The large two-storey log cabin of Prince Egon was hidden deep into the forest and mountains. It wouldn't be easy to find this part of the forest. I noticed that the cabin was obviously all made of tree logs, mostly the big ones. There's a stable not so far from the cabin where the horses we brought will be staying.
Moving back to the cabin, the second floor opens to a large open balcony. I saw Prince Egon looking at me as he lingered at the doorway, so I followed him inside. The living room could be seen first and there's a fireplace. It has stocks of chopped woods near it, Egon put some in the fireplace and lit them up on fire. The heat from the fire was so refreshing because it was cold outside.
Big Brother guarded the cabin from the outside, while Uncle scoped the area around. It was only me in front of the fireplace when Egon arrived with a thick blanket that he put around my shoulders; then, he sat facing my side.
With a low voice, I asked him out-of-the-blue, "Who.. ordered to kill you?"
"You don't have to know," he answered seriously.
A sarcastic smile could be seen on my face as I said, "I have to know, they also tried to kill me. So, tell me."
"Fine. It was the Queen of Furstenberg," he answered while looking at the fire.
I frowned, "Why would she try to kill you?"
"She's not my birth mother. The Crown Prince and 4th Prince Henri are her only children. It's not the first time she tried to kill me. I put your life at risk, it's my fault," he said that with no emotion shown on his face.
I looked at him questioningly, "How could she do that to you? Doesn't your father know about this?"
"They both think that I'm a threat to the Crown Prince, and they're right about that. The first time she tried to kill me was by suggesting to send me to the frontlines of the battlefield. They didn't expect me to come back alive, only with battle scars and victory. I was still living inside the palace, back then; and almost every night, an assassin would sneak into my chamber. Unfortunately for them, I killed every assassin that the queen sent. Then, I moved out of the palace and lived here," a dark aura could be felt coming from him as he talked.
The only thing I could muster to say was, "That's.. savagely cruel! So inhumane."
"If I may ask, could those assassins enter your territory?" Uncle suddenly appeared in the hallway that leads to the living room.
Prince Egon shook his head, "No one knows the exact location. It's not easy to find this place. There's also traps scattered in this area."
"We'll still switch on patrolling the area, so you can sleep without worries, Princess. We won't let anything happen to you, we'll keep you safe," Uncle said those with a soft voice, like he was talking to his own daughter.
I genuinely smiled at him, "Thank you Uncle, please be safe and alert; you and Big Brother."
"Uncle! I'll call the two of you, later. I'll prepare an early dinner for all of us; we didn't get to eat lunch, earlier," I informed Uncle before he reached for the door. No one disagreed, because they knew I wasn't asking for their permission.
...
Prince Egon escorted me upstairs to show me where I'll be sleeping. There's two large rooms in the second floor, and he escorted me to the biggest room. It was obviously a man's room because almost everything was black. The king size bed consisted of black pillows, white bed cover, black thick blanket; then there's the black curtains.
I turned to Prince Egon, "Is this your chamber?" Then, he nodded at me.
"Why am I here, then?"
He stepped closer to me as he cornered me on the wooden wall, "Don't you want to stay together?"
I felt him tensed up when I stretched my right hand to touch his hair on the upper left side. Then, I slightly brushed his hair backwards and pulled his hair, hard.
"Oww! What was that for, Laurana?" He was literally shocked of what I did; so, he have other emotions, I see.
I glared at him, "In your dreams! Now, take me to where I'm really staying."
"Dont-- oww!"
"Not another word from you or I'll keep pulling your hair. Move," I warned him.
He took me to the second biggest room and I noticed that almost everything was white. Seriously, what's with the black and white motif? Uncle and Big Brother would be staying in the guest rooms downstairs, I assumed that they have the same motif in their rooms.
Before Prince Egon could take a step inside my room, I snatched my luggage from him. Then, I shouted at him, "Wait for me in the kitchen!" And, I shut the door on his face.
After I freshened up, I changed into a simple cross collar long-sleeved white top with light blue collars and a light blue long skirt wrapped around my waist. I removed my braid so my ears will be covered by my hair. Then, I went to the kitchen downstairs.
He was already in the kitchen, wearing a black cross collar long-sleeved top inside, a black sleeveless cross collar one-piece garment that reaches just before his feet with a sash on his waist and a black low leather shoes with pointed tips. He offered me a hot cocoa which I gladly accepted.
"Why did you make me wait in the kitchen?"
I smiled at him with narrowed eyes, "We're making dinner."
"We are?"
"Uh-huh," I said while nodding my head.
He walked towards me and put his hands on my shoulders, "Take a rest upstairs and I'll make dinner."
"Out of the four of us, I'm the least person who needs some rest. I'm going to make dinner and you're going to assist me. End of discussion."