"Arin, you seem to be distracted."

Crown Prince Arin quickly turned to his friend when he was aroused by the voice. Ignoring Hanson's remark, he walked away from the soldiers as he had finished chatting with them.

Hanson slightly smiled and went after his friend. "Are you avoiding me again? Whenever I speak the truth, you always do that." He playfully said.

"Do you know why I don't want you to tag along?" Arin Helev halted and looked at Hanson. "You are always so nosy."

"Still, I always come uninvited because I'm a loyal friend," Hanson said with a proud smile.

The Crown Prince helplessly shook his head and started walking again. In no time, he finds himself next to Iria.

Iria was flustered when she suddenly finds the Crown Prince next to her. However, she instantly maintained her composure again.

"Do you want to look around a bit more? We still have some time." Arin said, briefly glancing around their surroundings.

"I think it will be enough for today. I've seen enough." Iria replied.

"Alright then." Arin turned to Antony who was standing behind him. "Escort the Crown Princess back to the palace. I still have something to do with Hanson."

"Yes, Your Highness." Antony promptly replied as he lowered his head.

Iria looked at the Crown Prince with a slightly raised brow but she quickly turned to Rion. "Let's go." She walked back to the horse and Rion followed her.

After Iria and the others were out of his sight, Arin turned to Hanson whose gaze was fixated on him.

"Are you going to see her? You don't tell me beforehand." Hanson said with a frown.

"It's not a big deal. Besides, it's still early." Arin simply said while walking towards his horse.

"It's not good to spend so much time outside the palace without guards, Your Highness. You know that the Queen is eager to take you down. You always give her a chance. Aren't you tired of the assassination attempts?"

Arin only smiled and mounted on his horse. "You are here to protect me. Isn't that enough?"

Hanson sighed and followed suit. Then they started riding their horses.

Riding past the market, the two men reached the suburb of the capital which was dominated by farming lands. Far away on the left was a small house which was surrounded by trees and flowers.

One glance and everyone would know that it was the house of a commoner. The two men stopped their horses near the house and walked inside the small gate.

There was a young girl with blonde hair and fair skin, who was busy watering the flowers. Judging from her look, she seemed to be in her late teens. When she turned around and saw the two men, her eyes widened in surprise. "Arin!" She exclaimed and ran towards the Crown Prince, hugging him.

"Sophie." The Crown Prince muttered. Returning the hug, his lips curved into a smile.

The young girl pulled back and looked at Arin. Her beautiful blue eyes that matched the latter were now twinkled with mirth. "It's been so long since I last saw you, brother."

"How are you doing? Is everything fine?" Arin asked his cousin. She was the only daughter of his mother's younger brother, which made her his only cousin. His late mother was a commoner who hailed from a family of farmers.

"I'm doing well, thanks to you." A smile never left the girl's face. Then she turned to the man who was standing beside her cousin. "General Hanson, you came too." She slightly bowed.

"It's nice to meet you again, Lady Sophie." Hanson Lorin said as he bowed.

"Will you stay for dinner?" Sophie turned to her cousin with an exciting smile on her face.

"Maybe some other day, Sophie," Arin said with an apologetic smile.

Sophie nodded. "I understand. You just got married and it would be rude to let the Crown Princess eat dinner alone."

"You should come to the wedding but you refused my invitation. Weren't you the one who felt the most excited when the news of the wedding broke out?"

Sophie slightly chuckled. "The palace is too big for someone like me. Tell me, Arin. Is your new wife as beautiful as they said? How is she like?"

Arin briefly recalled the rare yet beautiful smile he witnessed at the market but he snapped himself out very soon. "You refused to come, so I won't tell you. Let's get inside first." Ignoring his cousin's disappointed face, he walked inside the small house right away.

Hanson glanced at his friend and sighed. He only talked much when his younger cousin or brother was around!

* * *

Iria was on her way back to the palace with Antony and the other soldiers. However, the moment they were out of the market, she stopped her horse and everyone followed suit.

"Is there a problem, Your Highness?" Antony immediately asked her respectfully.

Iria nodded to Rion and turned to Antony. "I realized that I still have something to do."

"Then we will take you there. We still have time." Antony said, trying to tell the soldiers to turn around but...

"I will briefly go there with Rion. It won't be long." Iria Alewine simply said.

"But His Highness - "

"I already memorised the map of the capital last night. I won't get lost. Besides, I'm more comfortable with just Rion. Don't follow us." Without waiting for Antony response, she turned to Rion and said, "Let's go." Then they turned around and went in another direction.

Feeling unsure of what to do, Antony stared at the Crown Princess who was almost out of his sight.

"Captain, what will we do? His Highness ordered us to escort the Crown Princess back safely." One of the soldiers asked him with an anxious face.

"Shall we inform the Crown Prince?" One soldier asked.

"No." Antony promptly said. The Crown Prince rarely had time to meet his cousin and he didn't want to ruin that precious time.

"Then shall we follow the Crown Princess?"

"Her Highness seems to be sure of what she is doing. Besides, she said not to follow her. We can't ignore that." Antony said and thought of it for a while. "Let's wait here until the Crown Princess return."