"It's late Lysandra, time to meet your sister," he smirked. "Bye bye."
Lysandra's eyes grew wide as she realized what he was about to do. "No, wait!" And then he snapped his fingers. The world disappeared from her feet as she drifted into space. Soon, she was falling into an abyss of nothingness. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she began choking on her breath. Then her butt hit the floor with a loud thud. Her breath returned and she opened her eyes.
Arin, who was sitting beside the window with Albertina on the floor, looked behind him. "Oh, it seems Kael is through with you," he chuckled before standing up. He closed the book Albertina had asked him to read for her.
"Lysandra!" Albertina rushed towards her sister, who was looking tired. Dark eye bags were also visible beneath her eyes. "Are you alright?" She probed, concern written all over her face.
Lysandra glared at Arin who was smirking at her with a knowing look on his face. His hair was ruffled, and she wondered what Albertina was doing so close to him. She shoved her sister from her way and marched towards the silver haired man. "You tricked me. How dare you!" She growled. "Not only that, you left with the carriage I was supposed to travel back with," her jaw tensed.
"How would I know that you were to return?" He retorted with a scowl, his signature smile still intact. The princess grabbed his shirt and pushed him towards the open window. 'She was fierce and short-tempered' he thought.
"The Lord, what is he?" When she tried to recall what had happened in the snow, she couldn't. Then the headache returned. Lysandra winced, "the headache, it keeps appearing each time I try to remember what happened," she whispered to herself but Arin heard it.
"Now, get out!" She said, and pushed Arin out of the window with all the strength she could muster.
"ARIN!!" Albertina screamed and rushed towards the window, frightened by her sister's actions.
Arin stood proudly outside the inn as he stared at both girls from the window. He could see the second princess worried about him, but Lysandra wasn't smiling either. Then he disappeared into thin air.
After he was gone, Lysandra turned to look at her sister, who was now glaring at her. "What just happened, Lysandra? He could have died!" She uttered in anger. "What got into you?"
"Those men are not what you think they are, Albertina. They are not human even if they look like one. Didn't you see how I returned? From thin air," she voiced and came to stand in front of her sister. "I was so worried about you," she sighed and raised her hand to touch Albertina, but the latter moved away. Leaving Lysandra's hand hanging in the air, speechless.
"It is good that you were worried about me. As you can see, I'm fine. About Arin, he's very human to me," she shot back at her sister. Even when Arin disappeared before her eyes, she still thought he was human.
Lysandra clenched her fist in annoyance. Albertina was growing on that man and she didn't like it. "You have no idea. I was genuinely worried about you, Alberti–"
"If you really were, you wouldn't have left me tired and exhausted in the middle of a strange place. Arin helped me," Albertina blurted and turned her back on her sister as her face reddened in suppressed anger. She was trying to hold back from spilling something awful to her sister.
Lysandra felt her heart drop at her sister's words. 'Albertina didn't just say that, did she?' she thought to herself. "That thief took our money and access grant letter with it," she tried to reason with her sister. Her breath ragged and her hair was tangled and dirty.
Albertina gestured dismissively, "where is the pouch? Did you get it?" She asked before ambling towards the bed, while Lysandra stared at her, pale as a ghost. Her stomach growled and she shut her eyes tightly.
"No. The thief got away with it before Arin showed up," Lysandra uttered in a low voice as she felt small beneath her sister's glare. "Yet, if he hadn't shown up, we would have still been stranded on the street."
Albertina then walked towards her sister, a frown etched on her face. "See Lysandra, you could have let the thief go rather than abandoning your sister." Lysandra winced at this, "I'm glad you didn't get it. You're being too uptight sister,"
"SLAP!"
Lysandra glared at her sister furiously as the latter touched her face in shock. "Don't make me regret taking you along Albertina," she expressed with a cold look on her face. "If you can't take my side as your sister, then you're free to return to Asta," she said and left for the bathroom. Leaving Albertina dumbfounded as she stared at the floor. Tears brimming in her eyes.
***
Arin materialized inside the castle. Before him was the butler, dressed in a waistcoat and trousers. "Milord," he bowed before approaching him.
"Have you been waiting for me, George?" Arin asked as he shrugged out of his coat. Lysandra's push registered in his mind and he would make sure Kael heard about it. He would have died if not for his abilities.
The butler folded the coat before stepping back with his head low. "Yes, Milord. Master has been waiting for you," he relayed to the Lord.
Arranging his shirt and hair, Arin replied, "I'll see him right away." He began walking when the butler started.
"Lady Gladys had been worried about you. You were absent for dinner."
Arin exhaled and waved the butler off. "Tell my sister not to worry about me. She should be bothered about why she's yet to marry," he asserted coldly before walking away.
The butler stared at the retreating figure of the Lord of the House of Mist. How was he supposed to tell Lady Gladys that?
Arin stepped into the king's study and found him sitting on a couch in the dark. Kael didn't like fire and he wondered why. "Were you killed by burning in your past life?" He questioned and took his seat opposite the king. A dark mahogany table stood in the middle. On top of it were different letters, blue wax, maps, and ink.
"No," was Kael's curt reply as a gloomy expression clouded his face at the mention of his past. "Don't ever ask me that," he added. Glaring daggers at Arin who nodded quickly.
Placing his right leg across the other, Arin rubbed his temples. "Ah ahh! Before I forget. Princess Lysandra threw me out of the window. Is that how a princess acts?" He probed the king.
Kael raised a perfectly carved eyebrow at him. The right side of his face was covered with thick locks of his dark hair, leaving one part of his face visible. As he leaned forward, his muscles bulged through his white undershirt. "You were lucky she didn't nail your head against the wall. She's quite ferocious I must say," he chuckled darkly.
Arin rolled his eyes and adjusted to lie on the couch. "You used your ability, didn't you?" He inquired. He was no longer smiling and neither was the playful expression on his face.
"I did. I couldn't risk her knowing about it. She saw me use the tiniest of my power on the cloaked sorcerers. It was for the best," Kael answered as his expression mimicked that of Arin's. Both men weren't smiling.
"Cloaked sorcerers?" Arin asked as he sat up immediately. A deep frown on his face as he fixed his eyes on Kael.
Kael looked towards the window as the scene played in his head. "That is precisely what I just said, Arin and they were looking for her," he looked towards Arin who looked like he had just seen a ghost. "Those ladies who went missing. It was part of their plan. Somehow, they knew Lysandra was going to visit Crest town," he added and sighed. "They attacked Lysandra. It was a good thing I was there."
Arin gaped like a fish out of water. "What about the questions? Did you get an answer for it?" He queried. Disturbing things have been happening in the kingdom, and they haven't been able to curb it.
"I did. Ronan Thorne is Betrothed to Lysandra," he replied stiffly. "Caspian planned many things and died with the answers. My thoughts are that either Ronan is after the southern land or King Owen is doing it for a reason."
"I don't know Arin. Everia was supposed to be an onlooker in this plan. Now, we are tangled in it. Someone from Everia has something to do with the cloaked people."
Arin stood up from the couch and began pacing. He couldn't grasp the situation at hand yet…a thought instantly struck him. "The letter. The access grant you gave to Caspian. Lysandra was chasing after a thief when I found her. It was that mansion in Crest Town that you gave to Caspian."
Kael was quiet, deep in thought. Everything was happening so fast in a short time. "Arin, it's all Ronan. If Prince Ronan knew she had escaped, he would do everything he could to get her back."
"No. A prince like him won't be much bothered about a princess who fled when there are still two in Asta. There's only one person who would be so desperate," Arin shook his head and looked at Kael.
"King Owen," they chorused.
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