"Sorry, after all he looks lonely. So I went straight to him" said the princess who was now frowning while slightly kicking the ground covered with fresh grass.
Feeling sorry for the princess, Gavin defends the princess and says that he invited her and not Miona.
Rainer, who looked at the honesty in the boy's eyes, could only sigh and then stroked the heads of the two children standing in front of him.
"I'm sorry if I looked like I was scolding you miss, and you too um... What was your name again?"
"Chevalier Gavin, but you can call me Gavin sir," replied the dark brown-haired boy politely.
The guard looked at him a little strangely, something was going through his mind but he couldn't come out and say it. Slightly shaking his head, he was about to invite the princess to return to the palace.
"Come play to my house!" invite the princess with her sweet smile
Hearing Miona's sudden invitation, he shyly and hesitantly how to answer it. But really, the feelings of shame and doubt that he felt were pure from the bottom of his heart. Because he had not realized that the one he was chatting with was a descendant of the king of the country of Osforia.
Seeing Gavin who didn't answer immediately, Miona clasped her hands together and asked her new friend again. Surely the physical contact had awakened the boy from his daydream.
"Miss, we have to go home," said Rainer who had been staring at the clock that stood tall in the middle of the city.
"Ehh?! We just celebrated the festival about 15 minutes ago, why should we hurry back?" dodged the princess who was still holding Gavin's hands.
Turning his gaze back to the princess, Rainer looked at her seriously "If we don't go back, Mr. Ardolph might give my lady's lunch to the King and Queen" Rainer replied.
Suddenly the golden-brown-haired princess grumbled to Rainer, commenting that her parents could not eat her portion.
The two royal members continued to argue to get what they wanted, one wanted to stay here longer while the other insisted on going home immediately.
Gavin who saw the scene in front of him was only transfixed by three sentences. 'King? Queen? Kingdom?'
"Okay, I'll come back alone if you want it like that, but I'm not sure there will be someone who can pick you up Miss," said Rainer. This of course he would not do, the reason he said this was so that the princess felt panicked and finally agreed to go back to the palace.
And not wanting to lose to her guard, the princess answered the same thing to Rainer.
"Excuse me"
The two people turned to the source of the sound, and found Gavin who was scratching his left cheek slightly then looked at them "What if you stay at my house for a while? Because it seems Miona is also very adamant about staying and seeing the festival that seems to end at night" said Gavin.
His intentions were good and he was still a child. But that doesn't mean the palace guard is careless from his duty to protect the princess.
"Thanks for your offer but we ha-"
"I want to!!" replied Miona excitedly
It was a headache that Rainer might have felt, he now realized one thing. 'From now on, I will not invite the princess to come out of the palace' the sentence kept ringing in his head. Making him either regret taking the princess out or happy to see the princess look excited to see the festival.
Gavin replied with a warm smile but he was waiting for a response from the palace guard, who until now was still silent and seemed to be watching his movements. "So, how about it sir?"
"Sure," replied the guard. Even though he refused the boy's offer, it was also useless, because the lady had already stood firm with her wishes.
And off they went to the boy they had just met in no more than five minutes.
The black-haired youth walked slowly behind the two children who were busy chatting about themselves.
'No doubt I've seen this kid, but I can't remember where' thought Rainer who glared at Gavin's back.
The gaze seemed to touch the hairs of the boy's neck until he felt little goosebumps and fear, as a result, he tried to get rid of that feeling by rubbing his arms.
"Are you cold?" asked princess Osforia.
Shaking his head, Gavin slowly whispered "Does the guard always glare at anyone?"
Miona then glanced back a little, and she could see Rainer who was glaring at her new friend. Cold sweat slightly dripped from her forehead and she chuckled because she had just met Rainer herself, she only answered with a sense of wariness of the bad things that might happen.
After hearing the princess' explanation, Gavin tried to understand the good intentions of the guard who now turned his attention to each booth that was standing parallel to each other.
"Miss, look what I found," he said.
Pausing for a moment, the two children looked at Rainer who was already holding the rifle and seriously facing them.
"Which gift do you want?" Rainer asked.
The word gift immediately caught the girl's attention, she quickly ran over to Rainer and looked at each gift on display "Hoaaah lots of gifts".
With a big smile, she looked at his guard then replied "I want the doll in the right corner" replied Miona.
Rainer who then looked at the right corner then smiled confidently then reloaded the weapon in his hand "Leave it to me, miss".
The sentence seemed to be a boost for the princess who couldn't wait to get the gift. She stared expectantly, while Gavin who was standing beside her seemed to be waiting for the action of the guard.
There were a few minutes of silence between them, but that didn't break Rainer's focus. Precisely with that silence, he was able to determine all the possibilities that could happen either due to the weather or the position and where he stood to shoot.
Impatient, the princess stared at Rainer hoping the young man would shoot and get the prize he wanted.
Before he pulled the boy's shirt, someone had grabbed his arm. "Don't talk to him, he won't be able to focus" Gavin whispered to Miona.
After hearing Gavin's words, the princess gave up and began to patiently wait. In her heart, she was nervous and a little pounding because she doubted whether the young man could shoot the prize that was far enough out of reach.
And she was a little sorry for choosing the far and difficult one.
Her thoughts were broken when there was a 'POK!' and things fall. When she turned her head, she was presented with the doll she wanted.
"For you, miss," said Rainer, who was now squatting down and level with the princess.
Amazed and happy, Miona hugged the doll tightly then hugged the neck of the black-haired youth with medium slate blue eyes. There were no words he could say other than thank you, and it was complemented by a happy chuckle.
Rainer, who was a little surprised, slowly returned the hug of the princess and then smiled warmly. 'Well, all those exercises turned out to be paid-off, even though it was only in the prize shooting booth,' the young man thought.
The warm moment that the princess gave to the guards ended, they continued their journey towards Gavin's house.
"My house is not too far from here, so we should be almost there," said Gavin who led the way in front of the two palace dwellers.
❃❃❃❃
"Waaahhh!!" said Miona.
"Sorry if it looks small and doesn't match your expectations, but as I say welcome to my house," said the boy who was busy unlocking his house and then invited his two guests to enter.
Instead of going in, Miona who kept staring at the roof with an amazing face asked "Hey, what's that thing moving left and right?" asked Miona.
Gavin, who was a little confused by the description given by his friend, finally decided to get out of his house again and look up at the roof of the house. "Oh, that thing is called a compass or better known as a tool to determine the direction of the wind," answered Gavin.
With her mouth not closing at all, she saw the shape of the house "Your roof is very high"
"I don't know why it had to be built like that, but my grandfather said to get a more accurate result of the cardinal directions," he said again.
"Grandpa?"
Nodding his head, Gavin explained that he was alone with his grandfather. His parents were in another country as goods traders.
"Aren't you afraid of living alone in a house in a crowded environment like this?" asked the princess who was now starting to peek inside the house through the window.
"Of course not, this crowded atmosphere gives me warmth and a sense of security. Because this crowd makes me feel that I'm not alone and there are many people I can interact with every day," said Gavin with a happy face. "Oh my, where is my decency, let's go inside because it's getting cold outside" after saying this, without waiting for his guests to enter Gavin entered and walked towards the kitchen of his house.
"What do you want to drink?" asked Gavin from the kitchen.
"You don't have to bother making our drinks, just sit here and let me make drinks," said Rainer who started to go towards the kitchen in the direction the boy was going.
From the kitchen came Gavin who refused Rainer's offer and insisted that he just make the drinks because he was the host and Rainer was the guest in the house. But Rainer felt bad for the boy so he had good intentions to help him, but was adamantly refused.
The princess who did not pay attention to the small fights that occurred in the kitchen preferred to go around the house. She saw one by one the furniture in the house, then her attention was fixed on a small photo display that stood on a small table right in a room with a sofa and a fireplace.
Her footsteps slowly headed towards the small frame, and slowly her hands reached for the frame. Of course, she climbed the sofa first because the table was quite high compared to her size.
Inside the picture, 5 people are laughing looking at the camera. 2 people who seemed to be Gavin's parents, a jet black-haired little girl who seemed to be almost the same age as Gavin, and a gray-haired man in neat clothes stood beside the boy.
"It's like knowing this person," said Miona who then turned the frame and looked at the backside of the frame. What he found was the number 14.02.xxxx. Seeing the number, she assumed it was a code for something.
Before she could turn around again, the frame had been snatched from her hand. "Hey!"
"Looking at other people's stuff without permission is rude, miss," said Rainer.
Without replying to the guard's words, Miona just looked away and then saw a tray that already contained three cups of tea with snacks ready to be eaten.
While the princess was no longer focusing on the picture, Rainer, who was about to return the picture, accidentally saw 5 people who were smiling happily at the camera. But his eyes fell on someone who made him remember things he had forgotten when he met this boy.
"Ah how can I forget him, it's only right that he reminds me of him"
"Sir, it would be better if you sit down first after the tiring festival activities earlier," said Gavin.
He glanced slightly at the boy, then looked back at the frame then back at the child, and back again at the frame 'Yep there's no mistake, Mr. Ardolph. He looked very much like lord Ardolph, and the man in this frame was him too'.
"Sir?"
Hearing her being called, Rainer nodded her head and then went to where the princess was sitting with the teacup already in her hands.
"Did you make this snack yourself?" Miona asked Gavin.
Gavin nodded his head "In this house, my parents don't always come home. Sometimes they come home once a week or even months. So I have to be independent and can do everything by myself"
"Wow, you're great," said the princess. She then asked permission to taste the snack.
And of course, Gavin gladly allowed it.
"You're the grandson of lord Ardolph right?"
Hearing Ardolph's name made the princess accidentally bite the wall in her mouth.
His eyes looked a little surprised then he replied calmly "Right, I'm sure you've seen the family picture which is located in the family room" said Gavin.
"Ehhhh!! So it's true that he and grandpa Aldoph are family?!"
"Correction it's Ardolph, Miss" Rainer corrected which seemed futile because the princess was not focused on it.
Gavin only answered with a nod of his head then began to serve Rainer's second glass which the young man had not touched at all. "Grandpa and I have always lived together since my parents' jobs were crowded and known to many people"
Shortly after Gavin's explanation, the princess remembered one thing "Wait, then who is the girl in the frame?"
He looked a little sluggish and laughed wryly at the princess "That is my sister, she used to live with me and grandfather"
❃❃❃❃
"You haven't given me the reason yet," said Durea
Ardolph, who was busy adjusting his gloves, didn't answer at all but instead took a floral tray with two silver glasses they had just used.
Durea who didn't get any answer looked at Ardolph, but she didn't find him where he was then her eyes fell on where she had placed the tray earlier. "I told you he didn't need to fix it."
In the room decorated with plants in small pots near the window and at the end of the room that Durea had arranged as neatly as possible spread the fragrance of the plants. Making anyone who stays in this room will relax until they fall asleep, equipped with a room paint that is given a turquoise green color, adding to the beauty of being in a globe filled with plants.
"If someone is looking for me, say I'm seeing the king and queen," said the head butler who was already standing near the door.
"Listen to me"
After the door opened slightly by him, Ardolph stopped and allowed Durea to say whatever was on her mind.
"I know it has nothing to do with me, but I hope you don't do anything unexpected. You know, just asking me for something today makes me think you're going to do something to Gavin."
Ardolph smiled at Durea "You don't need to worry, my intentions are good for both parties" then he left leaving Durea pensive.
'And I hope it's good for both of them and it's not just talking or wish' thought Durea.
With a worried and sad face, she looked up at the sky "Poor child, even though he has a complete pair of biological parents, alive and in good health but does not guarantee his happiness. Losing his sister who always accompanied him while you went to work in the palace, surely he feels lonely at home". Her eyes that looked gently at the ash clouds scattered in the sky, made the melancholy atmosphere more and more envelop her.
"It's useless for me to advise him in any sentence, it's better now I have to prepare the right material for the child. Maybe the first is how to socialize with other people? The last time I met him, he was very shy and didn't dare to talk much" She got up from her place and approached the bookshelf which he placed next to the lamp and was equipped with a red carpet that was smooth and soft in texture. Medium in size and semi-circular.
❃❃❃❃
On the other hand, a senior butler who quickly entered the king's and queen's chambers knelt down and then conveyed her importance to the two leaders of Osforia.
"Your Majesty, allow my grandson to be the princess's servant"
Hearing Ardolph's request, the king and queen of Osforia looked at each other in astonishment.
⊱ To be continued ⊰