Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Trisya got off the horse-drawn carriage with Prince Terry's help. After that, they immediately headed to the eastern part - the part of the palace occupied by the prince. There was hardly any conversation between them. While Darian as well as the guards and maids chose to take their distance from the two people.

"How long will His Highness keep silent like this?" Trisya scolded after she stole a glance in the other direction and found them lagging.

Prince Terry looked away briefly, then refocused on the front with a cold look on his face. Trisya chuckled. Had it not been for the Crown Prince beside her, Trisya would have punched him in the head.

As Prince Terry stopped his steps, Trisya also stopped. She was stunned when Prince Terry suddenly turned to her, making their gazes meet. Trisya blinked her eyes a few times. Instantly, she was caught looking at the Prince's beautiful face.

"Are you tired after the long journey, Lady?" he asked pleasantly.

"Not really. But weren't you also in the carriage with me during the journey?" replied Trisya lazily. "Ah yes. Weren't you able to speak to me informally back then? Why are you speaking formally to me again these days?"

Instead of answering, Prince Terry turned his gaze back, towards Darian and their bodyguards and maids. It seemed that at this distance, they would not be able to hear Prince Terry's conversation with Trisya - unless Trisya started to raise the volume of her voice. Isn't that girl unpredictable?

"What's wrong?" puzzled Trisya, seeing Prince Terry's strange behavior.

"I heard that you caused trouble at Count Rexer Morsche's residence yesterday when you came with me there. Is that true?" asked Prince Terry.

"What?!" Just as Prince Terry had expected - Trisya had already started making noise.

"Trouble? At Count Morsche's residence? What kind of trouble did I get into, according to what you heard?"

"You scolded Lady Rania because she wanted to fulfill the Count's summons, and I happened to be there?"

Trisya gaped at that. She didn't even remember who the man in front of her was anymore. She also did not care about her image which might be damaged because of the expression she showed in front of the Prince.

"I don't want to micromanage your life. However, can you behave better in front of the nobles next time? Try to stop causing trouble, especially to Count Rexer's family members!" Prince Terry pleaded.

Trisya shook her head strongly. "Where did you hear such trashy news? Who said it?"

"You don't need to know who told me. You just have to watch your attitude more!" retorted Prince Terry.

Trisya nodded her head. "Alright. If you don't want to tell me who told you such rubbish news, that's fine. I don't care what you hear anyway. But don't think you can control my life, Your Majesty. Whatever I do, it's none of your business," said Trisya.

Prince Terry furrowed his brows. The man turned his body to face Trisya fully. As if challenged, Trisya did the same - facing Prince Terry with an equally fierce stare.

"Of course, I care because-" Prince Terry hung up his sentence. He seemed hesitant to say it. In the next second, the man looked grumpy to himself in front of Trisya who was still waiting for an answer.

"Because of what?" he asked Trisya.

Prince Terry was still reluctant to answer. However, slowly, it seemed like Trisya managed to understand what Prince Terry was going to say. She recalled the main plot of the novel "Lady Rania and The Crown Prince". There, Prince Terry's character always defended and tried to protect Lady Rania from Trisya's actions.

Trisya let out a long sigh. She was again slapped with the reality that she was only destined to be an antagonist who had many faults. 'Even if I explain the truth, she won't believe it, right?'

"Did something happen, Your Highness?" Prince Terry immediately turned his gaze towards Darian who had just arrived.

It seemed like the man realized that something was going on between Prince Terry and Trisya. And he didn't want it to get any more serious - even though he had no idea what they were talking about.

"Darian, accompany Lady for a moment! I just remembered I have something to report to His Majesty the King," Prince Terry pleaded with Darian.

However, Trisya was sure Prince Terry was just trying to avoid her. "I promise I won't be long," Prince Terry added while looking at Trisya.

Trisya and Darian just nodded - letting the future leader of the kingdom go to do his duty. After that, Darian took Trisya for a walk again.

"Is it okay if we walk first like this, Darian? The prince won't be looking, right? Just watch out if because of this he becomes nagging again. I get so annoyed every time I hear his babble," said Trisya which made Darian look at her in horror.

"Shhh ... Trisya, shhh, don't talk like that here! You remember, right, where we're now? You could get into trouble if anyone hears what you said earlier," Darian scolded. Trisya became even more annoyed that Darian was also nagging her now.

"And unfortunately, someone has already heard," said someone.

Trisya immediately turned her head towards the source of the voice. In contrast to Darian who was immediately unable to calm down, Trisya still maintained a straight face - as if she had made no mistake as if there was nothing wrong with what she had just said.

"Y-Your Majesty? Good afternoon, Your Majesty," Darian greeted the person who had just joined him and Trisya. Trisya also saluted.

"Your Majesty, please forget what my sister said earlier, Your Majesty. It was just a misunderstanding. My sister just-"

"Darian, back then, I reminded you to talk casually with me when not on official duties, didn't I?" the man reprimanded.

Darian was still reluctant to raise his head. He was still downcast, worried about his brother's fate. "Please forgive me for failing to be a good brother to my sister, Your Majesty."

"Darian! There's no need to be like this! I didn't say anything wrong anyway, did I? I didn't badmouth Prince Terry either. I'm just telling the truth," Trisya was upset.

"Trisya, apologize to His Royal Highness Prince Avery!"

The man - Prince Avery, chuckled. The Crown Prince's younger brother seemed so relaxed and did not mind at all what he had heard from Trisya's mouth.

"Never mind! I won't tell anyone either. After all, Lady didn't make a mistake. Sometimes my brother is really annoying," Prince Avery said.

Hearing Prince Avery's answer, Darian breathed a sigh of relief and immediately raised his head. He was lucky that it was the generous prince who heard Trisya's words. Otherwise, they might have gotten into trouble by now.

Prince Avery turned his body to face Trisya. "I would like to say this to you as a friend. If you still want to be close to the Crown Prince, you should never bother Lady Rania! Because I see, Lady Rania seems to be quite close to the Crown Prince."

Trisya didn't seem surprised to hear that. "But I don't care either, Your Highness. Even if Prince Terry loves Lady Rania, it's none of my business. It's just that the rumors are wrong. I have never caused any trouble at Count Morsche's residence."

"What? What kind of news has been circulating all this time? Does it concern my sister, Your Highness?" confused Darian.

Prince Avery smiled slightly. "Yes, and unfortunately it's not good news. So as a friend-"

"Does His Highness also believe the issue? Does the Prince think I'm also that bad that I would want to cause trouble at the residence of Prince Terry's favorite person?"

Prince Avery listened. "I can't just believe it outright, before I hear your side of the story. After all, I only intend to advise a friend."

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but as someone who has been with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince almost every moment, it seems impossible for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to be that close to Lady Rania. Indeed, what exactly happened?" continued Darian.

"I'm not sure either. However, Lady Trisya should indeed be careful, if she still wants to maintain her dream of becoming the Crown Princess," Prince Avery suggested.

"Indeed, Your Highness. I don't care about the position of Crown Princess or anything," Trisya said firmly.

Prince Avery only smiled at that. "Very well. Whatever you wish, I can only support you and always pray for your happiness. If you need a friend to talk to or need help, don't hesitate to let me know! You can write a letter to me anytime."

"Thank you for your offer, Your Highness," Trisya said. She didn't care much for Prince Avery's words. After all, she wasn't planning to ask for any favors from the royal family members either. Weren't they all involved and in favor of Trisya's execution in the novel? "In that case, we would like to take our leave, Your Majesty. Good day."

"Darian, let's go!" Trisya invited Darian. The two of them walked away leaving Prince Avery who was still watching them.

"Trisya, don't listen to Prince Avery! Prince Terry can't possibly have feelings for another girl. He must like you. After all, you are his fiancée," Darian said.

"Darian, can we stop talking about that? I'm tired of thinking about such unimportant things!" protested Trisya.

"So, you still believe in Prince Terry, right? You don't need to be afraid, because I will always be here to support you," said Darian, making Trisya sigh as her brother did not understand what he was saying.

'I don't know how far their relationship has come. Many things have changed - the plot has become chaotic even though I can't escape the fate of this antagonist. But I think it's quite plausible that Prince Terry nagged me earlier because he couldn't accept the girl he liked getting into trouble with me. But the thing is, who had told Prince Terry the misleading info? Whoever it is, it's someone who wants to ruin my reputation. I need to find out who the person is who is trying to tarnish my good name, before the news gets more widespread and the public really marks me as a troublemaking lady.'

"I apologize if my departure took too long. Shall we continue our journey, Lady?" said Prince Terry who had just returned.

"Sure," Trisya replied briefly. After that, Darian stopped his steps, giving Trisya and Prince Terry space so that they could walk together. Seeing that his sister was fine, Darian decided to leave. He asked Layla and Adriana to look after Trisya and immediately report to him if anything happened to his beloved sister.

Meanwhile, Trisya and Prince Terry were still walking around the palace.

"What places do you want to visit?" asked Prince Terry. Trisya shook her head.

"I don't know many things in this palace. I also don't know the best place in the palace," Trisya replied simply.

Hearing Trisya's answer, Prince Terry looked at the girl doubtfully, "really?"

Trisya didn't know why the Prince didn't seem to believe her.

Wait a minute! Did Trisya sneak into the palace area secretly as a child and Prince Terry found out about it? Because the look on the man's face seemed to say that Trisya had been here and knew the ins and outs of the palace before.

After that, they no longer spoke much. The two of them just continued to walk towards the back of the eastern palace. They continued walking, passing through the small forest of the palace and then came to a diamond-like place hidden behind the small forest.

"This is one of my favorite places in the palace," Prince Terry said suddenly, breaking the reverie of Trisya who was admiring the beauty of the place.

Instantly, Trisya fell silent. Her body froze - there was absolutely no movement, except for her heartbeat which was racing at a rapid pace as the flash filled her head.

A memory that transported Trisya to the girl's childhood in this place. She ran around and seemed happy running all over the lakeside garden with her maid until she tripped over something and fell.

Little Trisya cried. Her nurturing maid immediately ran to Trisya and helped her. And suddenly, there was a boy who came to Trisya and knelt before her.

"Your feet are bleeding. But, who did you come here with? And how do you know this place?" said the boy.

Instead of answering, Trisya continued to cry out in pain.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to take my Lady away immediately, Your Majesty. My lady must get-"

"Get on my back! I will take you to my palace, and ask my maid to treat your leg," snapped the boy.

Instantly, Trisya's crying stopped. She looked at the boy sadly. The boy now had his back to Trisya while squatting so that Trisya could get on his back.

"Aunty, can you help her get on my back?" the boy asked.

"But, Your Highness-"

"This is an order!" said the boy.

'Your Majesty?

Trisya's ears seemed to buzz as the brief memory came to a halt. 'Is it possible...' Instantly, her body went weak - who knows what happened. Fortunately, Prince Terry was there to catch her, so Trisya did not have to feel the pain of colliding with the grass.

"Tsk, still the same as before. Weak and loves to trouble me!" mocked Prince Terry with a mysterious smile on his face.

'So, that flash was our past?' Trisya thought.