Chapter 6. The Adaptation

In Westminster 

With my sexual identity, I was never attracted by any of the girls despite their dressings. To my advantage, my father was careful not to tamper with my knight, driver, and soldiers because that would be risky. I adapted to the situation easily by spending longer time with them. We ate together and the girls never had the chance to be with me. Nevertheless, to avoid that, my knight set the boundaries for them.

"Let me know when you wish to speak with the prince. I will always pass your message to him," he informed them with a harsh tone.

It was unclear to me if my father discussed my marriage with them. They were openly distraught to hear that from my knight and would have revolted if not for my Knight's unfriendly tone.

"We got it," the two of them said in unison while the other two walked away sadly.

"Good job, Philip," I complimented him for coming up with such conditions.

Nevertheless, I kept myself busy with the work of the kingdom. The economic growth was paramount in my mind and I worked hard towards it.

"What do we lack in our kingdom? We need to leverage on that to enhance our economy and be ahead of other neighboring kingdoms," I proposed to my team members.

They were happy with the idea and suggested many things that we import. Paramount among them were choice wine and perfume.

"We can begin to produce ours," I pointed out.

"That is good to know," my soldier, Capt. Celestine Fidel, said and my knight was puzzled.

"How can we produce what we hardly know about, My king," Philip asked me.

"We are young men and not too old to learn new things," I made it clear to them.

"Oh! If it is possible to learn how to produce them, why not," my driver said.

"How?" Capt. Fidel asked him.

"If I may ask, what are we producing?" Philip asked the driver. 

"I think that perfume and quality wine would be good. The other kingdoms would patronize us."

They paused and focused on me. They were thrilled by my idea and wished that we should begin at once.

"My prince, you are a gift to this kingdom. The other princes who love extravagant life would patronize us," the captain said.

The others agreed with him and my driver asked me, "If I may ask, where do we go to learn the trade? Who would be willing to train us?"

"The three best wine-producing countries are France, Italy, and Spain. We can train under them," I answered him.

"What of the perfume?" Philip asked me.

"From my knowledge, concerning high-end fragrances, France has no equal," Celestine emphasized and the two focused on me.

"He is right. We will do more research on that. For now, let us go for lunch," I said and tried to get up.

My knight seemed more enthusiastic and halted me, "Excuse me, my prince," he said, and I sat back on my chair.

We all focused on him and he spoke, "Since France is good in both fragrance and wine, I propose that we learn under them."

"Yes. I agree with him," my driver said.

"I also agree with him but how can we learn under them? Will we invite them over or do we go to them?" Celestine asked them.

Presently, I was thrilled and made up my mind on what to do but allowed them to come up with an idea.  They fixed their eyes on me and hoped to hear my opinion. To me, going to France was the best thing to happen to me. If I am away, the King and Queen will decide what to do with the girls. 

"What do you think is right? Going to France to learn or bring them over."

"Going there," they answered me simultaneously.

"Why do you think so?" I asked them with a calm demeanor.

"It's less expensive."

"We will meet other trainees and exchange ideas."

"Our enemies would not know what we are doing until we have learned and started to produce."

Their ideas were cogent and convincing my father for his approval would be simple. 

In conclusion, I said, "We are going to France."

Beautiful smiles flashed through their faces. They appreciated me for coming up with the idea and we ended the meeting. My Knight ensured that our lunch was ready and the girls were out of sight before he informed me.

Having lunch with them brought the memories of Julius and the longing to see him. I recall how he ate shyly and avoided my eyes whenever we ate together.

"What could he be doing?" I thought and ate my food without appetite.

The Local Bar And Resort 

My supervisor was a nice man. He taught me how to take orders from the guests and serve them accordingly. I watched what the other workers were doing and learned very fast.

With my uniform, which featured a white shirt, black pants, and a tie, I looked different and could hardly be recognized. At the peak time, we had more customers than we could imagine. I observed that most of the tables were in dark spots, and one could hardly see the customers.

"How are they seeing in the dark?" I asked one of my colleagues.

"They like it that way. They don't want to see," he answered me with a smirk.

While we were talking, a couple walked in and walked straight to a table in a corner. The moon gave them the light to find their way.

"Go and take their order, Julius," my supervisor instructed me.

"I got it, Andrea," I said and walked towards the guests with my order sheets while he stood far off but was monitoring me.

Nevertheless, that was the first order I would take alone but I was cool. The order sheet made the work less stressful. I was a few inches before the table when the unexpected happened.

"Mark. What do you take me for?" A woman who seemed fifty-three years old was shouting and walking towards the table.