"I will be fine," said Prince Maxen as he got off the hoverbike and decided to lay down on the soft grass.
"Are you sure? If you need to head back, I can have one of my guards send you in their vehicle," said Elizabella as she took off her helmet and came closer to him before she squats down next to him. "Do you want to take off your helmet?"
"Oh right…" said Prince Maxen as he lifted his head and felt Elizabella coming to help him. "Thanks…"
"No problem," said Elizabella as she watched over him and noticed that he closed his eyes and took deep breaths. "Why have you not been feeling well today?"
Prince Maxen remained motionless as he pondered over her question. Why has he been feeling like this today? He tried to remember what he was doing or thinking when he first got his headache. He seemed to recall that he would feel dizzy or get headaches each time he would try to remember the past. Why? Why could he not remember what happened?
All he knew that something happened, and his Royal Uncle, who was the Crown Prince at the time, quickly passed away while his father became ill. From what he understood, he was there when it happened, as well as Prince Zander. He never dared to ask what happened to him for fear that it would bring an intense emotional response from his cousin Zander.
The weird thing was that he had tried to recall what happened in the past, but he would never get such a headache before. Why now? The only thing that he could think about was that maybe it had to do with his wife. His headaches and dizziness only happen when he feels that something she did triggers a forgotten memory. So, does this mean they knew each other since back then? How could they have met?
He opened his eyes and stared at Elizabella, who was also looking at him to see if he would respond to her question. The more he stared, the more Prince Maxen felt that they had met before. Finally, he responded to her with a question.
"Ginny, tell me honestly, have we met before?" he asked, startling Elizabella as she did not understand what he meant.
"What do you mean? Did we not first meet at school that time?" asked Elizabella as she sat down next to Prince Maxen. "I am sure that I would have met a Crown Prince before…"
"…But Ginny, I was not always a Crown Prince. My late Royal Uncle, Prince Zander's father, was the Crown Prince for the first part of my life. Could we have met before my title?" Prince Maxen asked as he was sure that they had met right before his Royal Uncle passed away.
"Oh? If that is so, when do you think that we have met before?" asked Elizabella as she furrowed her eyebrows as she thought when they would have met.
"Maybe, a little over ten years ago. That is when my Royal Uncle passed away, and the title shifted to my father," said Prince Maxen as he tried not to overthink as he felt another headache coming.
"Over ten years ago… I think that would have been before Walliams was gifted to me by the Queen of Edalelia. He was given to me when I was seven. I am sure that Walliams would remember you if you had met him, and he himself is very memorable. If I had him when we had met, he would have played with us as well. If you remember me, you will remember him. He is special after all," said Elizabella as she wondered why he felt this way. "Why do you think that we have met before?"
Prince Maxen took a deep breath before answering her.
"When I was a small child, we had traveled to Edalelia. My late Royal Uncle, my father, Prince Zander, and I went to Edalelia. But I think we went in secret as the whole thing has been covered. Publicly, my late Royal Uncle died of illness, the same illness that my Royal Father was cured of by you," said Prince Maxen as he massaged his head. "From what I recall, I think some sort of accident happened while we were away. I remember being excited to travel, and the next thing I remember, many days had passed, and I was in my bed. My Royal Uncle had just died, and my father had fallen ill.
"During that time, I had been hurt and stayed in bed for some days. By the time I was healthy enough to get out of bed, my Royal Uncle had been buried, my father had received the title of Crown Prince, and Prince Zander left Glear with his mother. Finally, my late Royal Grandfather had issued a 'cease-and-desist' order in the Palace, where no one was to mention what had happened. Hence, I have no clue what had happened during my stay in Edalelia, or if we even went there.
"When we met at school, the first thought I had about you was that you looked familiar. There have been many moments where I thought that I knew you from before. When you told the world that we had met as kids, I believed it at that moment and wondered when we did meet," said Prince Maxen as Elizabella was in thought.
"During that time, the Queen of Edalelia also lost her sons and even older grandsons. Did they, by chance, all travel together? The Queen was so distraught that she also ordered everyone in the Palace not to mention the accident again," Elizabella thought hard on what happened. "The two Princes lost their father, the Crown Prince, and at this time, I have yet to hear a new Crown Prince of Edalelia. Even father was upset about losing a friend. I do not remember what they went and did, but so many Princes were lost during that time."
Elizabella continued to think about what happened in Edalelia when she felt she should ponder if she had met a new boy during that time. She frowned as she suddenly remembered something.
"When you came back, did anything about you change?" she asked as her heart was beating rapidly while she saw that Prince Maxen relaxed himself to think.
"All I remember is that I wanted people to call me 'Wolf,'" said Prince Maxen as Elizabella inhaled deeply.
"He is 'Wolf?' I had thought that he died with everyone else who went. I did not know that there were survivors. Oh no. What would happen if he knew we had met before? How will this affect our plans?" thinking up to here, Elizabella wondered if she should tell him.
"I always wondered why you never called me 'Wolf' when everyone else readily calls me that," said Prince Maxen as his headache had subsided a lot.
Elizabella remained quiet for a while before she looked up at the stars and asked him.
"If we did know each other from back then, would that change anything?" hearing her words, Prince Maxen froze.
"What does she mean? Do we know each other or not?" thought Prince Maxen as he frowned and responded to her. "Why would that matter?"
"You just said that during that time, it was a very turbulent time for your family as a lot of things suddenly changed. You even get a headache when you try to think of that time. Would you be opening a wound that you never knew existed? If so, are you ready to face it?" her words made Prince Maxen stubbornly sit up next to her and think with a frown on his face.
It was true that a lot happened during that time. What if it brought more pain than joy in knowing what happened? His whole world had changed, and he saw less of his cousin Prince Zander who everyone once thought would be the next Crown Prince. What would change if he knew what happened back then? What secrets does the past hold that he cannot remember that would affect him now? Is knowing better than not knowing?
All these questions seemed to bring another headache, but more tolerable than before. Should he continue asking? But does Princess Aphra know what happened that time? Was she there when the accident occurred? He frowned again.
Why does he want to know so badly? What change occurred for him to want to know what happened back then desperately? All these thoughts echoed in his mind as he tried to sort through them before properly answering Elizabella.
Elizabella seeing that he was stuck in thought, decided that now would be the perfect time to call it quits. She stood up and stretched herself while she picked up her helmet to put on.
"It is late. We should head back. We have been out all night. In a couple of hours, the sun will be rising. We need to get back before my family wakes up and notices we are not there," said Elizabella as she tried to gloss over their serious conversation with a directional change. "Are you feeling well enough to ride with me, or do you need to ride with the guards?"
Prince Maxen, who was in his own world, was interrupted by her question. He looked up at her and saw that she was getting ready to ride back. He frowned as he was still unsure if he should ask more about their past. He sighed as he got up with his helmet, followed her to her hoverbike, and got on after her.
Elizabella sped through the Sky Highway and made it home before the sun started to rise. Her guards, unassumingly, followed her the whole way home, making sure that nothing happened to her and the Crown Prince.
Once home, Elizabella was glad that she was able to avoid their conversation. She frowned as she found Head Steward Josaf waiting for her and bowed to her. He had seen her in thought and wondered if something had happened while they were out.
"Head Steward Josaf, if it is not too much bother, please go and meet me in my study. I will change first in case my family wakes up and sees me in these clothes," said Elizabella as she went to her room while Prince Maxen was led to her room in a daze.
"Yes, my Lady," said Head Steward Josaf as he noticed the attitude of the couple and became curious over what would happen.
Usually, he would ask Walliams if anything happened, but Walliams would get motion sickness while on a hoverbike. As such, Walliams never goes with Elizabella when she goes for a ride. The most he will do will follow her in a vehicle, as he did today. When he saw that Walliams yawned as he walked up to Head Steward Josaf, he was pulled aside by him.
"Walliams, how did everything go?" Head Steward Josaf asked.
"Nothing much. She met up with her friends and rode with them for a while. After that, they separated, and she went to the clearing she likes to go. They sat on the grass while talking. I did not want to get in her shadow as I did not think she was in any danger, so I stayed behind and watched them. They stayed there talking for a bit longer before heading home," said Walliams as he had stopped to talk to the Head Steward before he yawned again. "If you do not mind, I am tired and would like to sleep before my day officially begins."
"Alright, we can talk later," said Head Steward Josaf as he watched Walliams head to his room. "What happened to our Lady?"
Head Steward Josaf sighed before he went to find Elizabella in her study room.