"You were all great, Princes. I did not expect you to take the test, seriously. I appreciate the sincerity. And I apologize for my father, he made you so tired. Please get plenty of rest; afterwards, you may go to our guests' dining hall, there's a feast waiting for you. Thank you, again, for doing your best, Princes." I genuinely smiled at them and did a small curtsy; which they returned with a smile and a neck bow.
"Thank you, Princess."
"Congratulations Prince Theo, 2nd Prince Egon and 4th Prince Henri for passing the test. I will announce your rewards in a few days. For now, get some rest until tomorrow."
"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty."
...
The next day. Prince Leopold was on a secluded and quiet place of the palace, where no one, often, passed by. He was sitting on top of the palace wall with a drawing pad on his lap and a pencil in his hand. The prince was capturing the beautiful landscape of the forest behind the palace.
*creak*
He looked towards the sound, and saw someone wearing a black cloak with a hood trying to climb the walls by standing on top of a pile of wooden table and chairs. He went down and moved quietly towards the person.
"Who are you?"
That someone tried to climb quickly which caused that person to lose his/her footing and fall backwards.
"Ahhhh!"
When the prince heard a girl scream, he immediately went to catch her. He caught her in his arms, one arm under her legs and the other one supporting her back. The hood hid her face as she was looking down with closed eyes, expecting to feel pain from the fall. She realized she was in the arms of someone, then, looked up to see the person who saved her.
"Hi."
The girl's face was revealed and Prince Leopold was stunned.
"Thank you for saving me, Prince Leopold."
"Princess.. Laurana?"
I smiled at him innocently.
"What are you doing here? And, where are you going, wearing a cloak?"
"Well, you caught me. But, first things first, you can put me down now."
"Ohh!"
"I think you already know the answer. I'm sneaking outside the palace."
"It's too dangerous for you to be alone outside, Princess."
"No one knows what I looked like and you're here, now, aren't you? I'm not alone, anymore. You can come with me, if you want."
...
After we climbed the walls, we went through the forest and arrived at a cabin I found a couple of months ago; where I prepared a horse for me to ride to the nearest town because it would take hours if I walk on foot. There, I changed into a light pink traditional clothing made with cheap materials for my disguise and kept wearing my cloak with my hair all let down. Then, I gave the prince a traditional clothing for male which I've also prepared incase I needed to disguise myself as a man.
Having only one horse, we needed to ride together. Prince Leopold carried me so he could let me sit sideways on the horse since I was wearing a long skirt. He, then, climbed the horse and put his arms around my waist to hold on to the reins. He supported my back with his left arm and I put my hands on his right arm, incase, the ride gets bumpy. We were so close to each other and with his arms around me, riding through the woods, it was quite romantic. Multiple times, our eyes met and just smiled at each other, his smile was so dreamy, that I can't help but smile back.
Arriving at town, I can see many people walking around wearing traditional clothing. We went straight to the markets where there's plenty of things to buy and eat. I tried various foods on the street stalls and made the prince to try it, also. While we were walking, he pulled me on an alley without no one in sight.
"Princess, why did you bring a bow and arrows outside the palace? What do you need it for?"
"Ohh, I didn't sneaked outside the palace just to visit the town, there's a forest on the other side of the town where no one from the palace guards are patrolling. So, it'll be fine for me there, to start practicing using a bow and an arrow. And stop calling me Princess, someone might hear you, just call me Lau."
"You know that you don't have to learn how to use a weapon, you have us and the palace guards, to protect you from any danger."
"Then, who will protect you when you're in danger, if I'm the only one there to protect you?"
...
Walking around town, we stumbled upon a building where shouts can be heard from the inside. I was about to go inside, when Prince Leopold stopped me.
"We shouldn't go inside, Lau. There's official fights going on there, and sometimes, the onlookers could accidentally get hurt."
'And, you'll see someone you know, inside.' Prince Leopold said inside his head.
"Please~ I've always wanted to see what's going on inside these building. C'mon Leo, we'll watch from the second floor, just a quick peek."
"We'll be quick, alright? I'm letting you just because you called me by my name and you're cute."
Before, he could change his mind, I grabbed him by the hand and pulled him inside. The room was full of people cheering and shouting. They were shouting someone's name, mostly.
"Jung! Jung! Jung!"
"Jung?" I looked at Prince Leo and he just nonchalantly looked back at me.
When we arrived on the second floor, I can see more clearly what's happening downstairs and who they're cheering for! It was Prince Wang Jung who won the fight and it looks like he won quite a number of fights; seeing there's someone who looks pissed at him winning all the money, instead of their business. While, the peoples' attention was on the next fight, a number of scary-looking men surrounded Prince Wang Jung and led him outside the building from the back door.