The Concealed Princess

6. FELDGRAU

"Belle! Where in the world have you been?!"
"Goodness Sofia let me at least come in first."
"You were missing the whole day Belle! All we knew was that you were at a friend's place. Your phone is switched off and we didn't know where you were." I say angrily.
"Sofia! I'm fine! I'm not a kid I know how to defend myself and I wasn't even alone I was with Philip."
"Oh, okay then. But please tell us where you are the next time you go, I was worried sick for you and you were right next door." I said giving a little laugh.

"I wasn't there. Philip and I were at the main office. He wants to change his residence because he and Emanuele had a huge argument about it. I tried to explain to him that he might regret this decision later on but he won't listen."
"So what happened, is he going to change his residence, did the office permit it?"
"Yes, they said they have a few empty ones or he can even choose to live with a roommate."
"I see, does Emanuele know? And what was the reason for the argument? "
"According to Philip, Emanuele is a great friend but not a good roommate. And that is because he has never been a roommate before he was also homeschooled, like you, and so they argued about stuff and then they decided to not be roommates for the sake of their friendship."
"Okay. Do tell me Philip's cottage number later."
"Okay. I'll do so." She said giving me a little smile followed by a chuckle. "But for now let's have lunch, I'm starving."

We sit down for lunch. I was filling Belle in about my first day, which she regretted missing.
After a while, Benjamin entered the room and announced that we had a visitor. He was followed in by Emanuele.
"Hello, Emanuele! Had lunch yet?
"Hello and no not yet. I was wondering if you know where Philip is?"
"He might be at the main office. He told me he would be going there later. Is everything okay?" Belle asked.
"Well he came back home, so I asked him where he was and that I was worried sick about him and he just suddenly burst into rage and started to shout at me. And then walked out the door. I looked for him everywhere but couldn't find him."
"It's okay Emanuele he might have gone back to the office." Belle tried to console him.
"Yes, why don't you join us for lunch and after that we can all go and look for him." I added.
He agreed and sat down at the table. Sarah quickly laid an extra plate for Emanuele.
We discussed all the places we would individually search at. First, we'd all go and check at the main office and if he's not there we'd separate and search individually.
Belle would go to the botany department, Emanuele would search the literature and art department and I would search at the gym and the ground.

After lunch, we headed for the main office.

A young lady sat behind the front desk we approached her to ask her if she had seen Philip.
"Good afternoon ma'am!" I greet her.
"Good afternoon! How may I help you?"
"We wanted to know if Prince Philip was here."
She started to type something on the computer.
"Are you looking for Prince Philip of Velaris?"
"Yes."
She clicked on something and then continued to inform us.
"Price Philip of Velaris was here at 2:35 pm to collect some forms for changing his cottage. He left the building at 2:47 pm."
"Did he say where he was going?" Belle asked.
"No, he did not mention anything like that."

We walk out disappointed and split up to look for Philip. I decide to look for him at the gym. I walk down the green path admiring the view around me. After a long walk, I finally reached the gym. Here there was a small corridor from where you can enter the gym. Between the gym and corridor was a glass wall. I entered the corridor and looked through the glass wall. There was only one person there, Damien.
He noticed me and signalled me to come in. I enter the gym and wave at him.
"Hello, Damien! " I greeted him.
"Hello, Sofia! I didn't know you worked out."
"Oh I don't, I was looking for Philip, have you seen him?"
"No, he would be here usually but isn't today. I called him to ask if he was coming but his phone was switched off. Is anything wrong?"
"Oh no, it's nothing important. We just couldn't find him for lunch."
"Oh okay."
We bid goodbye and he continued his workout. I stepped out of the gym and was walking toward the ground. My phone started to ring, it was Belle.
"Hello, Belle, did you find him?"
"Yes, I found him in the gardens. I was calling to tell you to not wait for me at dinner as we are going to a restaurant nearby. He needed to talk and clear his mind a little."
"Okay, then I'll call Emanuele and tell him about it."
"Okay! Thank you, Sofia. I might be late so don't worry about me a lot. Okay? "
"Okay."

I called Emanuele and told him about their plans. We decided to have dinner together as we were both alone anyway and had no plans. I also suggested inviting Damien if he was free.

I called him after Emanuele and he was free! I quickly walked home and told Briar to do the needful arrangements for our guests and asked Emily to cook us a delightful meal.

I still had time until the gentlemen arrived. I took this time to complete some school work and get cleaned up.

***
So, I have no words.

Happy reading!

~T.