Running From The Prince

Chapter Ten

" Lady Maria Alexandra Silva is the last born and only daughter of prime minister Jeffrey Winter Silva.

Born into luxury, she is zealous, Outgoing, and bold. She was given the title of Princess by the king after her engagement to the heir to the throne Albert Alexander Louise at the age of four

Unlike other girls from the royal family, Prime Minister Jeffrey has provided further education for his daughter alongside her brothers and she becomes the second female in the history of Fyn to receive such luxuries. It can be said that the lady Alexandra is indeed fair at heart and has a bright future"

Alexandra pauses from reading out her life history and wonders why there was a book about her in the first place. She had noticed it in the school library when she had escorted Juliana here. It turns out there was a whole section in the library about royals and their contribution to the kingdom. It was more like a way to show how much better the rich were compared to the poor or average in the society

She even found one book for each of her family members. According to the hierarchy, the Silva family was only second to the Royal family and that was only by a small gap. She wasn't even nineteen yet and she possessed so much wealth and power that it would be easy to live out an extravagant lifestyle even if she decided never to work throughout the rest of her life. Alex sighs dreamily thinking how easy the life of the rich was. She wondered why she would ever decide to spend her life bitterly chasing after a prince who could never love her When she could live a very luxurious life

" I guess some people are just born deranged" She mutters to herself taking an apple slice from her fruit salad

To be a princess wasn't something small. According to what she has read she had the highest title among female royals in all of the kingdom, she received a high salary personally daily and the clothes and jewels she wore were the same designs as the late Queen of Fyn. King Louise treated her like a daughter. Too bad the former Alexandra was too confident and rotten to appreciate his kindness. Despite agreeing to his son's wishes to terminate their marriage engagement he still treated her so well

If this was a fairytale, Alex was sure that her role was one of a villain. She popped a grape into her mouth and munched on it happily. She didn't get to enjoy such luxuries back at the barrack, all she ever ate back there were snacks and soup. Maybe if she managed to get back she might get a break and go back home to her Mom, some home-cooked meals would be nice.

Alex quickly wipes her mouth with her sleeves in case she was found drooling. She looked around to see that the library was almost empty at the moment, it must be that first period had already started. But Alex didn't want to attend Table etiquette class at all since Albert was her partner there. Ever since the incident a few days ago she figured the best line of action was to avoid crossing paths with him. Though the consequences might be drastic if word leaked out to the men in her family that she was skipping classes. It wasn't her father who she was worried about but her ever stern older brother. He was probably going to give her that stern look and scold her harshly, he almost reminded her of her mother back home

Feeling that it would be more bothersome to spend more time in the library, Alex packed up her book and made her way towards the exit of the library. She had the intention of strolling over to the cafeteria and having some desserts, but luck would have it that she ran into someone right when she walked through the door. She managed to steady herself but her book had fallen to the ground as a result of the bump

She looks up to see that the person she had run into was none other than the famous Xander Bloom. Alex watches him in expectation of an apology. She had been a hundred percent sure that it was him who had run into her and made her drop the book. Plus it was such a headache to even attempt hunching over to retrieve the item because her dress was just not designed for that kind of activity. She might break her back if she tries. So she was kinda waiting for this dude to be a gentleman and apologize and then help a beautiful lady retrieve her fallen item

But unexpectedly Xander seemed to also be waiting for her apology. Why else would he be standing in front of her without making a move and exchanging looks with her? Eventually, he was the first to break the silence between them

" Lady Silva, what a pleasant surprise"

" A surprise? Didn't you see me coming?"

" If I did I wouldn't have run into you. It is very indecent to crash into a lady"

" Ah indecency, maybe if you help me retrieve this book then.."

" Book?" Xander follows her gaze and looks down at the book on the floor. The front page is coincidentally clear so Xander can see the inscription ' Life History Of Maria Alexandra Silva' boldly written on it. He raises a brow at it and Alex thinks that he hadn't noticed that she had dropped it earlier. She opens her mouth to ask him politely if he could help her fetch it but her words die in her throat when he suddenly laughs out loud

Her face twist in confusion and wondered what she had said to amuse him, she watches him silently as he almost topples over laughing. Well, his laughter wasn't so bad, at least it was better than the sinister one Miss Harriette gave whenever she tripped over her feet in dance class. That woman was a close reincarnation of the devil himself

" Honestly," Xander says finally able to pull himself together, although his eyes were still full with amusement. " I have never seen someone read their biography before"

" I don't think it's bad wanting to know what's written about me"

" It's a bit vain but nothing bad is ever written about royals, no matter how rotten or spoilt they truly are in character," He says eyeing her closely

Alex sends him a glare. " You better not be implying what I think you are implying"

" You are truly an interesting person lady Silva" He dismisses her words with a shake of his head. " May I know where you are headed to?"

" Cafeteria "

" Don't you have class?"

" I don't feel like going." She pauses. " And you? You have music class if am not wrong"

" You sure know a lot about me don't you"

She flashes him a smile. " Your biography is right beside mine". She had heard Juliana saying something about having the same music class with him, it was how she came to know of that little information

Xander must have thought her lies weren't even worth acknowledging because he once more dismisses them. He hunches down to pick up the book and hands it over to her politely. " I was going to go over to the archery court, would you like to join me?"

She immediately brightens up at the prospect of once more getting her hands on weapons. " Of course "

" Follow me then"

She does so eagerly, they back their way down the empty corridors to a sector of the building she had never been to

" This is a men's only class" He explained as of reading her mind. She nods in understanding and follows him into a large spacious room. It was much similar to the weapons room she had been to before except this one only had bows and arrows of different shapes and sizes, and targets. Alexandra had done a lot of sports in high school and one of her favorites was archery. She was quite good at it too and her sense of aim had made it easier for her to master using the gun

" Do you do archery "

" Of course " She takes the long bow and arrow from him, and he watches as she makes quick work of positioning herself and aiming for the closest target. It was a Scarecrow and her arrow went right to the middle of its forehead on her first try. She looks back at Xander with a smug look and finds that he seemed genuinely impressed

" Where did you learn to shoot?"

" umm..my father offered me an education in defense " The lie comes to her naturally this time as she isn't sure if it was completely a lie. She suspected that Jeffrey Winter Silva might have truly trained Alex along with her brothers at an earlier age

" You are truly amazing" The royal looks at her like she is the most interesting thing he had ever laid eyes on. He took a smaller bow and presented it to her. " Can you shoot a low-ranged arrow?"

" I can"

And so they spent a full hour toying with different types of bows and arrows. It was probably the most relaxing moment Alex had ever since arriving at this place

* * *

The young lady of the Silva family yawns as she makes her way out of her last class of the day. Her fingers hurt terribly, it wasn't from using the bow but because she had spent the last hour playing the Harp. It was complete torture. All she wanted at the moment was to curl up on her soft beddings and fall asleep

She makes her way past the other students all rushing off to get to their various carriages. When she passes by the stairs she was suddenly stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She turns around to see Rachel behind her

" Hello Rachel" Alex gives the white-haired girl a warm smile. Unfortunately for some reason, Rachel didn't return the greeting as she would have lly. Her face was grim with anger as she faced Alex

" You seduced him"

" What?"

" You seduced Albert!" She mutters in a harsh yet low tone so anybody passing by couldn't hear them

Alex was taken aback by the girl's words. " Did...did he tell you that?"

" Why? Did he hope he wouldn't tell me?! Albert felt bad about what happened so he told me. I thought you were a good person, I thought that since you were Albert's childhood friend then you weren't as mean as he said you were. I can't believe I didn't believe him"

" Rachel, it's not what it appears. The whole thing was an accident, Albert and I have nothing between us. Why would I try to seduce someone who didn't like me?" She tried to reason but Rachel was having non of it

" Because it's what you royals do! You only look down and bully others who don't have money As you do. I was afraid of you once but now I won't tolerate this anymore. Albert loves me and I won't let you take him away from me"

" You don't know what you are saying," Alex says and turns around to leave, Rachel grabs her from behind and holds onto her wrist harshly. Her fingers dig into the skin of Alex's wrist painfully. " Let go of me!"

Rachel has an almost sinister look in her eyes and only holds onto her tighter. " I want to show everyone just what a bad person you are! You are nothing but a homewrecker!"

By now their little drama had drawn the attention of the passing crowd. Rachel must have seen this and suddenly digs her fingers harder into the already formed wound on Alex's wrist. Alex yelped in pain and makes to yank her hand away, Rachel screams and let go of Alex's hand and in the process sent herself tumbling down the stairs. Alex stares in horror but to everyone who witnessed the scene, it was exactly as Rachel had wanted them to see.

Maria Alexandra Silva had pushed her love rival down the stairs in a fit of jealousy