eyes, her skin was was pinkish and as smooth as silk. Although she was only twelve years old, was not an adult nor a child but, purely based on her facial features, she could be considered a breathtaking beauty.
Princess Liena hurriedly got out from the carriage door and ran fast to the jewelry shop direction without noticing her surroundings, disregarding everyone around as if they were the air.
Four guards started to follow her as well as some maids, but the princess was running so fast that the maids could not cope with her and requested her to stop. Princess' eyes held a determined glint that terrified anyone who saw.
Even though she was petite, she gave people a condescending feeling.
As Princess dashed towards the jewelry shop, she frowned with puzzlement. She wasn't sure where the carriage stopped since she didn't care about her surroundings at that time. As she looked around, she heard thumping sounds and turned around to see her four guards. They were highly trained martial artists and her bodyguards. They followed her since she was young. She asked the head guard,
"Ruo Xie, do you know where our carriage was standing?"
Rou Xie nodded his head as he came forward. He looked at the road. Because they had heavy rain last night, the roads were slippery and filthy which resulted in deep ruts where vehicles had been. He then pointed at a side, where the carriage stopped. But she still couldn't remember...
There were a total of four lanes in front of her now, and because she forgot which lane she was starting too, they all looked the same- narrow and muddy
Now she was confused as well as heartbroken.
'No I can't give up now.' she encouraged herself.
Suddenly an idea came to her mind. She looked at her bodyguards and said,
"I am looking for someone who is about my age and has same height as well. He is wearing a white robe which is muddy and dirty. I need to find him now. So you guys spread and look for him too."
The guards looked at her strangely.
'Who is she looking for?'
'What had gotten to her today! Making such unreasonable requests…!!!'
'She is acting so strangely today.'
'She had always been a calm and sophisticated person.'
There were a lot of questions going on in their brains. They really wanted to ask the princess but observing her sudden mood-swings, they were afraid.
Four of them quickly bowed down before the princess. Then Rou Xie said embarrassedly,
"We are apologizing to, Your Highness the Princess. Now, we can not accept your request or separate from you. Since it's our priority to ensure the safety of her Highness. So, for now, please let's return to the carriage. We will surely help you looking for that person later..."
Princess Liena narrowed her eyes. Feeling the freezing gaze, four of them were stunned as a cold wind suddenly blew from behind them and they heard a very clear voice,
"Are you going to help me find the kid or not?"
Although her voice was as gentle as the wind and rain during springtime, the four of them trembled and knelt down completely.
Her voice sounded, she was not ordering but reprimanding! Her eyes were so icy that, they started to feel a chill was passing through their spines.
'So cold'.
'But why did she glare at us angrily?'
'Why Princess become so angry! What got to the world?'
'Did we commit any unforgivable mistakes?'
'Today she sounded domineering!'
They were confused...
Even though they were unwilling, they still nodded at her and flashed to four different directions as they started looking.
Princess finally breathed loudly as a sign of relief and set out to look for that familiar face.
*******
One hour later.
Queen Lin, who was sitting in the carriage, had a tensed look.
She sighed inwardly. It's been four years. Her daughter had gone through a lot. She was still blaming and punishing herself by shutting from the entire world. It was difficult for the king and queen to persuade this daughter and approach her. She had to move on from her traumas and stop blaming herself.
There was a tingling pain in Queen Lin's heart. She still couldn't believe she lost her only son and now, her daughter was suffering so much. As a mother, she could do nothing for her children except watch them suffer. There was deep anguish in her heart. She understood she was a failure as a mother.
As she was thinking, there were four shadows that flew from four different directions suddenly and knelt in front of her carriage and said while shuddering,
"Y-Your Highness, We deserve punishment."
Queen Lin suddenly felt discomfort. She asked,
"What happened?"
The guards started trembling. Ruo Xie felt his heart was sinking as he stuttered,
"W-we cannot find the Princess."
Queen Lin became furious, so much so that no one dares reply to her, or even glance in her direction.
*******
At the same time.
After strolling here and there for more than an hour, finally, she managed to track down that person.
Liena gazed in their direction, smiling ear to ear, she hummed happily,
"Finally, I found you."