Will you be my Princess?

Prologue: The Garden

"Pfft." He chuckled, "Of course I know the way out." He had been in the garden numerous of times and memorized it by muscle memory where the exit was.

"Do you mind showing me out then, I'm sure my father is looking for me."

"Alright." He said with his chin up, "Follow me!"

Lyrica followed Cassien like a little duckling. They made a few turns, left and right, to get towards the exit. Cassien looked behind himself and saw Lyrica skipping around as they went through the maze.

"Why are you so cheerful?" He didn't really understand why she was so happy even though they were just walking.

"I don't know." She shrugged and hummed a song.

Her attention span is like a fish...

"You know I don't quite get you. If your father has business in the palace I assume he has a noble title. If he does have a noble title I don't understand why you're wasting your time playing around."

"What do you mean?" Lyrica was confused by his question, "It's normal for kids to be playing around right? Your probably no older than me. We could be the same age! Right now I am nine years old!"

"I'm ten..."

"Then your still technically a kid then! My mother says that kids should be playing around and rolling around on the grass!"

"What? We're not animals are we?" Cassien made one more left and he saw the red rose bushes again.

"Well, we're not. But, like animals we need freedom! We can't be caged up all day now can we?" She skipped ahead of him, "Father!" She shouted out.

Cassie looked straight ahead and there was a man with the same pink eyes as Lyrica and brunette hair smiling towards her. Next to that man was Cassien's father, the Emperor, and Cassien walked towards them.

"Lyrica! I was trying to look for you." The man picked up Lyrica and held her high in the air. Lyrica was smiling like a normal child would, but all Cassien could do was stand there a bit frozen.

"Cassien I didn't notice you were here as well." The Emperor looked to his side and saw Cassien staring at the man, "Cassien this is the Duke of the Central kingdom, I'm sure you've heard of him. His name is Duke Eric Castillo."

"Pleasure to meet you." The Prince bowed to the Duke.

"Oh, I haven't seen you since you were this small. Seems like you've hit a growth spurt! Now that I think of it, Lyrica what were you doing with the Prince?"

"I got lost playing in the garden, so this kid helped me out!"

"L-Lyrica! He's not just any kid." The Duke set Lyrica on the floor. He squated near her to talk to her ear, "This is the Prince of Valentino, The First Prince Cassien. You need to greet him with honor." He told her.

"Oh..." Lyrica nodded her head and did a curtsy in front of the Prince, "It's an honor to meet you, your majesty!"

"Highness!" The Duke shook his head.

"Ah! Your Highness! I am Lyrica Castillo! House...Castillo!" She remembered.

Cassien felt like laughing, but he had to hold it in to keep his dignity, "Be at peace." This was his signal for her to lift her head back up.

"Anyways, today's meeting went well." The Emperor began to talk again.

"Mhm, I had a phone call from Lyra. She wants me and Lyrica to come home so we can eat dinner together."

"Yea! Mother said that if we don't come back in time she's really going to—" suddenly the Duke covered Lyrica's mouth and laughed nervously.

"Seems like your a bit hyper today aren't you sweetie?"

"Pfft." The Emperor chuckled at the two of them. This was the first time Cassien saw his father's natural smile, "You both should go then. I wouldn't want to make Duchess Castillo angry."

"Yea, until next time. I hope to see you too your highness." He turned to Cassien and smiled at him. He took Lyrica's hand and they walked down the hallway together.

"So you were playing with Lady Lyrica? What happened to your studies?" The Emperor asked.

"I wasn't playing with her. She fell down the willow tree in the garden." Cassien explained, "The tutor let me go early since I finished the math problems with ease."

"I see. Well, your next lesson is up in a few minutes. Make sure your not late." He said with a serious stone.

"Yes father." Cassien nodded his head and watched as his father walked away towards the other direction of the hallway.

Lyrica...Castillo..