Royce was very surprised as he stepped through the vines that covered the entrance of the cave. The hanging vines like curtains. How could he not be surprised? A long sword instantly made his footsteps stop.
The tip of the sword almost hit his chin. And the one who pointed the sword at Royce was Luciana. Lucy seemed to stand up straight by pointing the sword at her brother.
The teenage girl who was only twelve years old looked beautiful and dashing. Lucy's long blonde hair was tied into a ponytail. Her appearance is the same as Athena, Lucy also wears a cowboy-like outfit.
"L-Lucy??" Royce was really surprised. He even raised his hands above his head.
Lucy smiled lopsidedly, then she drew her sword from Royce's face. Then she carried the sword like a stick. Because the length of the sword was almost half of Lucy's height.
"Hello, Royce!" Lucy immediately greeted her sister very casually. Athena chuckled and she put Royce's box on the big rocks.
Royce was still in shock. He walked slowly to go deeper. The man even kept his mouth open and didn't blink for a while. "Wow, what is this place?" He asked with an amazed look on his face.
Just like Charlotte's secret place, so Athena's secret place.
The place turned out to be neither boring nor cramped. In fact the place is very spacious and quite spacious. The area of the place is almost the same as the archery field in the kingdom.
The ground in the area was covered with green and fresh grass, but the grass was not tall. Athena was diligent in mowing the grass if she felt the grass was starting to grow tall.
There is a small waterfall in the corner. The place was as wide as a field, but surrounded by stone walls that were purely created by the universe. Athena discovered the place when she was nine years old. And it was Charlotte who made her like the place. As a result, now the place belongs to her.
Yes, Charlotte gave the whole place to Athena. Although Charlotte is not Athena's biological grandmother, but Charlotte loves Athena very much.
Charlotte is indeed dead. She died of illness. After Ariadne died, two months later Charlotte also died. The two of them had been true friends all their lives.
"In the past, I used to often play here with my grandmother. Grandma liked to sit on those rocks. She loved observing the little waterfall. This place is very safe. If it rains heavily, water will flow through a small gap there. So this place won't flood and nothing will happen when there's even a storm." Athena said.
"W-wait… so, this place is your secret place?" Ask Royce.
Athena nodded. "Yes, prince."
"Wow, you really are crazy. You have such an extraordinary place like this. I've actually also heard about your grandmother's secret place. And the place is also almost the same as this. But your grandmother's secret place is behind a big waterfall." Royce said.
Athena nodded again. "Yeah, that's true. But my grandmother's secret place is already known to many people. So I can't use that place anymore. Since my grandmother gave me this place, here is my secret place."
"Oh, wow!! I'm still in complete shock, Athena."
"Do you need a drink, prince?"
Royce shook his head. "No, I just need to calm down for a moment."
"Sit here." Athena said. The girl told Royce to sit on a large rock which was quite comfortable. And Royce just obeyed, he just sat there while cleaning his face with a cloth.
"Lucy, why are you here?" Royce asked Lucy.
Lucy immediately smiled. "I'm sorry, Royce. But I'm so happy to be here. And actually, I've been here for two weeks with Athena all the time."
Hearing his sister's words, Royce immediately widened his eyes. "What did you say??!! Have you been here for the past two weeks?"
Lucy nodded. "Yes. Athena taught me many things. Now I can draw a sword and shoot archery. I love being here. That's why I always ask my mother for permission to go out with Athena for a while. When I reason like that, it means I'm heading here with Athena."
"Is what she said true, Athena?" Royce asked Athena.
"Princess Lucy is telling the truth, Prince." Athena said.
Royce looked back at his sister. He really couldn't believe what Lucy had been doing for the past two weeks. "And you… you can actually fight too?" Royce asked Athena again.
Hearing that question, Athena gave a small smile. She lowered her head slightly, then nodded slowly. "Yes, prince. My grandmother taught me how to fight and guard against evil attacks."
"So you weren't just an innocent girl all this time? Are you good at using swords and arrows? I thought you were only good at riding and knew a lot of royal history. Turns out you're really good at everything." said Royce who was amazed at Athena's ability.
"Ah, I'm not that smart, prince. Umm… are you mad?"
Royce looked at Athena. "Why am I angry?"
"Athena and I were afraid when you got angry. We had an argument before Athena told you to come here. I'm afraid if you scold me because I've done activities like this. But I have no other choice. Because at least I told you about this. If I tell father or mother, they will definitely be angry and they might even fire Athena." said Lucy.
Royce looked directly at his sister. The man smiled and hugged Lucy for a moment. "I wouldn't be angry like that, Lucy. In fact, I really support you. I will not forbid you to do something, as long as the activity you do is very beneficial for you. Unless you commit a crime or do something bad, then of course I will be angry."
Lucy immediately tightened her arms on Royce. The girl was very moved because it turned out that her brother was not angry with her.
Seeing that, Athena smiled happily. "Forgive me, Prince. I've been hiding this from you for the past two weeks."
"It's okay Athena. Then, do you still feel lacking? If you are the owner of this apple orchard, why are you working in the palace as a servant?" asked Royce. The man really regretted that Athena had been working as a palace maid all this time. However, she has a wide range of skills and knowledge. Even Athena could be called rich, because she was the owner of the apple orchard.
Athena smiled. "You know about my friendship with Bella, prince. I'm very good friends with Bella. And I am willing to accompany her to work in the palace, because that is her request. Bella really admires you, she wants to be able to see you up close. Therefore I am willing to accompany her to work in the palace."
"Oh my gosh. Turns out it was just for that trivial reason?"
Athena chuckled and nodded. "But Bella doesn't know about this, prince. Please, can you keep this a secret from everyone? Only the two of you and my parents know about this."
Royce frowned. "You mean, about your ability to fight and about you the owner of this apple orchard. Those two things are your big secret?"
And Athena nodded. "Yes, prince. Bella didn't know about this either. I've been keeping this as good as possible for a long time. Please, don't tell anyone about this."
"Of course I won't tell your secret to anyone else, Athena. Calm down, I promise." Royce said with a smile.
*****