Zylith.

I've always known that I'm the kind of person who attracts lots of excitements wherever I go, and it had gotten rather lively since I had arrived at the castle of Reveldron. But I didn't realize that my kinks of attracting excitements were rubbing off on my subordinates as well.

Until yesterday that is.

What made me believe in such outrageous superstations you say? Please do hear me out first.

Yesterday, at the brink of twilight, when the day met the night, I was returning from my usual evening stroll when I happened to meet Lord Xavier on my way. I felt like it was finally fate's work at play when I saw him walk towards me while flaunting that regal aura of his.

From the moment I first set my eyes upon him, there was something enticing about him, from the way he moved to his slightly long hair and mysterious eyes. His features seemed as though moulded from granite. He looked for all the world like he was walking to the beat of my heart, literally, like there was music playing in the background as he approached me in slow motion. I could see his toned muscles popping out at all the right places of his uniform. His dark eyebrows, which was sloped downwards in a serious expression melted away as he, like always returned a smile to me when he caught my admiring gaze.

"Your Highness," He said, "I know that you do not prefer to be accompanied by any attendant during your evening strolls, but I still do recommend you to be escorted at the very least, by a maid, Sire. This loyal vassal of yours, cannot help but worry if you were to be left alone without a single aide."

Lord Xavier turned out to be as much of a worrywart as Lord Gilbert.

"Ahahahaha! You're turning out to be more alike Gilbert as days pass by, Lord Xavier. I don't understand why you guys have to be so anxious over such trivial matters. It's not like I am going for strolls outside the castle. I don't think there is enough dangers inside the castle to jeopardize my life if I were left alone for an hour or two." My cheery laughter chimed into the surrounding atmosphere as I talked.

"Ah! I'm just worried about others in your immediate vicinity, Highness."

"Huh? What was that?" I knitted my brows together in scrutiny.

"(Ahem!) Nothing Your Highness, I do understand that you need some personal space from time to time. I mean we all need it. So I do not really blame you for wanting to be alone during your evening strolls. Haha.... Well anyways, I do hope that you will let me know if you are in any need of anything at all in the future, My Liege. I do not approve of you taking actions on your own like you did during the incident of Countess Wroth before. It is highly dangerous, and we cannot afford to attract the attention of the Queen Dowager towards you anymore than necessary." He reprimanded me in a clement but strict demeanour. "Do you, understand?"

"Yes yes, I do my lord. Whatever you say." I smiled and agreed in a perfunctory manner.

"Your Highness please! You have to take my words into serious account!" Lord Xavier pursued after me in a haste while I sprinted on ahead in a jovial disposition.

I felt like one of those heroines in the movies where they tease the male leads and run off ahead into the sunset, and the good-natured male leads chase after their better halves in agitation.

I was looking back from time to time to see an agitated Lord Xavier trailing behind me while running ahead, when suddenly my steps halted to the sound of a quite familiar voice.

"Who's there?" I heard, followed by a strident clanging sound, most probably the sound of a weapon being etched into the ground. I stopped dead in my stride as soon as I had realized I winded up in the knight's tourney hall.

"KHYAAAA!" I heard a loud 'thud' noise and an erratic high-pitched shriek that I could recognize with even my eyes closed. I creased my brows and thought 'What the hell is Liana doing here at this late hour?'

Lord Xavier arrived by my side just then to witness the arbitrary exchange between my two supposed subordinates.

"Goodness me, I'm so sorry about that my lady! I thought there were intruders when I heard such bizarre noises. So I..." We saw Fredurd's sword engraved to the ground beside a rather frightened Liana who, now laid sprawled on the ground after she fell on her butt due Fredurd's sudden attack. And Fredurd on the other hand, was kneeling on one knee while trying to explain his actions to Liana.

Lord Xavier, sensing the situation to be rather grave, tried to go intervene to calm things down but I shook my head and stopped him from making a move. He scowled at me in confusion but didn't refute me in the end. So the both of us superiors scurried to a near-dark corner to hide from their line of sight and watched the show with excited delight(Or at least, I did).

"A-Are you alright?" Fredurd asked in nervousness.

"Y-Yes, I'm okay." Liana mumbled in a timid voice.

"You must have been very surprised. I am really sorry for startling you, my lady. Please wipe the dirt off that got on your hands with this at least." Fredurd took out a piece of ragged clothing from his pouch, which looked very tatty with patches sewed on it, faded and worn out enough to look at least a few centuries old. He tried to hand it over to Liana to wipe off her hands.

Liana on the other hand, didn't come forth to take the clothing from Fredurd but strangely so, had the face of someone who was struck by lightning, I didn't have the slightest clue in the world why she looked as distraught as she did until I heard the said-words out of her mouth, ".....Umm... that's... my underwear."

"Pfft!" I abruptly covered my mouth with both my hands to stop myself from giving away our hidden location. I do not know how in heaven's name, I succeeded in stopping myself from guffawing out loud, but I do believe I did somehow managed. Though my entire frame was quivering like a flame being blown by the wind and I think I felt tears at the corner of my eyes watching the extremely awkward duo petrified in their position in the middle of the training ground, I am happy I was able to restrain my laughter.

I slowly turned around to see a rather red-faced Lord Xavier, it was almost dusk and the darkness had already claimed everything around itself, veiling the panorama into pitch black nothing, hence I could only tell of the spirited color on his face due to the well-lit glow of the full moon of yesterday's night. Though it was almost negligible, my ever so sharp eyes could still figure out the slight tremors of his shoulders while he stood there, looking very much like an ancient greek statue.

In consequence, I bit my lip even harder to stop my titters even further. I didn't know whether I should applaud this man's desperate tenacity to put on a poker-face or laugh out loud at his sorry attempt to look composed.

".... P-Pardon me!?" Poor Fredurd in contrast, faltered in his speech, looking very much like a headless chicken. "Y-Your.... Your... un-underwear my Lady!?"

Pitiful Fred's stern expression finally crumbled off his face and his flustered nature shone like red precious gemstones in front of us for the very first time. The hand holding onto the rag-claimed-underwear by Liana, shook as if he was holding only to something that was scalding his hand from inside out.

Liana was quite from the beginning to the end, all I could see on her face under the bright shine of the moon, was immense embarrassment and discomfort. She looked to be drilled down with a sense of being completely exposed and on display. For a second there, I even thought she would melt into a poodle of shame right there and then. But I suppose she couldn't take it any longer as well. As such, she abruptly snatched the ragged underwear from a dumbfounded Fredurd and then turned on her heels while speeding away in the opposite direction.

The stunned-stiff Fredurd however, suddenly seemed to have come to his senses and ran after her like the wind.

"Please my lady, wait for a moment." I didn't know if he was an unfeigned meanie or an honest fool; but no matter what, both me and Lord Xavier sped out behind them to watch more of the unfolding entertainment.

"My lady!" He finally caught upto her in a deserted hallway and stopped her from fleeing in embarrassment.

"Lady Liana, please listen to my explanation." He stuttered in a hurried manner. "I... I swear in the name of the Goddess Alzyreal, I did not steal your undergarment. I-I... I found it!"

".......... You... found it?" Liana muttered in a voice devoid of any vigour.

"Yes My Lady!" Fredurd almost shouted in response and croaked out faster than a speeding bullet, "I-I... Your undergarment was hung inside the knight's weapons maintenance chamber. I mistook your underwear to be a cleaning rag for it looked like a rag and hence took it off with me without much inspection to clean my sword. Had I known it was a ladies' undergarment, I would have never had the gall to even touch it. You have to believe me, my lady!" Fredurd's entire frame slumped over like a wilted plant under the sun as he professed the true happenings of the ordeal.

And now I was sure, this knight of mine was the epitome of what you would call an 'Idiot' when it came to dealing with women. No wonder they say, 'Behind every angry woman, is a man who has absolutely no idea what he did wrong.'

I guess it was too much even for the usually timid Liana since the very next second, she wordlessly smacked the rag-turned-underwear into Fredurd's face in an angry huff and sauntered off in rage.

The utterly stupefied knight stood there, in the middle of the otherwise empty hallway as though rigidified and rooted to the floor with an underwear stuck to his face whereas I facepalmed in absolute disappointment.

All this while, Lord Xavier decided to play dead and remained as silent as a grave.

~ •••••••••• ~

Liana, as I had suspected, was indeed in a very foul mood today. I had waited for her since yesterday, to open up about her woes as she usually did, but she was rather too quiet to even say much.

I shan't lie, I was itching to know of the entire details of the happenings of yesterday, but I couldn't bring myself to embarrass her further by bringing out the taboo topic. I wasn't even supposed to know about the ordeal in the very first place. How could I tell her that I unintentionally became the spectator to a scene I probably was not supposed to spectate.

It was almost sundown and I had yet to hear anything out of Liana till now. The entire day today, I was pondering over the matter of how to make her spill the beans but sadly so, she looked so upset that I couldn't even begin to hold a normal conversation with the girl.

When I finally thought that I could not make her come to me on her own accord and would instead have to take the initiative on the matter, a parcel came for her.

A young palace servant who usually brought me the official letters and parcels addressed to me, was the one to deliver this said-parcel, "Your Highness," He bowed as usual and spoke in a respected tone, "A parcel has arrived today."

"Alright. Just put it in the usual place, would you Liana?" I gestured Liana to take the parcel from the hands of the delivering servant. Liana bobbed her head and went forward to take the parcel from the boy.

Handing over the parcel, the servant boy muttered, ".... Only this time, it's not addressed to Her Highness."

I was reading a book when the young servant came for delivery, so when I heard his words, I raised my head up from my book and looked at him with furrowed brows, and pinned interest of course. "What do you mean?"

"Your Highness." Came Liana's trembling voice from beside me, "It is addressed to me." She said, and I raised I brow to that, even more interested now.

After the servant left us alone, I asked Liana in a faint tone, who was now glaring holes into the mysterious parcel, "Who is it from?"

"There is no name of the sender." She replied acidly, but why did I feel that she had a faint idea of who the parcel was from?

Oh! Interesting.

"Then why don't you try and open it." I subtly suggested.

Liana looked every bit reluctant that she was, even eyeing the parcel in her hands with revulsion, but finally so, she decided to open it nevertheless. And inside the parcel, there awaited a gift that would finally break her silence.

To be Continued.........