Betrothed To The Prince...

Friendship

After the public execution of the concubine, things began to change. Ae was no longer allowed to take decisions or even get involved in the process of decision making. The justice was being served well to all the people and everyone began to feel like everything was finally falling back in place.

Pete managed to prove the prisoner innocent with the help of Zee and he was released soon after, allowing him to get reunited with his family. They thanked Pete a lot for helping them get justice. Not only did Pete prove him innocent but he even arranged for their home and food supply as a compensation for the mistake in earlier judgement. People began to look at Pete with lot of respect and began to greet him. But can this be accepted by Ae? No... He was fuming in anger every time someone approached Pete and talked to him. But knowing the fact that his mistake might make him lose everything, he was trying to keep quiet.

"Prince Pete seems to gain people's trust." The emperor said to his wife as they sat in the courtyard. "Yes... He has a heart of gold. Who would ever hate him?" the empress asked. "Your son?" the emperor replied promptly. "Are you forgetting that he is your son too?" the empress questioned while raising an eyebrow.

"I was just kidding love. But it's good that people are being nice to Pete." The emperor spoke. "Yes... It's better for all because they have someone to rely on and even approach when they need help. Pete is wise enough to make decisions considering everyone's thoughts." The empress spoke.

"Yeah... That's for sure. At least there is one person who thinks about the people and not being selfish." The emperor spoke. The couple have been married for years but the wife was always the one holding the upper hand. Though she respected her husband and rarely interfered with the affairs of the kingdom, the emperor knew that the woman was wise enough to run the whole kingdom on her own. Never ever in his life did he doubted his wife when it came to decision making.

On the other hand, the friendship between Pete and Zee was blossoming beautifully. After having acquired the necessary permission from the empress, Zee was able to visit Pete more often. He would invite Pete to go out for horse riding or trying out something new. Pete even mastered shooting arrows as he got trained under Zee.

It was early morning and there was no court today so Pete was out running after the gardener's cat. The little creature was too fast and was purposely teasing Pete. The two maids too were chasing after her. The little creature was running in high speed and approached a nearby wall and when she realized that she would crash into it, she tried to stop but it was too late because she hit her body accidentally. Pete hurried towards her to check, worried that she might be in pain. He failed to notice the other person walking past the place and even before he could realize, he crashed into him.

"His highness!!" the maids exclaimed as they rushed to help Pete. "Are you alright Pete?" Pete heard the familiar voice and immediately looked up to see Zee lying on the floor next to him. "Zee!! I am so sorry!! I didn't notice you." Pete apologized. By now the two maids were there beside him and helping him sit up.

"Why were you in haste?" Zee inquired as he sat up adjusting his helmet. "I was chasing a cat." Pete admitted. "Oh!! So what did the little monster steal from his highness?" Zee asked teasingly. "Ow Zee... She was just playing around." Pete replied while pouting.

"Don't make that face Pete, she will think that she made you cry." Zee said. "Better if she does because she will come back to me so that I will be pacified." Pete replied. "I think she would still prefer to tease you." Zee added and began laughing.

"So flirting in open is allowed?" the loud yet stern voice made Pete and Zee snap their head to look at the owner of the voice. Zee quickly scrambled to his feet bowing in respect while the maids helped Pete to get up.