Back at Faustine's, everything was a mess.

"Did you hear?" Faustine jumped on us the moment we stepped through the door. I noticed that the broken glass had been replaced. "Did you hear, did you hear?" she cried. "The princess is missing! Oh lord, help us!"

"Calm down, Aunty," Reynard said as he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Faustine sighed and backed up with a hand on her chest as she looked from Reynard's face to mine.

"Where were you two?" she asked suddenly, pausing mid-cry.

"We were just browsing through the stalls, nothing much," Reynard said nonchalantly as he pulled a chair and sat down. "How did you find out about the announcement?"

"Lennard just returned half an hour ago," Faustine said, massaging her forehead. "Apparently, he was at the fisherman's when the knights made an appearance. Oh, what a terrible turn of events! And she went missing on her 17th year of birth, nonetheless. What do you reckon may have happened?"

"She's probably hiding within the palace, it's no such big deal." Reynard brushed it off real well. "Like they said, don't worry too much, Aunty. I'm sure they'll find her."

Faustine looked like she wanted to ask some questions but she kept silent as she circled patterns on her apron. Then she just went and shut herself in her kitchen.

I walked over and pulled another chair beside Reynard before sitting down myself.

"We expected this, didn't we?" I said to the floor.

Reynard didn't answer.

"What do we do now?"

He sighed loudly. "Should we contact that woman who helped us at the palace? What was her name, Sumner…?"

"Lady Sumner. Her name's Yvonne," I corrected. "Do you really think asking her for help is a good option? How will you do that anyways? You do know that all the letters to the palace get inspected, right? And I'm sure they must've increased the security around the palace for now, so you can't get in by your usual methods either."

He aggressively scratched his scalp. "I know that."

We sat in silence, thinking about a solution to this new issue.

"Should I just escape to the neighboring country?" I proposed.

He laughed sadly. "That's more than a 1000 miles, Your Highness. How do you think you'll get there? And anyways, all new immigrants are inspected once as well. How do you expect to get past that?"

I gulped. "Should I just hide under the floorboards, then, till this whole stumbling block gets over with?"

"Nothing's getting over till you're found."

I was about to say something when a door somewhere smashed open and the stomping of feet drew closer to us till Lennard was standing in the living room. I peaked over my shoulder and saw him looking at us with displeasure.

"Did y'all hear?" he asked Reynard.

Reynard leaned back in his seat. "Yeah. Why'd you have to go and tell Aunty and worry her over nothing, anyways?"

"Me?" Lennard said, pointing to himself. "You're getting mad at me for telling her something that will be the public buzz till tomorrow anyways? What are you, thick? And anyways, where were you and your little girlfriend? Ma was almost flipping over with worry."

Reynard raked a hand through his black hair and laughed as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Right, okay. I'm leaving," he said, standing up abruptly. "Tell your mum I left."

With that, he creaked open the door and shut it behind him with a satisfying thud. Lennard and I were alone in the living room.

I expected him to say something to me, but he just scoffed and stomped back into his room. Why was everybody shutting doors on me these days?

I hadn't noticed Cael sitting in the corner of the living room but I did now as he shuffled his feet as he shakily stood up, toy horse in hand.

I gulped. I hoped he hadn't heard mine and Reynard's conversation.

"Cael!" I exclaimed extra cheerfully. "You okay? What's been happening?"

"Momma was very mad you left without telling," he mumbled, fidgeting with his horse.

"But we did tell her..." Or rather, Reynard had hollered at her that we were leaving. It never crossed my mind that Faustine couldn't have heard him.

"Nobody heard it, then. Momma was almost in tears about how someone had kidnapped you and stuff because the door was broken," he mumbled again, his gaze casted downwards. "And then Lennard came back with the news. Are you really the princess people have been talking about?"

My eyes widened. "What? No, no, how can I ever be? Like Reynard said, Her Highness is probably still at the palace."

"You think? But Reyn said-"

"He was joking!" I said, adding a little laugh at the end. "What a hilarious personality he has! Haha. Doesn't he just come up with the best jokes? He calls me Your Highness sometimes because he thinks I'm his princess. Just couple things, haha."

Inside, I was puking. I was cringing at my own words. I was also almost half-dead. Mental reminder to soap my tongue after this.

"Yeah?" Cael asked, raising his head.

"Yeah."

He said 'okay' and walked away past my line of sight. I sighed and fanned my face. Gosh, I needed to be more careful. This kid was getting at something.

✿

Fish for dinner. Faustine, Lennard, Cael and I ate in silence at the table before Faustine decided to ask me about my said mother.

"How's your momma doing, love?" she asked, biting into her fish.

I was taken by surprise. "I'm sure she's doing well. I haven't heard from her today so I have no certain way of knowing. So let's just hope."

"Mm."

Then Lennard decided to speak up. "So this was what you were hiding under that ugly hat of yours? What was there to hide, anyways?"

I kept chewing on the rather burnt fish.

"And where's you get the clothes?" He suddenly leaned forward and tugged on my sleeve.

Disgusted, I snatched my arm away.

"Hey," he said, his hands up in surrender. "I was only asking."

"Thanks for the meal," I said as I stood up, my chair scraping against the wooden floor.

As I walked to my room, I heard Lennard whisper to the rest, "What the hell is up with her?"

What was up with me? I was in a foul mood after the news. It was a possibility that I could get caught very soon. I hadn't any idea how I could avoid my fate now…. Shall I really succumb to hiding under the floorboards? Did I even have a choice now?

Frustrated, I flopped down on the bed and back, my long hair spreaded around me like a wreath.

Whatever shall I do now?

I needed to come up with a plan, pronto.