Everyone saw the bubbly girl sitting down beside the king. They know who the star of the show is. The king looked at his daughter and got up to introduce her to the people. He took Alice to the stage and then said to show his heart's formation works to everybody.
Alice looked at her father for a second, then gave a cute nod, and then started to use rune and made a square. It is all she can do with all her strength. Her father brought a formation disk for her to keep inside. Alice kept the formation inside the disk.
The king then activated the formation that Alice made. There it was, a square formation. Everyone was shocked seeing that except for two individuals. Ray and Diana were looking at something that was not that much entertainment for them. Since Ray did this same thing yesterday and more than that. He made a 36-rune formation in a day. Now that is a record.
Ray looked at his mother and asked in a very low voice, "Mother, shouldn't the king be hiding the fact that his daughter is a genius?"
Diana smiled and said, "Who in the world would have the guts to target the daughter of the king?
Ray answered as if it were a matter of fact, "The neighboring kingdom?"
Diana got shocked, and so did Selena, who was listening to their conversation with a smile because this boy just answered with the most shocking truth.
Diana then said, "Do not worry, Alice is protected by special guards all day long."
Only then did Ray nod. Selena also nodded at what Diana said. But Diana has a different thought. If they can defeat the guards, then shouldn't they be able to eliminate Alice now? She needs to talk this through with her husband.
The king then gave some speech and then told everyone to enjoy some music and get to know each other. Every noble started to send their boy from age 6 to 13 years old towards Alice to greet her.
Selene, Barbara, and Roxane sent their child to see if they get any chances to make friends with her. Barbara then sees that Ray is still sitting with Diana. So she asked, "Shouldn't little Ray go and meet Alice as well?"
"There are a few hundred little children who went there to meet Alice. He thinks there are children of ages 12 and 13 there as well. They are going to bully him if he goes there. So he is staying here to see the fun from here." Said Diana with a chuckle.
Hearing what Diana said, they also nodded. Because this is actually happening there, and they are also seeing that Barbara, who has sent her eight-year-old, is also getting bullied. Roxane and Selene sent a 10-year-old and an 11-year-old child, and they are barely able to do anything. They are having a clash showdown with the Montclair family's children.
Finally an elder caretaker of Alice has to come and stop this madness. He said, "Every kid can go back to their seat. They are supposed to interact and make friends, not enemies."
Then the caretaker said to Alice, "Is there anyone you are interested in making friends with?"
To which Alice nodded. The Elder gave a surprise chuckle because in the last six years Alice never showed any interest in meeting other children, even after meeting so many boys and girls in the kingdom. She would even avoid meeting some girls her age. She would avoid many princes and princesses after being bullied by them.
But now she is interested in making friends with someone. Is it a girl or a boy? The elder wonders. The elder then asked, "Who do you want to be friends with?"
Everyone looked at the white-haired bubbly girl. She pointed in one direction. It was on the table Ray was sitting on.
All the people looked at the table of Diana and Selene. There were two mothers and four children sitting together. They thought it was the child that Selene sent towards her. So Selene became very happy.
The caretaker brings Alice over to the table of Diana and Selene. They saw that Alice was walking towards them, but then they noticed that Alice was going in the opposite direction of the table where Selene's children were sitting. Alice pointed at Ray and said, "I want to be friends with him."
Ray became shocked at seeing this, and so did Diana and the people in the crowd. 'Why this kid?' They all wanted to ask.
And as if their mind had been read, the caretaker gave a glance so powerful towards Ray that it almost gave him the shivers. The caretaker then asked, "Why him? He wasn't there with you when we called children to come and greet you."
Alice gave a look at Ray and said, "Out of all the people who watched me make a formation and then put it inside the formation disk. After that my father activated the formation disk; I was seeing everyone was showing a reaction of surprise except for this boy. So I want to be friends with him to know why."
Diana and Ray gave a wry smile because they both know the reason why they were showing that kind of reaction. But who knew Alice would notice their reactions as well?
The caretaker then asked, "Would you like to be friends with the princess, boy?"
Ray looked at Diana, and Diana gave a nod. Ray gave a nod to the caretaker. The caretaker then said, "Follow me with the princess to the garden in the backyard. The princess would like to show you her favorite garden."
Ray nodded and started to follow the caretaker with Alice. Everyone looked at what had happened and could also wryly smile. The other children became shocked as well; if they knew, they would have not shown any reaction either.
Diana, who saw this, felt uncomfortable and then went to her husband to talk about her concern. Robert, who heard this, also said the same answer as Diana did when Diana said her second concern was, "What if the enemy defeats the guards and goes for the kill using assassins?" Robert was thinking about whether to go or not.
So Robert told Diana to go to Ray. If there is any problem, then try to save the princess and Ray together. Diana nodded and went to the backyard as well.
....
While walking, the caretaker started to distance herself from Ray and Alice to give them the chance to interact. Alice, who was waiting for a chance to talk with Ray, was looking at Ray from time to time for a conversation, but she is so shy that she has no idea what to talk about. No one other than her mother and her siblings from the same mother talks with her.
The caretaker wants to skin him alive for not starting a conversation. Can't the boy see that the princess wants to interact with him?
Ray finally said something that made Alice nervous and want to hear what he wants to say. "Hello, I am Ray, Ray Walker. I would truly love to become friends with you. But if you want to become friends with me just by looking at my reaction? Shouldn't you be thinking about whether this person is good or not?
Alice then said, "Then are you not a good person?"
Ray chuckled and said, "That is for you to find out. Tell me, what do you do with friends? And how do you make friends? And how do you find whether that person is good or not?"
Alice tried to think very hard but couldn't find an answer. "I do not know."
The caretaker also wants to know what Ray is going to say for all these questions.
Ray only said, "Everyone becomes friends when they have something in common, like a hobby or interest. Everyone finds out whether he is good or bad by experiencing and knowing each other. So what does the princess like that could be in common with me?"
The caretakers nodded, and Alice started to answer, "Formation and flower garden."
Ray then said, "I am not a genius like you who can learn formation at the age of six. But I did read a lot of books on formation. But if we talk about formation now, would that be enjoyable?"
Alice nodded and answered, "It would be enjoyable."
Ray shook his head and said, "It would be enjoyable if we do that another time. What if I say there are many things that we little children can do, and the adults wish they could be young and do this again?"
Alice shook her head and said, "I don't know." The caretaker has a confused look too; what would she wish for?
Ray replied with a smile. "It is to play, of course. Come, I will teach you a few games, and you will enjoy them right away."
In her six years of life with Alice, the caretaker has never seen Alice laughing so loud and enjoying the games that Ray is teaching her. Even she became a child and started to play a game or two with them.
But the game didn't last long because what Diana was afraid of has happened. Five assassins came, and three guards who were protecting Alice in secret came out to protect Alice along with the caretaker.