Chapter 36 - The Race

Princess Adeline ran towards the stable and Nigel and Fenris followed her. They were also interested to see how Rion looked like because of how enthusiastic Adeline looked.

And when they reached the stable, both the Princes' jaw dropped in awe. Rion looked like the King of the horses. He looked like a strongest beast.

Adeline rubbed the horse's back and then whispered, "Hey Rion, shall we go for a ride?"

Rion softly neighed and tapped his front hooves.

Adeline turned around to look at Nigel and gleefully asked, "Shall we take the horses for a race? I want to see how fast Rion is."

Though the question was just meant for Nigel, Fenris was the first one to accept the offer. He happily rubbed his hands together and eyed at all the other horses that were at the stable. "Let's see… which one shall I take for the race?"

Nigel sighed and shook his head seeing his cousin starting to get obsessed with his sister.

"You can't just take any horse that you like. Some of them belong to the King and…" Nigel pointed at a white horse and said "… that one belongs to the first Prince."

"Okay, choose one for me then." Fenris gave a big grin to his cousin.

Nigel walked a bit further from where they were standing and then untied a sturdy brown horse from the hitching post. Then he handed the horse to Fenris. And he also got another sturdy horse for him.

All three horses were prepared for the ride by the stablemen. They put the saddle on the horses and tightened the girth. And the horses were ready to go.

All three of the Royals led their horses to the nearby grassy racecourse, which was especially made for the soldiers to practice horse riding.

It was evening time and it was starting to drizzle when they reached the racecourse. But that did not stop them from going for the horse race. In fact, Adeline was enjoying the cool weather even more. With the light rain, she could smell the fresh earthy scent, which was very refreshing to say the least.

All three of them lined up their horses at the start line. They mounted onto their horses' back, and held the reins in their hands, ready to start the race.

Nigel started the countdown, "Alright, in 3… 2… 1… go!"

All three horses raced forward in an instant. Fast galloping sound could be heard throughout the racecourse. They could all feel the fierce wind as the horses were running at a great speed.

Within a few seconds it was apparent which horse would win the race. It was of course Rion. Rion and Adeline were leading the race with a huge difference in between them and the other two horses.

They circled the whole racecourse and the race ended in about a minute with Adeline and Rion as the winners.

Adeline got off from Rion happily and gave him a hug. "You are so fast Rion. I already like you very much. I hope you will also like me."

Rion neighed softly and nodded his head like he understood and accepted to take Adeline as his friend.

"He really runs like a beast. Don't ever lose him." Nigel also came towards Rion and patted him. Rion was staying still, very obediently.

But when Fenris approached closer and held his hand out to pet the horse, it lifted its hooves in the air and neighed very loudly.

Fenris quickly took a few steps back and shouted, "Whoa buddy, now even you discriminate between Nigel and me?"

Adeline had a huge smile seeing Fenris scared like that, and even Nigel had a smirk on his face.

The three of them returned back the horses to the stable and walked back towards their quarter. They reached Nigel's quarter first. Fenris was also staying with Nigel while he was here. So the Princes took a leave from the Princess.

"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you to your quarter?" Fenris stood in front of Adeline with his hand behind his back and a lopsided grin on his lips.

Adeline stared at Fenris disapprovingly. "I can walk myself Prince Fenris" she said in a stern voice.

Prince Fenris held Adeline's hand on his palm and leaned to give a kiss on her hand. But Nigel grabbed him by his collar and pulled him behind before Fenris's lips could touch Adeline's knuckles. "Let's go brother. We have so much to catch up on."

Fenris walked languidly to regain his balance and shouted, "Really? But you didn't have anything to talk about the whole afternoon that we were together."

"But I was working in the afternoon." Nigel kept on dragging Fenris towards his quarter while Adeline was watching them go.

Adeline was suddenly startled by a whisper near her ear. "I will have to thank Nigel for that. I don't like that new brother of yours."

Theodore was standing beside Adeline with a narrowed gaze and clenched fists.

"Was he spying on me this whole time? And is he jealous of Fenris?" Adeline thought to herself and smiled.

Adeline spoke with a playful look on her face. "He is not my brother. He is Nigel's cousin, so he is…" She wanted to tease the Devil, which was a bad idea in itself.

Theodore grabbed Adeline's arm and teleported instantly.

Adeline gasped and opened her eyes. The place was very familiar to her. They were inside Theodore's room. His room had not changed a bit in these many years. But of course, it was not that long if we based it on Theodore's lifetime.

Theodore loomed closer to Adeline and cornered her by the wall. Then he placed both of his hands on the wall, trapping Adeline in between his arms. His warm breath was brushing Adeline's neck and her heartbeat was escalating because his eyes were glowing red.

"What did I do to unleash the Devil? I didn't even say anything." the thought was lingering in her mind.

"All other men, except me, are your brothers Adeline. Don't you dare brew some weird fantasy for other men. You can only be mine." Theodore was not joking at all. His words were reverberating loudly throughout the room.

But Adeline was again in the playful mood. "So I should start addressing my father and grandfather as my brothers?" She bit the inside of her lower lips to control her laughter.

Theodore gripped Adeline's thin waist and pulled her body close to him. His red eyes gave a deadly stare at Adeline and he sneered. "Do you think I am in the mood to joke?"

But Adeline did not falter this time. Instead of being scared by his demeanor, she wrapped her arms around Theodore's neck and lifted her heels. Then she inched forward towards Theodore's lips and kissed him.

Theodore did not open his lips for a second or two. But he could not resist the warm touch from Adeline's lips for any longer and ultimately gave in. He softly moved his lips against hers in perfect motion.

Then he lifted Adeline on his arms and Adeline wrapped her legs around Theodore's waist. He pressed her body heatedly against the wall. Their breathing was starting to get heavier as their lips were locked together. They could feel each other's heartbeat, pounding greatly.

But this was not enough for Theodore.. The Devil wanted more.