Chapter 894: Julian And Liam
"That"s what you call friends.h.i.+p," Rowena smiled. "Though, he can also be a bit predictable at times. More than anything though I"m confident that he"s doing fine and hasn"t been caught. Who knows if he"s actually escaped there?"
"I hope so. He seems like a nice person." Prince Liam was surprised to hear Julian be called a friend, not boyfriend, but chose not to comment about it.
"He is. Are we nearly there?"
"Almost, just a bit more. Over the bushes."
"Alright." Rowena nodded seriously and prepared herself. She didn"t think she"d ever see a palace again, much less try to break into it to free Julian… but if she had done it before, she could do it again.
Every now and then, Prince Liam looked over his shoulder and looked at Rowena. She looked so serious right now, but if anything, it only enhanced her beauty… which was actually rather distracting.
Both the queen and king had already told him to look for a future and possible marriage. He was already nineteen and should start finding a woman to marry.
That was why Prince Liam had met and dined with countless other women before. When a letter from Ashland arrived, they even considered sending Prince Liam in search of this mysterious and missing princess.
Everybody was familiar with the famous kingdom of Ashland despite being from another land, King Draco was a renowned figure and was known to have slain dragons before he became a ruler.
It seemed like an excellent trade route to have as well, although, in Prince Liam"s eyes, it seemed nothing more like a wild goose chase.
King Draco was merely trying to take advantage of the resources of other kingdoms in search of a daughter who didn"t want to be a princess.
This was actually one of the reasons why Prince Liam got fed up and wanted to leave the palace to clear his head.
However, as he looked at "Harlow" and thought about all of the princesses, ladies, and other charming women he met, all of them paled in comparison to the one who walked behind him.
Not only was she beyond beautiful, but there was also a great substance to her… a layer of character that Prince Liam couldn"t quite pin. Maybe it was because of her mysterious background?
The life of someone not royal seemed to be both alluring and attractive to Prince Liam, probably because he never experienced it himself, but he knew from the get-go that he didn"t have any chances.
However, there was actually something that he was curious about.
Prince Liam kept referring to her as "Harlow" because he didn"t know her real name, but what exactly was her true ident.i.ty then? Would she mind if he actually got to k
now her?
He cleared his throat and said, "If you don"t mind me asking…"
"Hmm?" Rowena stepped over the bushes and gazed around the palace"s walls. She found the river as Prince Liam said. So where was Julian?
"What"s your name–"
"Hey, Rowena, is that you?!" Julian"s voice suddenly broke through from the sewage system as he removed the metal bars and made his escape.
His s.h.i.+rt was drenched, soaked, and a bit soggy from traveling through the sewer system, but then he caught sight of her.
A smile of relief crossed over his face.
Rowena herself immediately ran over towards Julian and threw her arms around him.
"What do you think you"re doing?" she said and squeezed him tight.
"I just got a little distracted… whoaa..." Julian said but then looked over to Prince Liam in surprise. He really hadn"t expected the guy to be there as well, and more than anything, he was astonished.
On the other hand, Prince Liam was more shocked to hear the name "Rowena" slip out from Julian"s lips because it was a name that he had already heard before mentioned by both his father and mother when they received a letter.
However, before he could come to terms with the reality of who Rowena was and enviously looked at how Julian and she hugged together, Julian looked up at him in astonishment.
"Whoa... hahaha..." Julian stifled his laughter. "Did you get fooled by the guy and thought he was me?"
"What? Of course not. I immediately knew he wasn"t you," Rowena said with pursed lips.
Julian simply laughed and took a step back away from Rowena. His face was tainted a bit red, surprised but also pleased with the hug but knew that there was no time for them to waste.
They needed to go.
"Thank you for reuniting us, Your Highness," Julian immediately said and bowed. "But I think we really need to get going. Your parents are also worried sick about you."
"Um, shouldn"t the two of you be introduced first?" Rowena raised a brow. She was surprised at why Julian wasn"t being friendly. She thought he"d be happy to find someone who looked like him but, instead, he seemed avoidant.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Julian." Prince Liam straightened up and extended a hand. "Thank you for allowing me a day of freedom. Your… err, capture allowed me to stay outside of the palace for an entire night."
"This is Crown Prince Liam," Rowena added with a smile. "I was able to visit the Wis.h.i.+ng Mermaid Lagoon because of him and figure a bit more about the mermaid realm"s existence."
"I know
that… I was him for a day, remember?" Julian said, but then shook the crown prince"s hand. He silently realized that he was taller than the crown prince by at least an inch, but the crown prince had better hair, also his skin was much more delicate than Julian"s.
Suffice to say…Julian still thought he was much better looking.
"It seems you"re quite a good actor because there didn"t seem to be any complications," Prince Liam said with a smile.
"There will be complications if you don"t get back there quickly," Julian said as he looked over his shoulder and gestured to the palace. "There"s probably some kind of breakfast with the family or something, right?"