Chapter 6 - Longing For You

“Cheers for a job well done.”

Vancent held out his own champagne glass on the air after his long-winded toast was over.

He was sitting next to a beautiful lady of twenty-four years old wearing a very revealing black sequined gown with her bodice pushing up her bosom presenting an alluring display.

She was Lady Kathrine de Forte, a distant cousin of the Lutfergaurd Family.

Apparently, the caretaker of the Chateau de Veirsalles, Madame Trina, invited her for an evening dinner with the prince of Regaleria who was sitting at the center of a long dining table, but ever since the prince arrived at the chateau a year ago, Kathrine had been intentionally rubbing her way into the prince’s attention without any progress.

Prince Ruen’s own vessel, the Esclava, was nearing completion. There were only just a few minor embellishments to be accomplished before he could formally set sail on its first voyage.

As has always been since he was young, joining parties was never in his range of activities. He wouldn’t have had this dinner party in the first place if not because of his comrades' insistence.

Apparently, these men’s real intention was to behold the beauty of Kathrine, who was also having an enjoyable time being fawned over. She was the only woman in the batch.

Together with the prince and Vancent Chausegard, who was Ruen’s second in command of the ship, Virgil Alamonte, Armond Ruisse, Justin Cklavdimitri and Redlan Rosenthal were in attendance, all of royal descent and the most sought-after bachelors in their respective countries.

The men had become good friends ever since they first met in Ruen’s first year of outside education at La Concorde Royale College.

If his friends were the easy-going and charming-type during their student life, the prince was the stoic, handsome mysterious type, as expected of a son of a ruthless ruler.

Apparently, talks have been circulating around for some time that Garlow had been conquering lands out of whim and his most recent conquest was the rich City of Olga.

Being friends with the son of this king was probably the safest way to be excluded from King Garlow’s conquests, and being a lover and a mistress to this prince would be far better than anything, and that was what was playing in Kathrine’s mind ever since his arrival.

Dinner was served and all of them heartily ate. Conversations were thrown here and there and so were their boisterous laughter. Everyone was enjoying the night except Prince Ruen, who as always, stayed on his rather distant mood; not talking, not smiling.

His friends understood his behavior though and didn’t mind it.

Right after dinner, he immediately excused himself out of the room, something that Lady Kathrine was happy about.

“You’re no happy-go-lucky man are you, Your Highness?”

She slowly managed her way to the prince’s side as he was standing alone on a porch on the second floor of the chateau.

He was holding his champagne glass staring at the sky before her intrusion, thinking of one woman alone in his thoughts.

It was a starry, cold night, something that the prince prefers when he was younger then about ten years of age. He remembered being able to climb his way up a fir tree in the north wing of the Regaleria mansion in order to catch a closer glimpse of the stars.

It was such a long time then and he was still innocent with all human emotions, but the feeling of emptiness had always been present in his heart. He thought back then that the shining stars could fill that empty space.

The chilly breeze started pricking Kathrine’s bare skin to her discomfort. She knew she should have brought with her a shawl to warm herself up, but playing a temptress in front of the prince was her goal ever so.

“It’s cold out here. You should go back to the parlor,” Ruen replied point-blank not wanting his own solace disrupted.

“Aren’t you enjoying my company, Your Highness? I don’t think I’ll be suited there right now. Your friends are actually discussing about women.”

Ruen flinched a brow in response, “You’re no stranger to them, Lady Kathrine. Surely, your presence near them excites them most.”

“You are already exciting me, Your Highness. Just by coming here in this dark area of the chateau...as if you’re inviting me.” Kathrine’s hand slowly climb up Ruen’s elegantly handled black suit and proceeded to touch his face without delay.

She was but only five inches shorter than him. Though wearing heels, she still tiptoed to reach the length of his lips. Her eyes fixed on him as if pleading for something...something that Ruen could never give.

She intentionally pressed her breasts into his chest for him to feel the swelling of it hoping that with such a temptation, even the apathetic prince himself couldn’t resist.

Ruen held out a long nasal sigh, then began to turn his head away from her face.

“Lady Kathrine, I insist that you go inside now.”

He quickly moved back to open up the space between them to the young woman’s disappointment. He was definitely making it clear that he was not besotted by her charms.

“But you’ll feel lonely here if I were to leave you, Your Highness,” she pleaded, batting her eyelashes at the same time.

She continued her caresses on Ruen’s shoulder hoping to captivate him once more, but he was unmoved.

“Quite the opposite,” Ruen concluded. “I am here to rid myself of any company, even one belonged to a woman.”

“Oh! Your Highness!” Kathrine cried out in excitement. “How cold. You toy with a woman’s emotions without hesitation, but I am not one to be discouraged so easily.”

He stared at her blankly and began to walk past her to a connecting stair at the edge of the balcony.

She was dumbfounded by his action, but she already anticipated such callous treatment from him. Madame Trina had already warned her that she would spend quite a great amount of effort to seduce him, but it would be worth it in the end if she were successful.

She was taking all the time she needed and wasn’t in haste. After all, she owns all the time he has in Veirsalles and also, she had no competition. Who would actually love a man as cold as him other than herself? Well - that is even though her so-called love is only a mere charade.

***

The next morning, the prince took a ride with his stallion to the docks of Lake de Veir, a couple of kilometers away from the chateau. The lake was wide and deep, of dark green and light blue shade. It was directly connected to the Redfort Straight and into the ocean, an advantage for The Esclava’s maiden voyage.

Ruen was standing at the center of the deck observing the evident progress of the ship; at his back was the main pillar where most of the masts were directly connected for support. The anchor was positioned an inch below the freshwater, the sails were kept intact by the ropes, and the banner of the Regaleria Kingdom was hanged at the peak of the highest mast.

Soon, this vessel would set sail for the first time, and he would make it sure that it would be back to Regaleria.

It has been a year since he had left the mansion. Each and every day of it was a torment for him as his thoughts would carefully drift from the Vhillana princess. Ever since his arrival in Veirsalles, he had not heard anything about the Regaleria mansion and its residents, especially her.

It would have made him insane but luckily, early this morning, he had received an anonymous letter addressed to him.

Standing at the side railing of the ship facing the panoramic view of the lake, he carefully opened the letter to read its contents. To his surprise, it came from Lady Faye. Though the contents of the letter were more of formal business, it surely had not failed to increase Ruen’s apprehensions more.

It was only a side note included by the Head Servant, but she knew her report would greatly make him uneasy.

***

The princess had started horse riding a few months after you left Your Highness, and it is with Lord Cain’s assistance. To this date, she has used her new-found skills to escape the walls of the mansion. Only time will tell when your father, His Majesty, would make a move on this matter as it seems, Lord Cain had not asked permission regarding her horse training. Nevertheless, her running space was only limited to the courtyard alone, but it was enough for Lord Cain to spend time with the princess. Excluding this fact, I am happy though for her progress as she seemed to be more comfortable living in the mansion now than in the years that had passed.

***

Ruen instantly crumpled the letter and tossed it into the water as if all of his anger was displaced on it.

It annoyed him greatly how much his counterpart had taken advantage of his absence. Surely, Cain had been pushing himself on her.

As of now, his only hope and trust rested on two of his loyal servants, Lady Faye and Lord Jared, to keep an eye on the princess’ safety.

“Your Highness,” a rough voice spoke from behind him. “It’s the first time I have seen you spill your emotions like that.” Vancent slowly walked onto Ruen’s side with his hands inside his pocket. He inhaled deeply welcoming the early breeze of the lake, mixed with the aroma of the pine trees surrounding them.

“Well, at least I know you’re no stone.” He grinned as Ruen stared at him amused of his straightforwardness. “I have thought of you as the ice prince of our batch since our college years, never have I known you could be affected by human emotions until now.”

“Hmf,” Ruen scoffed in disappointment.

“You’re early?” Vancent raised his observation.

“Just want to free myself of any attention,” the prince vaguely replied.

“Ah, you mean Lady Kathrine?”

Ruen looked at his second-in-command sharply but gave a slight nod in agreement.

The latter gleamed his white teeth in laughter, however, when he instantly realized the prince’s dilemma.

“Well damn me. I thought I have a rival on Kathrine’s affections.” Vancent patted Ruen’s shoulder in a brotherly manner as he started to speak. “You know well how hopelessly smitten that blonde beauty is to you right?”

“When have I cared about that Vancent?” Ruen exclaimed coolly with no hint of doubt in his voice.

“Yes, of course, I know what you mean. Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to woe her out of your attention.”

“I don’t care one bit of such trivial things. By all means, do what you do best,” Ruen idly answered.

Vancent rolled his eyes in response. Truly, the prince in his side was one hard rock to break.

“Well, at least I had the chance of seeing you get moved by the letter you just tossed in the water. What was in it anyway? Something’s up in Regaleria?”

Ruen didn’t reply. He stared emptily into the water as he tried to compose his thoughts.

Vancent waited for his answer patiently as he too observed the placidity of the lake, but he already expected that he would give no response.

The young bachelor only continued to stare at the scenery as the prince walked out of the vessel down on land to his horse.

This was the Ruen he knew well since they became friends; cold, aloof, and not a care about his surroundings. For whatever reason it was, the prince did show some distress after reading the letter. This made him realize that he wasn’t a stone bastard after all.

After a few seconds, a grin appeared on Vancent’s lips as he stared directly at the floating piece of paper within his reach.