[Music Recommendation: Castle of Glass ~ GnuS Cello]

The charmer clapped his hands when Oriana opened her eyes. "What happened? Did you see your best memory?"

Though Oriana was expecting her best memory to be with her grandmother, she wasn’t expecting that Adric was the young boy she had met years ago. Then it brought her to ask herself who exactly Nicholas was, as he had posed earlier to be the one she met years ago. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

As Oriana contemplated deeply, she wondered if Adric didn’t maybe recognize her and if he really did, why didn’t he say anything to her.

"Milady, did you see your best memory? Are you very excited now?" The charmer continued with a bright smile on his face.

Oriana cleared her throat, "What best memory? I just fell asleep from your boring words."

"Ah! That’s why I said it was to test the process. Now let the real thing begin!" The charmer raised his ball again, "Keep your eyes on this and-"

"Achoo!" Oriana sneezed, rubbing her nose gently. "Go ahead, I’m keeping my eyes on the ball."

The charmer nodded, then he continued. "Yes, eyes on it. The blue ball knows it all. Now imagine that your lover is walking beside you and then you-"

Oriana waved her hand dismissively, "Why do you have to say so many words? I try to listen to you and at the same time look at the ball." She sighed.

Freya raised her hand, "Let me try then."

The charmer was happy to have someone else, since the first young woman kept distracting him.

Oriana stood up, she first paid the charmer, then went to sit next to the children while watching what Freya was doing.

"Now, keep your eyes on the ball and imagine -" The charmer was once again cut short when Freya sighed.

"Can’t I keep my eyes somewhere else? Must it be the ball? Since the ball knows it all, I don’t need to look at it, No?" Freya remarked with a tired look on her face.

The charmer stood up and sighed. He hadn’t gotten any customers the whole day and the first he was getting for the day were really stressing him out. He touched his rough hair, "You need to look at the ball for it to work."

"You’re ripping us off, right? The ball is just a piece of garbage you picked up somewhere." Oriana stood up from her chair, "It doesn’t see or know anything."

Freya nodded in agreement, "What charmer? More like a swindler."

"Freya?" Oriana called out, "What are the chances of you liking your enemy?"

Freya huffed when she remembered the annoying personal guard, "Slim to none!" She exclaimed.

The charmer raised his hand trying to calm them down, "It really works, all you need to do is just look at the-"

"Then you look at the ball and show us," Oriana pointed out with a frown on her face. "You should go find some decent work and not steal from people."

The young man sighed tiredly. He regretted even inviting the two young women. His hypnosis usually worked on people with weaker minds, and it only turned out that the two women he brought had strong impregnable minds.

"I can explain, look the ball is-"

Oriana shook her head, "What do you expect to teach these young ones," she pointed at Walter and Kai, who were eating the crystal cream while watching the interesting argument unfold.

As they were arguing, a man rushed inside the tent holding a small knife.

"There he is, the charmer. He took my wife’s money away, promising to give her a life of happiness. Now my wife smiles all day to herself, even when I beat her up she doesn’t cry but laughs. He turned my wife into a mad woman!"

The charmer scowled, "And you’re proud of hitting your wife. I only made her imagine that every time you hit her, you were praising her since she didn’t want to leave the marriage."

"You scoundrel!" The man shouted, pushing something down inside the tent.

Oriana and Freya stopped talking, now seeing that things were getting out of hand.

"I want you to pay me back everything my wife gave to him, and I want it now!" The man shouted, looking around the tent for something he could go with. Then he dragged Kai. "If you don’t, I’m taking your son."

Oriana shouted, "No! We don’t know him. We also just came here because he said he was the charmer. Now let go of the boy."

"Liar!" The man insisted, now holding Kai by the neck. "You all work with him. If you don’t pay me back this instant, I will hurt this little boy."

Out of fear, Walter started crying, "Leave my brother alone," the small boy cried.

Oriana held her gown tightly, running towards Walter. She hugged him. "It’s okay, it’s okay." Then she turned to the man.

"Settle your dispute with the charmer and let the boy go now," she asked with a calm voice, afraid that the man would hurt Kai if she tried to shout at him.

The charmer stepped forward, "Let the child go and I’ll help your wife."

"I don’t need the help anymore. If this boy is really important to you, then give me ten gold crowns. Else..." He raised the knife close to Kai’s neck.

"No!" Everyone in the tent shouted in unison as Walter’s wailing filled the whole tent.

The man used his back to leave the tent while taking Kai hostage. Oriana and others followed him quietly.

"Everyone, if the charmer doesn’t pay me, I might hurt this boy!" The man shouted as soon as they were outside. Soon, people started gathering to the place to see what was happening.

Oriana bit her lips, waiting for the moment the man would be distracted so she could dive in. She had almost got an opening when a cold voice spoke through the crowd.

"Let the boy go."

"Who are you to command me?" The man asked angrily, turning to look at who it was, but his face connected harshly with the head of Adric’s sword and the man fell, dropping his knife and letting go of Kai.

Someone from the crowd recognized Adric immediately and shouted, "It’s the King!" Everyone bowed deeply.

"Your Majesty."

Oriana and Walter quickly rushed to Kai, and the three of them hugged each other. This time Kai didn’t push Oriana away as his body was shaking with so much fear.

"You’re safe now," she muttered, holding him close like he would be taken away from her anytime soon.

Adric stood there looking at Oriana. He wondered what the girl would have done if he didn’t arrive early. He turned to Rowan,

"Lock this man up," he ordered.

Oriana stood up and pointed at the charmer who was trying to sneak away, "And him too, he’s a swindler, and he owes us money."

Adric turned to look at Oriana with his brows slightly raised. At a moment like this, she was really worried about her money.

"My name is Gelan, your Majesty. I’m not a swindler but a charmer."

The guards that Adric had come with rushed in and dragged the charmer out.

"Let’s go home," Adric bent down and carried Walter while Oriana held Kai as they all walked back to their carriage. The ride back home was a very quiet one. When they got to the palace, Freya took Walter and Kai to their rooms while Rowan made sure that the two men they brought from the village were being locked up.

Oriana brushed the dust off her gown, looking around the palace for where to go when Adric pointed at her.

"You follow me," he walked straight inside the palace.

Oriana raised her upper lips slightly, "You follow me," she mimicked Adric, shaking her head, before following him behind.

Adric didn’t stop walking until they were inside their room. Then he turned, "What is wrong with you? Can’t you stay a moment without causing trouble?"

Oriana shrugged, "Since the man I love won’t be attracted to me, then I should focus on the only thing I can attract, which is trouble," she retorted.

"And who said I’m not attracted to you?" Adric exclaimed. The girl was really making him lose his mind. In the past, it was him who got on other people’s nerves, but now Oriana came into his life and took the crown.

"It’s you-" Oriana paused, "Wait, did you just..." Her voice trailed as Adric’s words registered fully in her mind.

Adric sighed, "You’re too slow, aren’t you?"

Oriana nodded, "Yes, yes...I’m slow...I want you to show me that you’re attracted to me."

"I’ve been trying to hold back and I won’t stop even if you ask me to," Adric replied. With two quick steps, he closed the distance between them.