--Eleanora POV--
"Oh my! It's the King!"
"Shit!" Vince cussed and ran, me running with him with no problem in keeping up with him.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!"
"A King shouldn't be using such foul language!" I shouted after him.
"Now is not the time for that Nora!"
Nora, every time he says that my heart can't help but skip a beat... Now is not the time for that Eleanora! Seriously!
"It's the King! It's King Vincenzo!" People shouted as a good number of them chased after us and were quick in catching up with us.
What should we do? What should we do? Oh, wait... I'm a mage.
I rolled my eyes at my dumb, forgetful self then quickly halted in my running and Vince snapped his head back to look at me.
"Are you mad!?" He shouted put I quickly hushed him.
"Try not to move too much... 1..." I started.
"Now is not the time for counting, Nora!" He desperately shouted.
"2..." My hands began glowing and just as someone reached their hand out to touch us... "3!" I clapped my hands and began glowing from head to toe.
I took Vince's hands in mine and the light spread to cover him. I smiled at him as the people caught up to us and tried to touch us but their hands only went through us.
He looked baffled, eyes wide open as he stared down at me in pure shock but I don't know why. I was a mage and when in full capacity, these kinds of things were easy.
I breathed in and slowly breathed out, my breath looking like a white mist that embraced the both of us, and then with a click of two of my fingers, we were snapped right out of that area as if we were never even there.
In the next second, both Vince and I were at the front of the palace, in front of a statue of me that stood on top of a water fountain.
"H-How?" Was all that came out of his mouth.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry, if I had done something earlier then we wouldn't have had to leave so-" I started in an apologetic tone but his voice cut me off.
"No," I looked up to see that he was already looking down at me with that same unfamiliar look that I could never guess what it was.
"It's okay, thanks," I nodded.
"I have some work to finish off before the nobles arrive. You should start getting ready too," I nodded once more and watched as he walked into the palace through the main entrance.
What a weird day. One thing I learned today is that I'm not very good at being discreet and apparently King Vincenzo wasn't either but it's not like I'm going to tell him that.
--Vincenzo POV--
"Are you sure?" I asked Don and he nodded.
"Can you check again?"
"I've checked five times," He glared at me.
"The sixth times a charm," He rolled his eyes at me and continued to pack up the medical supplies as if he never heard me.
"Donatello. Something's wrong with me, trust me," I crossed my arms and leaned against my desk in my office with furrowed brows and a frown.
"My face is warm all the time and my hearts beating faster than normal. I can't sleep at night and I can't concentrate on work," I explained for the hundredth time.
"I say this with the utmost respect..."
Here it comes, the disrespectful comment.
"... but for a King, you're awfully dumb," I glared at him. I wonder when he'll realise that he's always contradicting himself?
"Do you honestly not know what you have?" He crossed his arms and stared at me with a pointed look, making me feel like this was a trick question but I answered honestly.
"A disease... A deadly one?" I replied and he rolled his eyes again.
He'll be swallowing his words and regretting his actions when it turns out that I do have a rare disease. I'll have to contact my uncle, the King of Azurith about this since his country was known for its advanced medical knowledge.
"No," Don tilted his head back and groaned loudly.
"What do I have then?" I asked.
We have to hurry this up because I'm running late for the ball and I still haven't gotten dressed into my tux. Mother's not going to be very happy.
"Never mind," He shook his head, picked up the medical box and opened the door to leave the room but I called after him.
"What!? Tell me!"
With his hand on the handle and his body facing away from me, Don turned his head to look back at me with an unknown look on his face.
"It's called lovesickness. Those things only happen to you when she's in your head," Without waiting to see my reaction, he left the room.
What did he say?
Lovesickness?
Me?
King Vincenzo? The man who could have any woman he wanted, had lovesickness for the one woman that I didn't want to want. No. Way.
I think Donatello is the one that needed a checkup instead of me.
Groaning into one of my hands, I slumped forward and stayed like that for a good few minutes until one of the servants came to tell me to get ready for the party.
Dammit. What horrible timing.
There's no way I had lovesickness. It's just not possible.
Sure, Nora was pretty and sure she was cute when she blushed and made my heart thump when she smiled, from the way she could make the impossible, possible with a simple click of her fingers to the way her eyebrows scrunched up in concentration when she read a book... Oh... Damn it.
"Fuck it all," I glared at my reflection.
"Pardon,"
"Nothing, get back to work," I ordered the servant and he quickly did as told, noticing my foul mood, he did the right thing by keeping his mouth shut.
Lovesickness.
I can get over it. I've done harder things before so this should be a breeze.
I just need to find another woman who'll be able to get my mind off of Nora.
***---***---***
Yet, that proved to be more difficult than I would have liked.
Since no amount of women were able to keep me entertained for long. The flirting was obvious but it didn't spark any want or desire as it had in the past.
I mingled with the ladies in the room and they were thrilled to be in my presence but I can't say the same since my eyes only kept drifting over to the entrance for the guest of honour who has yet to show up.
"You're more handsome than the rumors stated," One of the ladies whose name I didn't bother remembering giggled at me flirtatiously before she jokingly patted my shoulder.
"I'm glad to hear that," I fake chuckled along with her, grabbing her hand on my shoulder and subtly threw it back to her side and away from me.
"Well, I'm a busy man so I'll be on my way but enjoy the party," She giggled again while fanning herself and nodded and I took the chance to walk away.
I caught my best friend's large frame at the dessert table and approached him, standing at the same tall height as him with my arms crossed and a glare on my features, he noticed my presence immediately and swallowed the macaron in his mouth before nodding.
"Can I help you with something?" He asked, subtly layering more snacks onto his plate which already resembled the mount Elmdon, the highest mountain in the world, located on the border of Lysandra.
"You're wrong,"
"About..." He sounded bored, filling his mouth with another pink macaron.
"The fact that I have lovesickness. It simply isn't possible," I leaned against the table and looked over the crowd that was dancing and chatting away in the golden room with a few gazes pointed towards me but I paid no attention to them.
"If you say so," He sighed.
"What's the update on the rat that's among us?" I changed the subject.
"I'm working on it. Starting with interrogating the few people that visited Alpheus,"
"Those people being?..." I felt my eyes travel to the entrance above the staircase where Nora was supposed to come from but she still wasn't here.
"Your family, Tobias Lockheart, Beatrice and Eva,"
"Tobias Lockheart, the previous head of knights?" Don nodded his head and I checked him off the suspect list. Tobias was my father's best friend and he was there to help expose and lock Alpheus up for his crimes, it wasn't possible.
Beatrice was the head maid and she had no motive to set Alpheus free. No motive that I knew of but there was also the possibility of blackmail.
And Eva...
...