"WYATT! OVER HERE!"
Alice waved fervently, the stack of papers in her hand while Miles stood a step behind her. They had scoured through the entire palace grounds — or at least the areas which they were allowed to access — in search of Wyatt but to no avail. It wasn't until Alice had spotted a streak of white headed towards the main gates before she perked up again, running like mad towards Wyatt.
"Alice!" A little shocked, Wyatt's eyes widened a little. They glittered like rubies as it caught the last rays of sunlight right before it disappeared past the horizon, dazzling and mystical as he looked at Alice before turning to Miles. "How did you two get into the palace?"
"The guards posted at the door recognized me. We told them you left some important documents behind and they let us in," Miles answered, nudging Alice forward a little.
"Oh." Pushed forward, Alice finally remembered the documents she held. Holding them out for Wyatt to take, she said, "Here. You dropped these on your way out just now." As Wyatt took hold of the papers, shuffling through the stack to tabulate if they were all present, Alice continued, "We tried calling you but you mustn't have heard us. So we thought it would be better to bring them over to you than to have you come running back to the mansion. That would've been a waste of time and it's already so late." She gestured pointedly at the missing sun in the sky, nodding towards the blanket of stars and the silver moon that had started its journey to the zenith.
Wyatt sighed out a puff of air, his shoulders slackening as he did so. Gently smiling, his expression seemed much more sincere than all of Wyatt's smiles Alice had seen combined.
"Thank you," he replied, arranging the papers in his hands back into a neat stack after having jumbled through them. Hugging them close to his chest as if afraid those papers would disappear into thin air if he let go, Wyatt shook his head slightly, laughing now that all the tension had finally melted away. "I don't know what I would've done if I had actually lost these documents. They're important reports that took months to compile. Again, thank you, both of you."
"You would've done the same for any of us." Alice shrugged. "It's the least I can do."
"Don't you have a meeting to head to? With the crown prince?" Miles piped up, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't suppose he'll be happy if you keep him waiting for too long."
"Oh, you're right!" Pulling out his pocket watch, Wyatt scanned the time before jumping a little. "Darn, I'm late. Well, I'll be off now. Alice, if you wish to explore the palace, there's a library that you can take a look at. I saw how interested you are with books earlier today," Wyatt suggested, eyes glittering. "Miles, you can head back first. I'm plenty capable of bringing Alice back to the mansion once I'm done. Charlie will be looking for you if you linger too long outside the estate. You know how he is."
Nodding, Miles wordlessly took a step away. He cast a quick look at Alice, waiting to see if she had any qualms in regards to the arrangement. After confirming that she was willing to linger in the palace a little longer — either to wait for Wyatt or to scout the palace's ginormous library — Miles left on his horse, satisfied. That left Alice alone with Wyatt, scurrying to keep with his quick steps as he crossed the hallways and curved corners, rushing towards the palace library.
"Wait for me here, Alice," Wyatt instructed, turning back to quickly glimpse at Alice as he spoke, still walking. "You can wander around the palace but don't go too far into the inner palace grounds. That area is strictly restricted to members of the royal family and their immediate guests. If you're caught there, the punishment will be quite severe. The library, the rose garden, and the ballroom are all areas that you can explore while waiting for me. These places are usually restricted from the general public but since you've debuted as a noble with ties to the Ragan family, you should be fine. If anything goes wrong," Wyatt huffed, pausing when they've finally arrived at the large mahogany doors of the library. "If anything goes wrong, ask a palace guard to contact me at once. They should know where to find me. If they don't, or if you need to find me for any reason, I'm usually in Prince Hartley's office or my own, which is the study next to his. The guards know the way."
With a hand on the gleaming bronze handle of the large doors, Wyatt tilted his head, blowing at a few stray strands of white hair that had fallen to curtain his eyes due to his speed walk. The wispy strands dangled right over his forehead, prickling him in the eyes as he tried to get them off his face and back in place. With a hand on the handle and another holding his precious documents, Wyatt resorted to using his lips to puff air at the swaying strands of hair. Once he got them out of his face, he turned his attention back onto Alice.
"Any questions?" He asked.
Alice shook her head, fingers intertwining together as she bounced on the balls of her feet, eagerly waiting for Wyatt to push those doors open.
"No? Perfect. I'll be back to fetch you once I'm done with my work. It shouldn't be for a few hours still so if you get bored and wish to return, have a palace guard let me know. I'll have someone bring you back to the estate," Wyatt instructed.
With everything laid out plainly, he pushed at the mahogany doors, allowing them to swing inward to reveal a sight that had Alice gasping for breath. She sighed out loud in awe, taking a step into the room as her fingers fisted at the fabric of her skirt just to keep herself from squealing out loud.
The palace library had to be at least ten times bigger than what she had imagined the Ragan's estate library to be. It had three sprawling levels that were connected via spiral staircases that led both ways, similar to the style of the palace's ballroom. The floors were all in sleek, white marble, lined with plush wine-red carpets that absorbed sound whenever Alice took a step. Gold-colored velvet curtains lined ceiling-to-floor glass windows all around the room on all three levels. If it were daytime, Alice knew that the sight would've been spectacular. A giant crystal chandelier hung from the glass dome ceiling at the atrium. Without sunlight to light up the room, the chandelier did its job as a replacement source mighty well.
There weren't just books that lined the walls and shelves. Lines and lines of intricately drawn paintings adorned the walls of the library, showcasing art that breathed life into the room through sceneries and portraits. Walking closer, Alice climbed up the first flight of stairs towards the large landing in the middle. At the center of the bifurcated staircase was a giant portrait of the current royal family set in a golden frame. In it, Alice recognized the king, the queen, and the dark-haired prince. Those were the three members of the royal family she had met at the ball. The fourth and final member of the family must be the crown prince, then. He, like the queen, had a head of fiery red hair. A golden crown — smaller than that of the king, of course — sat in the bed of hair, adorned with jewels of all colors. The crown prince wore a stern expression, the artist having captured the scowl perfectly, while the second prince wore a mischievous quirk on his lip.
Even without a mask, Alice wasn't as dim-witted as to completely miss the person's identity. She stepped back with a gasp, her shoulders rising but not falling. The crown prince was the very same person she had met right before the ball, the man that had brought her to the garden of roses.
The man that she had yelled at with no reserve.
"I trust that you'll be fine on your own? I must really be going now. Hart— I mean, Prince Hartley is still waiting for me to return with these papers." Eyes still glued on the hands of his pocket watch, Wyatt called out at Alice from where he stood near the main doors.
"Oh!" Scuttling down from the steps and a little closer to Wyatt, Alice nodded. "Yes, I'll be fine. Go ahead. I think I can easily stay here for hours."
"Splendid." Shoving his pocket watch back into his pocket, Wyatt's free hand gripped the door handle, ready to pull it close. "I'll be off then." Without another word, he closed the door shut, leaving Alice behind in the silence of the library.
Left alone, Alice rubbed her hands gleefully. She practically skipped back towards the grand staircase, taking another look at the portrait of the royal family. Head tilted to one side, she squinted at the image of the crown prince and the second prince, lips pursed. How was it that even though the two princes came from the same family, had the same father, yet they were completely different was a mystery in Alice's eyes. One wore a gleeful smile that seemingly hid monstrous secrets while the other had a face struck with a thunderous expression yet offered words that leaked compassion. The artist had captured everything marvelously well.
Unbeknownst to Alice at the moment, she wasn't the only one in the palace library when Wyatt had let her in. Originally curled up on an armchair with a book over his face, a sleeping prince had risen from his slumber. Now, he had his eyes set on the lady on the first floor, curiously observing her quirky expressions as he hid behind the railings of the third floor. Snapping the book in his hands shut, he returned the book to the side table which it originally laid, no longer interested in the fairytale written within those covers.
After all, there was no story that could be more interesting than the mysterious and innocent little cat that had wandered into a lion's den.