DEMIGODS: The Lost Princess

Chapter 14.

"Your highness, what do we do now? He's approaching the princess," one of the royal guards disguised as civilians, quickly reported to King Kostos what he's seeing. They initially planned to restrain the young man now walking towards the oblivious Princess Elise who's peacefully enjoying her cup of coffee, but the royal guards hesitated to meddle after recognizing that he is the crowned prince of Ssenippah.

From inside the palace's watch tower, Queen Heran nervously grabbed King Kostos' left arm, confused by what's happening.

"Kostos, what is the prince of Ssenippah doing in Centro? Does he know our daughter?"

"Relax, my love. She's gonna be fine. I heard from Defense that it was actually Prince Arres' private royal plane that got her here safely the other day. They've met by accident and they seem to get along. So I guess there's no need for us to panic."

King Kostos watched Prince Arres closely from the screen, intrigued by the young prince's odd behavior towards Elise. He was told that Prince Arres is also unaware that the lady he brought to Evoleurt is actually the long lost princess, but looking at the dynamics of these two right now, there seems to be more to it. The prince seemed really excited to see Elise. The king then laughed in silence after realizing the fantastic coincidence of it all probably brought upon them by the Gods of Ytinrete. He even looked up the sky imagining the possibilities.

"This is interesting," he muttered to himself, still smiling.

The king then responded to the royal guards following his daughter around and gave them clear instructions. "Step back and don't cause a scene. Just let them be. Let him approach the princess. He's not a threat to his future wife, and if ever he will be, he's clearly messing with the wrong demigod."

"Copy, your highness," the guard heaved a sigh of relief and stayed put in his post.

***

"So, tell me, have you tried their burrito too?" Prince Arres asked Eli as he casually sat in the chair right in front of her.

Eli almost spat the coffee on Arres' face, surprised by his sudden appearance. She's clearly not expecting company today and she's clearly not expecting to see him here of all people.

"Why are you here?" Eli asked, not even bothering to hide her annoyance from the lunatic who asked her to marry him from out of nowhere the other day.

"Can't you see? The gods from Ytinrete are letting our paths cross again. If this isn't fate, I don't know what is. And I really meant what I said to you earlier: their burritos here are to die for. You must try them. They taste life-changing," he said playfully and winked at her.

Prince Arres then leaned in closer to Eli, cupped her face with both his hands, and looked into her eyes intently as if studying her and looking for answers.

Eli's face turned crimson, and for a split second there she was entranced and did not know how to respond to his outrageousness. This mental case is really starting to get on her nerves.

"Wait, you idiot! What are you trying to do to me? Are you trying to kiss me? Pervert!" She blasted, realizing how ridiculous he's behaving. "Let me go or I'll bite yourrrrr.. err... lips... err... face?" she stammered, sounding so confused after getting distracted by his lips being this close to hers. She's never met anyone as annoying as this man.

Prince Arres smiled hearing her fumble with words, thinking how on earth can someone be this damn cute. She's wearing plain clothes and her hair's in disarray, but seeing her deep set eyes, long lashes and almost heart-shaped red lips are driving him insane. He's never been this instantly infatuated by someone he doesn't even know.

"Get yourself together, Arres," he reminded himself in silence, trying to rein in his emotions. He needs answers to a million questions in his head about her. He's just been trying to dismiss his cousin Zion about how his wounds were miraculously cured the other day, but it's been bugging him to be honest. How can a normal human like this girl right here heal a demigod like him? She practically brought him back to life with a mere touch from what he could understand, and it just doesn't make sense. As far as he knew, the neutral realm of Pihsdneirf has not had any female descendants, so this is a big deal. Who is this girl and where is she from?

"Go ahead. Bite me," he still ended up slipping that challenge out loud, with a silly smile on his lips, which infuriated Eli even more.

"I meant your ugly face! I'll bite your head off if you don't stop all these antics. Why are you acting like a lunatic all the time?" She looked away and tried to push him but he won't budge, not even a bit. His chest is too ripped for her tiny hands to do any sort of damage.

"Seriously though, are you a descendant of God Attikus from Pihsdneirf by any chance?" Arres almost whispered this question to Eli that the guards discreetly listening in to their conversation did not pick up any of it.

But Eli's eyes widened in panic after hearing him. "You can't ask me that out loud ever again! Don't stir up trouble for me!" Eli remembered Mr. Kent's serious warning to her last time.

"So, you're not? It's just a yes or no question." Arres pressed on, but atleast he's finally let go of her face and is now sitting comfortably in his chair as he spotted his cousin Zion, now carrying a tray of fresh burritos and walking to their table.

"The answer is no. I am not. So goodbye and see you never again." Eli stood up, about to go as far away as possible from Arres but he grabbed her right hand to stop her from leaving.

"Oh wow! What a lovely surprise! Look who we have here! If it's not the feisty long lost princess of Evoleurt herself who saved my cousin's life and stole his heart like a thief in the night! Eli, right? Or should I call you Princess Elise? I'm so glad to see you again! You're gonna love these burritos. Please sit back down. These burritos will change your life!"

Eli is shocked by what Zion just said to her. She sat back down, seething in anger, but also feeling deeply intrigued and nervous by the turn of events.

The guards in disguise also tried to turn and check what's happening as discreetly as possible, but looks like their presence has been found out already.

Prince Arres' jaws dropped to the ground as his gaze shifted from Eli to Zion and back to Eli again. If there's any ounce of truth to what his cousin just said, how in the world is that even possible?

"How in the world did you know who I am?" Eli asked Zion, sounding bored and defeated. Zion's big mouth would be the death of her for sure.

He simply pointed to the eight royal guards now standing awkwardly in their posts and sweating profusely in response, while he started munching on his burrito. "Your majesty, as you can see, you got eight top tier security following you around," Zion answered matter of factly, but gave a peace sign to the royal guards surrounding them, even mouthing a silent sorry to them as well.

"What?! That can't be. Are you sure about that? My parents promised me that they won't send in anyone," Eli's heart sank in disappointment and as if on cue, the sky above dimmed a little and started roaring with thunder.

"I overheard one of them talk to King Kostos earlier when I was getting my orders inside," Zion just shrugged, enjoying his every bite and then turned to his cousin who's looking absolutely dumbfounded by what he just heard. "You gotta let go of the princess' hand now, Arres, because in three seconds, I'm sure King Kostos will be summoning the god of lightning to strike you right in your forehead. Not a good way to die, cous. Not gonna be pretty. So listen to me, let go of your future wife's hand for now and eat your burrito. Okay? Trust me please."

Eli noticed Arres' hand still holding hers and exclaimed "Did your cousin just say I'm your future wife?!"