I stare in shock as Oliver rolls his eyes at me and then went back to glaring at him.

"I'm sorry. Who are you?" I ask confused looking at him up and down.

"I am Liam, the Second Prince of Delton. Nice to meet you after all of these years, Princess. I was told you'd be out here," he smiles as he stands there beautifully with his sunglasses on. Wow... He is so attractive, but, I'm not ready to marry him yet, so I don't care how gorgeous he is or how gorgeous his dark brown hair is or how nice his skin is and that perfect smile and... get a grip, Anna!

"Nice to meet you as well, Prince Liam," I smile extending my hand to him.

"Please, call me Liam," he says taking my hand instead of shaking it and kissing the top of my knuckles. I thought I was going to faint.

"Okay, Liam. Well, call me Anna," I say as he grins and takes his sunglasses off. We make eye contact and I contain my shyness and the butterflies and return the same smile.

"Hello! I'm Lord Oliver, Anna's best friend. Nice to meet you!" Oliver states loudly making himself known.

"Nice to meet you, Lord Oliver. I think we've met before when we were younger. You look familiar. I'm just glad Anna has someone like you to watch over her for me when I'm not around"

"Well, of course. It's always been the two of us" Oliver says.

"Well, hopefully, I'm not being mean or interrupting anything when I say this, but, I'm here now and I can take it from here," Liam smiles politely at Oliver's given attitude.

I stare wide-eyed in shock.

"Actually, this is our training practice together so, I think I'll stay. Besides, you just got here and I've been here," Oliver frowns.

"Oli, it's okay. You can go," I state looking at him with humor in my eyes.

He looks at me as if I had banned him from the entire Kingdom.

I pout a little and he sighs, "Okay. Fine. I'll catch you later"

I watch him walk away, feeling a bit guilty, but not showing it.

"Shall we continue your training?" Liam asks pulling me from my sense of guilt.

I nod sweetly. I stand in position and place an arrow in the bow. I then pull back and aim. The arrow flew past the target and into the fountain. The guards ran after it to get it. I usually don't make silly mistakes like this. I haven't made a silly mistake since, well, since I've learned how to do archery. I guess he was making me so nervous that my skills were slipping.

"Sorry," I say shyly.

"No. It's okay. You did really well. Let's try it again," He smiles as he makes his way to me.

He gently takes the bow and takes an arrow and gets in a stance. I look at him looking all heroic until he catches me staring and I look away.

"Come," he smiles as I make my way to him. He gently takes my arms and makes them align with his.

"Do you see the target?" He asks.

"Yes," I respond. He places his hands on top of mine as I take the spot of where his hands originally were.

"Okay, ready?" He asks. I nod as we pull back together and let go. The arrow shoots right in the center of the target.

"Bullseye," He chuckles as I turn to face him. Our faces are less than an inch from each other and I awkwardly look away.

"Thank you," I say as I turn back to look at him.

"No. We did it together. It's a teamwork effort and I think we make a good team" He says.

I knew exactly what he was referring to. I thought it was cute how he used the both of us doing archery together as a way to show us working as a team, just like we would need to for my Kingdom.

We make eye contact and before I could say anything, "Princess! You have your fencing lessons now"

"Okay. I'm coming," I say nodding at Susan as we turn back to each other and then slowly pull away.

"No! No! Nonsense. Liam, you can accompany Anna to her fencing lesson. You guys seem to be bonding well," My mother yells as I catch her practically running to where Susan was and scowling at her for interrupting what Liam and I had going on.

He kindly removes his hand from around my waist and we walk to where my mother was standing.

"I'd love to accompany Anna to her fencing lesson. It's nice seeing you again, Rosalinda. How are you?" Liam smiles as he leans in to hug my mother.

I stare in shock. My mother of all people, hugging. That's a shock. I don't even think she's hugged my father and well, he's my father and her husband, Phillip, the King of Kavington and I know they love each other very much.

"I'm doing well! My, you get more handsome every time I see you," she grins.

"Thank you," He smiles shyly.

"Well, let's not keep Sir Simon waiting. Off to the fencing lesson," My mother orders.

"Yes ma'am," Liam and I say simultaneously and then look at each other with a shy smile.

"Aww. You two are so cute!" My mother coos.

"Shall we?" Liam asks looking at me.

"We shall" I nod as we walk to the fencing room together.

---------------------------

"Hello, Sir Simon," I wave as he was preparing my fencing saber.

"Hello, Princess Anna. How are you?" He asks.

"I'm doing well. Here with me, I have Prince Liam of Delton to come to assist me in our lesson," I state as Simon makes his way over to Liam.

"Nice to meet you, Prince Liam," Simon bows.

"Nice to meet you, Sir Simon," Liam smiles.

"So, are we going to be seeing you around the Castle more often?" Simon asks.

"Only if Anna allows me to be here" Liam smiles looking down at me.

I raise my eyebrow at him with a sly smile and he winks at me.

"Well, let's start the lesson," Simon states as he turns around.

Liam nicely helped me into my uniform. He then helped me with my mask and handed me my saber.

"Good luck," he smiles.

I smile as I make my way to the center of the room.

"En garde," Simon states.

I get in position. I look up at Simon and slightly nod showing him I was ready. The fencing duel began. We were fencing for what felt like forever. Simon was a good teacher and taught me everything I knew.

"Princess Anna! Fencing time is over now. You need to get ready for your lunch and tea. The Princesses are on their way," Susan informs.

I stop fencing at the sound of her voice and Simon pokes me with the saber.

"Hey!" I frown lifting up my mask.

"Never take your eye off of your enemy, it's an easy kill," Simon states lifting up his mask.

"Well, you're not my enemy, Sir Simon," I smile sweetly.

He smiles as he gradually shakes my hand, "It's been a pleasure, Princess. Until we meet again"

I politely curtsy as Liam makes his way to me.

"You did really well. I feel like I should fence with you one day, maybe you can show me a few things," he says helping me out of my uniform.

"I'm sure you're much better than I am," I state and look up at him.

"Nonsense, you were great out there. I fence, but I've recently been training with real swords," he states as we walk out of the training room following Susan back to the main area of the palace.

"Real ones?" I ask shocked as he nods.

"Princess Anna!" I hear my name called. I look over to see a couple of children running to the gates. I wave to them and Liam does as well.

"Who are you with, Princess?" One of the children asks.

"Prince Liam of Delton," I answer.

"Oh. Are you two on a date?" Another one asks.

"No, but do you think I should take her on one?" Liam smiles.

They all nod.

"Well, then I guess I will," Liam answers causing the children to cheer and then scurry off.

Liam and I laugh as we make our way inside.

"So, Liam. Are you taking me on a date?" I smile.

"I'd like to. Will you let me take you out on a date, Anna?" He asks with a small smile on his lips.

I raise my eyebrow at him, "You're a trip, you know that?"

He laughs, "I think you meant to say that I'm charming"

"Call it whatever you'd like to call it, but yes, you may take me out on a date"

"Nothing would thrill me more," he responds and then laughs after he sees my facial expression.

We continue to follow Susan upstairs and to my bedroom.

"Prince Delton, your belongings are in the guest room across from Princess Anna, but I believe the Queen may want you to share princess Anna's room, but until the time being, you may get ready for the lunch and tea across in the other room" What!? Our family line has always been conservative from the beginning. We follow our religious beliefs as well. No sexual intimacy before marriage, no sharing rooms until marriage, praying before meals and before bed, everything. Including, no divorces as marriage is a symbol of seeking God's Kingdom and not just fully on seeking happiness. It's about sacrifice and love despite any arguments. It was more of loving someone even in times or moments when they were unbearable or hard to love. Yet, my mother is allowing us to share a room. What is this?

"I'd be delighted. I'll see you soon, Anna," he bows, kisses my hand, and exits my room to head across to his room.

"Oh my goodness! How is he?" Susan cheers once he was out of sight.

"You make it seem as if he and I had spent time alone in the bedroom, Susan. I don't know what you're referring to," I state blankly.

Her smile fades as she opens her mouth to apologize, "Sorr-"

"I'm just kidding. He's really sweet and caring so far," I smile cutting her off.

A grin pops right back on her face as celebrates, "I bet the Queen is going to be excited to hear that! Has he asked you to marry him yet?"

"No. We haven't even had a date yet," I laugh as I walk towards the bathroom.

"But I heard him ask you out on one, maybe he'll ask you to marry him then," she cheers as she gets my outfit ready for the lunch and tea.

"I'm not so sure. He's very sweet and caring and I enjoy his company, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to marry him yet. We just met and we need to talk and get to know each other better," I explain as I finish undressing and get into the shower.

"I understand, but he's dreamy and I'm sure he'd get you ready to marry him"

"Susan!" I yell popping my head out of the shower curtain. She gives me a flirty wink and we both laugh.

It was nice to have this moment of "girl time" with Susan. She wasn't that much older than me and it was kind of like having an older sister to gossip with. It just sucks that at times, with formalities, we couldn't be like this all the time. That may be something I might change once I'm Queen. Wait, did I just say that?