"Hmm~ Hmhmm~" Lily tiptoed forward, having a skip on her step as she hummed her favorite tune, one that Henry always hummed for her to sleep.
She's currently on her way to play outside, all by herself again. As part of the royal family, one may think she's the luckiest girl ever but she doesn't think so.
Aside from her big brother Henry, she doesn't have any friends. No boys or girls her age were coming to play with her, and all that.
This is why she has grown very attached to Henry. To her, he's the only friend that she has and if he disappears, it's akin to losing a friend.
Thankfully, Henry didn't let her down. Aside from playing with her, he also introduced her to various wooden items he commissioned from a sculptor.
Henry calls them toys and they come in various sizes and shapes. Some look like humans, while others are animals. Perhaps her most favourite toy of all time is what he refers to as Unicorns and Barbie Dolls.
The former because they look like a horse with a rainbow-coloured horn on their heads while the latter is because they look pretty to her and she can comb their hair that gets messy every time she plays with them.
However, both her skipping and humming came to a halt as soon as a familiar face came up to her.
It was her brother Timothy, hands behind his back and lips curved into a smile, the same curve which can be seen on his squinted eyes, the teen bent down and met Lily at eye level and greeted, "Why hello there, little sis. I got some great news for you."
Lily frowned at this—she had been warned several times about her brothers and she had never really taken them seriously since the said brothers barely even talked to her.
"…What is it?" She nervously asked, her tone suggesting she's not fond of talking to him and Timothy noticed this.
Hiding the twitch on his lips, he maintained his smile and replied, "I heard you've been having trouble making friends. You know, I had a lot of friends and my friends also had little sisters. Guess what, those little sisters are very eager to meet you and play with you, especially after hearing about your…what are those wooden things of yours called again?"
"Toys?"
"Ah yes, toys. They're very curious about them and wanted to play with them with you. They're just outside the forest. As a matter of fact, they're actually playing by themselves already. So how about it? Come with me and I'll take you there."
The entire thing smells of bullshit of course. But Lily, with her innocent eyes and naive mind, didn't sense any malicious intent about it.
She wanted to nod her head and say yes but still, her big brother's warning came crashing back into her.
"Never talk to strangers or come with them, Lily. Remember this, if someone ever offers you a strange request. Come to me first and I'll come with you, okay?"
Those were the advice that he instilled in her mind for years.
"I-I'll ask brother to come with me. I'm not supposed to meet with strangers…" She hesitantly spoke.
Timothy's lips thinned and he casually waved his hand, "Come on now. They're my friends' sisters, you're too cruel to call your future friends as strangers. Besides, I'm coming with you, aren't I? If Henry thinks he can protect you from danger, so can I." He tapped his chest with his palm with a confident smile.
Seeing the hesitant look on her face, Timothy immediately struck while the iron was hot. With a dismayed expression, he sighed in defeat and was about to turn around, "Well, if you really don't want to. I can't really blame you, can I? Too bad, I heard they've been preparing for weeks just to meet you. How am I gonna explain this to them?"
Before he could even take a single step, Lily had already called out for him, "W-Wait!"
In an instant, Timothy's disappointed expression turned into a gleeful grin before shifting back to normal when he turned around.
"I-I'll come with you."
"…That sounds great!"
———
After assisting Henry in transferring Aqua from the large barrel to the swimming pool located at the back of the royal castle, near the garden, Ariel was left all by herself now with a key to her room in hand and a status as a distinguished guest of the Crown Prince.
Basically, she's allowed to go anywhere in the Kingdom, treat herself to anything she wants without paying, and all those sorts of things.
As for Henry, he's currently on his way back to his study where Ser Liam was also leading Flynn to. The matters of what their discussion would be are very sensitive and important.
"Henry said I'm free to visit their kitchen. I can ask for as much food as I want…" Ariel started salivating just by thinking about it. Before she even realizes it, her legs are already sauntering away in hopes of finding the said kitchen.
She passed through several rooms, servants who seemed curious about where she was going—the hallway in front of her stretched until she came across a familiar face.
Her face contorted into curiosity as she hid behind a tall indoor plant decorated near a window. She peeked from the side and watched the entire interaction.
"That should be Henry's little sister. The Little Bud that he called earlier…" She murmured to herself, frowning as the tall boy in front of Lily seemed to be trying to convince her, like a peddler on the streets.
Even the underwater Kingdom, Atlantis, had its own peddlers, so she's aware of what they are and how they work.
As she continued to watch and listen to the interaction, she realized that the tall dirty golden-haired boy was Henry's brother.
"What was his name again? I remember Henry calling him Smartass…"
And the said brother is definitely up to no good if she's basing it on the fact that he's trying to convince a little child to come with him alone and trying to steer her away from asking Henry for permission.
"Suspicious!" Ariel instantly snarled in a venomous tone.
When she saw Smartass turning to leave with Lily following closely behind him. Ariel knew she needed to follow them. She doesn't know why but she has a bad feeling about this especially since Lily seems to hold a special place in Henry's heart.
'If something bad happens to his sister, he'll be sad. Just like how I will be if something happens to my sisters.' She murmured under her breath, silently tiptoeing forward, making no noise as she followed them around the royal castle.
They came across several knights and servants but they all parted away from them just by a single look from Smartass.
As for Ariel, when she passed by a few seconds later, they greeted her with nods and bows while she reciprocated them with a polite nod of her own before venturing away to catch up to the pair of half-siblings.
She watched as they made their way to a small room where Lily entered while Timothy waited just outside—she emerged from the room but this time, she was holding various small wooden sculptures, with one particular wooden horse with a single horn tucked under her arm.
They resumed their brisk walk until they were finally outside the castle walls, she noticed how they took a different trajectory. Instead of the street and the public road, Smartass seems to know a hidden route that leads to a small wooden gate residing on the western side of the tall walls surrounding the Kingdom.
When opened, it led then to a dark empty hallway save for a few torches lighting up the way for every 20 steps you take.
At first, Lily started to get hesitant but after a few encouraging words from Smartass, she endured it and followed through. Before the door could completely close, Ariel allowed a small water tentacle to slip through the gap and hold the door slightly ajar for a few more seconds before opening it back up again and entering herself.
———
"We should be close now. Don't worry." Timothy assured Lily—after passing through the dark passage and emerging into an abandoned part of the Outer District, they trudged towards the forest.
Behind him, followed a scared Lily who is now starting to regret coming alone with her brother. She's now tightly clutching the wooden toys she brought with her, as if they're the only assurance she has that her brother Henry would manage to protect her through them if something ever happens.
She doesn't know how long she has been walking but her foot is starting to hurt. Her steps were turning slow and now and then, her brother Timothy would glance back at her, as if to see if she was keeping up with him instead of reaching out to help ease her aching knees.
Fortunately or perhaps unfortunately for her, Timothy finally stopped in front of her, putting a rest to her exhausted legs.
That is until Timothy's head snapped sideways before whistling loudly. A few moments later, two gruff ginger-haired men emerged out of the thick lush of trees, their black outfits and crooked faces screamed 'Bad People' all over the place.
Combined with the fact that one of them even wears an eye patch, an iconic symbol of a vicious and evil person known in the seas.
"T'is her?" One of them spoke, eyeing Lily with greed in his eyes.
Timothy crossed his arms and nodded his head, "That's right. Take her and get as far away as you can from here. Do whatever you want with her, just make sure she's unharmed. Just sit still and wait for my letter, understood?"
Hearing those words, Lily immediately felt the bells alarming her inside her head. She wanted to run away, to shout for Henry. But for some reason, her legs were shaking in both fear and perhaps due to the exhaustion of walking non-stop for half an hour.
"Of course. Consider it done, boss." One of the gruffy-looking men nodded his head in understanding. Stepping forward to grab Lily.
Meanwhile, the other man—the one with an eye patch—couldn't help but ask in curiosity, "We heard you send your own people to do your dirty work. Didn't think we'd be so special for you to personally come to us…"
There was a grit of teeth from Timothy. Could you blame him? He also doesn't want to come personally since the risks are extremely high. However, for some reason, all of his men, especially those among the knights of Lioncrest were either brought to jail for suspicions of treason or many other unproven crimes.
Usually, something like this could be easily solved by him using his status as the royal Prince but the entire operation was personally handled by his very own father. His very own father is literally cutting off his own son's limbs himself.
It didn't take much thinking for Timothy to realize that he's running out of time and space. It wouldn't be a lie to say that he's now desperate—he needs something grand to steer the suspicion away from him and if possible, use his brother, Alexander as a scapegoat.
Orchestrate the entire kidnapping of the royal princess thing and indirectly shift the blame to his brother—who is currently far away from the Kingdom, a good opportunity since this way, there would be no chances for him to clear his name.
Which to him, would smash three birds with one stone. Reducing Alexander's chances to grab the throne, removing Lily from the board, and last but not the least, having a leverage over Henry himself.
As much as he hates to admit it but Henry is smart, if Timothy were to become a King, he needs to establish an image of a King who can make his Kingdom flourish.
Who else can do that but the famous Golden boy who can generate the profits for the Kingdom as easily as breathing?
So his plan is not to dispose of Henry. But to use him, blackmail him, or anything just to get him working for no one but him. Everything he worked for, Timothy would take the credit.
It doesn't even matter if Henry had his magic teacher on his side. If Master Elias could find Lily with his magic, he could've done so in the first place when Henry went missing.
This is the one that gave Timothy the confidence to carry out such a high-risk, high-reward plan.
And that is the entire structure of his well-crafted plan for his successful future. Something that he spent years planning, scrapping, adapting, and learning from his previous mistakes.
Timothy can already see himself sitting on the throne, living a lavish life surrounded by beautiful women, backed by powerful men, and the entire Kingdom kneeling before him.
Only for the bubble to burst when a female's voice yelled from their behind, "Hold it right there, criminal scums!"