The Prince and I

Chapter 7

Once I was ready the next morning, I wandered around my room. I was supposed to go with Max when he practiced piano, but we were at a fallout, so I think it's been called off.

I sighed as sat down in a chair on my balcony. I had a view of one of the courtyards, which also had a garden in it. I got up and walked over to the cement railing. I peered over the side and looked at all the flowers.

I was too high up to see any details, but I tried my best. Until I thought about actually going outside to look at them. I shook my head at my stupidity and walked out of my room. The exact moment I stepped into the hallway, Max did too. He had his hair all messed up and he was dressed on the casual side of formal.

I froze in my spot and he looked up at me. His eyes widened just a bit, before they narrowed.

"Good Morning Lady Alyssa." He said. I curtsied and smiled.

"Good morning Prince Maximum." I replied stiffly.

"Do you want to follow out on our agreement from yesterday?" He asked. I was about to turn him down, until I remembered that I didn't actually hate him, I just needed him to like Bella more than me. I nodded slowly.

"Yes. It was an agreement, and I don't want to break it." I said. He gave me a lifeless smile.

"Then should we go?" He asked. He offered his hand to me, and I was hesitant to take it, but in the end I did.

"Of course." I said. He nodded. We silently walked to the music room and he opened the door for me. I gave him a small nod as thanks and walked in.

The whole poker face thing I was doing crumbled the second I walked into the music room.

"Holy shit! This is awesome!" I exclaimed as I looked around the room filled with different instruments. I turned back to look at Max. His eyes were wide because of my sudden change of character. "Max! Do you know how to play all of these instruments?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Well, I know the at least basics of all of them. I'm not exactly an expert though." He explained. I nodded. I walked around looking at all of them. I stopped at a violin and gently placed a finger on it.

"I've always wanted to learn violin." I muttered. I sighed and moved along the room. "You didn't tell me this." I said. I glanced over at him.

"I don't know if I got the chance." He said. I watched him. He walked over to the piano at the center of the room. I watched as he sat down and placed his fingers lightly on the keys. He began to play a really cute song that I haven't heard before.

I listened to the song and smiled. It was a beautiful piece. I wondered what it was. I watched him and noticed every detail.

How he sat, how he closed his eyes when he was really into it, how he didn't even glance at a sheet of music.

I was just standing there watching him like an idiot. I took a deep breath and tried to focus on the song, not on Max.

The way the song sounded was so melodic, and it really captured a sweet, gentle, happy tune to it. I smile and walked closer to the piano. The song was short, so he finished it in no time.

He looked up at me with his bright blue eye and a smile.

"How was that?" He asked. I stayed silent and gave him a smile.

"That was great." I told him. He placed his fingers back and began playing a Chopin's Spring Waltz. I had only heard a clip of it once before, which is why I recognized it. I watched as his fingers danced over the keys.

The bench he was on was long, and my feet were getting tired, so I sat beside him. His finger slipped and he hit the wrong key, which threw the whole song. He stopped and looked over at me.

"Sorry." He said.

"It's okay. I mean, it's probably not the easiest song." I said. He nodded and looked away.

"Alyssa, I've been wanting to explain." He said. I began to shake my head.

"Don't. You don't have to tell me, and I don't need to know." I said. He frowned and looked back up at me.

"Do you even care what happened?" He asked. I knew this. I knew he was testing me. The answer I gave would change how we see each other next time. I wanted to tell him I did care, that I was dying because I didn't know. I couldn't.

"It's not really my problem," I said. I looked away so that I wouldn't have to look him in the eye. I heard him scoff and felt him get up.

I didn't hear one word though. Not one peep. The only thing I heard after that was the door shutting.

I looked around the empty room. I sighed and got up. I slowly began walking out. As I left the room, I collided with someone else. I was thrown off balance and began to fall over, but arms wrapped around me and helped steady me.

"Woah. Are you okay?" A light yet strong voice asked. I looked up and met eyes with a guy that looked just a bit older than me. I nodded and stepped back, flustered.

"Yes. I'm sorry about that. And thank you." I said. He gave me a grin.

"No problem, but it was more my fault." He said. I could hear footstep approaching from down the hallway. He rolled his eyes. "They're still following me? Geez I thought I lost them." He said he looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. "Got to go. See ya." He took off down the hallway and disappeared around the corner.

I stood there very confused before a couple of guards came up to me.

"Has anyone passed through here?" One asked. I was about to nod my head, but decided to just cover for him.

"No. I don't believe so." I said. They nodded and continued on. Who was he?