Chereads / Annie Grey / Chapter 662 - Hard to please

Chapter 662 - Hard to please

"So, I was thinking, since we have less than three days before you guys leave, I was wondering if we could so something nice together, and I mean all of us." said Ollie out of the blue and they all looked at him.

Ollie had not want to be the party pooper by ruining the fun that they were having here together, but he always had it at the back of his mind that they would be leaving soon, it felt like the space of a week was only a day, and to be honest, he really did not want them to leave, he loved having them here and he really, really did not want them to leave.

"Sure, that sounds like a great idea, what do you have in mind?" asked Annie as she smiled and a gentle wind blew causing her hair to cover her eyes as she removed her hair from her face.

"I've been thinking about camping. How about we go camping?" asked Ollie gleefully.

"That sounds like a good suggestion." said Matt as he smiled and nodded.

"I agree that is a really good suggestion, we could camp out in the forest nearby." said Annie happily.

"Oh hey, hey, hey hold up everyone hold up." called Maddie as they all turned to look at her.

"What's the matter now Maddie?" asked Matt as he sighed.

"There's no way I'm going camping, I hate camping, sleeping on the grounds, my hair gets all tangled and frizzy, there's no way I'm going camping again, we did more than enough of that while on Caligo, and I would like to not relive that experience again thank you very much." said Maddie sternly.

"Aww but come on Maddie, it wasn't that horrible, besides, we have magic now, our experience on Caligo was something totally different, you can't compare it to right now." said Annie as Matt agreed.

"Oh I can and I will, besides, I don't care, you can't convince me otherwise I'm not going." she declared seriously.

"That's fine, we'll just go without you." replied Matt in annoyance.

"No, we won't. I said that I wanted all of us to do something together, it won't count if Maddie isn't there." said Ollie as they all looked at him.

"See, the blondie agrees with him." said Maddie smugly as Ollie laughed.

"But you can't be serious dude, Maddie is going to be extremely difficult, at this point we won't even end up doing anything because I'm sure she will turn all your ideas down." said Matt as he frowned.

"That's not true, it depends on if I find the blondie's suggestion worthy of my time and inclusion." she replied haughtily.

"Forget it, we definitely aren't going to do anything." said Matt as he scoffed and Annie shook her head, she wondered why it was almost impossible for Maddie to go a full ten minutes without causing an altercation.

"It's fine... I just thought that you'll be leaving soon and we won't probably get to see each other for ages... I just wanted us to hang out one more time and make it memorable, so at least you guys leave on a happy note... I guess that I was getting ahead of myself with that." said Ollie sadly as his words made Annie and Matt look as as well.

Even Maddie was a little bit affected by his words. He was right, in a matter of a few days their lives would change drastically for the better or for the worse. She had been so comfortable here that she had forgotten about the real world and the choices and changes that came with it.

She had to admit, Ollie was a fine host and he made sure that they were so comfortable that she almost did not want to leave.

"...*sigh* Alright fine, geez, don't make me the bad guy here." said Maddie finally in the midst of the solemn silence.

"Making me feel bad with all the sad looks on your faces, you know what blondie come up with an idea that is less of camping and actually more fun and maybe, just maybe I'll reconsider." she said as Ollie's face lit up.

"Thank you Maddie." he said as he smiled.

"Don't thank me, use that pretty head of yours to think of a suitable, enjoyable activity for the four of us." said Maddie as she resisted the urge to roll her eyes and she frowned.

"I know, I got it, how about we go on a picnic tomorrow?" he asked as he smiled.

"That's a good idea." said Annie as she smiled.

"I like the sound of that." said Matt as they all looked at Maddie.

"Well the idea isn't too bad, I can deal with it..." she replied as Annie and Matt scoffed at her false bravado.

There was no way that she would get with not agreeing to another suggestion and she knew it.

"Great, so we will go on a picnic tomorrow afternoon." said Ollie as he smiled.

"Where?" asked Maddie.

"It's a surprise, I promise you, you'll love it." he said happily.

"I better, I don't want to leave your house on a bad note, this location of yours better blow me away." she said as Ollie smiled.

"Oh trust me it will." he said as he smiled and Maddie felt a drop of rain from the sky land on her forehead as she looked up.

"Oh no, it's going to rain, I'm out of here." she said with a scoff as she stood up and instantly walked back inside.

"Where is she going? It's only a light drizzle." said Ollie in confusion.

"Oh you know Maddie, she doesn't like the rain." said Annie as she laughed.

"Actually she hates it." said Matt as he laughed.

"Well this isn't considered rain is it? It's just a little shower." said Ollie.

"Maddie doesn't know little when it comes to rain, just leave her be." said Annie as she smiled and Ollie decided to do that.

...

"Adi where have you been?" asked an older looking woman dressed in the same uniform that Adi was dressed in.

"Ahh well his highness called for me and I had to go see him." she quickly explained.

"I see, and what is that you are holding?" asked the woman as she eyed the bowl of cookies suspiciously.

"Cookies!" said Adi with a smile.

"Do you want some?" she asked as the woman already took off the lid and picked out one cookie that she munched on instantly.

"Cookies from who?" asked the woman as she chewed.

"From Miss Maddie." she said as the woman's brown eyes opened wide, instantaneously spitting out the cookie from her mouth and dropping the piece in her hand to the ground.

"Goodness, save me, my lord, what in the world are you insane?!?!" asked the woman as she looked at Adi who took a step back while trying to gag from what she had just eaten.

"What? I thought you wanted a cookie." said Adi.

"Why would you ever and I mean EVER accept anything from that being called Maddie?" asked the woman as she looked extremely angry.

"Well she called me to apologize for threatening me in the morning and this was her apology, I could definitely not say no, so I had no choice." said Adi.

"Then you should have thrown it away as soon as you left, now look what you made me do? I have eaten cookies that are definitely poisoned." cried the woman.

"But they are not poisoned, she assured me that they were not, she even took one for herself blindly, besides, I was told that Annie made them and she only helped." said Adi.

"I even ate one and they taste really good." said Adi.

"I can't believe you're such a naive girl, why would you accept something from someone akin to the devil himself? Have you forgotten that she is Azazel's daughter, for all we know she could still have a grudge against every one of us and she has the Prince on her side, we can't get away with anything." said the woman as Adi frowned.

"Well I think that you are wrong, do you really think that little of our Prince? Do you think that his highness lacks the good judgement to know good people from bad?" she asked.

"I never said that, what I am saying is we should know our enemy." said the woman.

"Well as far as I know I have no enemies, maybe she's your enemy. I was just doing my job and I am going to enjoy this cookies that are definitely not poisoned." said Adi as she proceeded to walk away.

"I'm sure that one of those cookies was laced with a very dangerous potion that has made your thinking incorrect, you are definitely not in your right mind Adi!" the woman shouted.

"I am going to my room, I have completed my duties for the day." said Adi as she paid the woman's words no attention and she frowned continuing on her way.

...

Ollie was really excited about this picnic that they would have tomorrow, which was why he could not stop brainstorming ideas of how he could make it fun for everyone, especially Maddie, it was Maddie's reaction that he was most worried about.

"What else do you think that I can do to make the picnic more special?" he asked obviously referring to Maddie's reaction as Annie and Matt could decipher.

"If you ask me, I don't think that there's anything more you need to do. The idea is already special enough to me, and you don't need to care about Maddie's reaction, she's really hard to please." said Annie as she frowned and Matt laughed.

"I can't believe that I'm hearing you admit that for the first time ever." he said as she laughed and Annie frowned at him.

"Oh but she is, and I've learnt that if you're convinced that you're doing the right thing, you don't need to please her... she will come around sooner or later, even if she won't dare admit it, she will." she said.

"So, don't stress yourself Ollie, I'm sure that we will have a wonderful time at the picnic tomorrow." she said as she gave him a pat on his right shoulder and smiled.

"You're right, thank you." he said as he smiled, Annie was always so easy to talk to and get along with, on the other hand, Maddie was the exact opposite.

"You don't have to thank me, anyway, I'm going to look for Maddie, I wonder where she ran off to." said Annie as she walked ahead of them and shook her head, Maddie couldn't just wait for them, besides, the rain wasn't as heavy as she thought it would be,

"So dude, do you have any idea what type of foods that Maddie likes? I know that Annie said I shouldn't bother myself with trying to please her, but we all know that Maddie hates my guts and if I don't reach her standards she might never want to come visit me again, and she will somehow find a way to convince you guys not to visit me as well." he said as Matt laughed.

"It's so funny how you literally fear her and her convincing skills." said Matt as he laughed.

"Like it or not, Maddie has good convincing skills, you won't even know that you're agreeing with her until you do." he said.

"You make a good point, but I do agree with Annie, you shouldn't bother, but since you're so worried, I will help you and give you some advice." said Matt as Ollie smiled.

"Thank you dude." said Ollie as he smiled.

"Don't mention it, anyway, Maddie is a foodie, she wasn't like that before, I don't know what happened, but every since we returned from Caligo, she can eat anything, so I wouldn't worry about food, she will eat literally anything, as long as it looks good though." he said.

"Alright, then what about her favourite juice or something?" he asked.

"Well... that I can say, Maddie's favourite juice is apple juice, she just loves it. She said that she would drink it every single hour of every single day if she could." he said as he laughed.

"Got it, apple juice, at least there should be one thing she can't complain about, thanks Matt." said Ollie as he smiled.

"You sure do really want to please her." replied Matt as he laughed and Ollie laughed.

"Anyway, I'll catch up with you later, I need to check on a few things." he said as he walked in the opposite direction.

"Alright, see you later." replied Matt as he smiled.

...

Adi yawned as she walked out of her room, she was done with all her duties for the day which meant that she was free to roam the Castle and go to her favourite place here, which was the garden.

So here she was, in the garden, taking a refreshing calm walk when she was suddenly startled by the appearance of Ollie.

"Oh... my prince, I did not see you there, you startled me." she said as she laughed.

"I apologize about that, I was looking for you and was told that you had completed all your duties for today, so I was certain that you would be here." he said.

"Oh, well here I am... do you need anything from me?" she asked as she smiled.

"Yes, I do, but first, I need to apologize for earlier, I pretended as if I needed to talk to you while in reality it was Maddie that wanted to apologize to you." he said feeling really bad.

"Oh... that... It is alright your highness... it is just that I was surprised, and confused, and scared, you were not there." she said as she looked down.

"I know, I just did not want you to fear. If you had known that I was only calling you to speak to her, you would not have come, or maybe you would have, but you would be scared." he said.

"I understand your reasons your highness. I know that you would never do anything to put me or any of the other staff in harm's way." she said as Ollie smiled.

"I am glad that you think so. How did Maddie's apology go? How did you feel?" he asked her.

"Well, I will be honest your highness, at first I was terrified when I didn't see anyone but her in the kitchen, I was sure that she was going to harm me for telling the truth, but I was surprised when she said that she was sorry and she actually apologized and seemed really sincere too." she said as Ollie smiled.

"Imagine how surprised I was when she gave me a bowl of cookies that she said Annie made and she helped with. I thought that they were poisoned and she even went as far as tasting one blindly to assure me that they were not." she said.

"I cannot lie to you my prince... I never thought that someone like her would actually care about other people's feelings." she said.

"I am glad that you accepted her apology, and Maddie is not bad at all, Everyone just has a prejudice against her just because of one factor she cannot change and that is that she's Azazel's daughter." said Ollie as he shook his head.

"Is it possible for me to disown my own father the King?" he asked as Adi shook her head.

"Even if you did... you would still remain his son in blood and name." she replied as Ollie nodded.

"That's the same way the bad name and deeds of her father follows her everywhere. She's not like her father in anyway at all, she can be sweet when she wants to, she's smart, she's bold, and most of all even though she pretends like she doesn't, she actually cares for others." he said as he smiled.

"Everyone keeps spreading bad rumours about her. She's nothing like what everyone makes her to be. Do you really think that I would befriend someone who I believe is a possible threat to the peace of our realm?" he asked as she shook her head.

"Exactly, I know better than that. Do you think that Annie would be close friends with someone who could harm her in any way?" he asked as Adi shook her head.

"Do you think that the Chancellor herself would be fond of a dangerous person?" he asked as Adi shook her head once more.

"That's why I absolutely hate that everyone can't put their feelings behind them and get to learn to know her." he said.

"You really care about her a lot my prince." said Adi.

"She's my friend, and I care about my friends a lot. Everyone should stop with their notions about her, why make her something she's not?" he asked as Adi sighed.

"I'm really sorry my prince... I have joined them in speculating and spreading rumours about her... everyone thinks that she has... bewitched you." she said as she whispered the last two words.

"The only thing that I am bewitched by is the harsh injustice around me that makes me angry." he said as he sighed.

"But it's alright, as long as you know the truth and you begin to see her in a different light." he said as he smiled and she smiled.

"Yes my prince." she said as she smiled.

"So what would you have me do?" she asked him happily.

"I need you to do a favour for me." he said as he remembered why he was here.

"Anything." she replied.

"I need you to order for freshly squeezed apple juice from Agricola, it's for a picnic tomorrow." he said.

"Consider it done my prince. How much do you want?" she asked him.

"Enough for two weeks, I might as well make it a going away present." he said as she smiled.

"Alright my prince. I will go do that right now." she said as she smiled.

"Thank you Adi." he said as he smiled.

"It is no problem my prince." she replied as she bowed and went on her way.