With the help of her maid, Casindra painstakingly made her way to the drawing room. It was more difficult than she had anticipated and pain in her ankle was getting worse with each passing second.
But the princess persisted.
The door to the drawing room opened and she intentionally made herself fall forward with tears in her eyes.
Lucky for her, Darrion was on his feet and by her side in less than a split second. He caught her before she hit the ground.
"Cassy, are you alright? What happened?" He asked as he held her up to her feet once more.
Casindra made sure to lean heavily on him as he helped her to the nearest chair.
"I twisted my ankle this morning while I was out in the gardens. I'm sorry to have called for you when you were spending time with sister Athena. I didn't mean to ruin your date," she cried.
Athena was skeptical about Casindra's injuries. She wasn't convinced that it was real at all. When Grace came running to Lord Darrion in the royal gardens, where they were having tea, Athena knew Casindra must have something up her sleeve.
She thought Darrion would have leaped up and went to see Casindra at once. But to her surprise, he told the maid he would visit later.
"Don't you want to go and check on her?" She asked him in slight confusion.
"I'll go over later," he replied simply.
"Let's go over together now. I want to see what she's up to," Athena replied without reservation.
"What? Do you think she's faking her injury? Casindra would never do something like that, she-"
"Let's go see, shall we?"
That was how they both ended up here, in Casindra's mansion. Athena narrowed her eyes a little as she watched both Darrion and Casindra. Though she could see from the way the princess was acting the injury was real, she was not convinced that it happened naturally.
"Casindra, how did this happen? You look to be in a lot of pain," Athena came and sat down by her side as she examined her bandaged ankle a little closer.
"Didn't Grace say it was your right ankle that you injured?" She looked up as she asked the question.
In reality, Grace did not mention which ankle Casindra had broken. Darrion knew this to be true. He was about to protest against what Athena said but stopped himself from doing so.
In the time he had spent with Athena, he had come to realize just how intelligent and observant she was. It was unlike any of the things Casindra used to tell him about her.
Though he was certain Casindra would not lie about something like this, he wanted to see the reaction for himself.
So, he backed Athena's statement instead.
"Now that you mention it, I think you're right. Why is it your left ankle instead?" He asked.
The color drained from both the maid's and the princess's faces. It was as if they were caught in the act of lying. Grace got down on her knees at once.
"My sincerest apologies, my lord, your Highness. I was so flustered by what happened… I… I spoke incorrectly!" She said in defense.
"Yes, yes that's right! Wendy, the poor little thing, felt so guilty when she saw that I had twisted my ankle. Please pardon her, Darrion, sister Athena," Casindra reinforced it.
She watched as Athena's expression softened. An indication that she took the bait. Internally, Casindra heaved a sigh of relief. Her twisted ankle was almost all done for nothing.
Darrion seemingly trusted their explanation too, not questioning it any further. However, both Athena and Darrion knew deep down, that something was amiss. In order to confirm their suspicions, Athena had one more thing up her sleeve.
"Sir Nikolai," she called for her bodyguard, who promptly came to her side.
"How may I be of service, your Highness?"
"I remember you mentioning that you've had experience dealing with ankle injuries, could you help the princess take a look at her injury?" Athena asked.
There was a deeper meaning within her words.
Under normal circumstances, Nikolai would not have agreed to it. Even if he was to look at an injury, he would have only done so for Athena. But since this was a request from her, he made an exception.
"To have a guard check on a princess' injuries? I don't think that's appropriate," Darrion voiced his opinion.
Nikolai's expression twisted a little. But it only happened for a split second, he was careful not to let anyone see it. However, Athena noticed it.
"I vouch for Sir Nikolai. Besides, I wouldn't have asked him if I didn't trust him," Athena declared as she gave Darrion a slight glare.
With that, no one else dared to protest. Casindra was clearly unwilling, but she didn't have a choice either. Nikolai was careful in examining the princess. He was careful not to touch her, knowing the princess may have something up her sleeve.
After making his observations, he gave findings.
"The princess has indeed hurt her ankle. Some medicinal pastes from the royal healers should do the trick. She should heal in no time."
"That's wonderful!" Athena responded with glee, "Have the royal healers not visited with the needed medicinal pastes?"
"No, they haven't."
"Well, that can't do. Wendy."
"Yes, your Highness?"
"Go get the royal healers. Make sure they bring the best. Princess Casindra needs the utmost care if she's to heal quickly." Athena ordered.
With that, Wendy hurried out the door to carry out her order. On the excuse of letting Casindra rest, Athena excused herself and Darrion from staying. To rub it in a little, Athena grabbed hold of Darrion by his arm as she spoke.
"Since my sister is taken care of now, I think we should let her rest, don't you think, Lord Darrion?"
"Yes… yes, that's right."
Half dragging him along, Athena and Darrion took their leave. They didn't even give Casindra a chance to convince them to stay. Well, if there was anyone she was going to convince, it surely would have been Darrion.
"We'll visit you when you're better, Casindra!" Athena said on their way out.
When they were finally out of the mansion, Athena did not realize she was still holding on to Darrion's arm until he wriggled out of her grasp.
"Sorry, I was just… never mind," Athena pushed her words to the back of her mind.