Hidden Gem

Chapter 7: Cousin from afar

I woke up to the smell of burning pancakes. I widened my eyes in shock. Now who would be cooking at—I looked over to the clock and saw it was nearly 10 am—10 am!

“Ah! Danny! Stop it!”

I quickly removed the covers off my body and ran to the kitchen where I heard the scream. The dragon outside the window was soundly asleep. The dragon! Was it all really a dream? I mean, I don’t remember getting in bed. What happened? Could it really be a weird dream? “S-sorry! Wait, let me--”

“AH!”

I ran faster to the kitchen to see what was going on. My eyes landed on Danny, the butler, who was looking at the pan frantically. Lucille was in a face-palm position. Now Danny isn’t someone who you should put in the kitchen. He’s terrible at cooking. I looked over to see the pan having overcooked pancakes. I suppressed a giggle but failed. This got Lucille’s attention.

“Erin! Why, good morning!” she greeted.

“Oh, good morning Lucille,” I replied. “And Danny,” I shifted my gaze to Danny and smiled at him. His face turned into a deep red as he quickly looked away from me. “M-morning,” he stuttered. He had an uncomfortable look on his face. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. What--

“Erin! Why are you still in your night gown? Go and change before anybody sees you!” she advised while her face was in a pink color.

I blushed in embarrassment. “S-sorry! I’ll go change right away!”

I ran back to the room. A lot of the servants were up and working already. I passed by Manny, the chef, who was carrying a tray of fresh-baked cookies. I smiled as the scent entered my nose. It smelled delicious. I closed my eyes and immediately regretted the action. I ricocheted at the body I bumped into.

“HEY! Watch where you’re going, idiot.”

I opened my eyes and found Prince Darren in my vision. He flipped his blonde hair out of his blue eyes as he gave me a scowling look. I gave back a scowling look as well.  “Watch your mouth. Don’t they teach you manners?” I retorted. “Princess,” I added while I grinned at his expression.

He was taken aback with my words but immediately composed himself. It didn’t last for a second when his face suddenly turned a deep shade of pink.  He removed his gaze away from me and had an uncomfortable expression on his face, just like Danny.

“Wh-what are you—,“ he stuttered. “Never mind. Go and change! Now! It’s an order!”

I smirked at his reaction. He looked so cute. There’s no way I’m letting this pass. “Aw, are you embarrassed?” I teased.

“I-I’m not! Quiet!” he stuttered. Again. Well, this is fun.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve seen a girl’s body before, right? After all, you can see it in the mirror. Everyday.”

His face turned into an even deeper color. “Hey! I keep telling you! I’m male! A guy!” I ignored his remark and was still amused by his expression.

“What’s wrong? Not used to seeing a sexy body like mine?” I joked and suppressed my laughter, but failed when he returned his gaze back to me.

“Sexy?” this time, it was his turn to smirk. He looked me up and down and chuckled. I blushed at his actions. “Are you sure about that?” he raised an eyebrow as I gulped. What happened? I thought I was winning!

“Sh-shut up!” I replied. Agh! What’s wrong with me? I shouldn’t be stuttering!

He raised his eyebrow again and smirked, content that it was him who now has the upper hand.

“Well, well, well. Not so tough are we? Especially when you’re in your night clothes,” he smirked, taking a few steps forward.

I felt my face grow hotter. I walked a few steps back. “Don’t get any closer,” I warned. “Move out of the way! I’m supposed to change in my room,” I added. I did my best to make a menacing face as much as possible. Prince Darren only laughed at this.

“Feeling mighty now are we? Of all your clothing, its this,” he laughed even more. I held my ground and scowled at him. “Move,” I ordered.

He widened his eyes in amusement. “Now that’s not right. I’m the one who gives orders. Not you,” he remarked as he rolled his eyes.

I gulped at his response. I hate to admit it but, he’s right. I am in no position to do this. I bent my head and stared at the floor. “Sorry,” I apologized. I hate admitting defeat. But this is way better than getting my head chopped off.

“Good,” he smiled smugly. “Now ask me properly,” he commanded.

I shift my gaze back at him with a scowl. “Are you serious?!” I whispered harshly. I bit my tongue at how much I could get in trouble from what I just said. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited patiently.

“Go on. You heard me. Ask me properly,” he repeated.

I bit my lip and tasted blood. This son of a–!! Its embarrassing enough I've admitted defeat but, speaking to him nicely?! That’s a different story. “No,” I replied. I crossed my arms just like him. There’s no way I’m going to do what he says!

“You’re so stubborn,” he commented.

“Am not!”

“Are so.”

“Am not!”

“Are so,” he drawled, making me not response anymore. There’s no way I’m letting him do that. But before I could retort back, he took a couple more steps towards me. By instinct, I took a few steps back.

“You really don’t want to change your clothes? I don’t mind,” he smirked, again. That smirk is really getting on my nerves. I just wish I could slap it out of his face.

“Hey! Stop it! Seeing you guys flirt makes me want to throw up!”

I widened my eyes and saw a new face behind me. I looked at him with amazement, he was in silver clothing. It looked as if he was in armor but his clothing didn’t look like metal at all. He was in an ordinary silver t-shirt and some long silver pants (A/N:I am saying silver too much > <). He even wore black combat boots. His hair was a dark brown that slightly covered his grey eyes. His expression made me want to laugh. He looked as if he was really about to throw up.

“And who might you be?” Prince Darren asked, the same question I had thought.

“Me? Well, I’m Nathan. You can call me Nate for short,” he grinned.

“And you,” Nate pointed at me. I took a few steps back, afraid of what he might do. I kept my face cool so it wouldn’t show any fear. “You must be Erin!” he guessed. Right.

I widened my eyes at him. He hugged me in a blink of an eye before I could run away. He hugged me tighter when he felt me trying to take him off. “Hey, get off. I don’t even know you,” I snapped.

“Oh! I’m so forgetful!” He removed his arms off me and grinned. Its only been three minutes and I already don’t like him or his grin. “I’m your cousin!” he chirped as if it was the best news yet. Boy was he wrong.

“C-cousin?!” Prince Darren and I choked out.

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Author's note: Been so long since I updated! Sorry to those extremely quiet readers. Haha. Hope this chapter was okay. ^^ I think I'll upload the next chapter if I at least get 2 votes on this chapter. I'm starting to think of dropping it since no one voted for chapter 6. *sigh* Okay, drama mode over. Haha xD. Hope everyone's having a fun summer though :D