Alexandra briskly down the halls of the palace looking for Nicholas while avoiding the maids and butlers milling about. It wouldn't do for bad rumors about her racing recklessly around to spread. Her position in society was really precarious as it was. She couldn't afford for it to get worse. But fixing her image could come later. First, she needed to detach herself from the societal curse that was Prince Nicholas Aelius, Second Prince of the Kingdom. Honestly, he was probably the cause of her plummeting social image. Or at least, he was a giant part of it.

Speaking of the man, where was he?

She checked his office.

No Nicholas, no extras. Just a mountain of unfinished paperwork and two slightly disgruntled guards who weren't all too happy when she used the King's name to get past them into the room.

She checked the grand dining hall.

No Nicholas, no extras. But she did see a lot of maids bustling to and from the kitchen. She could also smell a lot of delicious food that made her mouth water a little. Perhaps the King was planning a banquet of some sort? 

She checked the training grounds.

No Nicholas, no extras. Well, she didn't really expect him to be there; he had always been the type to skip out on practices and training. She did, however, get to see a lot of cool weapons. Practice dummies littered the fields and she could see an archery range off in the distance. What caught her eye, though, were all the soldiers sparring against each other with their swords. Seeing them made her miss practicing kendo and she got nostalgic for a little bit. 

"Lady Alexandra, what are you doing here?"

Startled, she spun around quickly and was met with a set of broad shoulders, tanned skin, and dark curly hair. 

Sir Antonio Gladia. The youngest knight in the kingdom's history, Prince Nicholas's personal guard and best friend. With his strong moral code and unwavering loyalty, he reminded her of the Japanese samurai from her world's ancient times. Old Alexandra's memories depicted him fondly. Although his loyalty to the prince caused him to stand in her way multiple times, he always had a troubled look on his face when doing it, which led her to believe that he understood how wrong Nicholas' actions were and disapproved of them. 

Alex smiled softly up at him. "I was just looking for Prince Nicholas. I came to visit the king with my brother and father, and wanted to see him too."

There it was, that troubled frown that belied his heart of gold.

He shook his head. "The prince is not here."

She nodded calmly. "I can see that. Do you know where he is?"

Another shake of the head. It seemed that her new personality didn't faze him. Maybe it was because she had been better towards him than others. However, he must have seen a change in her behavior. She was embarrassed to recall that she had been overly friendly in an attempt to endear herself to Nicholas. Man, those were some dark times. Antonio Gladia was truly unflappable...oh wait no his eyes had widened a little. She smirked internally. So even the great Antonio Gladia could be shaken.

But Nicholas was not there, so she needed to be going. She curtsied to Antonio, earning another widening of the eyes. 

"Thank you for your help. Since he is not here, I will be going now."

A wide-eyed nod. 

Turning with a little flourish, she left the training grounds.

***

As she passed the gardens, Alexandra could hear a high-pitched giggle coming from the other side of the rose hedges. She mentally facepalmed. Of course they would be there. Nicholas was so basic, he took most of the girls he was with to the gardens. How did she not think of this before? Honestly, what a waste of her time. Well, on the bright side, the king and the Sinclair men were probably done with their conversation at this point. It was time to retrieve them. If she went back now, she definitely wouldn't be interrupting anything. But first, she had to confirm that it really was that disgusting prince and whatever extra of the week he was seeing.

"Oh, Prince Nicholas!"

"Yes, my dear?"

HURK!

Yup...that was them alright. Better go before they start defiling her ears. She turned to leave, but her dress was caught on a thorny branch. She groaned, irritated and a little panicked.  Blast these annoying medieval skirts!

RUSTLE!

"Oh no, what was that?"

Alexandra hastily tugged her skirt free and hid behind a tree, flattening her skirts so that they were out of sight. Out of the garden came Prince Nicholas and a blonde-haired, brown-eyed girl. So that's what Extra #1 looked like. Both people breathed a sigh of relief upon not seeing anyone.

"It must have been an animal," Nicholas reassured his companion.

She clung to his arm. "Oh, I was so worried!"

He smiled complacently and tugged her back to his side. "Don't worry, I shall protect you!" he proclaimed loudly.

Alexandra almost snorted with bitter amusement. Yeah right. That extra would be lucky if he even remembered her name by the next week. 

Extra #1 looked up worriedly at the prince. "What about your fianceé? Isn't she crazy and obsessed? What if it was her?"

He laughed unpleasantly. "So what if it was her? It's not like she can do anything."

At that, the extra laughed along with him. "True," she agreed, leaning into him. "Everyone knows that no matter how she acts, she's just embarrassing herself. It's not your fault if you don't love her, anyways."

The prick—ahem—prince nodded in satisfaction. "That's exactly right," he hugged her closer. "Oh, my lady, you do understand me best!"

The girl tittered along and allowed herself to be led back into the garden. 

Behind the tree, Alexandra had balled her hands into fists. So it was this kind of situation. Not only was her fiancé seeing other women behind her back, he was encouraging the slandering of her image. This guy was truly a piece of sh*t. Well, no more! So as long as she inhabited this body, she would not condone such behavior and allow it to affect her life.

Alex turned and began walking back up to the palace.

Time to take out the trash.