“Do you know about the noble family that used to live in this residence?” The Prince asked.

Yes, it wasn’t like he didn’t want to leave this dirty place…In fact, he did wonder how he had gotten this far but…

He was curious though, if the thief knew anything of this family, before he would capture her and make her show him how to get into the caves at Lupis.

All these thoughts led him to this question, but what he got after asking it, made him go silent.

The woman…She looked away, swallowed and blinked a few times.

Why did she look like it was a hard question? Why…Does she look like she’s going to cry one second and then in the next second look angry?

Alison shrugged, after regaining herself.

She had never thought that the Prince was going to go straight to the point like that!

Did he know much about what had become of this family? Did he even care?

“I’ll get you your tea!” Alison stated back, giving him what he had given her just a few moments ago.

“Woman! You test…Me.” Prince Elton stated, nearly giving away that he was a Prince. He had nearly forgotten that this woman didn’t really know his identity, as he had never told her. But…Why did he care to keep it a secret though?

…Then there was the certain fact that he didn’t know that she already did know his true identity…

Alison rolled her eyes and put out the cup to him, staring at him like she had all the courage in the world.

The Prince lowered his head and took the cup, almost grumbling his dissatisfaction.

Once this woman tells him what she knows of this family, he was going to catch her and torment her for this!

Silence entered the room, as they both drank a sip of tea and just sat there while in their own thoughts. One was thinking of ways to bring up the family that had lived in this residence once again, and in the best way possible…While the other person was wondering how they could force the other to leave the broken house, getting mad that they had to lose out on tea on them!

Milo, her mouse, suddenly went off her shoulder and raced towards the Prince…

Should I stop him? She wondered, watching the mouse yet not making any inclination of stopping the little thing.

Seeing the Prince get tensed up and even try to move away from the mouse, Alison let out a laugh.

The Prince looked at her and it suddenly clicked into his head…She was that little girl!

She had laughed at him back then too!

That girl…That girl was…From this house!

With the suddenly thought, the Prince was stunned and didn’t even know that Milo was making his way to his shoulder.

Seeing a movement, the Prince looked towards his shoulder to find the mouse! He rummaged around, looking very strange while doing so because the mouse didn’t move from his shoulder as he tried to walk ‘away’ from it, losing the cup of tea in the process.

“Get it off me!” The Prince stated, going to knock it off but didn’t want to touch it directly!

Alison fell into a pit of laughter and could only hold onto her stomach with one hand, while pointing at the Prince with the other.

The Prince got angrier and angrier as time went on and finally found something to use to get the mouse off of him.

It was the saucer of the teacup, and he used that to push the mouse off of him!

Seeing the mouse hit the wall, Alison immediately stopped laughing and practically pounced towards the mouse.

“Milo!” She yelled, picking up the mouse.

The Prince watched as that annoying woman had gone from laughing one moment to see her almost crying in the next.

“Get out!” She yelled at him.

That…How dare she!

The Prince flinched when she stood up, looking down at him. Perhaps he shouldn’t have put so much force into making the mouse get off him…It was completely obvious upon how furious she was at him! His thoughts led to think that he couldn’t blame the woman for looking at him like this. He had followed her, he had also invited himself in here, he had also not been polite and answered her question then…Well, he did want to potentially use her…

He probably deserved a furious stare like that coming from the Little Pillager…

“Get out!” She stated again, turning away from him. “Milo?”

Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, the Prince did feel slightly guilty yet…He also had not achieved his goal either! This is what he would usually call, ‘unproductive’!

He hadn’t gotten any information yet upon the family…Wait…She is the family so…

As the Prince went into thoughts, Alison saw that Milo was alright and so she let out a breath of relief.

The little, light brown mouse sniffed the air near her and walked again.

“Thank god…” Alison stated, giving the mouse a tiny pat on the head.

She really wouldn’t be ready if anything had happened to Milo…As it was, it had taken a while to get used to him being close to her!

Friends were not a forte of Alison’s…It never was…

She had been brought up in a way that she was outspoken and had enough ‘power’ to get away with it.

Not knowing much of the ‘power’ when she was young, she missed it after she had lost her family.

Having been the fiancé to the Prince, she could not do too much wrong…But afterwards, without that power, things got very bad and she had to learn very quickly when to keep her mouth shut!

After losing her family, being left behind, she had gone quiet for a while. Afterwards, being forced to become a thief, she had gained that outspoken part of herself back and well…She still had no friends…Except for Milo.

Milo was persistent, just like her. He continued to come to her, as much as she had pushed the small vermin away.

Oh well, it had been a year now, since that little mouse was born and sitting there all by itself. She really did try to let it have a life of its own, but she had become mother to the thing…

Since it was small…Alison taught the little thing to go into rooms. Sometimes it didn’t do much of a job but on the times that it did, and found a ring, a necklace…A key, Milo came in handy!

Her heart had accepted Milo and they were the best of friends!

“I apologize for my behavior just now.” Woman, you must understand that I do not apologize easily!

Turning to the voice, Alison bit her lip and looked back away, “I accept your apology. Please leave.”

If he weren’t the Prince, Alison thought…

Feeling the Prince move, hearing one…Two footsteps, Alison slowly turned and looked at him, seeing him looking at her.

He used to be my fiancé.

She used to be my fiancé.

“I’m…Glad, that he is ok…Your mouse.” The Prince stated, nodding and looking at her hand, where Milo was.

Alison nodded too, her teachings, from a young age, would be now to probably curtsy and send His Highness off but…

Looking away and through the window, Alison waited…Waited for the Prince to leave.

Dam…

The Prince couldn’t help but think he was bested in this situation and took one more look at the annoying woman, then left.

She was the girl, that girl that laughed at him so long ago!

Next time…The next time we meet, I’ll find out then! With that thought, the Prince walked with more determination and finally left through the broken front door.

Alison looked out through the window, to the far distance, seeing the top of the wall of the capital and seeing the palace beyond that.

The Prince will be going there, and I will be too, she thought. She was waiting on one more thing before going, having already made the decision quite some time ago now. She was going there to steal from the King with a few other thieves! She had spent so much effort to get the thieves to want to do it, without her being the one to have come up with the idea, and finally, when one more thief is ready with whatever he was waiting for…It was going to be it!

She will get revenge by stealing money or whatever was of worth to the King! And yes, her first stop would be the King’s very own chambers!

***

Falling into the opening of the caves in Lupis, Alison got up and only wiped herself twice before continuing to walk in a particular direction. She hadn’t been here often, as it also took her a long time to get in here in the first place but…It was like an acceptance!

Before being able to come into the caves at Lupis, she wasn’t spoken to by any other thief. She wasn’t classified as a real thief right up until she found the secret to this place.

It really was unique!

“Allie, apparently they’ve been waiting for ya to get here.”

Alison looked at who spoke to her and she nodded, running ahead now. She hadn’t thought that she was late but apparently, she was!

“I’m here.” She stated, sitting down to the closest chair, not even bothering to move it to face the other two…It really was a different world to the one that she was brought up to be in, that was for sure!

She didn’t even have to look at people when talking to them down here. She wasn’t looked at with posture in mind either, as she put a foot up on the table.

“Just as you wanted, the library is yours. We already know about how long it is for…Now for the date…It’s tonight when the moon is directly over the pond at the back of the palace!”

Alison took her foot off the table and gave one nod of the head, leaving straight after.

Thieves don’t normally collaborate and well, in a way they still weren’t. They had pride, pride in their abilities, which did give them all something to connect to but…It didn’t mean any thief was another thief’s best friend!

They were all going to the palace alone, they were all going in different places inside the palace alone and…They might be going in at the same time but it didn’t mean that they were going in the same area. The only thing they were collaborating with…Is the time and place…That was all.

Having already agreed to only going for a couple of hours, to be far from the palace by dawn, they had also agreed on different areas upon getting in as well.

You could probably say that they are helping each other out by not working together…

It was weird but for some reason, Alison understood. She also agreed to this as well, simply because she really started to obtain the thoughts and ideas that a thief would get…How else had she been able to make it into the caves if she hadn’t!?

Leaving the caves and falling into the sand, Alison took more time to dust herself off this time. Before going into the caves, she knew she was already going to come back out soon so why would she have bothered dusting herself off earlier!?

Actually, the floor of the caves held a lot of sand and no one cleaned in the caves so…The sand will most likely just stay there and build up over time…

“Tell me where the entrance is!”

Looking up to the sudden voice, Alison went wide eyed. What was he doing here?

The Prince looked like he was breathing more harder than usual and looked around like he could find something in mere moments, making her let out a quick laugh.

“This is the exit.” Alison stated, walking out of the sand and continuing to dust herself down.

“Then, where is the entrance?” The Prince asked, watching her.

She dusted herself off more, not saying anything in return, when she was suddenly pulled upon.

Crashing into a chest, Alison looked up in shock.

The sudden closeness of the Prince stopped her thoughts as she stared at him. The Prince looked upon her lips, suddenly aware himself upon how close they were and went quiet.

It was at this time that the advisor was certain that he had found the perfect woman to make his new granddaughter and to make…The next Queen!

The woman seemed to have obtained the Prince’s attention, looking like she could contain a lot more. The woman also seemed to be without, which meant he had something to offer her. The woman also seemed to have a past, which was something that they could keep as a threat…

The more he looked, the more he was satisfied with this one particular woman…She was the one!

She was going to be the diamond that sets his way to becoming the real King behind the one on the throne. Even if he doesn’t sit on the throne himself, he was going to be the one with the power, the one to shape this country to how he wants it!

What the advisor didn’t anticipate was the history that these two people had, and especially that of Alison. He also did not think that instead of him playing her and the Prince…That perhaps he was the one being played instead…

Running away from the Prince, after gaining a chance, Alison was chased down and then placed against a tree.

“How can you expect me to accept that as an answer?”

The Prince was getting grumpy!

‘Think like a thief and you’ll be able to get in easily!’

That was not the answer that he was looking for!

Alison gave a slight, cheeky smile and shrugged. The worst part of this information is that they already have the answer! Well, said the thoughts of a thief!

“Fine…”

Alison found his breath against her ear and found heat rising to her face.

Feeling an arm slowly going around her, she blinked, holding her hands up, not knowing what else to do with them.

“Tell me then what you know of the family that used to live in that noble residence. Do you have any kind of evidence against the King?”

His hot breath and quiet words made her senses lose their…Senses!

She could only think of the arm holding her waist and his voice. He was so close!

The Prince frowned, not hearing a word and pulled back a bit.

Seeing her stare at him, the rise and fall of her body while she breathed…In a quick instant, the Prince let her go and looked away…

It seemed that it really was time for him to marry, Prince Elton thought.

Looking back at the woman, the Prince sighed and tried to put certain thoughts aside for now. Whereas Alison finally became more aware and ran like the wind!

I hate the Prince! I hate the Prince!

She didn’t know why she was saying that repeatedly while she ran, but she just kept saying it and while she said it, it was like she was using her anger to run faster and faster!

Without looking back, Alison went towards the capital and didn’t stop until she was near the palace. Would the Prince think to look for her here? Is he still behind me?

Sticking herself into some small space, unseen from the main walkway, Alison tried to get her breath back.

She was breathing so hard that it took a long time for her to breath normal again.

The time to have run from Lupis to here…It would have taken a while but…Had she really run all the way? She can hardly remember it!

Having him so close to her like that was scary! Just thinking about it gave her goosebumps!

Yep…She had panicked! Panicked like crazy! The only thing on her mind then was ‘Run’!

It wasn’t just her that felt strange…The Prince had chased after her for a while but ended up in a carriage afterwards. He had someone watching both Lupis and the vandalized house, so he decided to go back to the palace.

Now, that he was by himself in his own quarters, he sat down in a huff and put his head in his hands…

He couldn’t stop thinking about her sensual look…

As much as that woman annoyed him, he wanted her back in his arms and looking at him like that again. She was like…A little rabbit…No, a rabbit doesn’t act like she does…She was like, like a mouse! A mouse that keeps running away from him and slipping through his grasp!

As Alison got busy to intrude upon the palace and steal some revenge money, the Prince kept himself busy, trying not to think of a particular woman who seemed to invade his thoughts if he wasn’t careful.

It really was something strange, as both of them were a bit distracted…

The Prince now understands the want a man can have for a woman, the reason for a cold bath…Alison now understands that she will act stupid in front of a man if he’s too close. Is it normal to be completely blank like that?

Whatever the case, both Alison and Elton had questions and found it frustrating that they were asking these questions in the first place!

***

Letting Milo into the small gap near the wall, Alison hid on the side and waited…

Just like normal, as she taught the mouse with so many hours, the mouse scared someone in the room, making them scream!

As the scream sounded, while they rushed out the door, that was the time that Alison poked her finger through the window, unlocking it and came in.

Watching Milo chase after the maid, Alison quickly locked the window again and followed after Milo, watching her surroundings and being very quiet.

Milo came back the way he had gone, like routine, and Alison picked him up…Quickly, she then went towards the library in the palace…As, she had already entered the palace!