I looked at Ren again. "So, escort. Be sure to fetch me at the ball, okay?" I smirked as it took the twins at least 3 seconds to realize that I had just made another werewolf joke.
Once the twins realized what I had just said, they both frowned. Their faces are a mirror of each other's expressions. It's incredible how they can be alike and different at the same time.
Ren suddenly smirked at me and nudged his brother. As if reading his mind, Dan smirked too. Ren looked at me. "Okay, Rose. Keep up with your jokes. But don't go out on the balcony at night when the wolf howls, or you'll fall asleep."
I gave Ren a confused look. "Is that a riddle or a joke?"
"Both, actually." He said.
I just shrugged as I now turned the doorknob and opened one of the doors of my door - if that makes any sense. I first took a tentative step and stopped as I took in the sight of my room. It was huge - with a capital H. It was twice the size of my old room in this palace. I have two large windows on the side, and in between them is a huge glass double door that leads to the balcony. To my far left is a vanity table - bigger than my last - and two meters to its right is a white floral designed rectangular drawers with many flowers held in a vase on top of it. At the center of the room is a shaggy white carpet that contradicts the golden-colored tiles of the room. Pretty much the standard colors in the room are white and gold. To my left is a Queen sized bed with two side tables on each side. I even have a mini lounge!
"We'll have your lesson here," Dan said.
"In my room?"
"Yeah. What of it?" Ren asked. "It's bigger than the room we were using."
Now that he mentions it...
"Can my lesson for today be how to sleep properly without getting a stiff neck?" I asked hopefully.
"No." The twins said at the same time.
***
After the twins left my new room, I felt like taking a nap. They were better ladies than I am. They know how to act appropriately and, believe it or not, know how to use the right words that would please the nobles.
I buried my face on my new pillow. "If you please. It would be my honor. The pleasure is all mine." I mocked the lessons that I had just learned from the twins.
"The way you talk is like a noble already, but your tone is lacking."
I tiredly turned towards Prince Nate, who was now standing in the middle of my room. "Should I even bother to ask how you got in here without knocking?"
"I came in just as the twins came out." He said.
"Figures."
Without looking at me, Nate headed for the door and opened it. A few maids came in to bring us our food. A small tea area in my room was set aside by the twin for our lesson. Nate gestured for them to put it back in the middle. "I hope you don't mind if we start our lesson," Nate says as soon as the maids left.
"I'm hungry anyway," I said as I got up. I sat on the chair that Nate pulled back for me. Today we were having soup and some pasta. I waited for Nate to sit before grabbing the napkin on the table and placing it on my lap.
"Very good," Nate commented.
"Hey, Nate? I want to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"I don't exactly mind getting ignored by the maids, but why doesn't the queen have an escort? Or, what would you call it? Ladies who serve her?"
Nate seemed confused. "What do you mean?"
"Don't royal people have people following them in order to serve them better?"
"No?" Nate wrinkled his nose. "Is that what the royals do in your world? They sound lazy. We are usually trained to be independent. We would only call for servants when we really need them. I don't know what humans in your world do, but here royals should learn how to take care of themselves so we wouldn't be spoiled."
"Well, that does make sense," I said as I grabbed the spoon with the larger head as I tasted the soup.
Nate seemed pleased. "Since you asked me a question, may I ask one in return?"
"You may." My eyes widened when I said that unconsciously.
"Wow!" Nate gleamed and gave me a small clap. "The twins did a good job!" He chuckled. I grabbed a fork and pointed it at him. He raised his hands in surrender.
"What do you want to ask?"
Nate rubbed his chin. "What do humans picture us as vampires in your world?"
I tried to think of any facts about vampires from the movies. Probably the most common one. "Hmmm...that vampires are basically dead corpses that have sharp teeth, cold skin, drink blood, and can't stand in the sunlight."
Nate furrowed his eyebrows at the last part of my sentence. "Your books got most of the facts, though, but I think that you guys have mixed us up with the undead."
"Undead?" I asked. Is he talking about zombies?
"Undead." He confirmed. "They are the vampires who can't stand being in the sunlight."
I gave him a look as I tried to swallow his words. "Wait." I held up a finger. "Are you saying that there are other vampire breeds called the undead? You know, back in my world, the undead are referred to as zombies."
"Zombies?"
"Dead people coming to life and eating other people. The only way to kill them is by shooting their brain."
"That is disgusting." Nate wrinkled his nose as he stopped eating his pasta. "And no. All the vampires are of the same breed. I'm one of the living, a vampire who can stand in the sunlight and drinks animal blood to live. The undead, on the other hand, is basically the vampires that your book is talking about. They're dead. When a living vampire kills by draining the blood from another supernatural, they die and are cursed to live in the shadows. They can't stand going out in the sun, or they will dry. The only thing keeping them alive is by drinking supernatural blood."
I stared at Nate as I absorbed the new information that he had just thrown at me. So basically, their zombies are dead vampires coming to life. In comparison, Earth zombies are basically humans coming to life. Well, humans don't exist in this world, so I guess their laws are very different.
Well, it's not like zombies exist in my world in the first place.
"So what happens to the undead then? Do they also drink the good vampire's blood?" I asked.
The corner of Nate's lips curved. "Interested, are we?" I glared at him. "Well, when a 'good vampire' becomes a 'bad vampire', we banish them from the kingdom. Now, they mostly live in the Kingdom of Tereau as their refuge. And yes, they do drink our blood. All types of supernatural blood."
I took a deep breath. "Okay then. There are good vampires and bad vampires. Bad wolves and good wolves. What else? Grumpy old trolls?"
Nate looked to the side and shrugged. "You could say that. The world is vast."
I groaned and clutched my head as if the information I was gathering was too much for my brain. Or maybe it was too much.
"It's weird, you know?" He said as he looked at his untouched meal. "A few days ago, you were pretty much freaked out about the supernatural world. Now, it seems as if you're considering them. It's fascinating how much has changed in only a few days."
I only shrugged at Nate. "Well, I just kind of learned to accept it since....you know. I'm staying and all." For some reason, my voice seemed to become lower as I spoke.
He let out a short laugh. "I can't say I'm not happy about that, but just take it slow, okay? No rush. We're here to help you." He said and looked away as he spoke the following words. "And I'm glad that you're staying."
As if my lips have a mind of their own. It spoke. "Yeah. Me too."
Nate and I continued to eat. It was amazing how little he corrected my table manners this time. I enjoyed Nate's lesson a lot since it was the most 'chill' one out of all the scheduled lessons. I would love to be in Fred's class, to be honest, but comparing Nate and Fred's lessons well...I prefer just to sit and eat.
I'm sorry, Prince Fred. You're still the best prince out there.
Once the lesson was over, Nate called for the servants to clean up.
He started to turn around as he walked towards the door. When he was already in front of it, he paused as he turned to me. A small grin was plastered on his face. "I was about to ask you, you know."
I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "Just ask away."
"I was about to ask you if you'd like me to be your escort." He shrugged. "But I guess Ren beat me to it. But that's okay. I'll try again next time." He gave me a wink before he left, making me wonder how he knew about it.
Once the door closed, a maid approached me and handed me a rolled canvas before she left. Out of curiosity, I unrolled it. What I saw there made me gasp. It was a sketch of me sleeping. The sketch was finely detailed as it followed the curve and outline of my face, hair, and dress. Whoever had made this has a skill in art.
Then my eyes darted towards the bottom right of the paper, where the note was written in cursive.
The Runaway Princess
I chuckled at the title. I ran my thumb gently over the sketch. When I pulled it back, my thumb was stained with charcoal. And my mind quickly had a mini flashback of someone holding this paper and gliding a charcoal pen over it while I was lying down on a bed.
Nate.
For some unknown reason, I smiled. I never really thought that Nate could draw or that he would be giving me a sketch.
"Oh crap. I'm going to be late." I muttered as I placed the sketch on my side table and went out of my room.
"Rose?" A voice suddenly said behind me, making me jump a little in surprise. I turn around only to see Prince Fred looking down on me. "I came here to get you. And," He raised his hand to show me the red cloak. "to return this to you."
"I thought I lost it! Did you go back and get it?"
"Actually, I found it in the garden," Fred said. Unsure of what he just said.
"Does it come with magic to return to its owner?" I asked in wonder as I took the cloak and carefully folded it.
"It does since it would cause a conflict with its current magic."
"Thanks," I told him. "Can you wait here while I put this in my room?" I asked. Fred nodded. I quickly returned to my room and threw the cloak on my bed. I'll...fix that later.
When I returned, I smiled at the sight of Fred. "How'd it go with the others?" He asked to change the subject.
I shrugged. "Well, Ace was pretty strict, the twins were brutal, and Nate was pretty nice and chill."
"Figures." He said and composed himself. "I hope you'll like my lessons like you do with prince Nathaniel."
I beamed at him. I was obviously biased toward him from the start. "I'm sure I will."
Fred chuckled and offered me his hand. I looped my arm around him, and we made our way to the ballroom. "You're not gonna take your decision back, are you?" Fred gave me a look as he asked the question. We were already in the ballroom and headed towards the center where we first practiced dancing.
"What decision?"
"The ball."
"No. Why?"
He smiled at me before turning his attention back in front of him. "Good. So now I will ask you a favor that I have been itching to ask."
"What is it?"
"Save me for your last dance?"
My throat went dry at his words. It was like I had forgotten how to speak. My ears couldn't believe what they had just heard. For a few seconds, I stared at Prince Fred and waited for him to say something like, 'Just kidding' and laugh at my face, but he didn't. Instead, his face was a mask of seriousness. But being the girl who had countless fallen for his jokes, I didn't buy it.
"You're kidding, right?"
"Who says I'm kidding?" He countered. I studied Fred for a long time. He wasn't kidding?
"So what do you say, Princess Rose?"
"Don't call me a princess."
"Well, I have to say something to get your attention." He smiled at me playfully.
I thought about it for a moment. "Well...."
Fred noticed my hesitation. For just a few seconds, I saw the disappointment in his eyes as we descended from the stairs, but it had gone quickly and was replaced with a smile which he directed at me.
He is serious, isn't he?
"Sorry. Forget what I-"
"Alright."
He must have been caught off guard at my response, for he suddenly stopped walking just to look at me. There was a surprised look on his face as he studied me. His jaw dropped for a few seconds before he recovered. "Are you sure? Because if you don't want to, then you can just tell me."
I looked at him. "What? Now you want me to tell you no?"
"No." I raised an eyebrow. Realizing what he had just said, he immediately corrected himself. "What I meant was.....I'd be happy to be your last dance for the night but-"
I held my palm up to shut him up. "You want me to go to the dance with you, and I said yes. That's it. No need for explanation. This conversation is getting confusing the more alibis we give."
There was a ghost of a smile on his face as he closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. "As you wish, princess." He said in a low voice that I wouldn't have heard it if I weren't so close to him.
"I don't get why the way you call me princess seems like you are teasing for some reason."
He let out a small chuckle as we started dancing. Instantly, the music played.
Throughout the whole time, I was glaring at Fred as I really tried to keep eye contact.
Fred chuckled. "I guess this is the closest thing to an eye contact as we can get."
"Sorry," I admitted.
"It's alright. The ball starts in a week, so we have plenty of time to fix your...glare."
"Haha. Very funny."
***In the Garden***
The little wolf kept hidden in the shade to avoid the glaring sun. He would often venture out into the woods to hunt and drink. But he would always go back to be close to her.
The little wolf whimpered as he saw his master dancing with the blonde man from before. He really wanted to meet with his master and bond with her. But the blonde man took the cloak, and now he has no way to approach her. But when he saw his master looking happy, he decided that it didn’t really matter.
He would just continue to watch over her until the time was right for them to meet.