Ren and I both stopped and turned towards the greenhouse entrance to see Nora. Today she was wearing a purple dress and her hair was in a side fishtail braid. She was not looking at us but at the direction of the pond where Ace lays. Immediately, Ren and I stepped away from each other as we blocked Ace's view from Nora.

"Nora? What are you doing here?" I asked nervously. I looked at Ren to see him doing his best to block Ace from her view.

"My bwother is sick, isn't he?" She asked. "I heard my bwother talking to father yesterday. I thought it wasn't a big deal so I waited until today to check." She said and moved her head to get a look at her brother.

"Well....um....." I looked at Ren for help, but he only looked away seeming uncomfortable with the situation. Useless bastard.

"Is Aish going to die?" Nora asked. Tears started to build up in her eyes.

Oh crap. Just imagine if Ace wakes up right now and sees her little sister crying in our presence.....we're toast! Ren and I exchanged glances and I noticed that he was probably thinking the same thing as me. We better think of something to cheer her up right now before the unspeakable thing occurs.

"Nora, Ace is going to be fine. You don't need to worry. He's just.....sleeping." I said.

"Will he wake up?"

"Of course he will." We just don't know when.

"When?"

"Um....I'm not sure-"

"Then you're saying that there is a chance that he won't?" Nora started to sniff and was on the verge of crying when Ren suddenly knelt in front of her.

"Hi, Nora. I'm Prince Ren. A friend of your brother. Maybe." He said and Nora nodded in acknowledgement. "Listen, do you want your brother to wake up?"

"Yes." Nora nodded.

"Do you believe that he will?"

Another nod from Nora.

"Good." Ren smiled. "Because, you know, if you believe that something is going to happen and if you cling on to that then it would surely happen. That's what I learned from a wise person that I know." At that, Ren glanced at me.

"If I believe that Aish will wake up then he will?"

I knelt beside Ren so I could talk to Nora. "Of course. Especially if it's you because Ais- I mean – Ace loves you very much."

"Okay." She said. She stopped crying but you could still see the upset look that she has on her face. Ren and I exchanged glances again as we thought of a way to make that sadness go.

Finally, Ren looked back at Nora. "Hey, Nora. Would you like to play with us?" Ren offered.

"What game?"

"The Princess, the knight, and the monster." Said Ren and looked at me with an evil glint in his eyes. Somehow I don't like that look and I backed away slowly. But I didn't get too far when Ren hit me at the back of the head, took Nora, and ran away from me. Nora let out a squeal when Ren carried her. "Rose is the monster. Run away!"

"Ren, that hurts! Get back here!" I growled and ran after them. We ran in circles and I was getting frustrated that I couldn't get in touch with him or Nora. Ren was just too fast and slippery. I finally cornered them and stalked them slowly when Ren jumped from one side to the other and tricked me into going that way when he was really going to the other. I was finally able to catch them when they thought that I tripped and fell.

Ren and I switched places then. I'm the knight, Nora is the princess, and Ren is the monster. Since Ren was faster I made it harder for to catch us by going deeper into the greenhouse and putting a tree in between us. In the end we were like dancing as we went circling around the tree.

Nora was the monster next. And since Ren and I will be the players it is obvious who the princess is.

"CARRY ME~!" Ren suddenly jumped on my back in a piggyback style. And I, who was unsuspecting of it, was plummeted by his weight that we both fell on the ground face first with him on top of me.

"I just showered!" I shrieked. "Ren!" I growled.

"Zzzz!!"He feigned sleep.

"Stop playing and get off of me!"

"Comfy~!"

"You pig! You're heavy you know! MOVE!"

A suddenly burst of laughing distracted us. I looked at Nora and she was laughing as she looked at us. She was clutching her stomach and was pointing a finger at us. Tears streamed her eyes but it was not from sadness anymore. "You two awe fwunny!"

I felt a hand on top of my head and – despite Ren's weight – looked back. Ren was looking at me and when our eyes met he grinned. Even without speaking in my mind I know what that smile means. It means that we were successful in making Nora laugh. I grinned back and before long, we joined Nora and laughed.

"So my bwother is your powitical and histowy teachwer back at the palash?" Nora asked. After our little game we all decided to take a break and sit on the picnic cloth. Nora then decided to ask us about how Ace was.

"Yeah....but he's very strict and easily loses his patience." I said.

Nora tilted her head at the side. "Aish? But he doesn't get mad easiwy." She wondered.

"Oh yeah. Right. Sorry. It must have been Ren and not Ace." I said and earned a glare from Ren.

Ren snorted. "Well you can't blame me for losing my temper." He said and looked at Nora with a smile. "Honestly, this girl is a pain. I'm her tutor on proper behavior and it's pretty challenging since she's like a female barbarian."

"Hey!" I protested.

"She is?" Nora looked at me before looking back at Ren. "She doesn't look like it. Pwincess Wose looks pwetty and she's vewy nice." Defended Nora.

I felt a smile coming out and I inched closer to Nora and pulled her into a hug. "Aw thanks, Nora." I said and gave a victorious look at Ren as I stuck my tongue out mockingly. Ren frowned.

"I wanna be like Wose when I grow up." She suddenly said making my smile grew even wider. Pride swells up in me.

"Yeah it's okay I guess. But don't be her and be less barbaric. Trust me, that kind of quality is not attractive."

"Aren't you attwacted to her?" Nora said, making Ren give her a double look.

"Pardon?"

Nora smiled and shook her head. "Your aura is turning pink."

Ren and I exchanged glances. Somehow getting confused about what she was talking about. Aura? What aura? Is this Nora's gift?

I looked back at Nora and wondered if I should ask her about it but I didn't get a chance when she suddenly stood up and said,

"I'm gonna get something to eat! Bwother Dawem bwought me dwied apples yestewday. I'm going to bwing some back!"

Ren nodded. "Be careful."

"Okie!" She said and we watched as she made her way out of the door. Bouncing up and down as she did.

Once she was out of sight did I say, "She's so cute."

Ren chuckled. "You said that yesterday."

"But she is!"

"I know. I didn't say that I disagree with you. And....as unmanly as this sounds I want to pinch her cheeks."

"Right?!" I agreed.

"Prince Ace is so lucky to have such a cute sibling. Dan is not even cute and I have no urge to pinch his cheek. Only to punch him in the face from time to time."

I laughed. "Can't say I won't agree on you for that."

"Right?!" He said and let out a sigh when he lay his back on the ground. "Man, I'm so tired I want to go to sleep." He yawned and stretched out before resting his head on his arm.

I frowned as I noticed how tired he was. "Then why don't you?"

Ren raised an eyebrow at me as if the answer was already obvious and I didn't realize it. "If I sleep now then you'll be bored to death."

I rolled my eyes and snorted. "Please. You'll be bored to death. Not me."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night princess."

"Don't worry I-"

"Shh!"

I blinked, then glared at Ren. "Did you just shush me?!"

"Shhh!"

"There it is again. Ren, why-"

Ren suddenly sat up and covered my mouth. "Shhh. Listen." He said and closed his eyes in concentration.

Out of curiosity I closed my eyes and tried to listen. Nothing. I opened my eyes to look at Ren. "I don't hear anything."

"It's Nora." He said. "She's somewhere out in the forest. It doesn't seem like she's moving." Then he started sniffing the air.

"Is something wrong with her?" I asked worriedly.

"I'm not so sure." He shook his head but even though he's not saying it I know he's also worried.

"We should go to see and see if she's alright." I suggested.

Ren nodded at my request as he got up and offered me his hand. I took it and let him help me up before he went to the bushes and got his sword out. We headed out of the greenhouse and I let Ren lead the way. He guided us through the thick forest, pushing leaves and vines out of the way as we continued ahead. Ren suddenly stopped. "Look." He said and pointed at a figure by the tree curled into a ball. It was Nora. She was just in front of us but she had her head buried in her knees that she wasn't able to see us.

"Nora." I whispered as I looked at her form. She seemed scared. "Shall we go?"

Ren nodded grimly. "Let's. But be careful. I have a bad feeling about this." The look on Ren's face was enough to scare me as it is. Whatever was scaring Nora must still be close. "Stay close to me." He said and we started to walk slowly towards Nora.

"Nora." I whispered loud enough that she could hear once we were getting close to her.

At the sound of my voice, Nora looked up. When she saw us, a mixture of relief and horror crossed her face. "N-No. Get bwack." She said. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She was frightened.

I knelt down in front of her once we reached her. I stroked her hair comfortingly to reassure her that she was safe. "It's okay, Nora. It's just me and Ren."

Despite my tries into comforting her, Nora shook her head and cried harder. "No No No. You shouldn't be here. It's...It's....It's here." She whispered and she lifted her eyes behind and above us. Her eyes widening in horror and she clung to me, burying her face to my chest as she cried.

What's here?

I suddenly heard Ren letting out a snarl. Somehow I have a feeling that something very bad is behind us. Very slowly I turned and saw that Ren was shielding us from the predator before us. Just at the top of a tree curled a very large snake with its reptilian eyes looking at us. Its forked tongue flicking from time to time as it regarded us.