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ARMANI

Age: 24

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My lips parted in surprise.

"Micah?" I said, going towards him. I could hardly believe my eyes.

"Elizabeth?" he gasped in surprise.

"Huh?" Jun said, a little annoyed, "You know him?"

"We go to the same school," I smiled. "Micah is like my precious little brother."

Jun narrowed his eyes at Micah. "Is that so."

"Jun, do you know how dangerous this is? He could get hurt," I said, removing the apple and placing it in Jun's hand.

"Hey, I rarely miss," he defended. "He just wouldn't stop moving. Damn Omega," he grumbled. Then his eyes lit up, "Since you just took away my toy, you'll just have to entertain me now," he grinned.

I didn't like the mischievous gleam in his eyes, but if it meant that Micah didn't have to be target practice anymore, I was happy to help. How bad could it be?

I waved goodbye to Micah, who was still very much confused and followed blindly behind Jun who was pulling me excitedly through another set of trees.

"Let's go prank Kris," he grinned wickedly.

Kristof was one of the persons I really did not want to prank. In the end, we ended up bothering Beau before we could even get to Kristof. Beau was also on the list of persons I didn't want to bother.

Needless to say, Jun got scolded and Beau told me not to hang out with him if I wanted to keep my sanity.

I used this time to slip away from Jun who was still full of energy and pranks. I still wanted to find Micah, since I didn't really get to talk to him.

"Hey," someone spoke behind me.

I turned around to face a guy who looked to be a couple years older than me.

"You're the one who helped out my brother?" he asked.

I cocked my head to the side. The guy looked familiar somehow, but I didn't think I knew him.

Suddenly, Micah appeared beside him. When they were standing side by side, I could see the resemblance. They had the same eye color.

"Hi, Elizabeth," he smiled. He seemed to have gotten over how he was feeling a few minutes ago.

I smiled back at him.

"I'm Elizabeth. I go to Micah's school," I introduced myself to the guy. I offered him a hand, which he took and shook with a huge smile.

"Elizabeth," he repeated. "I've heard a lot about you from Micah. I'm Armani, his older brother."

"It's nice to meet you," I said. "Micah's a really nice guy. My friends adore him."

They led me to a bench and we all sat down.

His older brother still wore an expression of confusion. "Did you come here with someone from your school?"

"I came with Ashton and Kevin. Do you know them?"

His expression said it all. All hints of friendliness vanished immediately.

"Oh, them," his voiced turned icy. "Why did they bring you here?"

"I came to spend time with someone." I doubted that was enough information, so I added, "I'm Ashton's soulmate or something like that."

Armani's mouth hung open, then he stood up.

"I see..." he said, somewhat coldly. "Excuse me." And with that he walked off.

"I'm going to stay with Elizabeth longer," Micah called to his brother. Then he smiled at me.

I swear Micah's smile was made of pure sunshine. He instantly made me feel happier.

"Elizabeth, so does that mean you know about Prince Ashton being royalty now too?" Micah asked and I nodded.

"How was your day?" I asked him.

"School was fun," he grinned, "I learned a lot of new things," he paused. "Thanks for earlier."

"Oh, with Jun? If you don't want to play, just say so. What you were doing was extremely dangerous. What would have happened if you got hurt?"

Micah looked down at his shoes. The unidentifiable emotion still lingered in his eyes, but I couldn't place my finger on it.

"I can't just tell them no," he confessed. "Especially not the royals or the nobles. You see, I'm a servant in this kingdom. I'm an Omega, and we're at the bottom."

"Don't call yourself a servant," I frowned. "There's nothing wrong with working in the palace."

"They call it 'hired help', but I really am a servant. Me and my brother have to pay off our parents' debt."

My brows furrowed as I heard this. "Have you tried talking to them?" I asked. "There must be another way."

Micah's eyes clouded over. "Talking will just get you killed," he said, rubbing his eyes. "That's what happened to my parents and the rest of my family. All I have left is my brother," he sighed.

That took me by surprise. I pulled him into a hug. "Micah, I'm so sorry to hear that."

That was a really horrible thing for a young boy to go through. For anyone to have to go through.

"I'm here for you, okay? You can talk to me about anything. And you should eat lunch with us, no matter what anyone says. You shouldn't have to go through this in the first place."

Micah smiled at me "Thank you, Elizabeth. You're different from the rest of them. Sorry about my brother," he apologized. "He doesn't trust anyone except me anymore. It's harder to get through to him, because he's closed his heart to the rest of the world."

There was a pause of silence and then Micah's eyes gleamed. "If you're soulmates with Prince Ashton, then you'll be our princess. I'm glad we're going to have a nice princess like you. This queen is nice, but she can't change the way the kingdom is. I hope you can do it," he smiled.

I looked down. I didn't fully understand what it meant to be their princess, but I knew that it was a really big responsibility that people like Micah were placing their hopes and faith in. Could I be such a person? Did that mean I would have to be with Ashton for the rest of my life? I could not imagine that.

I talked with Micah and helped him with his homework until it was beginning to get dark, and his brother came to get him.

"I want to stay with Elizabeth some more," he protested softly.

Armani looked at Micah with such tenderness in his eyes. I could see that he cared deeply for his brother and would do anything to help him. He eyed the pile of homework that Micah had completed and then looked at me.

Micah's eyes drifted closed and his head bobbed against my shoulder. His eyelashes fanned his cheeks as he slept.

"I don't trust you," Armani spoke suddenly, "But you're the only person Micah's opened up to this much. He never falls asleep this easily, much less in public. I might not trust you, but he does. The kingdom has done a lot to hurt him and your friends, the elites," he sneered, "They're the worst bunch. If I could take away all his pain, I wouldn't even hesitate."

"I'll watch over Micah as much as I can," I said solemnly.

Armani stared at me for a while and then sighed. "Please."

He shook Micah awake and pulled him to his feet while taking up the books.

"Do you need help with those?" I asked.

"No."

"Bye, Elizabeth," Micah waved sleepily as he walked home with his brother.

I waved back at him, and had to control my emotions or else I wouldn't be able to stop crying. This was overwhelming.

I had no idea that beneath the beautiful surface of the kingdom there were persons who were in as much pain as Micah and Armani. I hated situations like this and I wished that they could live in a better condition. But wishing wasn't going to be enough to change any of this. Something had to be done.

I stayed there contemplating everything, when my phone rang. It was Kevin.

"Liz? I'm sorry the meeting's going so late. Where are you?"

I looked at the sign across from where I was sitting and told him.

"Okay, stay there Raúl's coming for you. He'll bring you back here."

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Raúl arrived in no time with a perfect smile and good humor. He gave me a hug and a glittering smile.

“Let’s go back, princesa,” he said, opening his car door. “How are you?”

“I’m... I don't know... I was just doing some really deep thinking back there.”

“Hmm… about what?”

“The kingdom,” I answered. “And the people.”

Raúl smiled. “Thinking about it shows that you care. I think you’ll make a great ruler. The kingdom needs someone like you.”

“Even though I’m not royalty?” I sighed. “I still don’t know anything about all of this.”

“We’re here to help. We’ll tell you everything you need to know, princesa. You can count on us.”

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