"It's not that small, Your Highness," Levan immediately replied to the pink-haired Crown Princess. "I've tried crawling into the hole, and I'm getting through it just fine."
Crown Prince Levan wanted to reassure him, but instead, the Crown Princess looked even more doubtful after hearing the explanation.
Narrowing his brown eyes, the pinkette replied, "You haven't forgotten that I am the Crown Princess of Grinia, have you, Your Highness? Then, why are you trying to find a secret passage within my palace? Are you a spy sent by Wrelloven?"
Even if the brown-haired man's identity had been confirmed as the Crown Prince of Wrelloven, Elennora still saw the possibility that the man had a hidden motive. Thus, he did not let his guard down as he continued to observe the taller man.
But, to his surprise, Crown Prince Levan laughed as if he had just heard the funniest joke. "I'm just bored, Your Highness," he denied the accusations. "This is the first time for me to come to Grinia, and I want to go out and don't want to stay in the palace. That's why I tried to find a secret way to escape yesterday."
It was a very ridiculous reason, and that was why Elennora was still staring at the taller man with skepticism. "There is a large gate in front of the palace if you wish to exit, Your Highness. Why did you choose to use this small door in―"
Crown Princess Elennora couldn't finish his speech because someone's hand suddenly pulled on his wrist before she was forced to hide under thick bushes on the palace grounds.
The Crown Princess wanted to protest, but a warm palm suddenly covered his lips. He just realized that he was crouching in the bushes, and the Crown Prince was also crouching right in front of him.
Their knees touched each other, proving that their distance was quite dangerous.
Pressing his index finger in front of his own lips, Crown Prince Levan gestured for the pinkette to be quiet.
"The palace is very crowded today, and I wish His Majesty had a party like this every day."
Elennora could hear someone talking, and when he peeked through the leaves, he could see two palace maids walking past the bushes where he was hiding now.
"His Majesty will deduct our already small salary if he throws a party like this every day," another maid replied, and the two laughed together.
The two continued to chat, but the volume of their voices gradually decreased before completely disappearing.
The next thing Elennora heard was a heavy sigh, and when he looked away again, he could find Crown Prince Levan wiping the invisible sweat off his forehead with his free hand.
"We were lucky that they didn't manage to see us, Your Highness."
"..."
Crown Prince Levan spoke, but he did not receive any response from anyone. Frowning in confusion, he averted his gaze only to find a certain person glaring at him.
He just realized that he was still covering the other person's mouth with his hand. Quickly, he pulled his hand back and smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Your Highness."
Seeing how strange the Crown Prince was, Crown Princess Elennora couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Before someone catches us, we'd better leave now," the Crown Princess spoke sternly.
Levan responded to the suggestion with a nod. "You are right, Your Highness," he replied as he shifted his body slightly to reach the small door at the bottom of the tall fortress.
It wasn't an actual door, but just an old piece of wood placed to cover a small hole in the fort. After removing the wood, Crown Princess Elennora saw nothing but green leaves.
"We'll meet the bushes again after we pass through this hole, Your Highness," Levan spoke again. "Ladies first," he added, gesturing for the Crown Princess to crawl into the small hole first.
More or less, Crown Princess Elennora was offended by the way Crown Prince Levan said 'Ladies first.' He wasn't a woman, and he hated it when people continued to treat him like a precious diamond that needed extra care.
But, even diamonds were not very fragile. They were the strongest minerals on Earth, so they didn't really need any extra care.
However, Elennora knew that he should not be angry with Crown Prince Levan. The Crown Prince was just one of the people who were deceived by him. It wasn't his intention to lie, but he was still a liar for what he was doing right now.
"You're spacing out again, Your Highness."
Elennora flinched slightly when he heard Levan speak to him to break his reverie. "Sorry," he rarely apologized, but the word just slipped out of his mouth without him even realizing it. "You can crawl first. I'll crawl right behind you."
The Crown Princess had just shown his disapproval, but Crown Prince Levan did not agree with him either. "No, Your Highness. It would be rude of me to give you my butt."
It was a very strange sentence, and Elennora frowned at the brown-haired man.
The man seemed to have just realized his mistake in composing the sentence, and he immediately explained, "I mean, if you crawl behind me, then you will see my butt, Your Highness. That's rude, isn't it?"
Even after Crown Prince Levan explained, Elennora's face remained calm. "You don't want me to see your butt, but you want to see mine instead? That's why you insisted on letting me crawl in front of you?"
A pair of golden eyes widened at the Crown Princess' accusation. "That's not what I meant!" He suddenly denied the accusations.
Hearing the words, Elennora felt tired of their arguments. "If that's not what you mean, then you better crawl into the hole first before I kick your ass, Your Highness," he replied while gritting his teeth.
In the end, Crown Prince Levan crawled first, and following behind him was Crown Princess Elennora. The two of them looked like two mischievous rabbits who wanted to escape from their cage.