As they walked to the deck together Lyrica was looking at the ground the awhile time to make sure she didn't trip. She was given heels back at the boutique to make herself a bit taller. She wasn't used to it so walking on them were a bit new to her. But, she looked up once she saw Cassien standing still. Outside was a beautiful view of the city and the lights that were emitting from it. The whole scenery looked like a picture perfect scene from a movie. Lyrica never liked the city, but seeing it like this made it seem like an entirely different place.
"It's so beautiful isn't it!" The cold wind was blowing toward her face so she tucked in a piece of her hair behind her ear.
"I guess it is." Cassien placed his hands in his pockets and looked over at Lyrica who wasn't wearing a jacket.
Isn't it cold for her?
He took off his jacket and placed it nicely onto her shoulders, "Your going to get sick if you don't have one."
Lyrica turned to him and smiled softly, "Than—".
"I should've asked Montgomery to give you one." He sighed, "Now I'll be the one cold and sick."
Lyrica narrowed her eyes at him after hearing his comment, "If you didn't want to give it to me then just take it back." She grabbed the jacket, but he quickly stopped her.
"Just keep it!" He said in an annoyed tone and placed it firmly onto her shoulders, "I was just joking with you."
"Fine." Lyrica placed crossed her arms and continued to look at the view.
Cassien then remembered something from their time at the mall, "Hey you still never answered the question I asked when were at that place. The place with a ton of clothing stores."
"The mall?"
"Yea that place. How did you meet your friends, what were their names again? Ryan and Lucy?" He tried to remember.
"You mean Ryan and Lucia." She smiled at his mistake with Lucia's name, "I met Lucia a bit later after Ryan. We became close friends in seventh grade when we had this strict English and social studies teacher together. We were kind of like two peas in a pod when our teacher sat us next to each other. Ever since then we've just always stuck together. With Ryan it's a bit different, I met Ryan when I transferred in elementary school."
Cassien looked over to her as she explained how she met Ryan.
"That young? So you both are like childhood friends?"
"Pretty much you can say that" she nodded her head, "We met during a time when kids would tease me. You see I was the new kid when I came to this city. I didn't know anyone literally since I woke up from the accident. When I went to a completely new environment I kind of froze. A lot of the kids made fun of my eyes, because of their color." She smiled looking back at that time, "It was easy to poke fun at me since I was scared of everyone. That's when Ryan came in."
"What did he do?"
"He told them off a lot of the times. Telling them they were immature and that he was going to call the teacher." She laughed, "Afterwards they would call him a snitch, but it kept them away."
"What's a snitch?" He wasn't familiar with that word.
"It just means someone who tattle tales to someone. It's such a stupid word thinking about it. Being called that word, even though you are doing the right thing. But, that's how we became friends. He would always sit with me during lunch and we would go to each other's birthday parties. Those were the fun days then we had to grow up a bit, but we still act childish since it's okay to act like a child sometimes. He was also there for me when..." Lyrica's eyes saddened just thinking back on that piece of memory. So she decided not to mention it to Cassien, "Let's just say he was really there for me at a point in my life."
"Act like a child." He repeated to her, "That's something I never experienced, but don't feel bad about it. That is just how it is."
"I remember you telling me a bit about your life. It's never too late to act like a child, you just have to make it happen." She told him.
He raised his eyebrow at her and gave a small smile to her surprise, "You know my childhood wasn't as boring as it seemed. Maybe I just emphasized a lot about the studying." He said to her, "You even remind me of an old childhood friend."
"Really how so?"
"Hmm...." He thought of an answer for a bit when it finally hit his head, "When I was younger I used to have a friend who would come to the palace every now and then. They were quite unique. A bit clumsy and they would trip, fall, some how get hit by random objects."
"Are they alive?" She questioned.
"Of course they are." He chuckled, "Every time they would get hurt they always had a smile on their face. For some reason, they were the ones who reminded me I was still a kid. They were probably the ones who kept me sane."
"Where are they now?"
He looked at her and closed his eyes, "They moved away from Valentino. But, trust me they're pretty close right now."
"Ah I see. Well I'm glad you had at least one friend. I almost thought you had none as a kid." She joked.
"Hey." He said to her.
"Hm?" She raised her eyebrow.
"Let me ask you one thing." He looked down to the waterst to look at the reflection of the moon shining brightly from the sky, "The reason why you don't want to go to Valentino, is it because of your Aunt?"
"I told you before—" she turned her head towards him.
"I heard you." He looked back at her, "But, somewhere inside of you it seems like you disagree with her. I mean you wouldn't be standing here right now if you didn't feel that way. You would've firmly turned me down. How do you truly feel about the situation?"
"I..." she closed her eyes and all her thoughts came flooding through her head. She was a bit scared going to a new country, she felt like it would feel like before when she came to this country, "I just lack a lot...I mean your this whole public figure that has been training for what? Your whole life to where you are right now. If I go it's like throwing a small fish into the vast ocean. It's just like you said to me before, a person like me wouldn't last a day over there."
"You're overthinking it a bit. I'm not going to try to pressure you to go. But, the more you think about the worse things that could possibly happen, it'll get inside there." He poked her forehead, "Don't you want to see where your family is from, or at least your father? Don't you have some kind of curiosity to see what it's like over there?"
"Well when you put it that way, yea. I just—"
"Why make up the same excuse when you already answered?" He crossed his arms to her, "I'm going to explain it again. I'm not quite the romantic, but I'd much rather be there with someone who isn't interested in marrying me or being with me, than some crazy girl who is obsessed with me or some girl just using me for power."
Lyrica looked down into the water and reviewed in her what he said. He said what she did wanted to say. Deep inside she wanted to meet her family, she wanted to see where she lives, she wanted to see what her life was like before she came. Then she told what first came up to her head.
"I would have to convince my aunt."
His eyes widened when she said that, because he knew at that moment she was on board with the idea.
"Okay then I'll have a talk with her." He was finally happy she sort of agreed to the plan.
"Wait a minute!" She looked at him a bit reluctant, "I mean I literally can't emphasize this enough. But, she really doesn't want me to go."
"So your just going to let one person stand in the way with seeing your own family?" He cocked his head, "Put some faith in me. I'm the Prince I know how to convince people."
"Okay Mr. Prince. Good luck with convincing her." She laughed.
After they had that conversation it was time to go home. They thanked the captain and the servers for the wonderful dinner they had and headed back to Lyrica's house to talk to her Aunt. She was a bit nervous to bring the Prince to her house, she knew a storm was coming there way especially since she never made up with her Aunt yet. As they got closer to her house the more she grew nervous. They finally got to her house after an hour of traffic and Lyrica got out of the car. She bit her lip and Cassien followed her to the front door.
"Okay, I'll just say right now. My Aunt like I said before is really stubborn. So if she starts throwing hands just run." She warned him.
"I'm pretty sure I can handle her." He reassured her.
"Yup...Good luck with that..." she said quietly and brought out her house keys to unlock the door. She placed the key into the keyhole and turned it. She unlocked the door and opened it wide to reveal her house.
Cassien looked inside and it was quite the small house. Straight ahead he saw two people sitting on the couch. One had their head turned away while another, a young girl, popped right up to see who it was.
"Lyrica your back!" Alice smiled, "Look were watching the Amazing Race right now! I hate this one team because—"
As Alice looked farther she noticed the Prince and Lyrica approaching the living room and she looked back at her mom nervously.
This isn't going to be good...
"Lyrica your home? Do you mind taking out the—" before her Aunt can tell her to take out the garbage Lyrica and Cassien revealed themselves to her, "What's going on?" She said in a stern voice.
"We wanted to talk to you..." Lyrica said quietly.
"I let you go out for dinner on a school night and now you've brought him here." Her sharp eyes looked at him, "I'm listening."
"With respect, Mrs. Park. I'm here to convince you to allow Lyrica to come to Valentino with me." He said to her.
"What!" She shouted and looked at Lyrica, "I thought you didn't want to go?"
"I changed my mind after realizing a few things." She told her, "I...I want to see my family. I want to learn where I came from."
"You can just Google them if you wanted." She replied back.
"But! It's not the same as going there and experiencing it in person! Or like living they live like over there, the royals." She exclaimed.
"Living what they lived? Lyrica your mother's life wasn't all so great over there. Not everything is a fairytale in life." She responded back, "I just can't let you—"
"I'm not like my mom!" Lyrica clenched her fists, "I'm not going to die there!
Alice never saw Lyrica so angry before and she hugged a pillow to watch the drama unfold.
"What happened to her isn't going to happen to me Aunt Mei." She sighed, "Look..." Lyrica squatted to down to meet her Aunts eyes close, "Nothing is going to happen to me unless you trust me. The more you think of these bad thoughts in your head, the worse it's going to get." She looked at Cassien and he gave out a half smile.
"I assure you that we'll get our best knights to protect her. She is an important person." He added, "She'll be under the best protection in the entire world."
"Knights! There's Knights in Valentino!" Alice jumped into the conversation.
"Haha, yes there are small lady."
Small lady? Who is he calling small...
"Plus, we don't even plan on being engaged with each other or married with each other!" Lyrica confessed.
"Wait what?" Her aunt said confused.
"Wait, I didn't say tell her!" Cassien looked at her.
Lyrica got up from the ground and sighed, "I mean it just makes sense to tell her because she's the one who least likes the idea of the engaged marriage. Well...Along with me."
"Your both are faking it..." Her Aunt said in disbelief, "Lyrica's never even had a boyfriend..."
"Aunt Mei!" Lyrica shouted and she turned her head to see Cassien laughing, "Don't laugh at that!" She said furiously.
"Jeez mom, just let them go. Don't you see they want to be together?" Alice joked.
"We're not like that!" They said at the same time.
"This is...My gosh..." her Aunt placed her finger onto her forehead, "Tell me this plan you guys have then. You have a plan right?"
"Yea what is the plan?" Lyrica asked Cassien.
"Well the plan is, your going to come with me to Valentino for a month. Starting next month."
"A month!" She exclaimed. Then, Lyrica turned her head toward her Aunt and she looked like she was going to faint, "Wait why that long?"
"You need to study on the culture and catch up on everything you've missed since you've been in the States. Your going to have a whole schedule to adjust to the royal life. Your also going to escort me during my Debutante. We'll have Jeremiah teach you about the ceremony." He explained to her.
"I thought it would be a vacation, but this just seems like a bunch of work." She complained.
"Well, I can't just sugarcoat the whole thing." He shrugged, "Its going to be a lot of work. But, you'll have like an hour of break."
"An hour?" She sighed, "That also means missing a month of school...I'm going to have to catch up."
"You'll be fine." Alice reassured her, "If it's you, you can do it."
"So what do you think Mrs. Park?" Cassien looked at her, "Will you allow your niece to come with me to Valentino?"
Aunt Mei looked at them with a cold face. Inside she didn't want her to go. Yet, when she looked at Lyrica again she was reminded of her sister. Her ice cold face melted away when she nodded her head, "Okay." She sighed out.
Lyrica has a big smile on her face once she agreed to it. She couldn't believe she actually agreed to let her go.
"But, if anything happens to her. I swear I will go to Valentino myself and pull her out of there. Do you got that?"
"Of course, I swear by the first Emperor that I will do my best duty to protect your niece." He said with confidence.
"Wow didn't that make your heart skip a beat!" Alice said to Lyrica.
"I kind of want to throw up." Lyrica said disgusted.
"Be my guest." Cassien said to her.
"Hey where's grandmother? I'm sure she would want to meet you." She said to Cassien.
"Your grandmother is asleep, she said she has a bit of a headache so she went to get some rest." Her Aunt responded, "Why don't you and Alice check up on her real quick. Go bring her some water."
"Alright, c'mon Alice get off the couch." She pulled her off the couch and they both went into the kitchen together.
"You can sit down." Her Aunt told Cassien and he followed what he said. He was a bit nervous being alone with her Aunt, but he still acted confident despite what he feared inside.
"I'm relieved you both are mutual about not being engaged. I don't Lyrica's life to be encompassed around being a royal. Marrying you would make her follow that route. That being said." She crossed her arms and looked at him directly, "Please don't fall for her, or don't make her fall for you."
"I wouldn't trust me. I'm almost married to my work." He joked, but noticed ahe wasn't smiling with him and he awkwardly adjusted his voice, "I won't, to me she is like family. I just want to protect her."
"Okay..." she sighed a sigh of relief, "I also have a favor to ask you."
"Of course." Cassien sat up straight.
- in the kitchen -
"You guys didn't wash the dishes did you." Lyrica placed the empty glass of water into the sink. They had already given their grandmother water and wished her goodnight.
"Nope, we were tired." Alice responded, "So..." she sat up on the counter, "What was the date with you and the Prince like?"
"It was so magical." She said with a sarcastic tone, "I almost, I almost fell for him." She joked further.
"Jeez, any girl would fall for him, but instead you just go and make fun of the whole situation." She crossed her arms, "It's not fair! I want to be some sort of...What is it again? Like Lady some kind of important figure!"
"Haha, then marry some Prince. There's probably plenty of Royal people in Valentino." She then jumped off the counter, "Hey! Why don't I go to Valentino too!"
Lyrica dropped the dish she was washing and furrowed her eyebrows at her, "No, Alice you saw how hard it was for me to convince Aunt Mei. You can't go. Maybe in a couple of years if you graduate it'll be your gift." Lyrica told her.
"Fine..." she gave up, "I was just joking."
"Can I come in?" Cassien walked into the kitchen.
"Oh my gosh! Your greatness!" Alice bowed to him.
"Haha, I mean that's not how they do it. But, close enough kiddo."
"Kiddo? I'm not a kid." Alice said with dismay.
"What's up?" Lyrica asked.
"I just thought we could go over the plans..." he looked over to Alice, "In private."
"Oh yea we can, Alice take care of the dishes. I bet you haven't done anything the whole day have you?" Lyrica started washing and drying her hands.
"Fine." Alice groaned and walked over to the kitchen sink.
"Let's go into my room." Lyrica lead Cassien to her room down the hallway across from the kitchen. On the door it said Lyrica's name with a musical note next to it. Lyrica opened the door and it revealed her room. Her room was colorful, she had a ton of stuffed animals on her bed, posters on the wall of her favorites artists, and her walls were painted pink and purple.
"What is this? The inside of a claw machine game?" He asked her.
"No, it's my bedroom." She pulled up her rolling chair for him and she sat on her bed, "So what did you want to talk about?"
Cassien sat down on the rolling chair and crossed his legs, "So next month on the first you'll be flying over to Valentino. The flight is around five hours long, so it's not a far plane ride. I'll make sure to get a Knight to personally escort you to my estate."
"Your estate!" She didn't know he had his own house, "Why do you live without your parents?"
"It was a gift after I finished school." He explained to her, "Afterwards I'll have Jeremiah teach you the ways of the royal and you should have a planned schedule by then. Not too hard right?" He smiled to her.
"Yea, I guess?" She answered.
"I should get going, it's getting late and my flight is leaving tomorrow." He looked at the time on his watch then he noticed the gift he gave her was on her desk, "You haven't worn it?" He asked her.
"No, I kind of just left it there."
"You should wear it." He told her and got up from the chair, "It would be more convincing if you wore it around your neck everyday." He added.
"I mean, I guess your not wrong." Lyrica got up from her bed, "I'll go ahead and show you the way out." They left her room and as they were leaving Alice was exiting the kitchen.
"Is the Prince leaving already?" She asked.
"Yea, you wanted to say bye?" Lyrica looked at her.
"Nah, I was going to my room." Alice said and walked passed them.
"Shes a nice one isn't she?" Cassien let out a chuckle.
"Yea, she's always been like that since we were little." Lyrica opened the door for him and he went outside, "So your off to go back to Valentino, this was you last day?"
"Yea, luckily I was able to squeeze in the night at the town in my schedule." He scratched his head, "I'll see you on the other side then."
Lyrica watched as he disappeared in the dark and the car left. She closed the door afterwards and walked back to her room.
- in the car -
"How did the meeting with Lady Lyrica's Aunt go?" Jeremiah turned his head to the left.
"It was fine. It went as planned and luckily we were able to have Lyrica come to Valentino next month. I'm going to need to have her escorted by a Knight the whole trip. I was already thinking of one person."
"Who may that be?"
"Grey, I'm sure I can give him time off from training the new Knights. Can you schedule a meeting with him next week so we can talk about it?"
"Of course I can." Jeremiah pulled out his phone to set a reminder to call Gray.
"Also." Cassien needed to add one more thing, "Do we have our monthly meeting with the council coming up?"
"Uhm..." Jeremiah checked the agenda and saw that event written for next week as well, "Yes you do, next Monday there's a meeting. Why?"
"I just wanted to be prepared." Cassien said as he looked out the window.
- back in Lyrica's room -
Knock knock.
There was a knocking sound on the door and Lyrica got up from her bed, "Lucia I'm going to see you at school. Have a good night." She was in a call with Lucia about what just happened with the Prince. Lyrica quickly hanged up and opened her door. Outside it was Lyrica's grandmother standing.
"Lyrica your Aunt told me about today." She went inside and sat down on Lyrica's desk chair.
"Yea, I guess I'm going grandmother." Lyrica sat down on her bed and faced her grandmother.
"I'm really happy for you Lyrica. To be honest...When your mother passed away I was just like your Aunt. I was angry at everyone, not just the people at Valentino, but even myself. I blamed myself because I kept thinking if I didn't let her go to Valentino or if I didn't support the marriage...Maybe this all could've been prevented. I spent most of my days inside the house, while your Aunt had to keep up with school she kept up an act saying everything was alright. But, I'm also reminded without those events happening...You wouldn't be here." She smiled at her and showed Lyrica a necklace with a silver key attacked to it's chain.
"What is that?"
"It's something that Lyra left behind. I think it should go to you. I'm not sure if this key opens anything...But, I'm sure you should be the one to have it." She smiled at her.
"I see." Her grandmother handed the necklace to Lyrica and she held it onto the palm of her hand, "Do you still miss her?"
"I miss her everyday. Not a day goes by where she crosses my mind. Maybe it's because you remind me so much of her. Your personality, the way you look, every time I see you o can see a little bit of Lyra in you." She said softly to her.
"Me too..." Lyrica felt tears emerge from her eyes, "Even though I don't remember...I've always longed for them." The tears rolled down her cheeks and her grandmother gave her a hug as she was crying. Lyrica never met her parents, but just like her grandmother, not a single day passed where she had though about who they were. Ever since she woke up it felt like there was something missing from her life.