Bound To The Crown

EPISODE 3

KAEL'S POV

The Princess and I were still talking when the library doors opened. Two palace maids stepped inside and bowed politely.

"Princess, Prince Lucien requests your presence."

I glanced at Auriella. The smile that had graced her face moments ago disappeared almost instantly.

"Let him know I will join him shortly," she replied.

The maids bowed once more before leaving the library. Silence settled between us. A few moments later, the Princess stood from her chair.

"It was fun reading with you. I do look forward to another time," she said with a smile.

I returned it with one of my own. "As do I."

She tilted her head slightly—a habit of hers I had begun to notice—before turning towards the door. Halfway there, she paused and looked back at me.

"You're not coming?"

"I want to read some more."

She nodded slowly before leaving the library. The room felt oddly quiet after her departure. My gaze fell upon the stack of papers she had entrusted me with earlier. Her stories were more than good. There was something gentle and comforting about the way she wrote. It was difficult to believe that the same woman who sat across from me with ink-stained fingers was the Crown Princess everyone in the kingdom spoke so highly of. I picked up one of the pages and smiled faintly. She was a poet as well.

The Princess had smiled more in the library than she had throughout the entire ball the previous evening. Yet, the moment Prince Lucien's name was mentioned, that smile vanished.

Interesting.

I carefully arranged her manuscripts back onto the shelf. This was going to be interesting.

Training Grounds

"So, you're the Princess's new personal bodyguard."

I ignored the guard as I drove my sword through the mannequin before me.

"What's she really like?" he continued. "The nobles say she's difficult to please. Is that true?"

That caught my attention. I pulled my sword free and removed my training mask before turning to face him.

"You gossip about the Crown Princess so openly?" I asked calmly. "Perhaps I should inform His Majesty."

His expression immediately darkened.

"Don't act as though you're royalty simply because you've been assigned to guard her," he scoffed. "You're still nothing more than a knight."

I looked him up and down before smirking.

"Fortunately for me, I never claimed otherwise."

My hand tightened slightly around the hilt of my sword. For a brief moment, I wondered how much trouble I would get into for breaking a fellow knight's nose.

Probably quite a lot.

"Besides," I continued, "it is hardly becoming of a knight to spread rumours about the very person he swore to protect."

Without waiting for his response, I turned back to the training mannequin and resumed my training. The Princess was many things.

Difficult was certainly not one of them.

"I simply asked a question," he muttered before walking away. I watched him leave before returning my attention to the training mannequin. It was amusing, really. The Princess had spent years building a reputation that everyone admired, yet no one truly seemed to know who she was. To the nobles, she was elegant and graceful. To the people, she was kind and charitable. To me, however, she was the strange Princess who enjoyed breathing in dusty libraries and smiled proudly whenever she spoke about her books.

I smiled faintly at the thought.

"You seem to be in quite a good mood today."

I turned around at the familiar voice. Commander Rowan stood with his arms folded across his chest as he observed me.

"Do I?" I asked.

"You do," he replied. "It has been two weeks since His Majesty assigned you to the Princess, yet I've never seen you smile this much."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Should I apologise for it?"

"No," he chuckled. "I was merely curious."

The Commander began walking towards the benches surrounding the training grounds before sitting down.

"Tell me, how is Her Highness?"

I sheathed my sword and joined him.

"Nothing like I expected."

"That's what everyone says once they meet her."

"And what exactly did everyone say before meeting her?"

He laughed quietly.

"That she was too perfect. Most people assumed she simply knew how to play her role well."

I looked down at my gloves thoughtfully. I couldn't blame them. The Princess carried herself with such elegance that it was difficult to imagine she had any flaws at all.

Yet she did. She was stubborn. She was terrible at hiding her emotions whenever Prince Lucien's name was mentioned. She refused to let the palace maids clean her library. And despite being royalty, she thanked servants for the smallest things.

"She's different," I finally said. The Commander smiled knowingly.

"Be careful with that."

"With what?"

"Thinking she's different."

I frowned slightly.

"You spend enough time around someone, and you begin to care for them. It is inevitable."

"She's my responsibility. Of course I care whether she lives or dies."

"That isn't what I meant."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"You old men are rather dramatic."

His laughter echoed through the training grounds.

"Perhaps," he replied. "But I've lived long enough to recognise the beginning of troublesome situations."

"And what troublesome situation would that be?"

"Falling for a Princess."

I laughed.

"Fortunately for both of us, that will never happen."

His expression told me he didn't believe a word I said. The conversation eventually shifted towards upcoming royal duties, though I found my thoughts wandering elsewhere.

Prince Lucien.

Everyone in the kingdom expected him to become the Princess's future husband. The nobles adored the idea of uniting two powerful royal families through marriage.

Yet whenever his name was mentioned, the Princess never appeared excited. Today had been no different. Her smile disappeared almost immediately after receiving his invitation.

Did she dislike him?

Or perhaps she simply wasn't interested in marrying someone she barely knew. I wasn't certain. Truthfully, I had no right to concern myself with the Princess's personal affairs. My duty was simple—to protect her.

Nothing more.

Still...

I found myself wondering whether she smiled as brightly when speaking to Prince Lucien as she did when talking about her favourite books. Somehow, I doubted it. I had guarded nobles before. Most of them demanded unnecessary luxuries and expected servants to bow at their feet. The Princess was different.

She thanked the servants whenever they brought her tea. She preferred spending her mornings in a dusty library rather than attending royal gatherings. She had enough stories hidden on her shelves to rival the kingdom's finest scholars.

Strange.

If I had not been assigned to guard her myself, I would have believed the rumours spread throughout the kingdom—that she was merely the perfect princess wearing a perfect smile. Yet, there was nothing artificial about the smile she wore when speaking about her books. Nor was there anything artificial about the disappointment that flashed across her face whenever Prince Lucien was mentioned.

The Princess was easy to read once one paid enough attention.

Which, admittedly, I was beginning to do. I stood from the bench and picked up my sword once more. Whatever feelings the Princess had for Prince Lucien were none of my concern. Or at least, that was what I intended to continue telling myself.

Until proven otherwise.

I spent the next hour training in silence. Swordsmanship had always been second nature to me. It required no thought, no unnecessary conversation—only discipline and precision.

Yet, for reasons I could not understand, my thoughts continuously drifted back to the Princess. She was nothing like the image I had created in my mind before arriving at the palace. I had expected an elegant but distant royal who would spend her days attending tea parties and ordering servants around. Instead, I was assigned to a Princess who preferred the company of books to people and considered dust an essential part of a library's charm.

Strange.

Cleaning a book had earned me a gentle scolding, and somehow, I found myself apologising for doing my job.

I laughed quietly at the thought.

The Princess was certainly an interesting person to be around. There was never a dull moment with her.

More importantly, she seemed happiest whenever she forgot she was royalty—even if only for a few moments.

The sun had already begun to set by the time I returned to the palace.

The atmosphere felt different.

Palace servants hurried through the hallways carrying fresh flowers and trays of refreshments. It wasn't difficult to guess who had requested the Princess's presence earlier that day.

Prince Lucien's visits were never treated casually.

"I heard the Prince has finally returned from the Northern Kingdom."

"Do you think he plans on proposing soon?"

"The entire kingdom is waiting for their engagement announcement."

Their voices lowered into hushed whispers as I walked past them.

I had heard enough rumours regarding Prince Lucien to know that he was every noble family's dream son-in-law. Handsome. Intelligent. Powerful. A prince worthy of standing beside the Crown Princess.

By all accounts, they seemed perfectly suited for one another.

So why had her expression fallen the moment his name was mentioned?

It was strange.

Most noble ladies would rejoice at the opportunity to spend time with a prince of his standing.

Yet Princess Auriella never once appeared excited whenever the topic arose. My footsteps slowed as I passed by the library doors.

Only a few hours ago, she had smiled brighter than I had ever seen while speaking about dragons, poetry and dusty books. It was difficult to imagine that same smile appearing whenever she sat beside Prince Lucien. Truthfully, it was none of my concern.

Whether she married Prince Lucien or not would not change my duty. I was merely her bodyguard. Nothing more.

"Guard Kael."

I turned towards the servant approaching me.

"His Majesty requests your presence immediately. You are to escort Princess Auriella to the West Garden. Prince Lucien awaits."

I frowned slightly before nodding.

"Very well."

It seemed I would finally have the opportunity to meet the man everyone in the kingdom believed would become the Princess's future husband.