The boy continued to stare at me, making me feel uneasy as I continued to walk. I would’ve run, but I knew that if I did, I’d run out of stamina almost immediately.

***

I just spotted a young girl with deep, dark blue eyes. I had to find her! Although I had never met my cousin before her parents were murdered and she was declared missing, I was certain that this was her! I had to find her. When I ordered my coachman to stop the carriage, my voice was laced with a commanding air.

Without waiting for the man to open the carriage door, I swung it open before jumping out without a second thought. This young girl probably doesn’t know who I am, she is only seven after all. If I don’t find her now, then I doubt that she’ll ever be found. Who knows what people could do with a young girl all alone, and one who was a member of royalty at that!

I sprinted after her, thankful for my sword practice. I had heard that my cousin was sickly, so I wasn’t too worried about her getting away, I was mostly worried about her getting lost in the crowd. As I weaved in and out of the swarms of people, I kept an eye on the faint flashes of a dark blue dress which I saw every now and then through gaps in the crowd. I slowly closed the distance between us, placing my hand on her shoulder gently when I did.

She turned her head, her beautiful eyes filled with fear. I gently told her “Don’t worry, it’s me, your cousin.” At these words I noticed that she seemed even more scared. Why? I couldn’t say. I then proceeded to tell her that she could trust me, and that she just needed to follow me back to the carriage. After I had finished calmly explaining, I grabbed onto her hand and led her through the crowd. I didn’t want her to get lost again.

***

While trying to find my way through the crowd, I noticed the strange boy following me. I tried to speed up, but that only resulted in my getting tired faster. There was still some distance between us, but it wasn’t much, so I forced myself to keep walking. Sirens were going off in my mind.

Once he had caught up to me, he placed a hand on my shoulder, holding me in place. To anybody else, it would’ve looked as though he were just resting his hand on my shoulder, but no, I couldn’t even move an inch with his grip on me. I turned my head, facing him, I was terrified. What was going to happen?

“Don’t worry, it’s me, your cousin.” He said with a straight face.

This was when I knew for certain, this guy was a creep! I felt my face go white.

I don’t have any cousins as far as I know, the duke has no siblings. My mother orphaned me, so there’s no way that he’s her nephew either! Stranger Danger!

“You can trust me, just come back to the carriage with me.”

As soon as he finished saying those words, he shifted his grip to my hand in a single moment, yanking me towards the carriage. I did my best to resist, at one point I even considered yelling for help, but I knew that nobody here had the authority to stand up to a noble. After my best attempts to wrestle free of his grasp failed, I simply allowed myself to be taken.

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Well this isn’t exactly looking too good. It’s a classic example of kidnapping ‘come, jump into my van little girl’ he may as well have said.

I felt him weave through the crowd quickly and effortlessly, of course he had caught me with those levels of agility and speed! His hand still had a firm grip on me as I tried to pull it free to no avail. He was strong. Far stronger than I was. We came to a halt suddenly, outside of his carriage. He pulled me forward once again, releasing my hand once we were inside.

I didn’t bother trying to run, I knew that I’d be caught in no time if I did so. So I sat down, and was about to ask a question but he beat me to it.

“Hello, what’s your name?”

I told him before asking my own question

“Soo, why have you brought me here and who are you?”

I tried to make my question sound casual enough, while also getting straight to the point. I almost laughed at how badly it had turned out. I sat there silently, waiting for an answer, punching myself for my horrible phrasing.

I sounded like a bored kid asking about how much longer it’ll be until we make it to the playground!

He finally responded, giving me an answer that I didn’t understand.

“I am Leon Galandri, the second prince of the Galandra Kingdom, and also your cousin. I have brought you here because we have been looking for you.”

I sat there, staring at him, dumbfounded, before I finally replied.

“I’m sorry Your Highness, but I think that you’ve got the wrong person. I am not royalty and I am not your cousin.”

This time he stared at me as though I was the crazy one.

“But you are royalty, are you not?”

I quickly replied, trying to wipe him of his assumptions. Being a tad but too honest with my answer.

“No I’m not, I’m an orphan, abandoned at two years old.”

He leaned back, and then told me with a straight face that “you are royalty”.

I just looked at him, doing my best not to insult him. My lips were pressed together tightly, I tried not to say anything rude to him.

Is this guy stupid? Why would he even think that I’m royalty? He’s only just met me! Mistaking me for a normal noble I would get, but this, no.

“I’m afraid that Your Highness is mistaken, there is no possible way that I am royalty.” I repeated my answer. How long would it take for this idiot to realize that I’m not a royal?

After we had gone back and forth for a while, the sun had begun to set. This boy, Leon, suggested that I go meet his parents to discuss things, and I could even stay the night. It was late, and I was tired due to my childish body so I agreed, knowing that I’d be safer with others around anyway, they might even talk some sense to him. After he had wasted all my time, I now had nowhere to stay for the night, so I agreed, not exactly comprehending what meeting his parents meant or who his parents were.

The worried coachman seemed relieved that we had stopped arguing, and the decorated carriage began to move. I felt myself becoming more and more tired, until I finally drifted off to sleep.

***

Aretta had seemingly fallen asleep while sitting, she had insisted that she wasn’t a royal but I wasn’t so sure. Actually, I was certain. She had to have been a royal! Even if she wasn’t my cousin, she must have some strong blood ties to royalty. She was probably a close family member, she seemed like more of a royal than even I! But I didn’t hold it against her, Aretta was only seven by the looks of it, she needn’t get involved in the chaos just yet.

One thing which concerned me was what she had said when answering a question of mine, apparently she was an orphan. Had anybody older than her told me this, I would have doubted them, how could a royal be an orphan? She would’ve been instantly adopted by another branch of royals. But what reason did she have for lying? Even though I didn’t think she had lied, her dress made me doubt her. She obviously had money.

I wasn’t sure what such a well dressed child had been doing in the common district, but it couldn’t have been good. Either way, my parents needed to be informed about this, something wasn’t right. I didn’t trust this girl, but I did feel sorry for her. Even though I had only known her for a handful of minutes, she was definitely hiding something, but not her royal lineage. She seemed to really not know about the one genetic trait which only royals have.

This girl, she was far too mature for her age but she also lacked basic knowledge, her childhood must have been difficult.