| ➳𝒮𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓅𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝒮𝓊𝒾𝓉𝑜𝓇➳ |

❤︎Chapter Five

"Princess Noelle. Sir Cassius. Sir Azura."

My father completes the quest acceptance ceremony, the entire audience clapping and cheering. A few maids and ladies in waiting who had taken care of me since birth were crying really ugly. How rude! Everyone thought I would die just from stepping foot outside of the house!

I didn't know whether to be appreciative or be offended!

"Noelle, my darling." My father reaches for my hand and places a giant, old and crumpled map into my hands.  I unfold it, my eyes overwhelmed by the beauty and complicatedness of the path of our quest.

Arcadia was merely a small kingdom in comparison to the others that surrounded us. There were so many complicated routes that led to dozens and dozens of other beautiful kingdoms that they almost became a giant interconnected mass.

"This is so confusing! Where do we start?"

"In order of youngest to oldest," my father answers, rubbing his beard, "And by that I mean the ages of the princes. The first prince you will meet is Prince Hawthorne of the Goldencrowe kingdom."

"Eh....How old is Prince Hawthorne?"

"About 16 I believe."

"16?! If he's the youngest, who's the oldest?"

"That would be Prince Mage at age 31."

My stomach twisted into a knot. If the eldest prince was 31, he had to be at least 13 when I was born! How in the world would we be able to get along?!

Oh my goodness...what have I gotten myself into...

"Darling," my father looks up at me with his wise brown eyes, a smirk spreading across his face, "If at any moment you feel overwhelmed by the choices you have amongst these men...do come back and I'll make the choice for you."

"That won't be necessary, father." I smirk back at him. Sometimes it was scary how easily he could see through me. I lean forward and kiss him on his cheek, to which his blushes in embarrassment and begins to wave me off.

Oops. I forgot this was a public event!

"I will assign only one servant to you during your travels. Her name is Crystal. She will take care of you and assist you." He motions to the beautiful young woman standing next to him and her eyes sparkle like gems when she sees me. I admire her looks -- with her porcelain skin and long, waist length white hair it was clear she was big from Arcadia. I was tempted to ask if she was a princess, too!

Crystal curtsied before me and took both of my hands in her soft ones, "I'll do my very best as your servant, but I hope we can become great friends!"

"Friends?! I've never gotten to have many friends...I would really love that!"

"Then, without further delay, the Princess shall depart on her way by carriage.. Once you arrive at each kingdom, transportation will have been arranged in a timely manner. You will spend up to 3 days at each kingdom. Do you have anything to add, Noel?"

I turn away from my father and look into the faces of my people, my heart thumping in my ears. What did I have to say? It felt like such an important moment -- one worthy of a speech...And yet I couldn't think of more than a few words. I find my wandering eyes falling upon my dear Azura. He returns my gaze with his gorgeous blue orbs and nods silently at me.

The nerves vanish and words began to flood my mind.. my mouth opens up to connect them into an audible message.

"Thank you all very much for coming to see me off today. This journey has been truly much anticipated. I find myself often considering the fact that whoever I meet will have to be a great king to you all, and it creates a heaviness on my shoulders that I have yet to rid of. I'm sure that my prince is out there somewhere among those men, and I promise to choose wisely. Not just with my mind, but with my heart as well." Once the last word rolls off my tongue, the audience erupts into applause.. I feel like pouting. I was going to say something else, but I'd completely forgotten.

I get it! They're trying to get rid of me! They want me to stop with the boring speech and get! Well FINE!

Nevertheless I couldn't help but giggle.

The giant doors across from the throne room open, the room flooding with light. Outside is my grand carriage ready to carry us to the Goldencrowe kingdom. Crystal, Azura and Cassius hold out their hands to me, watching me with brilliant smiles on their faces.

"Come, Princess," Azura catches my gaze and never lets it go, "Your carriage awaits."