The Empress's Knight

Chapter 2

"So, Sir Carsein, I heard you wished to become a knight in the future?" Ruveliss Kamaludin Shana Castina said, as he placed the cup of tea on the table. His eyes gazed at his apparent cousin.

"Yes. That is correct." The red haired boy, on the other hand, tried to keep his face straight. 

"I also heard you're a genius at swordmanship. Impressive." Somehow, Carsein felt like the gaze the prince sent him was different, despite his mouth praising the red-haired. 

"Thank you." He received it nonetheless. It was not wrong after all. He was, and would forever be amazing.

 Ignorant of the fact that the boy before him had praised himself inwardly, the prince continued. "How... lucky you are. Having that talent, a treasure of the Castina Empire surely."

Yep. It was truly awkward for a conversations between cousins.

A glimpse of a flash of silver pulled him back from his thoughts. Blinking his eyes, Carsein strode towards the large tree as his eyes met a pair of golden haired eyes, and a figure of the small little lady he met weeks before. 

"Aristia La Monique." 

The girl seemed to recognize him, as her eyes widened before she exclaimed, "Sir... Carsein?" Just like when he first saw her, she had a doll in her arms. The scene surely bewildered him, but he decided to tease the little princess first. 

Their first meeting, was quite interesting that he found himself wondering about the silver haired little lady weeks after the event at his house. It was quite surprising, to say the least, as he was not someone who recognize people unrelated to sword and knight. 

"Now, now. What are this tiny little lady doing here? With your companion too." He gave a fleeting glance at the doll in her arms, his hands rested on his side, as he leaned forward. A teasing grin was evident on his face. 

The tiny little lady, as he dubbed it, didn't seem to be amused. Her mouth formed into a small pout as she turned away from him.

"None of your business!" 

That respond of hers caused a small chuckle to escape from his mouth. It made her pout bigger however which earned herself a much louder chuckle. Carsein swore that there's tears coming from his eyes. It took a while before the red haired boy managed to control himself and raising his arms in surrender. 

"Alright. Alright. I'm sorry, tiny little la - err... Aristia." He cleared his throat and correcting the name he gave her. A glance towards his surroundings proved to him that there's no one else in the vicinity, which confused him. Where was the Marquis anyway?

He turned towards Aristia. "Well, what are you doing here alone? I don't think the Palace had a dollhouse despite the magnificent buildings inside it."

The girl crossed her arms, trying to make herself look bigger. "I'm not coming here because of a dollhouse. I just came back from a meeting with the Crown Prince." She said the last sentence proudly, causing the boy to frown.

"Meeting with the Crown Prince?" He repeated. But it was almost an hour for his meeting. Did hers was before or after his meeting? 

A brief silence came between them, before he broke it. "Well, then." He started hesitantly. "Are you done with your meeting?"

He saw her froze and her lips trembled. But she still answered his question. "I'm done with it. But, no one came to pick me up."

Seeing her tears gathered on her eyes, he quickly patted her head. "I'm sure that there's a misunderstanding, Aristia." He knew that their fathers were busy, but seriously? No one to pick her up? Aren't the prince supposed to order his servants to arrange a carriage for the little lady?