His Queen From Two Worlds

CHAPTER 9: ARKIN HERMA

VIRIDIN EMPIRE:

The annoying chatter in the background was making Aileth (Zelda) feel like she might have another headache soon. The source of the annoying chatter was the second Prince Reagan. Since Zelda wasn’t in her world, she needed to act cautiously around people, especially the royals. One wrong way of speaking or once offended, she might lose her head.

“Did you recover enough to write, Aileth?” The second prince asked, suddenly stopping his mindless chatter and looking at the lady writing something on a cream-coloured paper with a quill. Zelda in Aileth’s body certainly didn’t know how to write with a quill, but the memories of the body stayed with Zelda, which helped her a lot in coping in that unknown world.

“Your Highness, I was asleep for a week and the head physician declared that I’m healthy and could start my duties again after two days” Aileth reached her nervous end because of this man who was popping up in her room and disturbing her.

“I have heard about it but since the head physician declared you to take rest for two days, you should take some rest, Aileth,” Reagan said, looking around, but when he noticed her, writing and nodding her head, he stepped closer to the bed and peeked into what she was writing. “What is this? Another kingdom language?”

Aileth was resting on her bed and thinking of how to go back to her world. Until then, she needed to know how to stay and also to find out what exactly happened to her and where she could get help. She decided to write it down. She had been wearing a comfortable long-sleeved, fully covered nightgown and a cape over it since she was in the prince’s presence. Instead of writing on the table, she sat on her bed and wrote her plans. She knew she would be in trouble if people found the book she was writing. So, she was writing it in Estorian language that she knew and keeping it as a code.

“Yes, Your Highness” She didn’t hesitate to lie with a straight face. She also didn’t mind him being so close to her. From Aileth’s memory, she could say that this prince was a good man despite being a goofball sometimes. She knew that this royal family was a good one “I’m writing some points so that I can remember when I write a letter to him, your highness”

“I wonder when you will informally talk to me, Aileth”, the prince asked, looking straight into her eyes.

Aileth was once again surprised by the looks of this prince. The light entering the room through the huge windows was reflecting on his platinum blonde hair and his dark violet eyes were shining like jewels. He was the soft but goofy kind of handsome, she thought.

The door was knocked, and a female servant's voice was heard from outside.

“Dame Herma, the crown prince is about to enter your room for a visit”

Aileth looked fine but the one who got panicked was the second prince. “Oh! No! Brother is going to be here!” He started moving back and forth. He then looked at the huge window with its doors closed and decided to escape from there.

Aileth was enjoying the whole scenario of the second prince suddenly going into panic mode just at the mention of his elder brother. She wondered if she should just mention the first prince every time the second prince bothers her from now on. She saw him opening the window doors when she heard another voice from outside the door.

“Excuse us, Dame”. It was the voice of her partner, Cain Stanworth, who was working as the future king’s aide alongside her.

The door was opened and the future ruler’s aide first stepped in, then he let the future ruler step into the room. When Cain moved aside, the crown prince stood at the entryway of the door, his brows scrunched in annoyance as he was pinching his brows.

“Stay right there, Reagan. You’re not going anywhere”. The first prince warned his younger brother, who stopped from jumping from the window. A terrified expression appeared on his face. He was done for. He slowly turned around and saw his brother entering the room with a solemn face. He gave an awkward smile at his brother. His brother didn’t accept it and turned to look at Aileth.

“Your Highness!” Aileth tried to stand up, but the crown prince stopped her from getting out of her bed.

“Please stay in bed, Aileth. We are already intruding on your rest time. We can’t make you even more uncomfortable.”

The crown prince said, stepping a bit towards her, for her to stay on the bed. Still, Aileth sat down, keeping her legs on the ground.

“What brings you here, your highness?” The golden-blonde-haired girl asked, looking at the prince.

“Well, we are still waiting for another person, but I didn’t expect my brother to be here?” The crown prince glared at his younger brother, who gave him a sheepish smile.

“Yes, Your Highness” Aileth felt pity for the younger prince and covered up for him. “His Highness just came here to check up on me.”

Both the princes looked at her surprisingly, their dark violet orbs widening a bit. The first prince chuckled a bit and asked amusingly, “Is that so?”

Aileth nodded her head in confidence, unknowingly showing her second reveal of change.

“Fine, I believe you since you say so, Aileth. Anyhow, we need my brother here for a while” The crown prince looked at his brother, giving him a gentle smile, but in actuality, he was just teasing his brother for being finally protected by his crush who always made sure he was caught in act “Come here and take a seat, Reagan.”

Reagan wanted to puff his cheeks and act like the spoiled brat that he was, but he couldn’t because it seemed like his brother had come here to ask Aileth about what happened on the day when the ancient monsters planned a surprise attack and how she was able to handle the situation on her own.

“And who is the other person we are waiting for, your highness?” Aileth asked, her emerald eyes going to the door, looking to see if someone would come in through it.

“Why don’t you take a guess, Aileth?” Karl tilted his head with a smile that made her wonder. The head tilt and a smile were a sign of his highness. The first prince was looking forward to something according to the memory she had.

“Huh……... Who is it?” Aileth looked skeptical with a hesitant smile knowing Karl likes to give sudden and unexpected surprises to people.

The crown prince let out a small smirky chuckle that made the others sweat drop at his actions. Now they were sure that he was looking forward to it, and he knew that he would enjoy the show. Aileth knew that because of the original Aileth’s memories.

“My lord! Please wait! My lord!” There were some disturbing noises outside the door that made the people alert except for the crown prince. He smirked and thought ‘he’s here'

The double doors were opened loudly by a golden blonde-haired man who looked around the room before his eyes found the person he was looking for. Aileth was taken aback by the man’s compassionate blue gaze at her. Her mind was thrown into the mess of the memories left by the original Aileth.

“Ailee!”, he hurried to her and hugged her while she sat on the bed. He slowly wrapped his arms around her carefully, as if not to hurt her. Aileth was shocked to be hugged by someone all of a sudden. As a pop star, she was used to being touchy, since she had to touch the hands of her fans, take handshakes and hug them sometimes. But when she was hugged by this person, she suddenly felt a bit better. It was okay and she could depend on him.

Aileth opened her closed eyes. Huh? What was that? Why was she feeling dependent on him? Who was he? She tried to turn her head a bit and saw golden hair.

Arkin. A voice reverberated in her ears. It was like a voice coming from inside her head.

“Ailee” The man stood straight, and it was then Aileth (Zelda) got a chance to see him properly. His golden hair was unevenly cut, and it was unruly, but that gave him a boyish and unruly charm. His cobalt blue eyes were filled with concern.

“Where did you get hurt? Does it hurt anywhere? Why aren’t you resting? Who allowed you to sit when you’re sick?”

He noticed the small crystal-like tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. He slowly cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb on her eye with a helpless smile. “Silly, why are you crying?”

That sent a beautiful smile towards the siblings. Arkin paused for a moment, looking at his little sister. He was surprised that she was showing her emotions freely. His cobalt blue eyes stared at her face, which didn’t change much. She was still the same Aileth except for her eyes. Had her eyes always been this shiny, or was he noticing them for the first time?

No. That doesn’t make sense. She was his little sister. He saw her growing up right in front of his eyes. But he had to admit that her eyes were shinier than before, as if they were twinkling.

“U…uhm mm…second brother?”

“Huh?” He realized he was lost in his thoughts and his gaze went back to his sister, who was looking down, feeling uncomfortable under his intense gaze. He blinked his eyes and said, “I apologize, Aileth.”

“It’s okay, brother”. She smiled at him. He patted her head and stood up. Aileth looked up at him when he suddenly patted her head. It was………… intimate.

“Ahem!” Karl cleared his throat and all the attention went to him. It was then they remembered that the vice commander of aura kinghts was being too casual in front of his highnesses.

Arkin seemed to realize what he was doing and straight up his body, swiftly turning his body towards the princes who were sitting on the couch with similar smiles on their faces. They were carbon copies of the late emperor, but the crown prince exhibited more of the empress’s attributes than his late majesty, while the younger prince looked like the late emperor and acted like the late emperor.

“I was being rude, Your Highness the crown prince. I apologize for my rude behavior”, Arkin bowed to the crown prince, who just waved his hand, in his way of saying that it was fine. Crown Prince Karl wasn’t one for the rules and regulations unless they were in public and in the presence of other nobles who he wasn’t close to.

“It is only natural that you would be focused on Dame, commander. After she’s your only little sister”, the crown prince tilted his head to the side, giving a smile. The smile was normal for people who don’t know. But to the people who know, he was just teasing the commander. It was his highness’s favorite pastime. To tease people.

The people looked at the Dame who was the only person to not get teased by the crown prince. No matter what, he was never unable to get a reaction from her every time he teased her. To their surprise, the Dame looked aside and blushed. The Crown Prince smirked before he looked at the commander.

Arkin knew what he was supposed to do. Wearing the special uniform for the aura knights with a special sash and batches on his chest, the man looked solemn. His full-sleeved top ended at his upper thighs. The middle part of the top in the front was filled with broad horizontal golden stripes. He wore a long blackish dark green cape. The cape was held in place with a sapphire brooch with an intricate design. There were golden buttons at the front of the cape near the neck part. Arkin closed his fist and placed it on his heart before he went on one knee and bowed his head. He said in a deep voice, “His Highness the Crown Prince, his Highness Reagan, Arkin Herma, commander of the combat magic knights, have returned with success!”

“At ease, commander”, Arkin raised his eyes, meeting the dark violet eyes of the crown prince. He was smiling at him. Arkin relaxed his posture before he stood up and bowed once again before he stood straight.

There were only a few maids other than the princes and their trusted aides. Noticing how Arkin was looking around, the crown prince said, “Take a seat, Commander Arkin. We were just about to start asking regarding the attack. You came at the right moment”, he gestured towards a sofa in the room.

The crown prince and second prince sat on one and Arkin sat on the other one. The crown prince crossed his right leg on the other one as he looked at the sibling duo. Reagan, the second prince, sat rather comfortably. Cain, the crown prince’s aide, stood behind the sofa at the crown prince's side, while Marco stood at the second prince’s side.

“So, shall we start?” the crown prince asked as everyone nodded their heads.

“And that was all I could remember……. I was able to defeat the first monster…. The communication jewel fell out of my pocket somewhere, and I couldn’t search for it………….” Alieth AKA Zelda wondered how weird it was as she recount the last few memories of Aileth.

The silence grew in the room with suffocating seriousness. Aileth felt herself taking short and silent breaths. Scared as if they would start interrogating her.

“So many odd things happened at once, and it is very concerning”, finally, the crown prince said in a normal tone, but those who know him are aware that he was angry. “The monsters appeared in the place and no one was able to sense it, not even me. The training ground where Aileth fought with the monsters was supposed to be guarded and there seemed to be a lot of powerful magic involved. How come the soldiers didn't notice when there was a fierce fight going on? Another unusual situation was the monster's dead bodies were burnt to the point where we still couldn’t find out what kind of monster they were. By the time the soldiers reached the area,” the crown prince assessed the doubts that were running over their minds.

“That is not possible, your highness. I remember those monsters losing their lives' essence due to the wounds I caused. The second monster was tricky. I was heavily injured by the time it lost its life”, Aileth said. The last fight was very clear to Zelda, as if she lived in that memory. It was not just one memory, but all of Aileth’s memories felt the same way for her.

“It is the hand of another person who doesn’t want us to know what those monsters were” the second prince commented, compressing his anger.

“Perhaps, little brother. But not necessarily. Though the probability of others helping is very little”, the crown prince said. He looked at the sibling duo. “What are your thoughts, commander?”

Arkin was wondering, resting his elbows on his lap. He looked at the crown prince before he answered, “Your concerns are spot on, your highness. Once I see the burnt bodies of the monsters and visit the training grounds, I cannot add much detail other than what Your Highness has provided.”

“I feel like I’m making the already tired commander overwork” Karl, the crown prince said, but he was not worried. He knew what kind of men were under him.

“Not at all, Your Highness,” the young commander said, taking responsibility for this matter.

“Don’t hesitate to ask for any help you might need, Arkin”, Reagan the second the prince chimed in support.

“That is very reassuring, Your Highness the second prince” Arkin still maintained a humble tone.

There was a knock on the door before they heard the voice of the second prince’s female aide. She came in along with Royal physician Zion and his assistant, the young Fiona Redport.

“Your Highness, the crown prince, the second prince and the commander, pardon our intrusion,” the royal physician said as he and Helen the female aide bowed while the assistant physician gave, a bow. “It’s time for Dame Herma’s check-up”

“Stand up”, they relaxed and stood up properly. The crown prince said, “Seems like we have disturbed the Dame’s rest for quite a while.”

All the heads whipped towards the lady in the sentence who seemed to be in a world of her thoughts. “Ah…. I apologize, I was just blankly wondering…...”

The crown prince chuckled as he stood. The others followed suit. “Rest well, Dame. You seem cheerful after waking up. Be the same way from now on.”

A tint of pink rushed onto her face, which surprised the young commander, Arkin Herma. Was it his sister who just blushed over a few simple words? For as long as he can remember, his sister rarely showed emotions on her face. The brothers were worried when they heard people talking badly about their sister, but she never reacted to any of the rumors. He wondered what kind of magic spell the head physician Zion cast on his sister. Whatever it was, he was in a pleasant mood watching his sister even after finding out plenty of unpleasant things and matters to attend to which needed his full attention.

The second prince, Reagan, felt it was adorable to see the always serious and neutral Dame blushing. The future king just laughed it off, thinking of more ways to tease the Dame. His upcoming days are surely going to be fun.