PRINCESS ASTRID AMARA DE ANEMOI
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Chapter 40

While preparations of the party went on, Astrid laid relaxed in the greenhouse on a swing, all the while holding the thick book. One would think she is busy reading however, her eyes were shut as the wind blew past and danced in her rain. The book, just like her, rested on her chest.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared on her face. The shadow belonged to a man whose hands reached forward to pick up the book which was near to fall on the ground.

He looks at it to find that she had barely read a single paragraph before falling asleep.

Chuckling to himself, he then calls out to her,

"Princess Astrid."

"Princess."

"..."

No response. She slept as if she had no worries in the world.

He tried to make a noise to grab her attention, however fails to do so.

Sighing, he bends on his knees and then whispers a bit loudly in her ear,

"Princess Astrid, please wake up."

However this attempt too fails as Astrid merely sways her hand and continues to snore softly.

Humming, the man tries to think of a way to wake her up.

He then nudges her shoulder multiple times gently but that too does not work.

Finally, he sees how late it is getting that he then stands up and suddenly bellows,

"Oh my god! A mouse! There is a mouse near you!"

Upon his call, Astrid screams and abruptly stands up.

"Where? Where?"

She looks here and there and then blinkling, she looks at the man laughing in front of her.

"Alexander? What are you doing here?"

"Forgive me for the lie. I have been trying to wake you up for a while now. Mother is looking for you."

"Oh right. I forgot. When will the party begin?"

"In about two hours."

"Oh my, then it seems I have no time to waste."

Saying so, she runs quickly without ever looking back at the book in Alexander's hand.

While Astrid and the Queen were getting ready for the party, as they had changed clothes and were currently getting their hair done, a maid comes rushing in.

"Pardon me for intruding, but by chance is His Highness Prince Dylan here?"

"No. Is everything alright?"

The Queen turned around worried as the maid anxiously explained,

"We have been looking for him for a while now. Sir Xavier keeps requesting him to get dressed for the party, but His Highness seems to ignore him."

"Did you check at the tower?"

The maid nods in return to which the Queen hums and then adds,

"Check outside the north entrance of the palace."

"Where specifically? Because it is all grassland over there."

"Xavier knows. Let him know."

"Understood."

After the maid left, the Queen sighs,

"I wonder what has gotten wrong with that boy. No matter how much he hates an event, he will still be quite punctual and greet everyone with politeness."

"Is he that dishearten after hearing Lyra won't be coming?"

Astrid mumbles which does not go unheard by the Queen whose eyes instantly lits up. With sparkles in her eyes, she turns to Astrid with curiosity,

"Say, when Dylan was over there, was he and Lyra close?"

"I suppose you could say that."

"Then does that mean they were close close?"

The Queen got even closer as her lips curled upwards with excitement. Astrid in response retorted,

"Well, I am not too sure about that. However they were together most of the time."

"Is that so?"

The Queen keeps smiling to herself which makes Astrid confused at first but then she shifts her attention to what jewellery she should wear.

Later on at the party, Dylan was all dressed up smiling politely at guests all the while thinking to himself how bored he feels. The hall full of people feels empty just because there is one presence that is missing. That absence is the one that has also taken a part of his soul and without her here, everything seems lifeless. The light feels dull. The whole ballroom feels empty. People's talks seems like noisy chatter that he doesn't have any interest in. The food also tastes tasteless and the wine seems to be non-alcoholic even though it isnt.

While Dylan stood at the corner alone without approaching anyone and not letting anyone approach him either. On the other hand stood Astrid all alone. She did not know anyone here therefore the Queen was with her all the time and she introduced her to a lot of people. However some important guests came and the Queen had to take her leave leaving Astrid all alone.

Astrid, who wore a light dress, which went quite well with her pale skin colour and the blue  irises, was the whole centre of attention among the boys and the center of envy among the girls.

Her hair was loose and open as she wore a tiny crown. She originally was not going to wear the crown but ended up wearing it after constant requests from the Queen.

Whats more is that every gesture Lyra made was full of grace. This attracted a lot of eyes. However no one dared to approach her as the Queen was with her all the time. But now since the Queen was no longer there. The gentlemen soon started surrounding her. They started by talking to her through small talk. Seeing how she was replying to each and everyone of them politely without smiling, they turned their strategy to praising and flirting with her. However that too resulted in fail. As she was quite oblivious to their advances and ended up refusing them without being aware of it.

Alexander who was watching and overhearing from afar could not help but let out a chuckle upon the sight in front of him. Unexpectedly for him, this does not go unnoticed by Astrid who strides towards him ignoring all the men that were surrounding her. Pouting slightly, she inquires,

"What are you giggling about?"

"Nothing."

Alexander replied after clearing his throat.

Astrid, on the other hand, with suspicious gazes retorted,

"What is so funny? I want to hear it. Tell me."

"I apologise?"

Alexander reflexively apologised for laughing even though he did not know what crime did he commit. Astrid then remarked,

"I wan't scorning you. I merely felt bored among the presence of those people that I wished to know what you were laughing about it. Perhaps it would do away with my boredom and make this party somewhat interesting."

"Are you not having fun?"

"...not really. At times like this I hate to admit but I do miss Lyra. Even if she is a tad bit annoying, her presence is comforting to me in a place full of strangers."

"Not everyone here is a stranger for you, is it Princess Astrid?"

Humming Lyra glanced towards the Queen and then at Alexander and then replied,

"Well not everyone."

"Then would you like to dance?"

"No."

Astrid turned Alexander down before he could get into the proper positioning of asking her. Slightly baffled and taken aback, he inquires,

"If you don't mind me asking, is there perhaps a reason as to why you refuse to dance?"

"...I do not know how to dance. It is true we used to have dance classes when mother was still alive but even then I never paid any attention to it and always skipped it. There was no point in taking it, you know. Lyra, who did take those classes still struggled with it. She hates dancing in public. But oh! She did dance with Dylan at his welcome party. That was a first for her."

Her expression went from solemn to excitement as she mentioned Lyra. It flashes in Alexander's mind about how he is right and that there is something going on between Dylan and Lyra, which he will inquire to his brother later on. Right now his goal had become to have Princess Astrid have fun.

"Is that so? Then if it is not dancing, can I still have the honour to escort you?"

"Where?"

"I'll show you around the Palace."

"Oh that sounds good. I like to walk."

Smiling, Alexander places his hand forward as a proper etiquette for escorting a lady. However, Astrid instead brings her face closer and whispers,

"Don't worry about all the formalities since it is just going to be us two. I don't really care about etiquettes."

She grins as she then adds,

"Where to?"

"Right there."

Alexander smiles as they go side by side out from the ballroom.

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CROWN PRINCE ALEXANDER DE HELIOS