Bab 12. First Adventure

Princess Nathania was fascinated by what she saw before her eyes. 'Amazing' she thought when she saw the hills surrounded by green leafy trees that are very beautiful.

Her sapphire blue eyes seemed to have turned greenish. Yes, this is the first time her feet have stepped into the outside world. Even the place where she was right now, was only a few steps from the most corner wall of Sapphire Palace, the main palace that was the residence of the King, Empress, Prince and Princess of the King.

Judy who was standing beside Nathania, looked even more in awe of the Grand Prince than the beautiful scenery she had seen for most of her life.

"Prince Nathan's eyes are shining," Judy thought. Her cheeks flushed again. This little girl could not deny that the prince really looks much more beautiful. The difference was obvious even at a glance.

"Isn't that beautiful?" Nathania was still in awe, she couldn't bring her mind back from the beautiful fantasy about the outside world that she had been dreaming of.

"Yes, it's beautiful. But, in my village it is also very beautiful."

"Really?lLike what?"

"Behind the house there is a very beautiful waterfall. We used to swim under the waterfall. The water is very cold and also clear,"

"Wow ... I also want to swim in the waterfall, where is your village? Can we go there?"

"It's quite a distance, we rode a horse-drawn carriage for almost two days,"

"Is that so? so, can't you just walk?" she said disappointed. Princess Nathania has a new dream now, she wants to swim under a waterfall that is cold and clear.

"When the Prince is an adult and has been allowed to leave the palace, I will take you to the village later," said Judy. Suddenly she felt embarrassed by her words.

"Is it true?"

"Um ... I ... that ... isn't ..."

"Why? have you changed your mind?" Nathania looked disappointed, after the joy of hearing that she still had a chance to see the waterfall, suddenly changed.

"No ... that's not it, I mean ... well, when I grow up I will invite the Prince!"

"Is it true ?"

"Yes, Prince!"

"Promise?"

"Promise!"

"Little finger promise?" Nathania showed her little finger as a sign of agreement, just as she often did with Nathan.

Judy was getting excited, she couldn't understand why Prince Nathan made her like this. Is it because he is a prince who is sure to be liked by many girls? or was it because of that sweet and gentle demeanor that made Judy feel uncomfortable?

"All right, I promise!" while bowing shyly, Judy showed her pinky finger and pressed it to the tip of Nathania's little finger.

"All right, let's go!" Nathania can't wait to embark on her first adventure in the outside world that seems more amazing to her than she thought.

"Where are we going?" asked Judy. Hesitating to walk away from the palace, because it could be that everyone in the palace is looking for the Prince and they won't find him anywhere.

"Let's go around for a bit, I want to see more!"

"But, what if everyone is looking for the Prince? what if they find out the Prince is not in the palace?"

"Don't worry, they won't know. You want to come?" Nathania tried to convince the little girl that there was nothing to worry about. But Judy, still worried.

"Fine, but we can't go on too long!"

"Yes, I know!" Nathania took Judy's hand again. This made it seem like she was holding Nathan's hand. Meanwhile, Judy, glanced at the hand that the Prince was holding tightly, It made her smile happily.

After 100 meters walk through the path between the lush trees. The two little girls have not found any signs of settlement. Nathania remembers that the location of the Sapphire Palace is quite far from the area where the inhabitants live.

"Woof ... woof ... woof ..." they heard a dog barking sound several meters in front of them.

Nathania who really likes animals, looks happy, because that means she can see and touch a dog directly. Her face was shining brightly, in contrast to Judy who was worried and scared. She knew perfectly well that an aggressive sounding dog bark like this could be harmful to them.

"Woof ... woof ... woof ..." a large dog with brown hair dashed towards them. Nathania doesn't know what dangers she will face, meanwhile, Judy is ready to run to avoid the dog that looks scary.

"Prince, let's run!"

"Why run? isn't that a dog?" asked Nathania innocently, really she really didn't know how dangerous the world outside the palace, including the threat of a ferocious coyote.

"That dog looks dangerous, we have to run now!"

"Re ... really?" Nathania began to understand Judy's fear when she saw it with her own eyes, the big dog grinned showing its sharp teeth and angry eyes.

"Run ...!" shouted Nathania while running fast to avoid the wild dog. Meanwhile, Judy who was wearing a long skirt had enough trouble that her leg tripped and knocked her down.

"Judy!" Nathania starts to panic when Judy falls. She didn't know that meeting dogs in a place like this was such a big deal.

"Come on, hold my hand!" Nathania immediately helped Judy up and pulled her hand so that they would immediately get away from the wild dog.

"How about this?" thought the Princess who didn't know what to do. Judy who was running beside her was already looking very tired.

"Don ... Stop!" shouted a boy who ran behind the dog with his two friends.

Hearing the boy's scream, the ferocious dog immediately stopped chasing. "What happened?" Nathania thought when she realized that the strange boys had managed to stop the vicious dog from pursuing with just one scream.

Princess Nathania and Judy stopped running, confused, they stared at each other. The three boys ran towards the dog and the boy who was screaming immediately scolded the dog.

"Don, you can't do that! I told you, don't like chasing people. It can scare them off!" he said in a loud voice, the big dog immediately looked down sadly with an expression of guilt that made it look funny.

"Forgive my dog, he's a naughty dog, but he doesn't like to bite!" said the boy with the blonde hair, smiling, showing regret that his dog had made other people difficult.

"Why is your dog so big?" asked Nathania who was still looking at the dog with an innocent gaze.

"Because Don is a big dog breed from wolves," he replied. Nathania stepped slowly toward the dog which a few minutes ago made her run scared.

"His name is Don, huh? wow ... his face is so cute, huh?"

"Cute?" Judy and the three boys were confused by the reaction of Nathania who quickly forgot the problem that had happened to her a few minutes ago.

Nathania smiled sweetly, her eyes sparkling like gemstones in the reflection of the sun. She had completely forgotten her fear in a short time.

"Usually people are scared of dogs after something like this," said the boy.

"Yeah right, but you're really not afraid?" asked his friend, the boy with curly hair.

"Earlier I was scared when being chased by a dog. But after looking around, it turns out this dog is cute too. Can I touch it?"

"Yes, of course!" after getting permission from the boy who owned the dog, Nathania immediately stroked the dog's back gently. Either because they feel comfortable or happy, the dog immediately returned Nathania's greeting with a lick.

"Don ... don't lick anyone carelessly!" shouted the blonde boy again.

"Hahahaha .. it's okay, I like it!" she said with a laugh, she really enjoyed it. Judy and the three boys were somehow happy to hear her laugh which was very sincere.

"So, how come you two are in a place like this?" asked the boy. Judy looked confused what to say to the three of them, while Princess Nathania was still busy with her business and seemed to ignore what the boy said.

"We ... we ..." Judy was agitated, she glanced at Princess Nathania who had absolutely no intention of explaining.

"We're just walking around here!" finally the answer came out of the mouth of the Princess. Judy could breathe a little easier.

"You know what? this place is quite dangerous because it is directly adjacent to a dense forest inhabited by many wild beasts,"

"Is ... is that so?" Judy even just found out about this, even though the two of them only passed through a secret door hidden between the back wall of the palace.

"You can't go to this place anymore, you better go home!"

"No way, we still have business here!" Nathania immediately denied, she did not know at all or even did not care about the dangers that lurked her. This innocent princess was still too naive and thought the outside world was far more beautiful than the great walls of the king's palace.

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