DANIEL

As Daniel stepped out of the plane and into the airport, he noticed some of the Royal guards holding a placard with his name 'Prince Daniel' boldly written on it.

"I almost forgot that was my name," he thought to himself. He had gotten used to being called Dee as that was what all his friends called him in London.

He looked at the royal guards again and deciding to ignore them, he put on his sunglasses and carefully evaded them.

He liked to keep a low profile and his parents knew this. Perhaps after seven years of not seeing him, they had forgotten his personality and sent a crowd to welcome him.

As he exited the airport, he called his best friend doctor Hardy and said over the phone, "I haven't even arrived fully and you have already begun mistreating me."

"Relax," Doc replied, "I'm already close to the airport, besides, who decided to ignore the Royal entourage sent by his Majesty and the Queen?"

"Oh come on," Daniel spoke back, "you know how much I hate showing off my status. I really can't stand the drama going on right now inside the airport."

"Aren't you afraid that you might be insulting your parents' good intentions? After all, you are their only son."

Daniel wanted to reply but he noticed Doc had already arrived, he came out of the car and they both hugged happily before getting into the car and driving off.

Almost immediately Daniel’s phone started ringing and the title "first love" was displayed on the screen.

Doc punched him lightly on the shoulder and said, "hey loverboy," but Daniel quickly shushed him and said, 'it's my mum."

The moment Daniel answered the call, his mum's worried voice could be heard over the phone asking, 'where are you, Daniel? Why haven't the royal guards seen you?"

"Relax, mum," Daniel replied. "They were being unnecessarily conspicuous and you know I don't like attention."

"But, you know you can't help it," his mum said, "as the only heir to the throne, you cannot escape attention."

'I know mum," he finally gave in, "I'm sorry for putting your efforts to waste. Tell dad not to be mad. You guys will see me very soon."

"Alright dear, see you soon my son."

As the call ended, Daniel looked at Doc and smilingly said, "that went well." He looked out the window and said, "wow! everywhere has changed completely. I can't believe this is the same place I left seven years ago."

When Daniel arrived at the palace, his parents were beside themselves with joy. Daniel's mum shed tears because she had not physically seen her son in seven years.

Daniel wanted to spend the night in Doc's house which was a stone's throw from the palace but his father asked him to stay behind because they had a lot to discuss.

Daniel had always been soft-hearted and kind. Although he was stubborn, he always tried to make the people around him happy. His father worried that his kind nature made him gullible and people were bound to take advantage of him when he became king.

Daniel, however, allayed his father's fears by telling him, "you don't have to worry about that, dad, regardless of who is involved, I will always stand on the path of righteousness. I will not be swayed by anyone when the time comes.

I will be fair and just, like my father."

After looking at him for a while, his father said, "well, if it is like this, then I surely have nothing to be worried about.

Like I said over the phone, your coronation comes up in a year and like tradition demands, you need to be married six months before that time. Do you have any woman in your life?"

Daniel thought for a while and said, "well, if you put it that way, I do have mum."

The king frowned and said, "be serious, this is very important."

"I'm sorry dad," Daniel immediately apologized, "I do not have anyone to present for now and I don't want to get married at all, perhaps in ten years to come I will consider it but right now I am not ready."

"Whether you are ready or not is inconsequential, what matters is that you get married since that is the prerequisite for ascending the throne."

After speaking to him, the King called the Queen over and said, "talk to your son. Tomorrow, he will meet with all the ladies from worthy households and pick a wife for himself. I don't want any childish excuses."

When he was done speaking, the king walked away. Daniel knew that his mum would never say no to him so he quickly pleaded, "please save me, mum, I'm only twenty-eight years old, and I do not want to get married."

His mum smiled and said, "your father got married to me when he was younger than you and we are very happy today, besides, our hands are tied. Do not put your father and me in a difficult position, you are his only heir and it is your responsibility to take over from him.

So my son, do not avoid this, get ready tomorrow and pick a wife for yourself, otherwise, your father would have to do it for you and that would not make you happy since you will be spending the rest of your life with her."

Daniel frowned as he realized that he couldn't find his way around the situation. He then said, "Okay, I'll do it if it makes you all happy."

His mum tapped him on the head happily and said, "that is my filial son. I will always be very proud of you. Freshen up so we can have dinner together. It's been years since I ate with my son."

Daniel nodded his head and walked away sulkily.

The next day, as Daniel got ready to meet with his future wife, Doc made fun of him, "I always thought I would get married before you, judging by how you never got close to any girl. Who would have thought that the moment your flight landed, your parents would drag you straight to the altar?"

"It's not funny okay," Daniel replied. "You know women are unnecessarily dramatic and noisy, that's why I don't want them around me, my mum is the exception though."

"I think it's because you haven't met a girl you liked before," Doc said. "Look at me, I used to be a player and had so many girlfriends but what happened? The moment I found the right one, the one I love, I gave up that lifestyle and now I am highly devoted to Anna, whom you need to meet, by the way.

You never know, you may find the one, among your many options today and spend the rest of your life being grateful to your parents."

Daniel sighed, "I am already grateful to them for bringing me into this world. Who knows? Maybe like you have all said, I will find my bride today."

Daniel was led by his mum into a very large and beautifully decorated room full of damsels and they were all elegantly dressed. Daniel saw women of different sizes. Some were tall, some were short, busty, plump, and so on.

They were all smiling at him in their various poses. His mum whispered into his ear, "they are all well brought up from good families, take your time and feel free to ask any of them whatever you wish to know. I will be waiting for you outside."

The moment his mum closed the door and left, Daniel lost his composure. Being locked in with so many ladies in a room made him uneasy. Sensing his reluctance, some of the bolder ladies decided to take the initiative and walk toward him instead. Not wanting to lose, the other ladies joined.

Beads of sweat formed on Daniel’s forehead as he saw more than fifty ladies seemingly closing in on him. He tried to calm himself down and act like the future king he was but he was too overwhelmed. In the end, he hurriedly opened the door and ran out.

Seeing Daniel run out of the room, Doc lost control of his emotions and guffawed his delight while Daniel’s mum had a worried expression on her face.

Daniel ignored the both of them and ran out snatching Doc’s car keys from the table and hurriedly driving out of the palace.

The queen quickly asked Doc to take one of their cars and go after Daniel since she wasn't sure if he could still find his way around the city.

Daniel drove around aimlessly, ignoring his constantly ringing phone. He turned off his GPS, knowing that Doc would try to track his location. After driving around for a while, he noticed it was gradually getting dark, and parked his car not far off from a cliff.

He admitted to himself that he was afraid of going back home and started coming up with ways to get himself out of his sticky situation. Soon enough it started raining but Daniel still did not have any intention of going back home.

Eventually, he decided to pick up his calls because he knew that his mum would be worried sick. He told doctor Hardy his location and said he needed some time alone to think before calling his mum to tell her he would spend the night at Doc’s and come home the next day.

Daniel was lost in his thoughts and did not notice a young girl walk past his car. He was suddenly brought back to reality when he heard her shouting and calling out some names.

He shook his head and thought to himself, "does she have to be so dramatic? This is why I don't like women. She could have stood anywhere else but she choose the edge of a cliff and that too under the rain. What if she fell down?"

He immediately sat upright as a realization struck him. Did she want to end her life? Without giving it a second thought he quickly opened the door of his car and ran towards her.

Just as she lifted her feet from the ground, he held on to her right hand with his and pulled her backward and they both staggered and fell on their backs. Daniel immediately stood up to check on the girl but he realized she had lost consciousness.