Waking up the next day as the sunlight began to filter into the room, Marcus looked at the beautiful sleeping face of Mrazivý until she began to rouse.
"Good morning sleeping beauty." Marcus said, as Mrazivý yawned widely.
"Good morning to you too." Mrazivý said sleepily as she rubbed her eyes still a bit fatigued from the vigorous activity she and Marcus had done together last night.
Once she was fully awake Mrazivý moved over to Marcus and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and said, "So what do you want to do today."
Taking a minute to think about it, Marcus quickly came to the decision that he wanted to see the royal archives, since he had been granted permission.
"I think we should take a trip to the archives today and see what we can find. Oh, but first how about I make you some breakfast."
After saying that Marcus got up and went to the kitchen that was located within Mrazivý's royal suite, and fixed her a fruit salad made up of natural treasures and a delicious omelet made with the best ingredients he had.
"Here you go your highness, breakfast is served." Marcus said while giving an exaggerated bow.
"Oh, so formal now, when you were calling me by my nickname so passionately last night." Mrazivý said to Marcus teasingly.
However, as soon as she said that her personal maid Aisha walked in to hear her and looking between Marcus and Mrazivý her expression was that of complete shock.
'Oops.' Marcus thought as he saw Aisha.
As far as she knew the only one here other than Mrazivý was her friend Irene Geist, yet there was Marcus the new honorary prince, standing there flirting with the princess.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Um, uh… excuse me your highness' Aisha said, in a fluster before hurrying out of the room.
Yet, Aisha did not make it far before Mrazivý had run up to her like a bolt of lightning, and placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Wait Aisha, we need to talk."
Dragging Aisha back into the dining room, Mrazivý sat her down, and her maid looked around nervously wondering what was going to happen.
Naturally she had heard horror stories of maids seeing things they were not supposed to, and then suddenly "taking trips to the county side." never to be seen from again.
Of course, she doubted that Mrazivý would do this since they were actually quite close and considered each other friends, but the thought did cross her mind.
"Sorry that you had to learn about us that way Aisha, but Marcus and I are in a relationship, and we would like it if you would keep it a secret." Mrazivý said with a pleading expression.
"Does the king know?" Aisha asked, knowing that Mrazivý and Marcus could get into trouble if they were found out and the king had not accepted their relationship.
Luckily Mrazivý nodded her head and said, "Yes he knows and has approved of Marcus. In fact, he is the reason my previous engagement got broken off."
Letting out a sigh of relief, Aisha was glad she had not found out some huge scandal, and said, "I understand Princess, I will keep this secret until it is publicly announced."
Thanking Aisha for her digression, Mrazivý told her that it was fine if she took the next couple of days off, and Aisha agreed.
"See you in a few days your highness." Aisha said giving Mrazivý a wink as she left.
After that Mrazivý sat back down with Marcus to finish her breakfast, and as always, she was most satisfied by the food he had made for her.
"Well, I suppose that it is time that we head to the archives." Mrazivý said as she took the last bite of the omelet that Marcus had made her.
The two of them then got ready and left Mrazivý's room, Marcus using his ghost form to leave stealthily so that no other incidents occurred.
"This my first time coming to this part of the castle." Marcus said, as Mrazivý led him well into the depths of the castle, beyond even the living quarters of the royal family.
"Yeah, we are getting close to the most important parts of the castle, where the royal treasure vault, defense systems, and of course the archives are located." Mrazivý said as they headed to their destination.
And along the way they passed a few check points each that had a serious of enchantments to prevent any trespassers.
In fact, the area was so guarded that not even any knights were posted, and all of the security was done by magical formations.
Soon they made it to an elevator that had a shimmering magical barrier over it.
"This is the place." Mrazivý said, as they stood in front of the elevator.
Yet she made no move of any kind simply standing there.
"Um, so are you going to dispel this barrier or is someone coming to let us in?" Marcus said wondering how they were going to be circumventing the barrier.
However, a moment after he said that, the door to the elevator slid opened and the shimmering barrier opened up, to reveal a middle-aged looking woman with blue hair.
"Aunt Katzia, it is good to see you again." Mrazivý said a bit stiffly.
"Yeah sure. Let us go, I have things to do and baby sitting the two of you is going to put me behind." Katzia said, clearly bothered to have to deal with Marcus and Mrazivý.
Still, she let them onto the elevator which quickly descended moving down quietly deeply before coming to a stop.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAnd as the doors opened the distinct smell of old paper filled the elevator letting Marcus know they had arrived.
"Chitchit come here." Katzia said before any of them walked off of the elevator.
Then a moment later a small bird with green and blue plumage flew into the elevator and landed on Katzia's shoulders.
"This is my familiar Chitchit, he will be watching the two of you in my stead to make sure you do not go anywhere you are not supposed to. Also, if you absolutely must have need of me for any reason, tell Chitchit here and I will come. Just make sure that you do not call me for something frivolous, I have work to do."
After saying that, Katzia walked off the elevator not giving Marcus or Mrazivý another glance, before heading deeper into the archives.
"Cheep Cheep." Chitchit said, as it landed on Mrazivý's shoulder beckoning them to exit the elevator.
"Your aunt certainly seems, 'dedicated'." Marcus said noticing how little she cared for even Mrazivý who was her niece.
"Yeah, she is the royal archivist, and does not usually deal with people. In fact, I think the only one she actually likes is great grandmother Aria."
Exiting the elevator, Marcus quickly noticed the array of shelves that had all manner of books and scrolls on them some of which looked quite old.
"So, what did you want to look into first Marcus. This place has a lot of information you will not find anywhere else in the kingdom." Mrazivý said while looking expectantly at Marcus.
"First I would like to find out about spirit gems, if possible." Marcus said, having already given it a great deal of thought.
"Okay got it. Chitchit are there any books with information on spirit gems." Mrazivý said to the little bird on her shoulder.
A moment later, surprising Marcus, the little bird's eyes began glowing and stayed that way for over a minute before returning to normal.
"Cheep Cheep." The bird said as it jumped of Mrazivý's shoulder and began flying in a specific direction.
"Looks like he found something. let's go.." Mrazivý said beginning to follow the little bird that was their guide.