"What was that Richard?" Henry who had not meddled in the conversation between him and the king broke the silence. He was now sitting on the single cauch in the room while Richard was watching the king through the window.
"Don't tell me that you are going to make an oath to him!" Once the king was out of sight, Richard turned to face Henry. "I won't, but you will."
Henry knew what it meant and he did not object to it. Getting up, he slowly morphed into Richard. The man with a brown hair that was tied up into a ponytail was not there anymore. He had fully taken Richard's form. It somehow annoyed Richard but he had no other choice."Leave. And you can also ask the guards to direct you there."
★★★. ★★★. ★★★.
At the time of noon, everyone had taken their seats at the dining room apart from the king and when he arrived, he was not alone. He was accompanied by Richard who comfortably took an empty seat next to princess Lilith.
"Everyone this is my nephew, Richard." It was a weird way to introduce someone but the one who was being introduced but the one who was being introduced didn't seem like he cared. "But father, you said that they were banished from the palace." The second prince did not like Richard at all. There was something about him that was not right and he could not put a finger on what it was.
"Nobody is allowed to bring that topic up again." Came the king's order.
"But father..._" This time it was prince Wilson who wanted to say something. "Have I made myself clear." The king's eyes met both his son's and for almost a minute, the room was quiet.
"When the maids started to serve food, Richard turned to his right where the princess sat. He could see her closely now without caring what the people at the table would say. She could feel his gaze and Richard could tell because of the way she tightened her grip on the fork that she was holding but she didn't dare to face him.
"So Richard, do you have a family?" Prince Wilson was the one who asked. "No." He replied while looking at Wilson who held a displeased look. He was not subtle when it came to show his interests and Wilson didn't like the way he was looking at his fiancee.
"I will be happy to introduce you to some women around here. The beautiful ones of course." Prince Wilson suggested. Richard was undeniably attractive and this made Wilson insecure when it came to the princess.
"You don't have to do that. I already like someone and I wouldn't want her to think that I would cheat her with other women. Be it beautiful maid_ens or the ugly ones." His statement elicited a reaction from both Wilson and Lilith but no one at the table noticed.
He was not lying when he said that he liked someone. Maybe it would take time for her to reciprocate his feelings but he was up for it. She was different from others. Starting with her looks, the way she behaved and that innocence and naivety that made him wonder if it was because of lack of exposure to the real world.
"Pass me the pepper." Richard said to princess Lilith who hesitantly took the pepper jar but in the process of handing it over to him, he grazed her fingers slowly which caused Lilith to quickly retracted her hand to her side. "Are you alright princess?" Richard asked feigning concern.
"Yes." Her reply was curt without looking at him. She could still feel his fingers on her even though they were no longer on hers.
Once lunch was over, the first people to leave were king William and Queen Avena who were closely followed by princess Lilith. Every other person left until it was just him and the crown prince. " You seem like you have something to say to me." Richard tilted his head while waiting for the prince to speak.
"I don't know how you live your life, but I'll advise you to stay away from her. She will be my wife." He had seen it during the dance but he had let it pass with the thought that he was just a guest and that he would leave this place. But here he was, sitting comfortably in the palace as if he owned it.
"She's not yours. At least not until You've married her." He was finding amusement at how the prince was angered by his words but that did not mean that his words were a joke.
"I will see you around cousin." As usual, he did not wait for any response as he disappeared through the double doors of the dining room. Wilson's hand hit the table with a thud that shocked the maids who had come to collect the utensils. This man was really getting under his skin.