Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Trisya tightly grabbed the collar of Prince Terry's shirt who was now carrying her bridal style. The girl didn't seem to be fully aware of what was happening to her. Her head still felt dizzy. It felt like she had just been taken for a spin. Trisya's consciousness slowly recovered as Prince Terry placed her on a soft mattress. Trisya looked around the room, then gasped and almost jumped up if Prince Terry didn't hold her back.

"Call the royal physician!" ordered Prince Terry to a court lady. The maid nodded, then quickly left the room.

"I- where is this?" asked Trisya.

"My room, of course. Where else do you think?" replied Prince Terry, making Trisya's eyes widen in surprise. She again made up her mind to get out of bed. She had to get out of there. But, again, Prince Terry held the girl down so that Trisya could not go anywhere.

"Your Highness-"

"You are sick. So stay quiet until the doctor comes to check on you!" said Prince Terry, starting to speak in informal language.

When the door to his room was knocked, Prince Terry turned his head and told him to come in. A few seconds later, Darian and Layla appeared with worried looks on their faces.

"Your Highness, what happened to my sister?" asked Darian.

"I was just a little dizzy earlier. But I'm okay. Please tell Your Majesty to let me leave here immediately!" said Trisya.

"I will let her go after the doctor says she is fine," Prince Terry continued.

Darian looked at Trisya and Prince Terry in turn. Then, he noticed his sister's face and looked at her sadly. His feet took a wide step towards Trisya who was still half lying on the bed belonging to the successor of the royal leader. "Trisya, what are you feeling right now?"

"I told you, I'm fine now. And I can even jump or run around if you want," replied Trisya who immediately got a sharp look from Prince Terry.

"You can tell by your sister's pale face, right, Darian?" said Prince Terry, to which Darian nodded.

Trisya wet her lips. She didn't even know that her face looked pale. It felt like she didn't have a chance to absorb what was happening to her body right now - because she was only focused on getting out of Prince Terry's room.

'No! This is wrong! I need to leave here immediately. But, what do I have to do to get Prince Terry to let me go?' Trisya thought.

"Excuse me, Your Highness. The physician is here," said a maid who had just entered.

Prince Terry instructed the maid to let the physician in. Not long after, two people dressed in white arrived and saluted Prince Terry and Duke Gerald's two children.

"Check on Lady Trisya immediately!" ordered Prince Terry.

"Okay, Your Highness," they replied in unison.

Trisya inched away as the two healers approached. "But- but, Your Highness. They are special healers for the royal family."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I'm not a member of the royal-"

"But I personally ordered them to examine you, Lady. Because they are the only healers who can come the fastest. So, just for once, try to cooperate and learn to understand the situation!" interrupted Prince Terry.

The thing was, it wasn't Trisya who couldn't understand the situation. It's just that her situation was so bad that it needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.

'Gosh, I feel like I'm already dying!' Trisya's mind screamed. Trisya could only surrender and let the royal family's physician check her condition.

Trisya felt a little uncomfortable with Prince Terry, Darian, and Layla's gaze which continued to shine intensely at her. Even now her head began to feel dizzy from thinking about those stares.

"Are you feeling dizzy again, Lady?" asked one of the doctors who examined her.

"Just a little," Trisya replied simply.

"Did something happen to my sister? Is it possible that she is seriously ill?" asked Darian worriedly.

"Calm down, Young Master! There doesn't seem to be anything serious with her. There is nothing to worry about," explained the healer. Trisya was relieved to hear that.

"Really? Can you check one more time?" This time, Prince Terry's voice was heard.

"Of course, Your Highness," replied the physician obediently.

"I'm fine, Your Majesty. The doctor already-" Trisya was about to protest, but Prince Terry had already cut her off.

"Shut up and let them examine you better!" interrupted Prince Terry in a stern tone, leaving Trisya speechless. She could only let out a long sigh and let the healers examine her one more time.

After a few minutes, the two doctors seemed to be having a discussion. Then, one of them immediately prepared a potion for Trisya, while the other one immediately stood facing Prince Terry.

"So, how was it?" asked Prince Terry. Darian and Layla were also eager to hear the doctor's explanation about Trisya's condition.

"Lady Trisya is fine. She's just tired and probably has a lot on her mind. But, her heart rate and everything else is still fairly normal and there are no signs of serious illness, Your Highness," explained the doctor.

"Are you sure you didn't misdiagnose her? She was complaining of dizziness and almost fainted," said Prince Terry.

"I'm not as bad as you say, Your Highness," Trisya protested but was ignored by Prince Terry.

"I am sure, Your Highness. We've already given her a prescription for redemption. And in the meantime, we have also given her a potion that will make her feel better. Please allow her to rest for a while after this until the dizziness is completely gone!" pleaded the physician.

"That means I have to go home immediately so that I can have a good rest at my residence, right, doctor? Then I'd better get going-"

"You should not force yourself to travel far! Moreover, the distance between the palace and Duke Gerald's dukedom is quite far. So I suggest..." The physician seemed to deliberately hang his sentence, then looked anxiously at Prince Terry.

The cold-faced man let out a long breath, before finally opening his voice, "You will remain in my palace until your condition improves, Lady."

"WHAT?!" Trisya suddenly screamed at the unexpected words from Prince Terry's mouth. And that just made her head feel dizzy again. Trisya immediately massaged her temples while grimacing occasionally.

"Let me help you, Lady," offered the healer who was still beside Trisya. But Trisya refused.

"Lady Trisya's personal maid!" Layla immediately faced Prince Terry as soon as she heard the crown prince call out to her.

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Get the medicine for Lady Trisya immediately!" ordered Prince Terry.

"You can send my other maids, but not Layla! Because Layla must always be with me," pleaded Trisya.

"She's the only one here. Besides, there's still me and Darian here," Prince Terry said casually.

Layla didn't dare to refuse. In the end, she just nodded obediently then quickly accepted the prescription that the doctor had written down and hurried away from there.

Trisya just continued to grumble, even until the doctors had left the room. She looked at her brother with a pleading gaze. Darian, who was worried, immediately approached his sister. He knelt, not daring to sit on the bed of one of the most respected people in the country.

"What's wrong, Trisya? Do you need anything?" asked Darian. Trisya shook her head.

"I just want you to help me convince His Majesty that I'm okay. I want to go home and rest at home, Darian," Trisya whined.

Before Darian could speak, another voice came from behind him. "Not until you are completely well, Lady!" said Prince Terry.

Trisya puffed up her cheeks, then gave Prince Terry an annoyed look. However, it all seemed to mean nothing to Prince Terry who was still loyal to his cold expression.

"You'd better listen to His Majesty's advice, Trisya! You're not really well yet. You should rest now! I will take care of you here," said Darian.

However, Trisya shook her head quickly. "How can I rest here, Darian?" she squeaked.

"Why can't you?" said Prince Terry.

"This is His Majesty's room. How can I sleep here? What if someone finds out? What if the rumors will spread far worse than the truth? You know how quickly bad information about me spreads out there, right?"

"Maybe that's why your health is deteriorating, Lady," said Prince Terry.

"Sorry, what do you mean?"

"You take too much pleasure in thinking about unnecessary things," she replied.

Trisya furrowed her brow. "What part of what I said did you think I should not think about? Don't you know what my image is like outside the palace? Ah, no! Even inside this palace, my image is already very bad, right? You don't have to go far. You even did it yourself."

Prince Terry did not seem to understand Trisya's words.

Seeing his sister who had started to get angry while talking to the Crown Prince, Darian became even more worried. "Trisya, please don't be disrespectful to His Highness! After all, the Prince has generously allowed you to rest in his room."

"What? Generous? He's holding me back, Darian. I think he's doing this on purpose to torture me," Trisya corrected.

"Trisya, watch your language!"

"Why? Why are you always defending him? The Prince is indeed like that. There's nothing wrong with what I said, Your Highness?" At the end of the sentence, Trisya deliberately glanced sarcastically at Prince Terry.

"Trisya-"

"You don't know how evil he is to me, and why do you keep defending him? I know you work for him and must always serve the royal family. But, aren't I still your younger sister?"

"Trisya, what are you saying? What has His Majesty done to you to make you this angry?" asked Darian, now with much softer words than before.

"You should ask your 'master' directly!" snapped Trisya.

Darian immediately turned to Prince Terry. However, Prince Terry turned his face in another direction as if deliberately avoiding Darian's gaze.

"Is there something I missed, Your Highness?" Darian took the initiative to ask first.

And Prince Terry could not answer. He didn't even know why Trisya had this kind of anger towards him. And he also wanted to know what kind of mistake he had done that the Lady of Duke Gerald's residence could behave like this towards him.

"The Prince thinks I made a mess at Count Morche's residence the other day. He thought I was going to harm Lady Rania," Trisya said while looking at Prince Terry without any fear.

"What?" was Darian's surprise. He immediately turned to Prince Terry. "Is it true what my sister said, Your Highness? If it's true, I seem to have missed a lot of information about my sister. And even if it is true, why don't you discuss it with me first, so that I can investigate the truth?"

Prince Terry was silent. He could not defend himself in front of Darian. However, in a way, his ego was too big to admit his mistake. 'I wasn't wrong after all, was I? Trisya has been misbehaving since she was a child. And I also heard that information from someone I trust.'

"Is my answer enough to make you satisfied and stop blaming- ah!" Trisya again held her head which felt dizzy. Darian and Prince Terry were worried and reflexively grabbed Trisya's hand. Prince Terry's hand arrived first. However, once Trisya realized who the hand belonged to, she quickly brushed it away quite roughly.

"Darian, can we just go home now? Can you drive me? Please! I don't think my situation will get better if I keep staying here," Trisya pleaded in a pleading tone, to appeal to her brother's empathy.

"Your Majesty-"

"I won't allow it!" said Prince Terry, cutting off Darian's words that had just reached the tip of his tongue.

Prince Terry's eyes stared intently at Darian as if Darian was a threat to him. This made Darian very surprised. Prince Terry had never looked at him like this even though they had been together for a dozen years.

After that, his gaze softened as he looked at Trisya who was staring at him fiercely. "As the doctor said, Lady Trisya needs to rest a lot until her condition improves. So, I order you to get out of here, Darian! Too many people here will only make it harder for Lady Trisya to rest."

"You can't throw my brother out, Your Majesty!"

"I can. You need to remember where you are right now, Lady," Prince Terry retorted.

Darian rose to his feet, then faced Prince Terry. Trisya looked anxiously at her brother. There was no way Darian would just agree to Prince Terry's request, right?

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. But for once, I cannot do as you say. I cannot leave my sick sister like this," Darian refused.

Trisya breathed a sigh of relief. At least her brother still had the sanity to not agree to Prince Terry's order - even though it might get Darian into trouble for defying his master.

"It's an order, Darian! Besides, I'll still be here to look after your sister," Prince Terry said, then gave Darian a pat on the shoulder.

Leaving Trisya alone with Prince Terry? No! Trisya was sure that her brother wouldn't be willing to do that. Darian would have been even more firm in his refusal - Darian would have...

"Very well, Your Highness."

OH SHIT!

WHAT IS THIS?