Since Reena is well now, Royal family decide to visit the church to offer our prays for the well-being and to thank Gods for protecting Reena all the time.
๐ ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด! ๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค.
๐๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด. ๐๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ.
But before that,
"C'mon! How long will you?"
"Just a minute. Just a minute. I swear it won't take any long,"
"Hah, you have been saying that for an hour now!"
"Believe me, just a minute. That's it,"
I replied as I brushed upward my eyebrows with brow brush so they look more highlighted.
"Hurry Uuuup!" Nerisa urged me as I finished last strokes of foundation here and there on my face.
"Done!"
"Seriously, why did you even called me out when you don't even need any aid?"
"Well... I just want someone to accompany me,"
"So you choose to disturb me,"
"Hey, don't say it like that! I just want to make our bond of friendship more stronger, that's all," I answered back Nerisa with my earnest smile.
But she glared back at me. She was annoyed, but it's not her fault at all.
I called her early in the morning just so she could help me dress up.
It was an excuse though. I just want someone to gossip with.
Poor, Nerisa. She finished dressing herself in rush so she could attend me too. For that, I am sorry, Nerisa.
If I wanted, I could have asked maids to do so, they are professionals. But I like dressing myself by my own, that's the pleasure of being a lady after all. And makeup is no exception.
I had been re-doing my makeup for more than an hour now, but was still unable to find the right one.
Sometimes it's really bold, so sometimes it's really light. I overdo it and then I have to remove and work over again.
But I finally able to do the most suitable one for the occasion. I look more cultured than ever.
"Hey..." Nerisa called me out.
"What is it, Nerisa?" I asked as I opened my drawer to select the best ornament for my ears for occasion.
"Did you did as I said?" She asked somewhat serious yet curious.
"What? I didn't quite get it? Mind to elaborate..."
๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค, ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ.
๐๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ... ๐๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ต ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ง๐ช๐ต...
"...You know that. Any sort of development?" So she asked, but I wasn't interested in idle chats anymore. I need to focus on my preparation or we might get late.
๐๐ฉ! ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ... ๐๐ฐ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ!
"...I still didn't get youโ Ah, this one is best after all!" I finally found the right piece for my dress.
"You know, all those advice I gave to you about that... for your development me Allan,"
"I see, so that's what youโ!?"
My body stiffned up. I saw my reflection in mirror and my face was all flushed up as I remembered those pain full memories!
๐-๐-๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ-๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ?! ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธโ ๐๐ข๐ช๐ต. ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐ถ๐ญ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด!
No! This is not the time for that...
๐๐. ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ... ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง, ๐๐ถ๐ค๐ช๐ข. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต... ๐๐ณ๐จ๐จ๐จ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ!
"That's why I asked in a round about way,"
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธโ!
For all the time, I have been talking to Nerisa while looking at the reflection of her's in mirror.
The angle was clear enough for her to see my face.
"I know that you couldn't handle yourself. You're such a child,"
"S-Sh... S-Shut Up! Who are you supposed to be to lecture me! Let me be clear. It is all you fault!"
"Yeah yeah. You always blame me like that so I'm quite use to it now." Nerisa said as she sighed.
"I-I told you to shut up! It is and it was, all your fault!"
"N-Now hold up your horses, Lucia! Try to stay calm! Take a deep breath come on, take a deep breath."
"I am fully composed!... Geez, why did you even made me remember that now I am having headache."
Just remembering all those things make me feeling like slamming my head on wall.
I would never dare to imagine how I looked like in Allan's eyes cause I couldn't even stand myself. I would never consider imaging them.
"Okay, now tell me where did it go wrong?"
"Where did it go wrong, you say? Everything was wrong!"
"Huah!"
Due to my sudden outburst, Nerisa startled.
"Aurrghh... How embarrassing. How disgraceful... What do I do now, Nerisa, you ruined my whole day."
"Just say it already you drama queen!"
I sighed,
"Alright, I'll tell you everything . . .
"*Puff* *Puff*," Nerisa, trying to shut her mouth with her hand, was holding back her laughter.
It just made me more irritated.
"Just laugh already! You don't have to hold back, even I know how stupid it was,"
"Seriously, Lucia, how amature can you be when it come to romance. Well, it just shows how pure you are, but still. *Puff* *Puff*," Pity in her eyes, she still tried to hold back her laughter.
"Ughhh! It's still painful... Whenever I remember that how pushy I was with Allan when I invited him for lunch, when I pretend to be so dense and airhead... I was starring at him the whole time! Now when I think about it, just how much uncomfortable he must be that time. He is not normal man, he must be laughing at me whenever he recalls it... I just lost my dignity."
As I was getting depress and depress over my actions, Nerisa walk upto me.
She put her hand on my shoulder and said,
"It's ok, Lucia. Though if I were you, I might me hitting my head on the wall every morning."
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต... ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต.
"...So you have choosen death huh, Nerisa."
"Hahahaa, catch me if you can, little Lucia!"
I chase after her as escaped the room.
I followed her but, just as I existed my room, I bumped into someone.
"Huh Ah, sorryโuh, A-Allan?"
"Everyone is ready, we shouldn't make them wait any longer."
And the person turned out to be Allan!
Even I knew how pink I was.
I tried not to let him get the view of my face as I keeping starring at floor, but there was no way he won't notice as he glanced at Nerisa hiding behind him and then looked back at me with a lack of certainty on his face.
"Shall we go?"
He asked, to which I simply nodded. Trying my best to avoid eye contact.
I looked at Nerisa only to found her looking at me back. Her hand on her lips as her shoulders bounced.
๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ฆ! ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐๐ข๐ช๐ต, ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ข. ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐๐ข๐ช๐ต...
As we were on our way to gate, we meet up with Reena on corridor.
Reena wasn't sure so Allan formally introduced himself, to which she returned the greetings gracefully... Not so like her.
She then thanked Allan wholeheartedly, what we discussed about earlier. And... Like always, Allan ๐๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฒ-๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ๐น๐ refused to take any credit.
What a generous man he is. Really Generous!
As we arrived at gate, I greeted my mother, brother and father. Then, I wished my uncle and aunt too who were standing behind them.
Right behind them were carriages. I, my brother, and Reena sat in one and my aunt, uncle, father and mother took their seats in other one.
Nerisa and Allan were going to escort us as they climb on the back of horses.
Just like that we departed to church.
"Brother Laren," Reena, who was sitting beside me, called me out my brother.
"What is it Reena?"
"... Um, is that the Allan everyone has been talking about?" She asked as if she wanted to make sure.
But, why was she asking that to Brother? They formally introduced themselves a moment ago.
Brother looked outside the carriage and then turn to Reena.
"He is, the one, everyone has been talking about, Allan,"
"I see..."
"But why you ask?" I spoke up without giving a second thought.
"I just wanted to confirm,"
That doesn't sound good enough.
"But I don't know why, it feels like he is somewhat different today..." My brother said.
"...Is he?" Reena, on the other hand, didn't catch it well.
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด, ๐ช๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ... ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ช๐ต
It felt like he was more composed today. There wasn't any change in his appearance. Looks wise, he was same as before it's just, he seems to be less eye catching than before.
Before, no matter how hard I tried, whenever Allan was around, my gaze just follows him. It was subconscious but now is not like that.
He wasn't emitting that intimidating aura anymore. He seems more approachable...
Before, I felt that he was beyond my reach but now... he seems a bit distant. Of which, I am glad about.
That sense of incapability to attain wasn't there anymore...
"Hey hey Lucy," Reena's voice snapped me out to reality.
"No matter how I look at him, he is just an ordinary handsome man. I mean, he ๐ถ๐ good-looking, and he might be strong too since he is appointed as your knight but I don't think that's a big deal," She whispered. She doesn't want to embarrass me in front of my brother.
"...And why you think so?" I asked.
It was important for me to know her impression of Allan.
๐๐ง ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ต๐ด. ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ.
"All the looks, strength. There aren't any scarcity of such man at all. You're a Princess of a great kingdom and you should be aware that there are Princes out there who have, if not less, similar, or even more positive traits. I just want to know what is it that attracted you to Allan."
"What I'm attracted to...?"
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด... ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ?
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ? ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐โ
I tried to think about it real hard but there was no way I can identify the reason. This made me afraid of an uncertain feeling.
Reena noticed that I was getting hard time think about it as she whispered,
"You know, I think I understand everything... You don't have to force yourself anymore."
"Mhm..." I nodded in return.
I really wanted to know the reason behind this but I stop myself from asking Reena.
๐ ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง. ๐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ.
I have to search for the answer by myself. If I asked Reena right here, which she'll tell if I insisted, then I might understand the present but it'll make future harder. I have to confront my feelings for my sake. For my pride's sake.
๐๐ณ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ! ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต. ๐๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฅ...
------------------------
Once we arrived to our distinct spot. Renhard's made there way to the gate of church.
"Are not coming, Allan?" Lucia turned and asked me.
"Nah... I don't pray or worship any God so it might be irrelevant of me to join your prayers."
She looked somewhat disappointed.
"Don't worry about me. I'll wait here with knights, you go and have your prayers with rest."
Knights have to attend Royalties during there prayers for security purposes, but few will still guard carriages.
Laren saw this, as he smiled at me, he put his hand on Lucia's shoulder and convinced her and they left.
"... OK, now is the time for search. If my prediction aren't wrong, that boy should be around here somewhere."
It would be better if my prediction is right or else, I might hit my head on a wall.
. . . . .