The Forgotten Princess Rose
Chapter 120

Chapter 120: Chapter 120

Zayne led Rose away from the princess and her old friend. He noticed how Rose clung to him. This was the most they had touched each other since they met. Something was bothering her and he would bet it was the princess.

"She will not get to you."

Rose snapped out of thoughts about Alexander. "What? Oh, the princess. She has feelings for Alexander so he warned me of her jealousy. I do not want to have a royal trying to hurt me because of a misunderstanding and I worry for him. He is a soldier but the princess has him at her side. Is that normal?"

"No. Like her father, the princess knows how to abuse her power," Zayne replied. "Many royals can be that way."

"Oh. So, there is nothing he can do to get away from her? How are we to speak again if the princess will be angry?" Rose wondered, nervous about what would happen from tomorrow onward. "So far, he seems like the boy I remember. Other than his appearance changing drastically of course. It is good that he is a soldier. He has always protected others."

"The princess is well-loved by her father. It is unlikely that there is anyone to help him unless he wants to leave the army but then, she is manipulative to get him to stay. That is why I did not want you near the palace," Zayne explained. "You need to find a secret way to meet him."

"I see. I have told him that I am staying at your camp. He looked concerned but if he were to visit, he would see that I am fine. Is it allowed for him to go there or I can step outside if he were to show up? I don’t want to cause trouble for anyone. For your soldiers to think I have brought a spy," Rose said, thinking of how suspicious it would be.

"I will tell the soldiers guarding the gates to look out for him but he cannot come inside. Can you take Finn with you or do you trust him?" Zayne asked, curious as to how she viewed Alexander.

Like the princess, Zayne noticed the feelings the man held for Rose. Alexander wasn’t good at hiding it as his face gave it away. He should have at least kept the mask on to hide it.

Rose thought about it for a moment. "I don’t see any reason not to trust him but I will be careful. We have not seen each other for years so a lot has changed. He greeted me with a hug instead of a kick so I am not so wary of him. He did it before a princess so he must not care about what I was."

"Oh," Rose realised how much she held Zayne’s hand. "I am sorry," she apologised, stepping away from him. They had been walking so close yet she had not noticed. Rose looked down at her hand. The uneasiness she felt was gone.

"I quite enjoyed it," Zayne admitted. "A little bunny clinging to me."

"You are big and warm just like how I imagine a bunny to feel. If I am a little bunny, then you are a big bunny. I wonder how your soldiers would love the nickname. Would they laugh at it and call you in secret to annoy you just as you annoy me?" Rose wondered, eager to make Zayne regret calling her a bunny.

"And then I will have them run laps around the mansion-"

"Then you will abuse your power. What will make you any different from the princess?" Rose questioned.

"We are here for a serious matter not to be joking around. When they get lax, I have to wake them up. Do you view me like the princess? I would be insulted if you did," Zayne replied, stopping in the middle of the path to fix Rose’s mask.

"You are not like her. She scares me just like the name Lilian scares me and the queen is her mother. I do not think it is possible but what are the chances that I might have been in the palace before? Perhaps my parents were servants there," Rose proposed.

Something felt familiar yet scary at the same time. Like she was heading down a path she had walked before but she should have run away from.

"Why go so low? Your parents could have been anyone. Many are named after the queen but let us assume you have met the queen before. You looked scared out of your mind when you heard her name," Zayne said, unable to forget Rose’s reaction to the announcement.

"What could a queen have done to have a child so afraid of her? Tomorrow, we can come up with answers and search for anyone else named Lilian but now, you should enjoy the festival. It is your first so you must make it memorable. It will be my treat," Zayne offered to spoil her. "You will not object?"

Rose shook her head. "We are both stubborn. I will try to reject it and you will not take no for an answer. It is faster to accept your offer and I will buy something for you as a thank you."

Zayne chuckled. "You are a fast learner like I told you."

Zayne put out his arm to stop a man approaching them with drinks from getting too close to Rose.

"Drinks?"

"No," Zayne replied.

"Was that wine?" Rose asked, watching as the man went around them to go to someone else. "It smelled lovely."

"You want to drink?" Zayne questioned, surprised by her interest.

"I have never tasted wine. I do not want to drink it now since I do not want to get drunk. Why are you laughing at me? I have not said anything funny," Rose pouted, disliking his laughter.

"It would be quite the show if you were to get drunk over a taste of wine. I have wine stored at the camp. You can have a taste there and go to bed if you feel drunk. Come here," Zayne said, holding Rose’s hand without hesitation.

Rose tried to figure out where Zayne wanted to take her. They approached a crowd of people dancing and Rose panicked. "I do not know how to dance."

"And I am not good at dancing. I am taking you to where there is food and maybe little things you can buy to remind you of this night. I need to look out for my soldiers,’ Zayne said, counting them as he spotted them.

"I am hungry- Oh!" Rose gasped, her body startled by something cold splashing against her back. It felt like cold water had hit her which stunned her body.

Rose turned around to see who had done it only to see the back of a woman running away.

"Shit," she heard Zayne curse.

Zayne could see where the culprit ran off to but could not leave Rose alone. He turned Rose around to get a good look at what was thrown at her.

Rose could tell from his reaction that it had to be more than just water. She tried to touch the back of her dress but Zayne stopped her.

"Do not," Zayne advised her. "It is not just water."

Between the cold feeling on her back as her dress soaked up what had been thrown and the crowd around either talking or laughing at her appearance, Rose just wanted to return to the camp and take off the ruined dress.