Chapter 4 - Shop with the Prince

“Can I just take these home? I’m worried I will make you and auntie Tina wait for too long.” I asked and pointed at the sandwich and apple juice he ordered for me.

“Eh? Nah, it’s okay. Eat this.” He replied and pushed the food towards me.

“But….”

“Then just eat it while we are walking. Come on.” He said and opened the sandwich for me, then we started walking.

We are also talking about random things while walking in the hallway.

“What was your name again?” he asked me as he casually sipped on my apple juice. “What the fuck…..” I mumbled while looking at him with a scrunched face.

“My name’s Catte Lhein Anatalia.” I just introduced myself and ignored the fact that he sipped on my apple juice. It’s okay, we both have germs on our mouths, so I don’t know.

“Oh okay, I’m Xavier Christian Lim.” He also introduced himself and we both stopped walking to converse properly.

“Oh, nice to meet you then. We didn’t get to introduce ourselves properly earlier since we were all getting on each other’s nerves.” I said and took out my hand.

“Yep. Nice to meet you.” He said and shook my hand.

“By the way, your surname is ‘Lim’, right? Are you perhaps a relative of the one named after this school?” I asked and looked at him.

“Huh? Secret.” He said with a teasing tone.

“Tss, what grade are you in?” I just changed the subject since he wouldn’t say it and begging him is useless.

“Eh, I’m still in senior high, grade 11.” He answered and looked back at me.

“So you’re still that young? Plus, we’re also in the same year. How old are you?” I asked him.

“Still sixteen.” He casually answered.

"What!? You’re still sixteen?” I said shockingly.

“Why? How about you?”

“I’m already 18 years old, dude.” I tapped his shoulder with a vibe that ‘you’re younger than me, now listen to your older sister’.

“Why are you this young when you’re already in grade 11?” I asked him.

“Don’t know, perks of being special, I guess?” he said and grinned.

I just rolled my eyes and we continued on walking. I was admiring the surroundings and didn’t notice a kid running towards me, so we bumped each other so hard that his soft drinks splashed onto me.

“Ah!” I shouted and fell on my butt. Shit, this hurts.

Why, my butt was just small and all bones and this happened to me? I literally felt my bones poking me.

“Oh! Are you okay?” Xavier immediately helped me stand up.

“It hurts, shit.” I complained and caressed my butt. It literally hurts, guys. I felt the whole existence of my butt disappear.

“Ah, I’m sorry. It’s just an accident. You’re a big hindrance in the hallway, so I’m sorry for running into you.” The kid apologized. He even have the guts to blame me?

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I looked at the kid and he even raised his eyebrows at me. I took a deep breath again. I am controlling myself from getting irritated at this kid.

“Say sorry too. You’re also to blame since you don’t look at where you are going.” He added and tapped my arm.

"Sorry.” I answered with a monotone voice.

“Heh, it doesn’t even sound like you are sincere.” He still complained. What does he want me to do? Kneel and beg for his forgiveness? Then fuck. Whatever.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. They would assume that I’m short of oxygen because of how many times I took a deep breath. I opened my eyes and once again looked at the kid.

“You know, kid. If you ever bump into or hurt someone intentionally or unintentionally, you have to say sorry. The victim doesn’t need to say sorry to you. It’s because it is not their fault why they became the victim. Now, if they still say sorry, accept it and don’t even complain. But it’s okay for you now, since you are still a kid. You will learn a lot of lessons in the future.” I said while having a fake smile. I was actually trying to control my irritation.

"U-uh… why does your face look so red?....” the kid stuttered. Huh? My face? Red?

“Haaaa… don’t change the subject. I won’t hurt you. I also won’t report you. Haha, it’s because I am a kind person. So… you can go now, your parents might be looking for you already. And please, don’t run in the hallways. Bye…” I said and waved my hand at the kid who was now walking away. I think what I said sounded rude but it was all I could do because I was really controlling my irritation and I can still feel the pain in my butt.

“Are you okay? Does your butt hurt? What a poor girl, it’s already so small.” He asked continuously and ended it with an insult.

“Are you happy with what you’re doing?” I sarcastically asked him and walked away, leaving him there.

I walked back to the administrator’s office and saw auntie Tina sitting near the table. She was probably waiting for us.

“Hi auntie! We are back! Are you feeling hungry? Do you want my sandwich---“ I stopped what I was saying when I saw Xavier walking inside, taking a big bite from my extra sandwich.

“What?” he asked while chewing the sandwich.

“W-why did you eat it?” oh no, my sandwich…..

“Uhhh, I got hungry.” He answered and took another bite, then sipped the juice.

“I haven’t even got to finish it yet…” I just stared at him eating my precious sandwich.

“I just want to eat it.” He answered and I didn’t even see any ounce of guilt and he was rather acting innocent.

“I was just about to give it to auntie. She might be hungry and I will just see you eating my sandwich, you brat?” Seriously, this is another irritation after irritation.

“Who’s a brat? You even fought with a kid.” He said mockingly.

“Stop fighting Catte, Xavier. Just go to the mall and eat lunch there. Xavier, do you have any plans today? Please accompany Catte on buying her school supplies.” Auntie Tina interfered.

“I’m going to do alright, auntie. I know he is a busy person. He’s a ‘prince’ after all.” I said, exaggerating the ‘prince’ word.

“Aren’t you forgetting that you forgot everything?” Xavier said and leaned on the wall.

“Oh…” it made me shut up. “How about you, auntie?” I turned to ask auntie Tina to change the subject.

“I’m going home. There are finances I need to take care of in the apartment.” She said and I nodded and smiled. “All right then, I’ll just leave your uniform in your room.” She said and bid goodbye before leaving.

Me and Xavier were walking to exit the school gate and get onto the horse. While we were on the way to the mall, Xavier placed his head on my right shoulder and his arms that were holding the leash were placed on top of my arms on each side. It looked like he was back-hugging me. My body became stiff and suddenly felt my cheeks burning. I think I’m blushing. Not because I’m flattered, but because of irritation.

“Hey, what the fuck are you doing? Fix yourself.” I said and shook my shoulder to get his head off, but it didn’t.

“Wait, I feel numb…” he said.

“Do I care? What are you even numb for? You just ate my sandwich.” I replied and rolled my eyes at him.

“I said I felt numb. My hands feel numb.” He reasoned. He even turned his head to my face to see it and his nose somehow touched my cheek, so I immediately turned away with furrowed eyebrows.

“Are you blushing? I see that you have a thing for back-hugs, huh?” he added, and tried to look at my face. I am starting to feel really irritated by what this man is doing.

“Just continue on the shit you are doing and I will fucking push you down.” I threatened without looking at him, which made it sound unthreatening.

“Haha…” he chuckled and finally fixed his posture.

"Plus, why did you even accompany me? Someone like me should not be accompanied by a ‘prince.” I asked, exaggerating the word ‘prince’ again.

"Yep, so you must be grateful that you’re with me right now. And to answer your question, I don’t even want to stay for twenty-four hours in that palace. It’s like I’m not even a prince there. And also, because you might get lost, no one would adopt you. Additionally, your shoulder’s really comfortable. But not that comfortable compare—“ I smacked his face strongly, but weak enough not to make him fall as he rubbed his cheeks against my shoulders. What a creep. He is definitely an idiot with an eyesore.

“Then why don’t you just move to a new place?” I asked him.

“I don’t have anywhere to go, Catte.” He said with an ‘obviously’ tone.

“How about auntie’s place?”

“Nah, I’m sick of people treating me like a special person when I am just a prince who has achieved nothing.” He answered with a tired voice. I didn’t say anything after that.

“Where do you want to eat?” he asked me when we arrived at the mall.

“Uh, anywhere is fine.”

“How about on the streets?” he recommended and pointed outside.

“What an idiot. Of course I don’t know, didn’t I forget everything?” I copied what he said earlier.

He just chuckled and took me to a seafood restaurant.

I can really tell that the seafood was all fresh so I think I ate too much because of it.

I was peacefully eating when I heard him chuckling to himself.

“Are you going crazy again?” I asked him.

“I never thought you were a big-eater.” He said while still chuckling. I furrowed my eyebrows and replied.

“And? What does it have to do with you?” I said sarcastically, and ate a shrimp.

“What does it have to do with me? Of course, I’m the one who’s going to pay. You eat like you are going to eat the whole restaurant.” He said with a serious tone like I am going to bankrupt him.

“You’re just too small-eater. You eat like a cockroach—wait, the cockroach even eats more than you. That’s why you are all bones.” I retaliated, clicked my tongue, and looked at him like what he was doing was wrong.

If someone compared our plates, my plate would look like it’s for five people to eat and if you look at his plate, it looks like it was for a baby.

He is a small-eater, so obviously he finished first and waited for me to finish.

"Thank goodness, I thought you were planning to eat this restaurant’s whole supplies.” He said with relief as he placed the money on the bill thingy. I was just about to stand up when he said that, so I went back to sit properly.

“Oh wait, I’m still hungry.” I grabbed the menu and traced the texts acting like I was finding something to eat.

“Tss. Come on.” He pulled me up and I just laughed.

“Hey, this place is too big.” I commented as I looked around the mall while we were walking.

“That’s why it’s called a ‘mall’” he answered and shrugged his shoulders.

“What helpful information.” I said sarcastically, and just continued to walk into the unknown.

“Hey, where are you going? We are already here.” He said, and I looked back at him standing in front of a bookstore.

“Why didn’t you say that immediately?” I said as I walked back towards him.

“Because I don’t want to.” He replied and laughed.

"Fucker.” I commented and accepted the basket he grabbed for me.

“Just grab what you think you need.” He said and was just about to walk away when I grabbed his arm.

“Hey, you will just leave me like this? Help me pick. I don’t know anything about Dishelle’s requirements.”

“Oh, right. I forgot, thank you for reminding me. Here.” He handed me a paper with a list of such school supplies.

“And this is what you call helpful.” I commented and took the list from his hands.

13 notebooks

Ball point pens

Compass

Calculator

Etc…

This basically looks like a school supply requirement in the human world for someone taking a business course. I went to each of the sections of the bookstore to find the said school supplies.

“Oh, this looks pretty…” I commented as I walked past a pen holder. I grabbed it and placed it in the basket.

“Oh, what a cute bunny.” I commented once again when I saw a cute bunny pencil and placed it in the basket.

“Ew, what’s that?” I said disgustingly as I looked at an unknown object that looked like a tongue.

See, I keep getting distracted from picking up my necessary school supplies to picking up pretty things. What can I do? They are so cute, I thought as I keep picking up a bunch of cat-shaped erasers. So they also have this kind of thing here?

My eyes caught Xavier just standing in an aisle with his eyes closed like he was in pain and holding the bridge of his nose.

“Hey, you okay? You also have a migraine?” I asked in worry when I walked towards him.

“Just continue with what you are doing so we can finish fast.” He said, and I just nodded and continued with my school supplies hunting.

Once I finished grabbing the necessary and unnecessary school supplies, I walked towards Xavier, who was just standing out of nowhere again and was staring at me.

"What? Are you already captivated by my beauty?” I confidently said and tapped my chin twice with the back of my palm.

“Tss. You are too confident.” He said and grabbed my basket and started to walk towards the cashier.

“What the fuck is this?” he asked as he took out the bunny pen holder. I just scratched my head while answering “Pen holder, hehe. It looked cute. Hehehehe….”

He just clicked his tongue and placed it on the counter. Oh, I did not expect him to include that, but thanks. He just continued on placing my necessary school supplies when he came across something again.

“What the fuck are these!?” he said irritatingly as he grabbed a handful of cat-shaped erasers. “Uhh…. Erasers?” I was scratching my head as I looked at him with questioning eyes.

“You don’t need this much. You can survive a year with just one eraser.” He said and placed three cat-shaped erasers on the counter and left the extras.

I had a bunch of school supplies so he was taking a while. I decided to help him and also placed some on the counter.

“What kind of shit are those, Catte?” he asked once again when I was secretly putting in some origami papers. “Uh….. I might get bored in class…….” I answered without looking at his eyes.

“Idiot students only get bored during class. Are you an idiot?” he asked me as he took the origami papers from my hands.

“I…… I guess?” I answered with a slightly embarrassed face. “I guess so, too.” He said and threw it on the counter. “What the fuck…” I mumbled.

“I will ask you for the last time, Catte. What kind of motherfucker would wear this?” he showed me a snake ring with its tongue sticking out. “hehehehe…”

“Catte, we will not buy this.” He said and placed the ring in the return box. We were like a father and daughter duo and the father kept taking out strange things from his daughter’s basket.

“Haaaaaa…..” he sighed in relief while he was paying for the school supplies. We hold two bags each while walking outside.

"Hey, where are we going?” I asked him, who was just walking tiredly.

“We are already here.” He stopped walking and turned backwards from me. I also turned to where he was looking and just realized that we were in front of a spacious store selling a bunch of smart phones.

“What are we doing here?” I looked up at him.

“To buy you a smartphone, obviously.” He replied and walked in, so I followed. Huh?

“Excuse me, do you still have the latest version of Pavi?” he asked the store clerk. “Oh, just a minute, your majesty.” The clerk said and bowed before walking away.

“Hey, they still call you ‘your majesty’ here?” I asked him, looking pissed.

“Yep. That’s why I don’t like going out, because they won’t treat me like a normal person. I already told them to stop calling me that but here they are, ‘your majesty’.” He said, sounding uninterested. He may have got tired of people still calling him that, that he just sounded uninterested about it now.

But still, I can’t blame those people, because it is also a way to show respect to the emperor’s son.

“Here it is, your majesty.” The clerk got back and had a judgemental face when he saw me conversing with my ‘majesty’.

“All right. We’ll take that.” He said and walked to the cashier and I saw him handing a red card with gold texts to the cashier. Is that what black cards look like here? Not black though, I meant the use.

We did not waste any time after that and just rode the horse to go back to the apartment.

"Did you somehow have fun?” he asked me from behind while we were still on the horse.

“Yep, I had fun in the bookstore.” I answered and laughed, remembering the scene of him cursing every time he took out one of my unnecessary school supplies.

“Well, you sure spent some of my money. I mean, I don’t even get to spend that much, even if I’m shopping alone.” He said and chuckled.

“Then what do you even buy? A motherfucking ice cream cone?” The whole trip back home was full of laughter as we were joking around the whole time.

A/N: Hi, I am sorry if my story didn't make any sense so far, I am having quite an emotional issue with it, I hope you will understand. Thank you for your patience, I won't promise to make it perfect especially in terms of conveying the characters' emotions but I will surely do my best. Also, to you, thank you for reading every chapters, I really really reallyyy appreciate your presence.