"I do understand what you are saying Maddie, and I also understand your logic, but there are certain rules that must be kept and not freeing Adrish is one of them." said Ollie as he nodded.
"Yes, I know that it's sad he has to spend eternity trapped in a mirror, and I know that he has changed because he's my friend, but that rule was in place before I was even born, I can't just release him because I feel like it." said Ollie.
"Releasing him would be disobeying my father's rules, and that would mean that I disregard my father's authority and set rules, and I can't do that because that would mean contesting the way the does things." explained Ollie.
"And you have to keep in mind that although Adrish has changed now, he sort of has a bad history of trying to trick the heir before me to release him, and one time it almost worked." said Ollie.
"He did?" asked Annie in surprise.
"Yes, he did, and that's why we have to be especially careful with him. He might be calm now, but accidentally releasing him whether on purpose or not would cause some serious, serious issues." said Ollie.
"It's alright Ollie, we get it, there are rules that can't be changed." said Annie as she nodded.
"Yes... and I do feel bad for him, but I just can't release him... or at least not for now." he said as he drank some juice.
"Hypothetically speaking blondie, what would happen if you did release him?" asked Maddie out of curiosity.
"Well I would be charged to the High Council court for treason and aiding a war criminal escape his sentence." said Ollie.
"Really?" asked Matt in disbelief.
"Really." said Ollie as he nodded.
"There's no way you would be charged to court blondie, you're the Prince." said Maddie in disbelief, it was hard to imagine that the King and Queen would let their only child go to prison.
"It doesn't matter if I'm the Prince or not, I will be charged to court and trialed under our laws. That's why I said that there are rules that cannot be changed. No one is above the law, not even the King himself. Believe me, the Realm has gone through some very rough periods and that's why we all agreed as a kingdom to abide under these laws." said Ollie seriously.
"Even if there is suspicion of the King and Queen, if it has to come to it, they would be trialed as well by the people." said Ollie.
"But that kind of defeats the purpose of being rulers? No one should be able to charge you." said Maddie as this really made no sense to her, why have all the power and yet allow people have the ability to charge you?
"Not at all, I think it builds trust and unity that makes rulers more approachable and trustable. No one wants to be scared of their rulers, and I am sure that's why we have many rules protecting the people." said Ollie.
"If I was Queen I would make sure that no one would be able to challenge my authority." said Maddie with a scoff.
"Of course you would Maddie." said Matt as he shook his head.
"Sure, you are allowed to do that, but a time would come when you will have to ask yourself if your people are serving you out of loyalty or out of fear." said Ollie as Maddie pondered his words.
She already knew that he was right, after all Azazel was a prime example of loyalty because of fear. No one actually respected it, it was just mostly fear, and she was one of those who used to fear him, so she definitely began to rethink her words.
"You're right... loyalty out of fear never lasts long, one day people will get tired of fearing you and will get rid of you." said Maddie as she shook her head.
"I am glad that you agree." said Ollie as he smiled.
"Anyway, what do you guys think about going on a hike around the Castle grounds?" asked Ollie.
"That sounds great." said Annie happily.
"I would like to see the Castle grounds as well." said Matt as he smiled.
"Great, so we can go right after lunch so we can be back before dinner time." said Ollie excitedly, he was very thrilled to show them the grounds that he grew up playing on and walking around. He loved these lands so much, he never felt an urge to move away.
"Oh wait, wait, no way, I'm not going on a stupid hike!" said Maddie angrily as she shook her head and they all looked at her.
"I don't know why you guys want me to lose all the calories that I just ingested." said Maddie in annoyance.
"You know what, you guys can go on without me, I'm not hiking anywhere!" said Maddie seriously.
"Are you sure about that?" asked Annie as Maddie nodded.
"Wow, I thought you would be against us spending time together without you since you think Ollie is trying to wriggle his way into the group." said Matt as he laughed.
"At this point I don't care. I don't want to have to exercise, can't I just eat and be full for once? I don't want to go on any stupid hike, good luck to you guys, enjoy yourselves but I'm not going." said Maddie with a shake of her head.
"But then, what are you going to do stuck here all alone? Won't you be bored?" asked Annie in concern.
"I'll be fine, I will find something else to do, and eat some more, you guys enjoy yourselves." said Maddie.
"Oh well alright then, if you say so Maddie, however, we will miss having you there with us." said Ollie as he smiled.
"Yeah, yeah whatever." said Maddie as she was sure that Ollie was thrilled that she wouldn't be there.
...
"Bye Maddie, we'll see you later try to have fun alone." said Annie as she waved at Maddie while she, Matt and Ollie were getting ready to embark on their hike.
"Yeah, yeah I'll be fine." said Maddie as she waved back.
"Try not to miss us too much." said Matt as Maddie laughed at him and scoffed.
"Ha, ha, very funny, it's actually the opposite, I am sure that you will miss my very colourful commentary." said Maddie proudly as Matt scoffed at her.
"Yeah right, I doubt that." said Matt as Maddie smiled sweetly at him.
"Maddie, I hope that you won't feel bored, just know that you are allowed to go anywhere you want without restriction and I will try to make sure that we come back quickly." said Ollie.
"Yeah, yeah blondie, I don't care, see you later." Maddie said as she walked up the stairs back into the Castle without even waiting for them to leave.
"Do you think she won't be bored without us?" asked Annie as she looked at Ollie.
"I think she will, but she doesn't want to admit it. Come on let's go so we can return quickly, I want to show you my old playground." said Ollie as he rushed ahead happily as Annie and Matt looked at each other and laughed following after him.
...
"Finally, some peace and quiet alone." said Maddie as she looked around and sighed. She was the only one here, there was no one else, except for the Castle staff of course.
"Now what do I do?" she asked herself.
"Read? Nah. Watch cat videos on my phone? Tempting but boring." she said to herself as she walked to her room.
On her way, she decided to take a little detour and she ended up finding herself stopping at a very nicely decorated balcony that was secluded.
She decided to sit here for a while. Maddie looked down, she could see the courtyard from high up, it was nice feeling the fresh, cool breeze blowing.
Maddie relaxed on the couch and brought out her phone when she suddenly heard a familiar voice call her name.
"Maddie." said Curtis as Maddie looked around in confusion.
"Curtis??!" called Maddie in confusion.
"Yes, it's me." he replied.
"Gosh, you really surprised me... what's up? Why are you suddenly talking to me?" she asked out loud.
"You say it as if you and I don't talk on our own?" he replied with a scoff.
"I don't know what to say to that, you and I haven't talked on our own for a while now." said Maddie as she shook her head.
"Anyway, what's up?" asked Maddie.
"How is Annie?" asked Curtis.
"Oh she's fine." said Maddie as a maid walked to her and placed a bowl of potato chips on the table beside her before taking her leave.
"That's good... is she with you now?" asked Curtis as Maddie shook her head and took a chip.
"Nope, the blondie decided that it was a good idea to go on a hike on the Castle grounds, so Annie and Matt went with him." said Maddie in annoyance while scoffing.
"I see..." said Curtis.
"Yes, so why don't you just ask Annie how she is yourself?" asked Maddie as she chewed.
"Well I tried to, but she's been ignoring me." replied Curtis as Maddie could not help but snicker.
"I don't blame her one bit, if I was her, I would do worse than just ignore you." Maddie replied with a chuckle as she chewed.
"Of course you would." said Curtis as he did not sound surprised at all.
"You know that I don't tolerate nonsense." she replied as another maid happened to walk by and Maddie was certain that the maid had glanced at her with a weird, dreadful expression plastered on her face.
"Of course you don't." replied Curtis in sarcasm.
"Yes, anyway, could you like find a way to appear here or something? I don't want to look like I've gone mad and I'm talking to myself meanwhile you're the one talking to me." said Maddie as she preferred that rumours of her going mad did not surface around the Castle because she was sure that the Castle staff certainly spoke about her behind closed doors.
"Okay." said Curtis as he began to materialise vaguely in the chair in front of her.
"That's better." said Maddie as she smiled, at least now those itchy eyes would have something to look at other than her.
"Anyway, is that all you wanted to ask me or what?" asked Maddie as she ate another cookie and Curtis shook his head.
"I need you to explain to me what the big deal is. Why is Annie angry with me when all I did was tell her that I didn't want to come along with you guys?" asked Curtis the confusion evident on his face.
"Oh brother, you really don't get it do you?" asked Maddie with a sigh.
"Get what?" he asked in confusion.
"Annie isn't angry with you just because of this, it's because of your several annoying acts for the past few years." said Maddie as she shook her head.
"Annie isn't someone petty enough to be upset with you over declining this one thing, it's years and years of you being a jerk." said Maddie as Curtis frowned certainly still feeling confused.
"You have a habit of hiding things from Annie and being insensitive, even though you always say that you won't repeat it again, you always end up doing the same thing." said Maddie as Curtis kept silent as he listened.
"Should I continue or do you need more scolding?" asked Maddie.
"Go on." said Curtis as he really needed to see a person's perspective on this, he did not like the fact that Annie was upset with him one bit, and he really did not know what to do to make her feel less upset with him.
And he also knew that if there was someone who truly knew how Annie felt, it would be Maddie, hence why he decided to talk to her.
"Great, you're giving me permission to pour out all the criticism that I have been saving." said Maddie as she smiled while Curtis did not look pleased at all.
"Anyway, like I said, you have a habit of lying and hiding things all in the name of 'protection' and quite frankly it's annoying, Annie expects more from you, you're her guardian yes, but most importantly you're also her friend and friends don't hide anything from each other no matter how much you feel like you should." said Maddie.
"But I haven't hidden anything from her lately..." said Curtis as Maddie frowned at him.
"Really now? So you disappearing to who knows where and refusing to hang out with us isn't hiding? You barely tell her where it is you're going and for how long you will be gone." said Maddie.
"I don't think that it's necessary to bother her with trivial information like that." said Curtis.
"Gosh Curtis, don't you get it?? To you it might seem trivial, but not to her, she wants to know, she cares about you." said Maddie as she shook her head, she felt like she was talking to a baby, but even a baby at least had the ability to reciprocate feelings and emotions, but Curtis was a lost cause, especially when it came to feelings.
"I see... so she would prefer I inform her of my day every single moment?" asked Curtis.
"Something like that, oh and another thing, don't look so serious all the time. When you look so serious like that, it makes it feel like you would rather be somewhere else." said Maddie as Curtis nodded taking note of that.
"But that's just how my face is." he replied.
"Well try to smile more, that would definitely make you appear more friendly, but don't listen to me, after all, I just have a big mouth." said Maddie sarcastically as Curtis did not seem to mind her sarcasm at all.
"Is that all? Do you think that Annie could ever forgive me?" he asked genuinely concerned.
"Curtis, Annie has a good heart, and most of all she loves you so of course she will forgive you, but not just like that, you have to apologize sincerely and admit that you've been a jerk as of late, no scratch that, for the longest time." said Maddie as Curtis frowned.
"Most importantly apologize sincerely because that's all that matters." said Maddie as Curtis nodded.
"Alright, I'll try that, thank you." said Curtis as he smiled.
"Anytime." replied Maddie with a smile.
"So what's the real reason why you didn't go out with the others?" asked Curtis.
"I just didn't feel like going anywhere that's all... besides, I don't see what the problem is, we don't have to go out together all the time." replied Maddie as Curtis did not seem convinced at all.
"And how is learning how to convey going?" asked Curtis as Maddie's eyes went wide.
"What's wrong?" asked Curtis as he heard Maddie gasp.
"Nothing, I just never expected you to ask me that." said Maddie in genuine surprise.
"You are learning quickly, I like it." said Maddie proudly while Curtis did not seem amused at all.
"Anyway it's going fine I guess..." Maddie replied as now it was Curtis' turn to frown.
"Judging from the way you sound it's not in anyway fine is it?" he asked as Maddie frowned.
"Well for the other's it's going on well, but for some odd reason I can't seem to get the hang of it. Every time I try to convey it's either I can't do it on command and when I finally do, I don't go where I want to go so yes... its very annoying." said Maddie as she scoffed.
"Do you want some advice?" asked Curtis as Maddie looked at him weirdly.
"Maybe..." replied Maddie cautiously, since when did Curtis become so helpful. It was weird to get used to him actually caring, or at least pretending to care.
"Stop overthinking it." he said.
"Who told you that I'm supposedly overthinking it??" asked Maddie with a scowl present on her face.
"No one did, but I know you well, and you probably feel left out that Annie and Matt are getting the hang of it while you are left behind and that's stressing you mentally no matter how much you don't want to admit it." said Curtis.
"Who made you the all knowing?? Shut up, you're definitely wrong, I am not feeling left out." declared Maddie strongly.
"Am I really?" asked Curtis as Maddie scoffed.
"Yes you are, I am perfectly fine." said Maddie.
"Alright, if you say so, but a word of advice, whenever you feel left out... or not." said Curtis as soon as he saw the dangerous scowl forming on Maddie's face, even though he wasn't here physically, he knew that Maddie would try to hurt him and end up hurting herself and he would rather save her from that.
"Just go to your happy place, think of good memories that make you feel happy, that should calm down your emotions and you should be in more control then." said Curtis.
"I see..." said Maddie as she was subtly taking in the information, she would certainly try it even though she would not tell Curtis that.
"Yes." said Curtis.
"Don't expect me to say thank you, you didn't really do or say anything that I should count very important." said Maddie as Curtis could not help but chuckle.
"I never expected you to say thank you in the first place." said Curtis as Maddie scoffed.
"Anyway I will leave you to relax on your own, thank you for everything you told me, I owe you one, like you guys like saying." said Curtis as Maddie laughed.
"Just for the record, we don't say that at all." she replied as Curtis smiled.
"Oh well, alright then, see you soon." said Curtis.
"See you soon Curtis." said Maddie as she smiled and Curtis disappeared the same way he appeared.
Maddie sighed as she smiled, who knew that she would have a valid conversation with Curtis today.