31 Chapter 31 - Lance

Edmund sighed at Victor who was basically acting like a spoiled child. As for Jirael... he looked in near shock at the fact that I might be marrying Edmund.

"Isn't it too soon for you to get married? Neither of you are of age", He stated the fact that nobody seemed to bother taking into consideration that yes, we were in fact, pretty young for such talk.

"My parents were engaged when they were babies", Edmund piped up.

Oh well... never mind that then.

"But the Arian family has different traditions compared to the rest of us anyway. Father says you can be backwards at times", Jirael snapped back.

"Take that back your highness", Edmund glared at the younger boy who didn't back down and quite resembled the cold Jirael from the book.

"Hey let's not argue now", I intervened before it could get worse, "I have no plans of even marrying so why bother with this conversation?"

Jirael just hummed in return like he expected as much, this kind of surprised me. I forget he was a supposed genius it seems and that made me question how much exactly he would be confident in answering about me.

Did he know I didn't belong here?

The very thought vanished from my mind when he latched onto my arm and pulled me away from Edmund. It was as if he some kind of germ almost.

"Jirael..." I glanced at the dark haired kid, but before I could bring anything up I spotted light blonde hair and gasped.

Edmund glanced over to where I stared and sighed with visible irritation. Ah yes... I forgot their dislike for him. Victor's face soured. I grimaced at the sight, as the two would've been close friends had it not been for me. Edmund sighed and Jirael, the only one who spoke said.

"This has to be some kind of cruel joke".

The blonde boy caught my eyes and brightened up.

"Princess Mallory!" Lance came over, his excitement more so than usual.

"Lance, how are you?" I beamed at him, compared to before he was much healthier and happier given the fact he's always smiling.

"I missed you", he moved to hug me, but Edmund held him back.

"Edmund let him go", I said in irritation.

"It's improper to hug a princess", he replied sharply.

I sighed.

Lance didn't seem to be bothered by the boys. He never usually was.

Now how exactly did they start hating the blonde Angel? Well I wasn't sure, but I suspected it was the fact that Lance liked to show off whenever he got here. For me it didn't seem like anything more than a way to get praised, but the boys saw it differently. They saw it as competition, and Lance didn't exactly help that when he would ask if they had learned anything interesting themselves.

Although Edmund was constantly practicing and Jirael was busy running a bloody kingdom in his free time and Victor... well he was trying his best... but none of the passed down knowledge they had could even compare to what Lance learned in Brennus.

The Brennus were secretive and from what could be observed by Lances techniques in fighting meant that the secrets they held might as well be limitless.

Although I found their fights childish I couldn't have been prouder of Lance.

"Are the Brennus treating you well?" I asked despite knowing the answer.

His eyes twinkled happily and he nodded furiously as he hopped closer to me. In a swift motion he grabbed my wrist and before I knew it we were sprinting through the crowds.

"L-Lance?! What's going on?" I shouted while trying to piece together what exactly was happening.

"Trust me princess. There's a nasty guy here and I made a bet that he wouldn't be able to get close to you if I had anything to do with it!" He shouted back and to my surprise I caught it.

What? What does that even mean?

"I- I don't understand?" I furrowed my brows but decided to go along with him.

He gave me a grin instead of an answer and continued to pull me along with him at his incredible speed. Behind me I heard a shout.

"Mallory!" It was Edmunds voice... or was it Jirael? I couldn't be sure because I could hear both of their panicked voices following along behind us.

"Damn it. Those guys are really clingy" Lance spoke as he turned a corner in the halls of the palace. I wasn't even sure where we were heading and I had no idea why.

He took so many turns that my head started to spin and I felt bile rise in my throat. My legs were already ready to buckle when he finally stopped.

"I think we might be able to avoid him here" he said in a cheery manner and turned to me, "Eh? Princess? Are you okay?"

I glared up at him.

"Can you explain this?" It wasn't really a question.

"Oh... I'm sorry", he looked sincerely apologetic, "Well to begin. Do you remember when you received that necklace from the Brennus?" He asked in a rather reluctant way. As if he hoped I didn't have it at hand.

"You mean this?" I pulled jewel that was hidden beneath my dress out and he visibly flinched.

"Y-you wear it?" He asked in surprise and then in annoyance he said, "why would you? Don't tell me you actually want to marry!"-

Before he could finish his sentence something- no someone dropped beside us. Literally from the sky and they stood in such elegance I gasped as I turned to the figure. He was tall, broad shouldered, long black hair, a sparkling jewelled earring dangling from his ear and those eyes... he was beautiful. The most beautiful man I have ever laid eyes on.

Lance didn't share my amazement and just growled up at the man who paid him no mind and just stared straight at me. His eyes fixed on the jewel still held between my fingers.

"There's no way you caught up to me that fast! Unless- was this a trap!?" Lance shouted at the man who finally turned away from me and gave him a smug smile.

"Ha.. your always falling for my tricks Lance. That's why I'll always win", he stuck a tongue out childishly at Lance and I blinked in surprise.

A grown man... taunting a young boy? What in the world?

"You! I won't let you near the princess!" Lance jumped to grab me, but in a speed that I had never witnessed before he was grabbed and apprehended by... Ruby?

"R-Ruby?" I frowned.

But I wasn't even in danger? In a sudden flash of realisation I turned to the man beside me. He must've been a Brennus. And of a high enough status for Ruby to obey him without even a command.

"Ruby!" The man picked Ruby up and proceeded to hug him to death, "Its been ages since I've last seen you!"

Yeah if Ruby was able to be docile enough to be hugged like this then he was definitely a big shot.

But just who was he?