Alexandra remained quiet as she walked with her father. Carlos and Lysander were walking behind them without saying anything. Their light footsteps were the only sound heard as they walked and made their way to the courtyard. The atmosphere which surrounded them wasn't that bubbly or light nor was it heavy and filled with pressure. She wasn't comfortable nor does she feel awkward with the atmosphere surrounding them as they weren't talking and chatting with each other as they walked. What is there to talk about anyway?
They were already walking for like almost 10 minutes now and thankfully, she wasn't tired or something but she badly wants to take a seat. They still haven't reached the courtyard yet. Her hand was being held by her father as they walked together, his grip wasn't that strong nor was it weak. It was gentle and he held her hand like he was something fragile and precious, that if he tightened his grip, she will break. That was the first time someone held her hand like that aside from Diana, Carlos, Harrison, and her mother in her previous life. So this is the feeling of when your father holds your hand like that, it was sort of calming.
Unexpectedly, Alexandra thought that he has cold hands but he doesn't, his hand was actually warm but it was rough. Alexandra could feel how rough and dry his hand is but she doesn't hate it nor was she disgusted by it. It was probably because he trained and fought with a sword.
Since Carlos is a knight and he was trained at such a young age, there would probably some marks in his hand due to the sword. (Note: I forgot what it is called, was it blisters? Correct me if I'm wrong) But Alexandra still hasn't seen it since he wears gloves every day and his hand is covered. It would be somehow weird to ask him to show his hand and I'll just stare at it, Alexandra thought to herself.
I wonder what is father's weapon like? Alexandra asked herself. She still hasn't seen her father's weapon, he wasn't carrying one but he already looked powerful enough. Come to think of it, I still haven't seen him use magic, Alexandra thought to herself and glanced up to her father. He was just looking straight ahead and he had expressionless look on his face. Wow, he looks so tall and huge in this view, Alexandra thought to herself as he stared at him.
She was staring at him for so long and she didn't realize it. Her father turned his head and looked at her then caught her staring at him as their eyes met, his eyes were a cold hue of blue and his lips were pursed into a thin and straight line giving him a cold expression. His skin was pale yet it looked smooth and soft. There were bags under his eyes and his eyes were sharp. His eyelashes were long and his eyebrows were thin and long too. He has a pointed and long nose. Alexandra couldn't believe that this person was her father. A beautiful and good-looking person like him was actually her father, if he was kind and gentle rather than cold and expressionless, many would have fallen for him.
But Diana told her that despite his personality, many noble ladies fell for him and chased him even when his wife died. That is actually rude and disrespectful, they took advantage of his wife's death and tried to convince him to marry one of them instead so that he can forget about his wife. But being the ruthless and cruel emperor that he is, those noble ladies never left without getting punished. (Note: Not that kind of punishment that you are thinking) But Alexandra doesn't know what punishment did he gave them nor does she want to know what it is.
Moving on, Alexandra heard most of the servants said that their bloodline is filled with good-looking and beautiful people. Well, that is true. Alexandra saw a book about their bloodline and it has pictures of almost each one of the members and they are actually good-looking just like what they said. However, there were only males just like what they said and their wives are beautiful too. It seems like she was the first female of their bloodline and Alexandra doesn't know if she should be happy, proud, afraid, or what when she learned about that.
Then again, the females in this world don't have the same abilities as the males. They don't have strong magical abilities nor were they physically strong. But they are smart and intelligent when it comes to many things. Alexandra was like them, even though they still haven't confirmed if she was as strong as her brothers or father, she already knows the answer.
Her train of thoughts was interrupted and cut off when she heard a voice. "What?" Her father asked in a monotonous tone of voice, pulling her back to reality as he spoke. She was staring at him for too long and she just realized that. "A-Ah, nothing," Alexandra said and averted her gaze. She looked straight ahead of her and remained silent.
They passed by multiple servants who stared at them in awe. Their eyes were either sparkling or gleaming in joy when they saw them or wide in shock because that was the first time they saw the emperor held the hand of a girl as they walked together. It was actually a cute and lovely sight, the father and daughter walking together. The servants greeted them with a smile on their face a good afternoon, their voice sounding polite and filled with respect as they stopped from what they are doing and slightly bowed at them.
Almost everybody in the palace already knows her and so far, everything was going smoothly. She still hasn't encountered any problems yet and that was quiet relieving since she wouldn't be stressing out of something or thinking on what she should do to solve that problem which would keep her up all night.
Eventually, they started whispering with each other after the four passed by them.
"Wasn't that a cute sight?"
"My eyes have been blessed for today,"
"That was rare, I never thought of seeing the emperor walking around the palace with her daughter,"
"They looked close with each other, to be honest,"
"It feels like I am motivated to do anything today,"
"Where are they heading?"
"They are actually having a walk together, how cute,"
Those were some of what they whispered and muttered underneath heir breathe. Their eyes followed them as they walked past them and their eyes were twinkling like stars in the night sky. Alexandra could feel their stares at their back and she was becoming more and more embarrassed. She doesn't know what they are thinking nor what they were whispering about and just to feel them staring like them while whispering to each other something gave her some sort of a feeling of fear and anxiety. But really, they were just talking about how cute and rare that sight was.
As soon as they passed by them, a few minutes later, they already arrived at the courtyard. The breeze was gentle and cold as it blew against her bare skin, sending a shiver down her spine. The snow already melted and summer was slowly taking over but there is still a month left before it completely does so. The trees were slowly starting to gain leaves although it is still a few. Alexandra could see the small change her surroundings or environment was making as it slowly changed seasons.
Her green surroundings entered her line of view and she roamed her eyes around the place. All she could see was green and there were a few servants out, sweeping the courtyard to keep it clean. Come to think of it, Alexandra still doesn't know who is going to come and pay a visit. It's probably someone important or some sort of a noble my father became close with. Am I going along with him too and greet that person? Does that mean that person is one of those people father trusts and told about my identity? Alexandra thought to herself. Her eyebrows were creased and her lips were pursed into a thin line.
"Papa," Alexandra called out to him as they walked. She turned her head and glanced up as she spoke. He slightly tilted his head in her direction and he looked at her in the corner of his eyes as they walked. "What is it?" He responded, still looking at her. "Am I going to come with you and greet that person who will come to visit too?" Alexandra asked in a curious tone of voice and he hummed before he responded in his usual monotonous tone of voice: "I am planning to do so. If you want to, you can come but I am not forcing you to do so. I just want to take a walk around since my assistant kept on nagging me even though I still haven't finished my paper works,"
That person must be brave then, Alexandra thought to herself. I just recently knew that he has an assistant but why doesn't he ask help from that person? I mean, he is always busy and he has so many things to do yet he never asks anyone for help.
"Who is the person that we are going to meet, papa?" Alexandra asked, not breaking off their eye contact. Curiosity still laced her voice and her eyes were wide with wonder as she tried to guess who that person will be. Whoever that person is, he might be close to my father and he is one of the people he trusts.
"King Raphael and Prince Julian of the Luminaria Kingdom is going to come and visit us," Her father responded and she nodded her head multiple times, averting her gaze away from him and looked straight ahead of her. Oh, it's just King Raphael and Prince Julian of the Lumina—Then she realized who those people are. She whipped her head to her father's direction, her eyes wide in shock and he just stared at her wondering why she has that expression on her face.
"Why? Do you know them? Have you met them already? Well, that is impossible because I still haven't introduced you to them yet," Her father said in a nonchalant way. If I told him that I already met and talked with Prince Julian although it was a short time, he would be shocked or angry or something. Something between those emotions. Besides, Carlos told me not to tell anyone about it first, Alexandra thought to herself and she looked back to look at Harrison who also looked shocked and speechless by what he heard.
Does that mean that he only knew that someone is going to come and visit but doesn't know who that person is?
Ah, this is truly unexpected.