Chapter 167 - Development (10)

Just the thought of that, he stared at her without saying anything and Alexandra was wondering why he was staring. Was there dirt on her face? If she did, he could have told her but he is just staring. Alexandra stared back at her brother as if they were in a staring contest. Silence surrounded the two of them and they could hear the rustling sound of the leaves of the trees that surrounded them as the wind blew. The gentle and cool breeze blew against their bare skin and hair, his hair fluttered along with the wind and almost covered his face. Alexandra took this chance to observe and compliment her brother's good looks.

Just like her other brothers, he was also good-looking and charming. His blue eyes that looked like gems yet held a cold gaze. Only their bloodline has this kind of eyes and hair color which made them unique and different from other bloodlines. He was also quite tall for his age, how old was he again? 10, was it? He was 3 years older than her yet he held this aura which feels like he was several years older. Why do the 10-year-old kids back at her previous life doesn't look and act like this? It was probably because they weren't trained at a young age and wasn't taught with so many things at a very young age: etiquette and manners. Aside from that, the people here looked 2 years older than their age which was quite unexpected. But this world wasn't the same as her previous one, after all, it was different and filled with unexpected things.

Then Alexandra realized something as they were staring at each other.

Alexandra has to leave and go to Calixander, the last person that she needs to talk and give the cookies before she goes back to her palace. "Brother, I have to leave now. I still have things to do," She said and he snapped out from his thoughts, pulling him back to reality before averting his gaze. He hummed as a response before he stepped aside and let Alexandra walk past him but after she took three steps away from him, she turned around and smiled at him. Her smile was tender yet it was bright and filled with joy, her gaze was warm, and she closed her eyes as she smiled. The wind blew and her hair that was tied in a ponytail fluttered along with the wind.

"See you later, brother. Don't overwork yourself, okay?" Alexandra said as she smiled before she turned around once again and she began walking once again to leave the training grounds along with Chandler who was staring at her back as he watched her walk away. He blinked multiple times. His eyes were wide with wonder.

--

"Did you have a chat with the prince, young miss? You were taking so long I was worried that something might have happened to you but it seems like nothing happened," Carlos greeted Alexandra when he saw her with a worried expression on his face which was replaced with a relieved one. Alexandra just hummed as a response. Well, something happened and that is she tripped while walking and she got a wound on her knee while he got her dress dirty but her brother, Chandler, who acted cold around her suddenly became caring and somewhat scolded her for not being careful as he healed her knee. Aside from that, he also took care of her dress which got dirty when she tripped and they stared at each other for a long time without saying anything.

She can't tell all of that to him because who knows how would he react knowing that the prince used his magic to heal her and clean her dress so she just hummed and didn't say anything. "Our next and last destination is the garden where you can find his majesty, Prince Calixander," He said while they were walking and Alexandra just nodded. Since Christian was the one who knows where that is, Alexandra just quietly followed him.

It was far actually, they were taking too long as they walked towards that place. It was farther than the other gardens that were like several minutes away from each other. Aside from that, it looked like they were getting farther and farther away from the palace and her surroundings were becoming more and more unfamiliar and strange to her. It was like the garden was located deep in a forest as if it was hiding from anyone.

"How far is the garden, Carlos? We have been walking since earlier and I have never seen a single garden in our sight as we walked," Alexandra said as she looked around the place. Carlos isn't going to do something dangerous, right? Alexandra shook her thoughts off and took in a deep breathe, I should trust him. What if the garden's location was like the location of the lake near her palace? Deep inside the forest, hidden away from everything.

"I apologize, young miss but we're still far away from it yet. Would you like to take a rest first before we continue or would you like me to carry you as we walk?" Carlos responded in an apologetic tone of voice. He was walking beside her and he looked at her at the corner of his eyes. "Thank you but I can still walk," Alexandra replied.

And not longer than 10 minutes, they finally arrived in the garden. It was hidden away from everyone and was surrounded by trees as well as flowers and butterflies. It was a magnificent sight, all sorts of colors of daisies were seen and there was a small gazebo found in the middle of the garden. Sitting on one of the chairs inside the gazebo was a boy just staring at the flowers that surrounded him. Alexandra could already tell who it was, Calixander.

His personal knight was nowhere to be seen. Just like Chandler, he must have dismissed him and told him to not follow him or something like that.

He noticed their presences and his head turned to their direction, his eyes widened when he saw who it was. He immediately stood up from his seat, the chair that he was sitting on was pushed backward and it fell back. "What are you doing here?" He said in a cold tone of voice, a crumpled expression was plastered on his face as he looked at her with a cold and sharp gaze. It was like, he doesn't want to see her here and wants her to disappear yet Alexandra remained at her position and stared at her brother. She probably interrupted his peace and invaded his privacy considering that he is just here alone in a garden without doing anything. He was probably resting or something, she thought to herself and took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before she spoke in a gentle voice.

"I am here to give you these cookies. Don't worry, I would leave right away after I give you these," Alexandra said as she raised the bag with the cookies inside to show it to him. Alexandra showed him a faint smile and was about to take a step towards him when she heard him say. "No, stay there. I am the one going to approach you," He said and Alexandra withdrew her step back and stood still. Before he walked towards her direction, he picked the chair up and let it stand on its feet. Then he heard voices inside his mind which made him recall a memory from a few months ago before they left and went back to the garden.

-- "Should we trust her?" It was Chandler's voice, filled with hesitation as if he wasn't sure.

"That's what father told us to do, to just be patient and spend some time with her even though it would be short, and try to get close to her," He responded nonchalantly and let out a sigh after he spoke. Even he was having a hard time doing what his father has asked them to do. It was quite unusual and weird. He wasn't used to it, it would be fine for him if it was a male sibling but it was a female one.

"B-But—" Chandler was cut off by him when he spoke once again.

"Father also said that it was one of what mother wanted, that even if it was a girl or if it was a boy born with a disease or something, let's treat him or her as siblings. That was what mother wanted and wished," He doesn't know how to treat that girl properly and hated her to the point that he threatened to take her life before, only he, Chandler, and that girl knew about that event as they told nobody about it. Now, he was supposed to treat her properly and care for her. The sudden change was unexpected.

"Are you really going to trust her?" Even though Chandler's voice was low, he was still able to hear it properly.

"I'll try to get to know her first and judge her by how she acted but based on how she treated us for the past few days, it seems like she doesn't resent us even when I treated her harshly and she looks innocent," He said. He still got so many things to say about her but he just kept his mouth shut. He let out a sigh after he spoke. Alexandra kept on giving him the sweets that he liked especially the macaroons one which was made by Diana, he loved the macaroons which was made by her and it has been so long since he last tasted it because he moved to another palace along with Alexandra. It was still sweet and tasty as ever.

"That's weird coming from your mouth, you would always badmouth her before but now… you're sort of… soft," Chandler was confused. His eyebrows were knitted and he narrowed his eyes down on him. Chandler was his sibling that he trusted the most, he remained by his side and followed him like he was his tail. He knew how his brother admired him and would support him at everything he does. He would sometimes help him at some things and they became closer than ever.

"Shut up, I'm trying to be an understanding brother. That is also what our mother and father wished and told me before. One of the responsibilities of the eldest sibling is to take care of his or her younger siblings. I am just trying to do my responsibilities, although I still hate her," Of course that is one his reasons, the responsibilities of the eldest sibling. He remembered what her mother would always tell him before.

"Hmm…" Chandler just hummed and stared at his brother with doubt written all over his face and Calixander let out a sigh once again.

"And you too, act maturely and stop arguing with Christian. You two are siblings, try to get along with him," He was getting tired of them arguing almost every single time they bumped into each other except when they were eating and father was there. He knows that Chandler was angry at Christian because he never listens to anyone and would just do anything that he wants. Aside from that, he was hard to talk to so getting along with him was hard. But he wasn't angry at him nor did he hate him, Chandler was just the one who was taking things the other way.

"I don't want to," He knew how stubborn his brother was and even though he always listen to him, he would always refuse to get along with Christian. Do I have to get along with Christian too so he would also get along with him?

"You just don't know how to," He replied.

"Of course I do! I just refuse to get along with him even with that girl,"

"Even when she gave you the things that you've been looking for since last year?" He knew how happy Chandler was when he received those, he was having a hard time looking for them so when he got his hands on those, he was happy although he acted like he didn't in front of Alexandra.

"W-Well, I still hate her! Argh, I just don't want to get along with either of them,"

"And your reason is?"

"I'm not telling you," He averted his gaze and turned his head away from him.

"You tsundere," Was what he could only say.

Calixander stood in front of Alexandra with a blank look on his face as he stared at her. Alexandra stared back at him and there was a determined yet serious expression on her face as if she was telling him that she wasn't afraid of him.