283: Lost The Chance Again

Lost The Chance Again

Oriana was in the foyer, lingering near the pendulum clock while glancing at the grand staircase, waiting for the first signs of people leaving the prince's study. Arlan's meeting with the officials had been ongoing for more than an hour.  2

'Why is their meeting taking longer than usual today?' 

She could only sigh helplessly, but in the end, she chose to wait outside the study, making small talk with the officials' subordinates standing outside. 

Her expression brightened the moment the officials came out of the study.

'His Highness is finally free!'

Oriana entered the study, only to witness Arlan standing up from his chair. "Get my coat. I am heading outside the palace."

He was ordering her to fetch the ordinary-looking coat meant for disguise.

"Anything the matter, Your Highness?" Oriana asked. 

"Hmm. Call Imbert in," was all he said, not sharing more information. 

Doing as ordered, only then did she notice that under his cloak, the knight captain had changed out of his uniform, and instead was wearing dark clothes underneath. He removed anything that would give a hint of his identity or affiliation.

'It seems we are going out to deal with important matters? What can it be? Could it be…the banned herb issue?' Oriana wondered but she didn't dare voice out her questions. 

After Oriana returned from the prince's chamber and helped him put on the brown coat, Arlan walked out of the study. Oriana faithfully followed behind him.

'Maybe I will talk to him inside the carriage while traveling out,' she thought. 'Wait, I am still in my attendant uniform. Shouldn't I also change into a less conspicuous attire?'

By the time she had that realization, they had come out of the mansion. Instead of a carriage, two saddled horses were waiting in front of the entrance along with Imbert. Oriana was shocked. 

'Only two horses? That means… Is he not planning to take me, his personal attendant, with him?'

Arlan got on one horse while Imbert mounted the other. Arlan glanced down at the disappointed Oriana. "You don't need to follow me." His gaze went next to the other person standing on the front porch, wearing an expression worse than Oriana. 

Rafal looked like he was wronged. He could tell they were going on some kind of mission, but the presence of only two horses meant his master was not allowing him to join him.

The prince confirmed his guess.

"Your physician still doesn't approve of you for excessive physical work."

Rafal narrowed his eyes at Oriana but could only follow his liege's intention. "Please take care, Your Highness."

"We will be late to return," Imbert informed the younger knight. "It's your duty to take care of everything here."

"Yes, Captain."

Oriana didn't bother with Rafal's displeasure as she was plenty unhappy on her own. It seemed impossible to have a proper conversation with Arlan today. Helplessly, she watched him disappear from her sight.

—-

That night, the city of Nefer appeared more silent and tranquil than usual, with less civilian folks on the streets but more city guards on patrol. A small group of six men on horseback were taking a secluded route towards the royal palace.

It was Arlan, Drayce, and Cian along with their guardian knights returning after dealing with important matters outside. 

"Finally, we managed to destroy the black nightshade plantation," Cian said. "Since we burned everything, we won't leave any clues behind."

The rest shared the sentiment. Arlan, in particular, was in a good mood to have the chance to wield his sword to his satisfaction after so long.

"Aren't you afraid of going against your future in-laws, Prince Cian?" Arlan teased. "The King of Othinia might not accept you as his son-in-law if he learns of this. Who knows how big a loss it is to their royal treasury?"

"Who is whose in-law?" Cian scoffed. "A crime is a crime, and worse if the ones doing it are the ones supposedly executing the law."

"I must say you saved your in-laws from having their reputation destroyed," Arlan responded, ignoring what Cian said and shared a teasing gaze with Drayce. "I heard Prince Cian happened to come across a certain princess recently. That injury on your wrist—"

"Prince Arlan seems to blabber more than he should," Cian interrupted him. "But I guess the injury on my wrist is a blessing in disguise, otherwise, I would never have discovered that your aide gives amazing massages. Oh, perhaps, are you unaware how good Orian is?"

Arlan glared at him, but seconds later, his scowl morphed into a taunting smirk. "I will have plenty of time to check my aide's skills since I have my aide by my side every single day. What about you? You keep hunting for a certain princess in the wilderness and you don't even get to see her. Tsk."

"You think too much, Prince Arlan. That trip in the wilderness allowed us to wrap up this problem faster than expected."

"Yeah, sure," Arlan scoffed before sharing a gaze with Drayce. "We believe him, don't we, Dray?"

"Yeah." Drayce nodded. "What can we do other than believe in Prince Cian. Afterall, he is the most righteous person, incapable of saying or doing anything wrong."

"You two friends are so annoying." 

With a slight pull on the reins, Cian then urged  his horse to speed up, his knight Eliot quickly following him like a second shadow. They entered the royal palace through a side gate, an entryway prepared beforehand thanks to Cian's connections to the Othinian royal family.

Drayce looked at Arlan. "Not in a hurry to return?"

"If I could, I prefer to stay away as long as I can."

"What happened?" Drayce asked, as the two leisurely made their horses keep their trot. Slayer and Imbert also matched their pace.

"I am not sure what has gotten into Oriana all of a sudden, but she is adamant on telling me the truth about her," Arlan answered. 

Drayce laughed, "Isn't it good? You don't have to play hide-and-seek with her anymore. You can openly accept her and make progress with your relationship."

"I don't want that. I like how things are now."

"You can control your urges now—"

"It's not because of that." 

However, Arlan did not say more, as if he was hesitating.

"Is there a problem?" Drayce asked as he passed him a doubtful look.

Arlan handled himself well and said, "Nothing. She is a peasant and I am the Crown Prince. It's not good for me."

Drayce raised his brow at him as he clearly didn't believe his friend. "Since when have you started thinking about status?"

"I have always been like this, don't you know? I am a Cromwell, first and foremost. As part of royalty, my decisions will affect not only me and my family, but the millions of citizens living in my kingdom. I might be selfish, but my parents raised me better than that. Not to mention, if she becomes tangled with me, she will have to abandon her dreams of being a proper physician."

"Superficial reasons," Drayce spoke. "There is something else you are not saying." 

"Stop changing the subject. Tell me how I can stop her from telling me. I have to find different excuses to stop her every time. Once or twice is fine, but I am sure she will start to doubt things soon."

"You better let her tell you, both for her and your sake. When you communicate earnestly, it will also be easier to find solutions to your problems. She already lives in fear as is. Don't you think it is ridiculous she had to pointlessly suffer and worry for her future, when you already know the truth?"

Arlan stayed quiet, reminded of the incident after she fell into the lake. He learned afterwards that it was a compound effect of the drug she was taking. She had been forced to that point in order to keep her secret. 

Upon entering the region where the guest mansions were located, Arlan and Drayce went their separate ways. 

Arlan having thoughts in mind that as he would return now, what would he do to stop Oriana from talking to him.

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