As Elizabella had left Prince Maxen alone, he had decided to look around the gardens. He had seen how manicured the front of the mansion had looked and wondered how the back looked. Just as Elizabella had said, he found the little brothers waiting for him downstairs. He gave them his Princely smile, making them look up at him and blush in excitement.
"Little brothers, your sister, has said that I would have the pleasure of being guided throughout the grounds by you two," he said in a very polite tone to them, making them look up to him and smile.
"Yes, Prince Maxen, we will take you around the house," said Nicholaus, the elder brother.
"Please, just call me brother when we are alone," said Prince Maxen with a gentle smile to the brothers.
"Brother, this way to the back gardens. Mother likes to help around, but the gardens belong to our sister. When we moved here, she changed everything about the house and gardens," said Louis as they pulled on his arms to lead him outside. "She chose all the plants and even planned how everything would be planted. She said that the house she grew up in would always change its gardens yearly with a few trees that stayed the same."
"Really? You mean in Edalelia?" asked Prince Maxen as he continued to be led outside and saw that the gardens outside did indeed look well managed.
From where he stood, he could see an intricate maze made of topiary of uniformed height. On the sides, some paths led to flowering trees and flower beds with shaded seating areas. From afar, he could see that there was a shady pathway that was enclosed with intricate lattice fencing. It even had a canopy ceiling with wisteria tree branches hanging down. They had an ombre effect as the colors descended from the wisteria trees.
"Those trees over there were already here, but they were placed sporadically. Big Sis had them uprooted and replanted them along the path. She even had more sent here to give those color options," said Nicholaus as he noticed that Prince Maxen fixed his eyes on the trees.
"I see. I seem to remember that I have seen something similar before," said Prince Maxen as the boys looked up at him.
"Brother, does the palace where you live have those trees?" asked Louis as they had stopped to stare at the Prince.
"No, not in the Palace," said Prince Maxen as he seemed to recall playing in a garden with wisteria trees.
"Oh? Big Sis says that the Queen of Edalelia likes these trees a lot, and she has them in her gardens. We thought that every palace would have the same things," said Louis as he looked back at the trees that swayed gently in the passing breeze.
"Hmm. When I was about your age, I went to Edalelia, but something happened, and I do not remember what I did there. I remember that I made a friend who named me 'Wolf.' I am sure that we played in the palace gardens," said Prince Maxen as he felt a slight headache coming when he tried to remember his time then. "My family does not like to talk about it because it brings sad memories. So I cannot ask them what I did then."
The brothers noticed that the Prince seemed to be stressed over their conversation, so they decided to guide him to a shady bench. There they sat down and quietly watched the gardens while the Prince tried to keep his headache from getting worse. Eventually, his headache went away, and he was able to enjoy himself just sitting and relaxing.
The three sat there, enjoying the breeze and smelling the flowers. Prince Maxen looked around and saw that off in the distance, there seemed to be a clearing beyond some waist-high hedges with a path leading out. He pointed out the clearing when the boys looked up and answered him enthusiastically.
"That is not a clearing, but a large pond. If you want, we can go there and see. Big Sis added a large gazebo over the water. It gets to be really pretty at night. Big Sis has even used it once in her first video that she did. Have you seen it?" asked Louis with a wide grin.
"Ah, sorry. I never was able to see it," said Prince Maxen, a little embarrassed that he has never seen any of her productions from school except the one that was publicized before their wedding.
"Do you want to see it? We hear that that video made her famous in school. We can show you the actual location," said Nicholaus as they both got up and looked at Prince Maxen, making him smile at them and nodded.
"Of course, if you are willing to show me," said Prince Maxen as he got up and followed the boys to the back of the gardens. "Does she use this place a lot to film her things?"
"She filmed the music video for your wedding in her bedroom and the battle scene near the pond as there is a hill and clearing there. Ah! The first video she did was also filmed in her bedroom. Walliams helped her edit the video for the first one, but he was traveling when she did the wedding video. He could not help then. He usually helps edit all of her videos," prattled on Louis as they came nearer to the pond. "Here is the pond. This was here when our grandfather was still alive. Big Sis just made it more to her liking."
"Your sister certainly changed a lot of the gardens," said Prince Maxen as he listened to the brothers telling him how everything was changed to Princess Aphra's liking. "This place is very picturesque and peaceful."
"Yes. Big Sis likes things picturesque and peaceful. Once, on one of her rides, she found a nice out of the way place where she goes to go and play her violin. She took us there one weekend, and we had a picnic. Chef Yacub made us our meal. It was nice. But, we have not been there again," said Louis as he pouted. "Big Sis is always busy. She can never find time to play with us."
"She has business in Edalelia, so she cannot always find time for us," said Nicholaus as he eyed his brother, who seemed to understand his meaning.
"What does your sister do for business in Edalelia?" asked Prince Maxen, curious about what she does.
"We do not know," said the boys in unison, giving an innocent smile.
This made Prince Maxen wonder if the family was hiding something from him.
**********
The day went by quickly, and after dinner, the household got ready for bed. Some of the servants were made aware of what Walliams had said. They were now nervous about how they would sleep.
Since they are now married, logically, they should share a bed, right? Should they prepare another bedroom? Their Lady had not told them to assign the Prince a separate bedroom. Are they going to sleep in the same bed?
The older servants who were aware of their situation were worried that this would displease their Lady. How would she react? But she did not say anything. So, is it alright? No one knew the answer as the couple went into their room, and the door was closed behind them. The servants stared at the closed door and held their breath. They decided to wait until they saw the lights under the door go off before they left.
Prince Maxen was a little nervous about them going to bed now that they would share a bedroom. There was a comfy couch that one could sleep on within the spacious room. Did one of them have to sleep on the couch? As a Prince, he has never had to sleep on anything that was not a bed; however, how could he let a Lady sleep on a couch, especially one as pampered as his wife?
He stood there frowning, looking back and forth between the bed and the couch. He was not sure what he should do. His instincts were telling him that he should give up his rights to the bed and take the couch as a gentleman. He sighed as he made his decision.
He turned around to look for Princess Aphra to tell her that he would take the couch that night. At least the couch looked comfortable. He saw Princess Aphra coming out of her closet, in a leather suit?
He was stunned to see her fixing the cuffs around her hands as she went to dye her hair blue and quickly straighten her curls. Now he was confused. What was she doing?
"Ginny, what are you doing?" asked Prince Maxen as he saw the boots she was getting ready to put on. "Are you going somewhere?"
"You did not think that we would sleep together in the same bedroom, did you?" asked Elizabella as she looked at him while she put on her boots. "My parents think it normal that we sleep together, but even in the palace, we sleep separately. I do not want them to worry, nor do I want to feel uncomfortable all night long."
"I can sleep on the couch if that would make you feel better," said Prince Maxen, making Elizabella let out a laugh and gave him a look.
"You? Sleep on a couch? What kind of hostess would I be if you did that?" said Elizabella as she continued to put on her boots, making Prince Maxen frown.
"So what are you going to do?" asked Prince Maxen as Elizabella looked up at him and gave him a mischievous grin.
"Have you ever been on a hoverbike?" asked Elizabella, still with her mischievous grin, making Prince Maxen startled to hear her ask him that.
"A hoverbike? No. I cannot say that I have. Why?" asked Prince Maxen as he wondered what she was planning.
"Want to go one tonight?" asked Elizabella as she got up and switched her hair to make sure that it was in place before putting it in a ponytail.
"You mean right now?" asked Prince Maxen as he seemed fascinated with her hair movement.
"Yep. I own a few toys that you might enjoy. Or would you rather sleep?" asked Elizabella as she stood in front of him while she gave him a taunting look.
Prince Maxen's heart started to race as he had never been on a hoverbike before. He had seen them on catalogs and had always wanted to ride one. Sadly, his mother was too overly protective of him since his father had been ill. If anything were to happen to him, his mother would not be able to take it.
"Are you sure we can? Would your parents not say anything?" asked Prince Maxen as he felt shy about going but still wanted to go.
"They are asleep. If you are worried, we can have some guards follow us. Come on! I do it all the time! What are you afraid of?" said Elizabella as she saw that he wanted to go. "Look, if we somehow get in trouble, I will be held responsible. The sky highway is impressive at night. Some light night restaurants are opened until very late."
Hearing the last line made Prince Maxen believe that the real reason she rides at night is so that she can eat out. He sighed as a smile crept upon his face.
"Alright."