Born As The Emperor's Daughter

"Hurry, hurry!"

Alexandra said in an excited tone of voice, still dragging Harrison by the collar of his shirt as she entered the coach. It's not like she was hurrying or anything but Harrison was just being so slow, letting himself be dragged by her. "Wait, princess, you're choking me by the way you're pulling on my collar."

She heard him say as they arrived in front of the coach. The door was opened by Carlos and she pulled Harrison inside with her then that's where she let go of his collar. He then sat down on the seat in front of her, he took off his coat and placed it beside him before fixing his collar and smoothening out the wrinkle of his clothes. Now he is only on his long-sleeved shirt and dark pants. Casual attire or outfit, it's easy to move around with that set of clothing.

She waited for the door to be closed by Harrison before she started speaking, initiating a conversation with him. She placed her leg on top of her other leg then she rested her back against the seat as she relaxed. She placed a loose strand of hair behind her ear while staring at Harrison who has his gaze outside the window of the carriage. As soon as the door closed, she opened her mouth to speak.

"You were with my brothers earlier, right? Even before you got here, am I correct?" She asked him in a gentle tone of voice. She slightly tilted her head to the side while she spoke while her eyes were wide with wonder, gleaming with curiosity. She was curious about how it went, Harrison being along with her two elder brothers. Even though they trained back then, it was only a few times and Harrison was only watching them usually. Gilbert was acquaintances with Harrison as both of them are palace wizards.

Somehow, she was glad that it was Gilbert who learned about their relationship. He was secretive, silent, and you can't easily read him. He's also a great liar and actor. An example of that was what happened last week (Alexandra and Harrison who ends up telling everything to him as they don't have any choice). Aside from that, he always keeps his head cool and he doesn't get angry easily. In addition to that, Gilbert looks like he is fine with everything. If a fire broke out, he would probably still be there in his room reading and minding his own business.

"Yes." Harrison simply responded, nodding his head in the process while he folded his coat properly and placing it beside him once again. He has his feet, the part of the ankle, placed on top of his t.h.i.g.h as he inclined his body back the seat. It looked like he was the owner of the carriage but she didn't care about it. Alexandra nodded her head multiple times before responding to him, "Oh, I see."

"Why? What about it?"

"Nothing, I was just curious if they said something or like talked about me while you were there especially Brother Gil. Did Brother Gil pestered you with questions?" Harrison took a while to respond to what she said. What she meant wasn't like those where they are badmouthing her. Who would badmouth their little sister to their brother or to her friend?

She felt the carriage start to move, being pulled by a horse. Outside the window, she could see Carlos following beside them. Looking straight ahead of him.

Harrison hummed then spoke in a nonchalant tone of voice, "Not really. We just encountered each other. I saw them first but just ignored them then they saw me and called out to me. I have no choice but to come to them and get dragged by them, it's only Prince Gilbert who dragged me through. But still, does each one of your family has the habit of dragging anyone just to force them to come with them?" There was disbelief seen written all over his face which lasted for a few seconds.

Alexandra couldn't help but laugh at his last sentence, an eye smile seen as she does so. Tension being released that rested on her shoulders while she shortly laughed. "I see, is that all?"

She was thankful that Gilbert didn't pester or ask Harrison about multiple things. Well, she knew that he wasn't that type of person that would pester someone and attack them with questions. Maybe one question or two will do, it would probably be about their relationship though. I don't know about Brother Calix though, she thought to herself.

"Oh, right, I overheard them tal— Ah, wait, nevermind. That was nothing."

"Huh? What is it? What do you mean nothing? Tell me." Alexandra became curious, much more curious than before. Leaning her body forward as she propped her chin up while her elbow rested on top of her t.h.i.g.h, looking straight at Harrison as if she was staring at his soul. She wasn't glaring (or doing something like that) to him at all. There was only curiosity seen sparkling in her blue orbs. She was intrigued by what he said.

"Nevermind that, just forget about it. Pretend that I didn't say anything."

"Tell me, what is it? Don't just go telling something then saying 'nevermind' without finishing your sentence. You do know how I will react to that, right? Right?" Alexandra told him. What did he overhear? What were they talking about? What were her brothers talking about?

"I don't think I can tell you."

"Eh? What's with that?" She says and pouted her lips because of disappointment, she didn't get to learn what her brothers were talking about during that time. She only heaved a sigh before leaning back on her seat, her legs still crossed and her hand placed on top of her t.h.i.g.h. Maybe it's something private, I don't know, she thought to herself and sighed before combing her loose hair back. It wasn't styled or tied up as she doesn't want it to.

Harrison leaned forward, looking down at something before he reached his hand out to touch hers and take ahold of it. It seems like he was observing it as he was staring at it for so long. Alexandra arched an eyebrow before she opened her mouth to speak to say, "What's wrong? Is there something in my hand?"

He hummed before he responded to her, looking at her wrist where the mark is. "Nothing, I just noticed that your hands and wrist are pretty small," That's what he said before comparing the size of their hands. His were long and slender while Alexandra's were small.

"Well, yeah. Yours are pretty slender, I think it's because you're a boy?" She said and shrugged, Harrison only hummed as a response to her. Silence surrounded them and he only kept on playing with her hands, Alexandra didn't mind it though as she liked it. Somehow, it was helping her relax and there was a languid atmosphere between the two of them. This helped her relax more in her seat.

She was only staring at him, watching the expression on his face change and replaced with another one. A hint of curiosity and interest was seen from it. He then opened his mouth to speak, grabbing her attention.

"Oh, you did your nails? Who painted it?" Harrison said while staring at her hand that was placed on top of his. Alexandra also looked down at her hand and her mouth formed the shape 'o' before answering him. "Oh, yes. Maribelle and Amanda was the one who did it when they noticed that my nails were clean. I think it was 2 days ago when they came to visit once again."

"I see. Were they the ones that chose the color?" Harrison lifted his head to look at her, their gazes meeting each other. "No, it was me."

The color Amanda and Maribelle used to paint her nails were red. A light shade of red, similar to crimson. It was only a simple one but Alexandra liked it. She wasn't used to painting her nails, she doesn't even know how to. She has never asked the maids to paint it for her, they only trim it and keep it clean and neat-looking.

"Why red?" Harrison asked in a curious tone of voice. Alexandra took a while to respond as she recalled that memory with Amanda and Maribelle that happened a few days ago. Maribelle asked her the same question when she told her that she wants the color of her nails red instead of blue which is the color of her eyes.

"You said that red suits me so I thought why not listen to you and choose it? I like how it turned out and it does suit me. And also, it's the color of your eyes," She says in a nonchalant voice with a gentle look on her face. Her lips were stretched into a smile, her face beaming with joy and Harrison only stared at her without saying anything for almost 10 seconds as if he was trying to process what she said.

When he did, he averted his gaze and slightly tilted her head down, covering the bottom part of his face. "God, what am I going to do with you?" He said in a low voice but Alexandra's ears still managed to pick that up and understand it. She smiled widely before answering him, "Is it bad? Do you hate it? Maybe I should have it removed and replaced with another color then."

She was only teasing him, wanting to see more of that reaction. She finds Harrison's reaction cute. The boy in front of her only looked away from him, still covering his face and holding her hand. "I didn't say anything like that. I told you, right? Red suits you."

"I was just joking," Alexandra giggled before her other empty hand reached out to ruffle his hair. She has never done this to Harrison and she just can't resist the urge to do so. His hair was soft, his locks getting entangled with her fingers as she ruffled it.

"Stop, you'll just make it messier."

"Sorry, I just can't resist it. Your hair is soft. Maybe you should try to make it longer?"

"Why? What are you going to do with it? I'm not planning on letting you cut it and sell it," His features started to relax as he calms down. He intertwined his hand with hers and rubbed circles with his thumb. Alexandra laughed once again before responding to him, "I think it would be fun to style it, maybe braiding it? Perhaps you could style mine too if you do so."

Harrison remained silent for a few seconds. For the past week or so, he noticed that her hair wouldn't be styled or tied up. Not even once, he saw it styled unlike before. He knew the reason why so he didn't ask her about it as it might just trigger some memories.

"Yeah, I'll try but it would take months, you know?"

"Can't you just use magic to make it longer?" Alexandra said as she started to swing their hands.

"No, of course not. I mean, there is that one spell that you could use to make your hair longer but then it would just destroy it. The ends of your hair would split and it would be hard to comb it."

"Aw, too bad," Alexandra says with a pout on her lips. Harrison's hair was definitely longer than months ago. He still hasn't cut it, perhaps. But she didn��t mind as he really wants to see him with long hair. It was said in most of the books describing the Black Wizard who is Harrison that his hair was long and would usually be tied up in a ponytail. She could imagine him but the image isn't complete inside her head and it's better to see it in real life.

"What are you thinking?" He said and grabbed her attention. Alexandra snapped out of her thoughts and hummed before responding to him.

"Different hairstyles and braids that I could use on you. I don't know that much since I wasn't the one that styles my hair. Maybe I could ask Amanda and Maribelle to teach me, they look like they know many." She says and smiles at him. Harrison heaved out a sigh and said, "I know many. I can teach you and style your hair."

"Wow, really? Where did you learn it?"

"I just learned it by myself because of someone."

Again with that sad look on his face. Harrison has already lived for hundreds of years and she's sure that he has encountered many people who he became close to and taught him many things. But she was curious, who was he thinking of that made him have that expression on his face?

"Are you sure that you can't remember anything aside from our past life?" Harrison asked her after a few moments of being silent.

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, nothing. Don't mind that. Anyways, when are we going to arrive at the palace? I'm sure that old man has been waiting for me for so long, he's really an impatient person." He said as if trying to avoid any more questions. Alexandra didn't question him any further and only responded to his question.

"Probably in 20 minutes or so."

Weird.