Blonde locks of hair were sprawled in the green grass as Princess Isabella hummed a made-up tune. She was occupied with the clouds which brought her a serenity which nothing else could. Something she yearned for but couldn’t find in the suffocating confines of the castle.

Her head held a crown which held no authority whatsoever. She sighed, staring at the birds which flew about, with a certain resignation. It wasn’t like she hadn’t tried to escape her own cage. Just that, her efforts were futile.

Princess Isabella sighed once more as she remained laying on the grass, watching birds in the sky but the visual changed when an arrow shot one piercingly, causing it to come crashing down.

A pitiful chirp escaped the bird as it fell unceremoniously near Princess Isabella’s feet. The princess sat up with panic and a certain pain, seeing a life ending right before her and her being unable to do anything about it.

“How was that shot, Oanez!?” Princess Isabella knew that voice and she immediately turned to see her brother walking over with a smirk on his face. His advisor followed closely behind with a conflicted expression.

“Greeting the princess!” Oanez bowed his head in respect to the princess, but the blonde woman didn’t care for any pleasantries as she stood up with a furious expression. “That bird was harming no one and you just shot it out of the sky!”

Prince Lucio was unbothered by his sister’s complaints as he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “I’m a hunter.”

“You’re a spoilt brat, that’s what you are!” Oanez could sense their impending quarrel approaching as he cleared his throat to stop it from even beginning. The prince easily turned his attention to the advisor with an indifferent smile. “Perhaps we should find a more secluded place to practice your bow and arrow skills, your Highness.”

The prince frowned for a moment as he glanced at the princess. Isabella was furious at how her brother could be so cruel and unapologetic, but she had also known him all her life. And he had always been this way.

It was something that her parents had instilled in him since he was a child. How everything belonged to him, and that he could never make mistakes. But if someone were to ask Isabella, she’d say her older brother was a mistake.

“Why should I move when I’m older?” The prince’s argument was predictable as Isabella glared at him and chose to help him out this once by walking away herself. She always had to be the one making way for her brother’s misdeeds and horrible antics anyway. But it wasn’t because she agreed with his mentality, but more so because her parents always took his side rather than hers.

Princess Isabella walked further from the prince, entering the hallways of the suffocating castle, choosing to head towards her room when she thought of something else entirely. Something she was known to do especially when she was exhausted from the ‘royal life’ at the castle.

Sneaking out of it.

Immediately turning towards the direction of the dining hall, she snuck into the kitchen undetected. Well, most of the guards stationed in the dining hall knew of what she was going to do, but none had the authority to stop her. They could only let her pass without speaking up.

Same were the kitchen hands and chefs, who sighed when the princess walked right past them, and straight out the back door. Her crown still on her head but now concealed by a coarse robe she had grabbed from a poor kitchen hand who had just returned with supplies from the market.

No one could stop her from leaving the castle since this had been somewhat of a routine for them. The princess would always leave in the name of adventure, but return as soon as the Queen or King become aware of her misadventures.

Nothing did go too wrong though, so it was fine as long as she returned by herself. But if the princess was anything other than rebellious and overlooked by her parents, she was also defiant.

…….

There was something magical about the Kingdom’s orange gardens. If Naja had just one thing going on for it, it was the countless orange trees spread out and about in a large portion of the land.

These trees were tended to by many people, being one of the most prized possessions for the Kingdom. We did have gardeners watching over the vast gardens but other people also came to volunteer in helping out. People also had the liberty to pick their own oranges, directly from the trees. And that was exactly what I was doing currently, instead of being at the study, well, studying, of course.

According to my father, oranges were the prime source of wisdom, which was why I was sent there by the advisors on an errand which could’ve been carried out by a simple kitchen hand. But no, they wanted me to go.

This was one of the reasons why I disliked being just an apprentice. I was used as an errand girl, and I wasn’t allowed to speak my opinions. Only listen to theirs.

Sighing at my cruel fate, I handpicked the oranges which I knew would be ripe and juicy enough for the advisors for their wisdom. But somehow my attention was forced away from the fruits in front of me and over to a woman a few feet away from me. It wasn’t like she looked remarkable enough to take notice of, but there was a flash of blonde which snuck out of the hood she had over her head.

Somehow, a pit opened up in my stomach as my mind came up with just a single conclusion. What if it were the princess? Shaking my head at the absurd notion, I continued my task at hand. But there was a certain nagging in my head which intensified when the woman’s hood slipped off her head.

My eyes widened as the crown came into complete view, but the princess didn’t care enough about being exposed. She simply wore the hood again before turning back to her task of picking out oranges and placing them in a basket.

What was the princess doing here?!

Her presence was so glaringly obvious, more so after the little slip up, that the few people around smiled widely at her, and with adoring eyes.

She didn’t seem bothered by the attention as her lips remained stretched in a carefree smile.

It was an odd sight for me since I never knew that the princess could smile so innocently, as if nothing was wrong in the castle. I didn’t even know if she was even capable of smiling, with how she always looked bored out of her mind. Her eyes shined brighter as well, as they moved from one tree to another, and then found something completely different to focus on. My eyes widened as the princess’ found mine, making her frown immediately. A glare immediately replaced the smile and her eyes even dimmed a little, and this just made me wonder if I was actually such a horrific sight to see.

Before I could run away from this situation, the princess was stalking over to me. My head immediately bowed when she reached me and hissed her displeasure. “Did you follow me here?”

“Answering the princess, of course not, your highness. I am here for oranges.”

I couldn’t tell what expression she was making now, since I still had my head bowed but I was completely certain she had found my answer sarcastic to some degree. I mean, what else would I be there for, at the orange gardens? It was either orange picking or following her. “You’re one of those old hags.” Her little name for the advisors was extremely disrespectful but if I were to name them something collectively – I would also choose to call them hags. ‘Which advisor were you again?” Her question made me sigh at the reminder that I was none of the advisors.

“I am the apprentice of the 5^th advisor – Eli, your Highness.” My answer didn’t really matter since I was stunned into silence as a hand grabbed at my chin to pull up my face. The princess’ hazel eyes were far more fascinating up close as I frowned at her concentrated expression. “You’re his daughter, are you not?” I couldn’t see how that was any relevant in this matter, but as soon as she had touched my chin – she was letting go. “Anyway, I don’t want you following me.”

It made sense that she was the Queen’s daughter since the Queen’s fickleness was quite evident in her as well. She turned away from me but didn’t move any further as she glanced down at my orange pickings. “Who are you getting oranges for?”

My eyes drifted down to her basket and I felt myself asking the same question in the same tone. “Who are you getting oranges for, your Highness?”

Of course, I had to run my mouth and be nosy. Fortunately, the princess didn’t seem too offended as I frowned at the blush creeping up her cheeks. “I don’t answer to you!”

Fair enough. “Very well, your Highness, I will be on my way then.” I had only bowed and took a step in the opposite direction when I felt a hand pulling at my robe. “If you must know.” I couldn’t help but smile with a raised eyebrow as she looked down at her basket. “I’m getting the oranges for the children down at—” She cut herself off as she looked up at my intrigued expression. “Never mind. Be on your way then.”

She really did resemble the Queen an awful lot, especially with how she handled communication. Before I could even ask her anything to sate my curiosity concerning the children she had just mentioned, she turned around and easily let me be by myself.

And I found myself forgetting everything to just stare at her retreating back. Now I had two choices. I could either finish getting more oranges for the royal advisors, or I could follow the princess. Well, she did order me not to follow her but judging from how she could get into trouble all by herself, what else was there for me to do other than to disobey her?

Picking a few more oranges blindly, I immediately went to pay for them. My eyes remained on the princess’ movements, who had completely forgotten about my existence since she was still getting more oranges.

There was something interesting about the princess that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I had always seen her as an arrogant royal who stayed further away from her royal status as possible. Even now, she was wearing a robe which didn’t match her royal status, but somehow it made her appear more dazzling than when she was wrapped in the finest silks. Perhaps, in this way, she felt more reachable or even approachable.

My eyes widened when I realized how perversely I had been staring at her, and immediately looked away.

Perhaps following her wasn’t the best plan after all.

Paying for the orange basket, I turned to look towards the trees where I had seen the princess last, only to find her nowhere to be found. I swear those were the two trees where she was standing. One had a heart carved into its trunk and the other had a chunk of its trunk missing for some reason. My eyebrows furrowed. They should really take better care of the trees.

Shaking my head at the distraction, I wondered if the princess had even paid for those oranges?

Frantically looking around, I tried to find the princess, but she had somehow evaded my attention. How could the only blonde-headed, hooded, robe-wearing woman around the gardens disappear suddenly?

“Did you see where the woman over there went?” I asked the only person in front of me, who happened to be one of the caretakers of the gardens. “She has fair skin, bright eyes, and dazzling hair.” The description not only confused him but also me, since I didn’t understand where it had come from. Cringing at my own words, I added in another recognizing factor. Perhaps that aspect of the woman was more interesting to the man as his eyes widened. “She also had a full basket of oranges.”

He looked over to a few other men idling about near the trees. “We have a thief!”

“Uh - not exactly--” But anything I had to say now went to deaf ears since the idling men were now enraged as they began looking around the gardens.

Me and my big mouth.