The Scarlet Phoenix and the Prince of Winter

Chapter Forty Six

"How did you know?" I asked the Crown Prince softly, trying not to gain attention from the others. "Did you see his face?"

He nodded. "I did. Come one, let us talk about it somewhere else," he added and then he signaled to one of the remaining Royal Guards what he wanted. Millicent noticed that the Crown Prince was trying to go somewhere so she asked him what was happening, to which the Crown Prince replied that he just felt a little dizzy and he wanted to get inside a room.

"Of course, of course! Oh dear!" she wailed in despair but to me, it was all overacting. "You should have told me earlier! You probably got Frost Fever! You are not used to the cold outdoors!" Millicent was actually panicking and that made me happy for some reason. Maybe I was happy because I knew that the Crown Prince was lying to her. He was just acting and I almost chuckled at her scared face.

So after giving a brief explanation of where the Crown Prince was going, Millicent's father ordered her to accompany us back to their stone mansion. I could feel that the Crown Prince did not actually want to leave but because of what just he saw, decided to leave early. He promised the disappointed crowd that he would be back later, though, and that cheered them up a little bit.

"Let's use our own snow carriage," Millicent said and we went with her decision since we wanted to get away from this place as soon as possible. It was a boring trip back to their mansion, and Prince Kao actually fell asleep while we were moving. This left me with Millicent who sat right next to the Crown Prince, while I chose to sit behind him so that I could give him his privacy as he tried to sleep but this woman was inconsiderate enough to act like a hovering bee while he slept. It irritated me so I just looked at the moving scenery outside the window.

"What are you up to?" Millicent suddenly asked me. She was talking in a calm and soft tone so that the Crown Prince will not wake up.

I pointed at myself. "Are you talking to me?"

She scoffed. "Well, obviously, yes. Who else will I talk to in here?"

"So what was your question again, Miss Millicent?"

She smiled in a haughty manner. "Oh please, Rainha. Let's cut to the chase. I know that you heard what I asked you properly."

I was surprised that she knew my name. All this time I thought that for her, she doesn't have to know what my name was, as I am just a lowly court servant. "Well, you asked me a very broad question, Miss Millicent. I could not understand what are you trying to say."

She stared at me as if she was scandalized that I talked back to her like that because normally, a court servant like me doesn't talk to a woman of high social status like that. There is always a proper way of addressing and talking to them, one of those is that we have to call them respectfully such as calling Millicent as Miss Millicent.

"Just answer my question, court servant," she said to me, giving emphasis on my status maybe to remind me of my place. "What are you up to? I am not convinced that you came here to just attend the festivities. I can feel that the Crown Prince has an agenda."

I shrugged at her accusation. "That is something that I don't have any authority to tell you, Miss Millicent. So even if I do know what the Crown Prince is up to, I can't tell you that and you that, right?"

"Don't get smart with me," she said seriously, and then smiled at me. "But anyway, I got my answer. So Prince Kao is indeed up to something." She then looked at the sleeping handsome Prince. "The fact that you are telling me that you can't say anything, then it means that there is indeed something."

I had to admit that she got me there. "Even if the Crown Prince is up to something, I will not tell you anything about it, Miss Millicent. I hope you understand that."

To my surprise, Millicent nodded. It looks like she will not try to interrogate about me anymore. I guess she was satisfied with my answer, and I feel bad about that. I hope the Crown Prince will not get angry with me if he learns what happened right now. "It just doesn't make sense," she suddenly said to me while still staring at the sleeping Prince Kao. The Crown Prince was sleeping peacefully that if I did not know that he was just lying about his head getting dizzy, maybe I would have believed that he is not feeling well since he managed to fall asleep so easily. Maybe it is also because he had been very busy lately that's why he is already feeling the fatigue.

Thinking about how overworked the Crown Prince must be and he just doesn't show it well made me sad. But Millicent was still rumbling aimlessly with her theories that I almost wanted to yell at her so that she won't be able to disturb the Crown Prince who needed all the rest that he can get.

"I just found it odd that he really did come this year to our celebration. He doesn't usually go out in public since he likes to focus on studying the laws of Aure and things like that. I have been inviting him for months and he kept on saying that he will not be able to come. And even when I went there at the Palace, he was still saying that he was not sure. To me, that was a lost case already, but suddenly he just informed us that he was coming."

"He wants to come here for a change," I just said. "The Crown Prince had just been super busy before. But right now he had time for activities such as what your town is celebrating."

"But why did he decided to leave the celebration early? Is he really sick? Something tells me that something happened earlier back there at the town square which made him leave. I could feel that something is really going on."

"Oh, that is not true. The Crown Prince actually felt dizzy. He was not able to sleep properly last night and he was exposed to the cold more than he should, so I guess that's why he got dizzy."

Millicent looked at me as if she was trying to decide to believe me or not. But I think I successfully made it sound like I was not lying at all, especially that I also believe that Prince Kao is indeed not in a good condition. He looked paler than usual, especially back at the town square when he saw the face of that man who he said was one of those guys that tried to abduct me back at our house in Aurville. It scared me a lot. The possibility alone that one of those guys is here made me shiver in a way that is not related to the cold.

"Maybe I am just overthinking it, Rainha, but I will be observing at the Crown Prince more, from now on. I will also keep an eye on you since it looks like you are close to him than he should."

"What do you mean by that?"

Her eyebrows raised. "Oh, nothing much. It's just that I noticed that Prince Kao looks like he is really close to you. He doesn't act around other court servants the way he acts around you, so that's something new coming from him. It surprised me a lot, you know. You are the first court servant that I saw that close with him. And I have been as a family friend of theirs for a long time already, so I know what I am talking about."

I did not react to her statements anymore, especially that she is kind of right. Me too, I have never seen or heard that Prince Kao was close to a person like me. But of course, my case is a special case. If I was not a daughter of a potential Snow Gypsy, all of this would not have happened. I think I would have been in my quarters right now, still daydreaming about him and how would we meet.

We arrived at their mansion after a while and Millicent woke up the Crown Prince. He asked if he could take a hot bath first because he was feeling nauseous, and Millicent obliged. So we were in one of their huge bathrooms with an indoor hot tub full of steam that is said to be operated by at least ten columbars and even I wanted to take a bath here too.

"You can join me here," he suddenly said while he was taking off one of his clothes in front of me. I immediately covered my eyes and I heard him laugh. "Don't worry, I won't be taking all of my clothes. You can look," he said and I did what he said and then I was so happy that I opened my eyes because right now in front of me was the topless Prince Kao, his toned body glistening with the white steam coming from the hot tub of water.