“You’ve gotten a lot better at riding. You’re a fast learning, little girl,” he complimented me openly. I walked by his side as I noticed that the sun was about to set. It was unfortunate that another day was coming to an end. We both knew that I had to leave to return to the maids’ quarters before sunset. That was the rule. “It’s all thanks to you,” I thanked him with a smile. He didn’t say anything, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking about. I smiled to myself again as I looked up at the sky as it was turning orange from the setting sun. It was a very beautiful color and suddenly I felt like my life had some hope in it. Before I knew it, I had started looking forward to spending even more time with him. Everything would have been quite fine if those strange dreams that I had at night didn’t persist. The dreams plagued me endlessly and it seemed to be getting worst. I have never discussed this with anyone before because I didn’t know who to talk to about this. “What are you thinking about? You’re frowning all of a sudden,” he asked. I turned to see him staring at my face. “Nothing. I’ve been having some bad dreams lately…” I confessed softly. “Nightmares? What do you dream of?” he asked with sudden interest. Now that he asked me about it, I didn’t know what I should tell him. My dreams were… “It’s nothing. I’m sure that it’ll go away soon. It better go away soon because it’s making me lose sleep,” I told him before laughing softly. “Let me know if it doesn’t get any better…” he murmured. By that time, we had arrived from our little walk back at the stables. It really was time for us to say goodbye for the day now. A slight pain in my chest told me that I was feeling extremely disappointed. The worst part was that I didn’t know when Sophie would turn up to assign another job to me. If that happened, I guess our fun days here at the stables together would come to an end too. If that was the case then, maybe I should finally ask him what I really wanted to know. “Umm…what is your name?” I asked him abruptly after gathering my courage. We’ve been spending so much time together and he’s taught me many things from riding to feeding the horses; however, I don’t even know his name and I haven’t given him mine. “My name?” he replied blankly. “Yes, you’ve been helping me for many days now, but I don’t even know your name,” I replied as I turned to face him directly. “Does it matter what my name is?” he asked after a short pause. “Umm…what kind of question is that? Of course, it matters what your name is…” I replied while finding his response funny. Maybe he thought that it was bad manners of me to ask for his name without offering my own first? “My name is…” I said before I stopped. His index finger on my lips told me that he didn’t want to hear it. He looked at me before he shook his head softly from side to side. He doesn’t want to know my name. Why? At that moment, I wished that I could have seen his eyes because maybe then, I might have some clue about what he was thinking or feeling. … **Later that evening** “Why didn’t you pick up your phone? I called you so many times today…” Darius complained with clear frustration. Leonard didn’t even bother to look at his brother as he scrolled through his phone. Nothing really interested him, but it was much better than dealing with Darius’s complaints. “Are you even listening? You skipped out on your duties. Not just for one days but for many days in a row,” Darius said as he started raising his voice. Leonard continued to pay his words no mind. Darius got even more irritated than before. It was because the first prince did not turn up to his duties that Darius had to rearrange his schedule to cover for his brother. The worst part wasn’t the fact that he had to work hard but he feared that this was going to tarnish his brother’s reputation and the odds of him taking over as the next king. “Pay attention to what I’m saying. Prince Leonard!” Darius shouted at his younger brother. “I’ve been working all my life. Why can’t I take a few days off?” Leonard replied casually. “I will not pretend that I don’t know what you’ve been up to,” Darius said as his eyes narrowed at his brother. “Shouldn’t you be pleased? You might as well consider what I’m doing part of my job…” Leonard replied without much care. “I wonder if you even know what you’re doing…” Darius muttered before he sighed. “Well, I would appreciate it if you can continue taking on my duties for me…” Leonard said before winking mischievously at his brother. “Are you still taking those pills?” Darius asked after a pause. “Yup…” Leonard replied honestly. “Just the regular pills?” Darius asked before he looked pointedly at Leonard. “How did you find out?” Leonard muttered as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He had told the doctor strictly not to tell anyone about the new pills that he had just been given or the injections. Apparently, Darius already knew about it. He smirked a little to himself when he thought that there were probably no secrets in this world that could be kept forever. “I’m a prince too in case you’ve forgotten…” Darius replied curtly. “You’re right about that…” Leonard mumbled lazily. “The night of the full moon is almost here. I suggest you choose a Satisfier to mate with. If you can’t choose yourself, I can get the chamber manager to send you some candidates…” Darius suggested with clear concern. “Is that the approach that you’re taking?” Leonard asked without any interest. --To be continued…