Chapter 38 - In the Garden

The walk to the garden was quite lively because of Carlos. He talks about many things as they passed through many places just to reach the garden. When Carlos saw something that would trigger a memory inside him, he would talk about it with Alexandra with a happy face, the smile which beamed with joy wasn't erased or wiped off his lips but Alexandra didn't mind, it's better than that dreadful silence. She noticed that there aren't that many people on the path they took, they are probably busy doing something for the palace or something like that. The sound of their footsteps was silenced by the snow they walked on and the sole of their shoes left marks behind them as they took a step forward and another step.

"I remember climbing up that tree a few years ago," Carlos suddenly said out of blue and he stopped on his tracks causing Alexandra to stop too. Carlos pointed at a huge tree that stood not far away from them, it was leafless but Alexandra could imagine what it will look like if it has leaves on its thick branches, it looked huge and it's a good spot to sleep. "I was caught by someone and I was in trouble because of it," Carlos said and shortly laughed after, Alexandra couldn't help but also giggle at what he said.

After what it seems like half an hour of walking, they finally arrived in the garden. Alexandra was amazed at what she saw, she gasped in awe as she stared at the beautiful view of the colorful flowers which bloomed beautifully, the sweet scent in the air tickled her nose, and excitement immediately engulfed her whole body. Carlos let go of her hand and let her run around the garden to look at the flowers, each one of the flowers was unique and beautiful. The garden was very attractive and it seems like someone took good care of it. Carlos just watched Alexandra run around and didn't follow her, watching her at the distance is just enough.

As Alexandra ran around, she arrived in the middle of the garden, surrounded by multiple beautiful and colorful flowers, there was a huge tree which still has leaves. A table along with some chairs was found and Alexandra circled around the tree, looking amazed. As she walked around, she suddenly tripped.

The sound of the loud thud reached Carlos' ears and he immediately ran towards where the young miss is, Alexandra felt pain in her leg as she quickly stood up, rubbing her forehead. She whimpered in pain but she didn't cry, she bit her lip trying to surpass the pain that she felt. "That hurts…" She said as she rubbed her forehead and winced in pain, was there a huge rock? She asked herself and was about to look around or roam her eyes around when she heard a low groan of pain coming from her right which grabbed her attention.

"Ugh… What was that?" Alexandra looked at her right and was shocked to see a silver-haired boy, his eyes were closed as he rubbed his head. He looked like he was in pain, in so much pain since Alexandra fell on top of him and kicked his leg at the process. Alexandra stared at the boy wide-eyed, she immediately stood up and bowed, "I'm really, really sorry!" She immediately said while she bowed.

After silence conquered the whole place, Alexandra lifted her head and her eyes met a pair of blue eyes, almost the same as hers but the shade of blue was very beautiful, the color of the gem sapphire. Alexandra who was attracted to beautiful things was drawn in by his eyes. She stared at it for a few seconds not until he spoke, "Oh, it's you," He said and Alexandra snapped out of her daze. She tilted her head in confusion but then realized who she fell on. She mentally cursed and took a step back.

She gulped. Gilbert Clark Geronimo Everly is the second prince, he was the 2nd oldest among the siblings. One of Alexandra's older brothers, he was the one who to just leave or father might get angry at their first encounter in front of the door of the throne room. Alexandra noticed some books that were placed beside him and on top of his lap. Right, Christian told me that he's quiet and they have similar tastes and that must be books because of the things he is carrying or is placed beside him. Alexandra let out a sigh, this is an opportunity or a chance to get close or talk to him, she thought to herself. She was glad that it was Gilbert and not Calixander nor Chandler, they are hard to deal with based on the attitude they showed her.

"If you are here to just bother me, get lost," His voice was cold and his gaze was piercing like a sword. Christian was somehow right, their brothers are like his father or got the attitude of their father. Alexandra recalled what she wrote in her notebook after she had a talk with Christian about her brothers' personalities. Gilbert is a quiet and mysterious one, he and Christian has similar tastes and is somehow close with one another which means he likes to read books with almost the same genre as what Christian reads. He likes friendly people but he hates it when they are clingy. What else? Oh, that's right, you will get close with him easily if you have the same tastes.

Alexandra smiled at him and just shook her head, her eyes darted at the book on his lap and she read the title, Claymore. She doesn't know what kind of book is that but who cares, she needs to get close to him, maybe she could pretend that she had already read that book. "Claymore… is a good book, right?" She said and somehow, he saw his eyes sparkled. "You read it already?" Crap, he fell right into the hole of my lie. What should I do? As Alexandra panicked inside her mind, she unconsciously nodded as an answer to his question which earned a mental slap on her forehead.

"Really? What's your favorite part?" He asked slowly becoming more interested. Alexandra felt guilty and panicked, this is why she hates to lie about some things. Alexandra laughed nervously and scratched her cheek as she averted her gaze and looked at the flower, "The part where he got lost in the city?" She wasn't sure but she was sure that she's doomed. Somehow, it became silent.

He knows that I'm lying, she thought to herself and looked down somehow ashamed at herself and what he did. She heard him sigh and mutter something under his breath which she heard just fine, "You're lying," Somehow, a hint of disappointed can be heard from his voice and an arrow immediately went straight to her heart and it gave her pain. Alexandra raised her head and he saw the slight glare he gave her, she's just adding fuel to the fire. He walked past by her and just ignored her like she was a wall or a pole. That' stupid, I shouldn't have lied, she thought to herself, disappointed at what she did.

Christian's words repeated inside her mind:

He really doesn't like to show his emotions towards others.

He prefers to hide.

He kept everything to himself.

Alexandra became sad but she slapped herself, okay, be positive! She encouraged herself and thought of another plan. What should I do, so that he could forgive me or something like that? She asked herself while she was deep in thought. She walked back and forth while thinking and she stopped on her tracks once she thought of a plan or a way to apologize and talk to him.

She could read the book Claymore, maybe there's a book like that in her library since it looked old and her library is filled with old books. Then, she would apologize and talk to him about it. That seems like a good idea, to be honest, she thought to herself and tilted her head to her left and looked at the path that he took after he passed by her.

And at the exact moment, Carlos emerged out of the tree with a worried look on his face which was wiped off when he saw Alexandra who was staring at her confused and wondering why he is sweating. He rested the palm of his hands on top of his knee caps, "Carlos? Did you run laps around the garden?" Alexandra innocently asked him as she noticed that he was panting, he shook his head as an answer.

"What did you do? Why are you sweating as if you ran a race or ran for hours," Alexandra continued to ask him but he just shook his head once again. He was sweating and panting but too bad, Alexandra forgot to bring her handkerchief. It was left behind the palace in her room. Carlos finally lifted her head and looked at her, "I was looking for you because I suddenly heard something. I thought you were in danger. I wandered around or looked around the garden to look for you," She explained and Alexandra's mouth made an 'O' shape once she heard what the teacher said and nodded his head multiple times.

Alexandra laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of her neck, "I tripped," Alexandra said while smiling and a hint of worry can be seen from the man in front of her as soon as he heard what he said, He looked down on Alexandra's dress and was thankful when he saw it clean. That's because Diana would scold him and blame him for tripping or making her clothes dirty. He let out a sigh in relief and he ruffled the girl's hair. "Shall we go back to the palace? You must be getting bored now," He said while ruffling his hair and Alexandra nodded as an answer and threw something at him which he eventually caught with no effort at all.

"Okay, I'm getting bored and I want to read anyways," Alexandra responded and went ahead. Her personal knight looked at her before he followed behind her and roamed his eyes around to see if there was anything suspicious or something dangerous.