"Well, well, well… Looks like we meet again, my dear savior.

"

Yvonne's momentary stupor soon came to an end and her mind began whirring at full speed.

Since she had almost crashed into the person who was standing right behind her, her eyes first fell on the other person's clothing as soon as she came back to her senses.

The voice she heard was that of a boy and the clothes she was now looking at were also that of the male gender.

Recalling the clothes she had seen the boys who were with her in the Main Palace's garden earlier, she could not find anyone who was wearing a matching outfit.

Therefore, in the short few seconds she had been frozen in this position, she deduced that this person was not someone she had met in the garden before.

A boy who was taller than her, spoke in a rude tone and was free to roam around as he pleased.

There were only two names she could think of who would match the criteria mentioned above.

However, the only sentence he had spoken had given her another clue to decipher the identity of this boy.

'He called me his savior…' Yvonne recalled and grimaced at the answer her mind had come up with.

If she were to take this piece of information into consideration then she could cancel the only other name present on the list.

With only one possible suspect left, all Yvonne had to do was lift her head and look up to confirm the inference that she had just made.

Therefore, as her feet took a step away from this sudden close contact they had made, the little girl raised her head to see exactly who she had met in this unknown place.

Now with distance created between them, Yvonne cursed that she had been unable to sense this person's presence as he approached her.

She had been undergoing training for so many years now but even if that may be so, she had failed to notice someone who had gotten so close to her.

This only proved that she was still lacking in various aspects.

As her mind was engaging in a thorough session of self-evaluation, her eyes finally met those that belonged to the other person.

'Blue!' She did not know why but she rejoiced at this outcome.

Compared to the emerald eyes which she never wished to face ever, she was rather glad that she had somehow crashed into this person instead.

Pushing aside all other thoughts, she put on a smile on her face.

"Greetings to the Prince. My name is Yvonne St. Claire, daughter of Earl St. Claire.

" She introduced herself with an excellent curtsy and a practiced smile.

No matter what grudges she bore against this boy, she could not disrespect him.

'Yvonne' in the script had the protection of both the King and the Princess but right now, she had none.

She was just another child who had entered the Palace today to greet the King and would receive no preferential treatment if she were to offend this hot-head right now.

Therefore, choosing the most rational path here, she greeted the Prince just as anyone else in her position would have done.

Prince Fritzen Rosenhyde's bright blue eyes were fixed on the girl standing before him.

His eyes peered into those amethyst eyes looking back at him before he raised his gaze to her hair.

'Black!' He scowled in his heart as his plan to investigate had finally given fruit.

Thus, while Yvonne was stewing in silent anxiety to see what this erratic Prince would say next, the young boy before her was appreciating the brilliant plan he had executed today.

___

Before the week of mourning had commenced, when Prince Fritzen had heard about his father's intention to summon all the families that had helped out during the plague, he spoke in support of this plan.

While his father had been meaning to use this event as an opportunity to get to know these families better and express his appreciation towards them, the young prince had other thoughts in his mind.

However, he had to keep these thoughts a secret lest someone might get in his way, trying to talk him out of the plans that he was about to make.

Thus, while smiling at the dinner table when the King had made this announcement, Prince Fritzen kept his emotions under control until he returned to his palace.

Once inside, he locked himself in his room to create the perfect plan to ensure that his goal was achieved.

His plans had backup plans and contingency plans in case things did not go the way he hoped they would.

He had thought about everything and as soon as he was done preparing, he summoned his trusted maids and servants.

Commanding them to remain tight-lipped about what they were about to hear, he finally disclosed his plans to them.

Everyone vowed to do as he instructed and all that was left was to wait for the day when they could execute their plan to arrive.

A long week had come to an end and soon it was time for them to put their plan to action.

Every palace had its own set of trained maids and had a different color for their uniforms.

However, common maids wore a neutral color and could be summoned to any palace when need be.

Since the people entering the palace premises would be staying in the guest rooms of the Main Palace, more common maids would be assigned there.

Therefore, right on time, his chosen maids acquired a few sets of uniforms to blend into the common maids called to serve in the Main Palace.

Their task was to keep an eye on the target without arousing anyone's suspicion and update him on every movement the target made.

The target was none other than the little miss of the St. Claire's family whom he needed to meet face-to-face in order to confirm something that had been on his mind for a long time now.

However, from what he had heard before, that child was always surrounded by people, either her family or the other children.

Therefore, he needed to find a way to separate her from the crowd.

When his mother spoke of the numerous ideas she had come up with to entertain the guests who would arrive, he had suggested letting them roam around to view their beautiful gardens.

Finding this suggestion to be excellent, Queen Zena praised him and decided to do just as he proposed.

This way, Prince Fritzen had accomplished his first task, of separating the parents from the children.

He knew that the men would rather discuss their business in the parlors than to accompany the women and children.

Just as expected, the men left first and the women chose to take a stroll in leisure.

The next step was to separate the child from her brother and the other boy who stuck close to her.

For this, he came up with another solution and had to take the help of his sister.

He approached his little sister a few days ago and brought up in conversation that the girls who would be arriving might like to visit the greenhouse.

This would allow them to mingle without adult supervision and might help them forge some good bonds.

His little sister was ecstatic as her earlier plan was to invite them to the pavilion but after hearing her brother's idea, she chose to do this instead.

With the second step accomplished, the last move he had to make was to separate Yvonne St. Claire from this group of girls as well.

However, before he could make his move, that child had left the group out of her own accord.

This worked in his favor and he set his final plan into motion.

His trusted maid appeared before the child, dressed in the attire of a common maid, revealing that the Countess was looking for her.

Since the Prince was too meticulous in his planning he was prepared for all possible scenarios.

The maid was leading Yvonne straight to the Sycamore Palace, his residence which was next to the Rose Palace.

However, the child for some reason had gotten suspicious right when they were close to entering his Palace grounds.

Therefore, his maid, who was instructed on what to do in such a situation, changed routes and led Yvonne through a path that passed next to his Palace.

A few twists and turns, and finally the maid dropped her off at the hedge wall.

While the child was wandering in this place, the maid headed back to the Sycamore Palace to inform him of the changes that had occurred in their plans.

Prince Fritzen wasn't too concerned as he was prepared for every possible outcome.

The goal was simple.

If Yvonne wouldn't enter his palace from the front gate, she would enter his palace from the side gate and that was exactly what had taken place.

If she had arrived through the front gate, she would have met him right away but she chose the other route.

It did not matter which route she chose, meeting him was inevitable.

The marble pavilion that Yvonne had seen as she entered was a rare sight in the entire Palace grounds therefore, he was sure that she would be busy admiring it until he could reach her.

Yet when he rushed over, he was surprised to see that she was nowhere to be found.

Following those faint footsteps, he found her focused on the equipment in his training arena which connected his palace to the area where they currently were.

While she was lost in her thoughts about the weapons, he appeared behind her, waiting for her to turn around.

The moment she did, she almost crashed into him which brought out that statement from his lips.

Coming to an end of his recollection, Prince Fritzen leered at the child standing before him, bringing him back to the present.