Raised From The Wild-Chapter 141: She Caught My Attention

Amaya thought of the moments she spent with Marx back on the island. Marx to her at that time was a friend, her first human friend. She treated him as she did with her animal friends.

However, lately, she started to feel something different. Was it because Marx was so good to her? Her heart started to beat faster every time he would look at her gently. She was confused. She touched the ring that Marx has given her on her birthday. It looked beautiful on her finger.

She sighed. It was not the time to think about it. She has tournaments to attend the following day.

The next day at the Asteria Palace dining hall...

"Grandpa, Father, Big Sis is awesome in archery. Look at how she hit the target." Donello was beaming proudly as he passed his cell phone to the king and the crown prince.

Nelida frowned and threw her son a disapproving look. ’Why is he so smitten by Amaya? He is not hiding the fact that he adored her like she was his idol.’

King Duncan looked at the photo and then glanced at Amaya. "Did you do this? You can hit the target with such accuracy?"

"I am adept with using the bow and arrows, Grandpa. I was using it since I was little.’

Ibarra took the phone and looked closely at the six arrows that perfectly formed a small circle at the innermost ring of the target. He glanced sideways at Amaya. Not even his twin brother who was very good at archery when they were still young has achieved such a perfect hit.

"Daddy Ibrahim made me a small bow and blunt arrows when I was three. Then later, I had a lot of practice." Amaya paused from eating and looked at her grandfather.

"Is it true that Daddy Ibrahim was a champion archer during his high school and college days?"

"Of course! You should have inherited his skills." King Duncan answered while sipping his coffee.

"Then, why don’t I see any of his trophies or plaques in the library? All I see are Daddy Ibarra’s trophies and plaques."

Ibarra choked on the food that he just put into his mouth. Queen Lucinda looked at the king meaningfully.

King Duncan cleared his throat. "Your Daddy Ibrahim studied in a military school and the tournaments he participated in were in that school. Besides, you know that your Daddy Ibrahim’s identity was special because he was in the military." King Duncan did not want to tell Amaya the reason why they needed to hide Ibrahim’s identity from the public.

Amaya nodded. She felt sad for her father. His achievements were kept a secret. But it was now water under the bridge. He has now a museum named after him. She did not feel any resentment at all. She knew that her grandparents loved her father in their own ways. She had also seen how her grandfather and her Daddy Ibarra regretted what they had done to Ibrahim.

"You should train your younger brother and sister, Amaya. You have great skill in archery." Prince Ibarra’s words brought Amaya out of her reverie.

"I would be happy to do so Dad." She smiled when she saw Donello give him a thumb’s up.

"I don’t like to be trained by her Father. I already have my teacher." Danella objected.

"Don’t you want to be as skillful as your sister?" Prince Ibarra asked. Sometimes he was annoyed by her daughter’s stubbornness. He didn’t know how to make Danella accept Amaya. Nelida has spoiled her rotten.

"Honey, isn’t the twins’ trainer hired by you? You said that he was an Olympiad champion and the best in the country." Nelida reminded Ibarra in a sweet voice.

Amaya glanced at Nelida. She didn’t know but she felt a little disgusted by how the Princess Consort talked to Ibarra. But shouldn’t it be how wives should talk to their husbands?

"Today is the semi-finals for archery. There should be championship tournaments on the track and field events. Sister qualified in the sprints and mid-distance run during the elimination round yesterday."

"Why did you join such lowly events, Amaya? It is unbecoming of a princess." Nelida reprimanded her. She looked at her like she did something wrong.

"Why, what is wrong Aunt Nelida?’ I love the fun of running. Besides, it is an event that is being done even at the Olympics. How can it be lowly?" Amaya asked innocently. She did not get why the princess consort is looking down on that kind of sport.

"If it makes her happy, then just let her be." Ibarra countered Nelida. Nelida lowered her head but another layer of resentment settled in her heart. To her, it seemed that everything that Amaya did was right. Ibarra has stood up for her a few times. She became the apple of everyone’s eyes and Danella was being neglected.

Nelida was lost in her thoughts for a few moments. She remembered her childhood days when Danaya would always be the center of attention at their home. She was jealous of her sister even though Danaya would always try to pull her into a conversation.

"Honey, I am going to watch archery today. It is the championship match for the women’s event. Danella qualified." Nelida tried to change the topic and she beamed brightly as she talked to Ibarra.

"Aren’t you going to cause a commotion there? Why don’t you just watch the live streaming? You need to bring a lot of guards to protect you and that might intimidate the students there.

"Well, I just wanted to provide moral support to our children." Nelida sounded aggrieved. Ibarra felt guilty but he needed to consider the whole picture.

"It is alright, Mother. I’ll ask a friend to do a live streaming so you can watch it from here. You can watch it with Grandma." Donello spoke politely to his mother.

Amaya did not tarry but went to school right after breakfast. She brought a change of clothes for the running event and for the archery. She also needed to attend the elimination round for swimming. When she thought about it, she realized that she had joined too many events. But what the heck, she just wanted to enjoy herself.

When Amaya reached the running track, there were already a lot of people waiting for the events to start. Amaya remembered that Marx was unhappy with the way she dressed yesterday so today she put on a white pleated skirt over her sports shorts. The hem of the skirt was a few centimeters above her knees. What she did not realize was the skirt made her even more beautiful than without wearing one.

Her three teammates yesterday, came early as they have their own events to attend. They were also there to support Amaya. She will be competing with Lydia in the 200-meter sprint. She hoped that both of them would win.

"Amaya, you look hot in that attire of yours. Are you really an athlete or are you here to model?" Julienne’s teasing voice reached Amaya’s ears who was currently doing stretches to warm up.

"What are you talking about? Isn’t wearing a skirt better than just body-hugging shorts?" She replied while doing a side stretch.

"That’s what you think Princess. Look at these men enjoying the show. I thought when I was coming over that there is a celebrity here because of the thick crowd that gathered. I am right after all. Indeed there is a celebrity here."

"Where? I don’t see anybody."

"Girl, you are the celebrity!" Julienne winked at her naughtily, then she realized that she addressed Amaya wrongly. "Princess, I apologize for casually calling you ’girl.’"

"Julie, what are saying? We are friends so it is okay for you to call me that."

"You know what, not many people watch this kind of event in the past, but right now everyone is here and to think that it is still very early in the morning."

Amaya just shook her head and focused on the instructions given by the referee. She did not notice the many cameras that were trained on her. Some in the audience have already posted her photos on the internet.

The internet once again was buzzing with comments. Amaya was hugging the headlines.

’The royal family is indeed open-minded. They let the prince and princesses study at the Lireyan National High School.

’What are you implying? It is owned by the government and they are the government. Of course, a good leader will always walk the talk.’

’Lireyan National High School is the best school in Lireya. The royalty made sure of that. They even sent their children to study there.’

’Princess Amaya is breaking all conventions. She is redefining the word "princess." Look at her participating in a track and field event. I am loving her more and more.’

’She looked so pretty in her white sportswear. I hope that she wins.’

’Sigh, I can’t get enough of looking at her.’

A man wearing a red hoodie and sitting on the deck of a luxurious yacht was reading the comments and watching the video clips posted by the netizens of Princess Amaya doing stretches and preparing for her 200-meter sprint.

"Hmmm. Now, this princess has really caught my attention."