The Princess With The Jet Black Hair

Chapter 13

The sun greeted Emily with a beam of light that smacked her in the face as she opened her eyes. She groaned and blocked her face from bright star. She sat up to find herself back in the guest room, which baffled her. She tried to collate her thoughts, "How am I back here?"

Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door.

She hopped out of the bed and went for the door. She swung open the door and saw Beck in front of her, "Good morning, Princess." He greeted with a smile.

"...Morning." She greeted back awkwardly. "Erm...How did I--"

Before she could finish, Beck cut her off. "Sorry, but I'll explain later, you should get ready. There's also something else I want to talk to you about, so I'll wait outside for you. Is that alright?"

"Yeah... Sure." She replied, "Give me a few minutes, I'll be out as soon as possible."

Beck nodded as Emily shut the door with care. "What does he want to talk about? Maybe he got mad because I read one of his books without permission? Or is it that he didn't like that I left the pail of water as it is, without cleaning it up? Also, how the did I return here?" Her thoughts just went wild as anxiety just slowly crept behind her mind. She quickly changed out of her clothes and went out.

"That was quick, are you sure you're done?" Beck asked with widened eyes.

"Yeah, I'm done. So, how did I end up here and what do you want to talk about?" She replied while walking alongside Beck.

"Well, I brought you back and about last night..." He paused to sheepishly rub the back of his neck before he continued, "Is it alright to keep it between the two of us? Otherwise, it might make things troublesome for the both of us."

"Sure, but what 'things' are you talking about?" She asked while tilting her head to slightly to the side.

"Erm... It's a little complicated, but in Fiore there's this rule between nobles whereby wh--" Just before Beck could finish, Mary came rushing towards them.

"Hey, good morning, Princess." She greeted with a bow, before turning to the other guy, "-and Beck. How are both of you feeling?"

"Morning and I'm fine, I can barely feel anything." Emily replied with a smile. "Thanks for asking, Mary. Oh yeah, you know you can just call me Emily, right? All these 'Princess here' and 'Princess there' are too much for me."

Mary froze there for a few seconds before her eyes lit up. "Okay, Emily!" She complied with a bright smile.

Afterwards, Mary turned to face Beck, "How are you feeling? I don't think you should be walking around like that."

"Ah, I'm fine just a little sore. So, don't worry too much about me. Besides, you know about my recovery speed." Beck shrugged before shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Well, you shouldn't overestimate it."

Suddenly, a shadow was casted over Emily.

"Hey, Emily." Ben greeted put his arm around her. For some reason, she felt embarrassed when Ben did that and before she know it, her face was steaming with redness.

"Ben, stop that. Can't you see Emily is uncomfortable? You can't treat all girls like that." Mary rolled her eyes.

"Like what?" Ben challenged with a grin.

She furrowed her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes towards him, "...Like they are your toys."

"Well, I'm not treating her like a toy. I heard she needed friends, so right now, I'm just 'socialising'." He winked at Emily, "right?"

"Why am I feeling as if I'm in the state of peer pressure?"

Before she could answer, they reached the garden. There was a large circular table covered with a white silk cloth and on there were a large array of food.

Ah, that was just heaven to her.

"Looks like breakfast is served, we should probably go now." Emily said as she swooped under Ben's arm and before she heading for the table, she turned to them. "'Socialising' or not, we can leave it to later, right? Food comes first!"

The three of them smiled and followed behind her.

Once she reached the table she saw Jai and Anna. She greeted both of them with a smile as Jai pulled out the chair for her. "You don't have to do that, you know? I can do it myself but thanks."

She plopped down onto the comfy seat, while the others followed, as Jai poured a cup of tea for her. The fragrant scent of peppermint burst through the air. "Is peppermint tea alright for you?" He asked with a gentle smile.

"It's fine, but why are you doing all these things?" She questioned as she took a whiff of the refreshing tea.

"I'm the head butler here, so it's my duty." He replied while retaining his smile.

"Emily."

She turned as she heard her name being called, and there stood both a man and a woman.

The two of them were foreign to her, yet a sense of familiarity lingered between them. Somehow, she already felt a connection with the two.

They are her... Parents.