Part 3

There's no way to know for sure from where the pianist was playing...not from her limited view, but the notes rang so clearly and distinctly in Celina's ears that it can't be very far. Maybe on the other side of the room.

An urge to find out for sure pushed at her, but she stood still. This musician was not looking to be listened to if they're playing in the sacredness of a closed room. That's why she heard. Celina fluttered her eyes shut and let the music soak into her mind and replace the ugly exhaustion, frustration, and hurt that's festered inside her.

She let the music soothe sink into her bones.

Celina was not sure how much time passed as she stood there, breathing in and out. The music never faltered for more than a second, the performer gliding his hands across the keys effortlessly. She realised the tune was entirely new, and for a second, she wondered if they're original compositions.

Right as most of the weight eased off her lungs, the music switched. Her eyes opened as the first haunting tone cut through her like a knife, harsh and painful. Her mouth fell open as the music continued to morph, growing darker and more sombre with every note.

It's still every bit as achingly beautiful as the rest of it, but it's also much more honest - rawer. As if the one playing was pressing on every tender key straight from their heart. They are baring their most vulnerable parts to the world. Her fingers curled around, nails digging into her palms. It took her every bit of remaining strength not to follow the music. She hardly paid attention to the bite of the wind and air on her shivering body, deeply in a trance and could only listen to the music.

The music was undoubtedly new to her ears, yet listening to it was the most familiar thing she had ever experienced. An inexplicable rush of emotions flooded her mind and body, rendering her speechless and hollow. It's a call of loneliness. It consisted of everything she had been feeling all this while. And the pure yearning - the intense longing for something and someone - tore straight through her heart. The desperation made it seem all too intimate, all too real.

It made Celina think of what she yearned for more than anything. A soulmate to court her.

Suddenly the music came to a stop. She deflated, her brows furrowing. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed the driver came from the room.

"Your majesty wants to see you right away." He croaked, his voice a mere tremble. "If you can, please follow me."

Celina swallowed the lump in her throat and followed the driver.

As soon as they stepped inside another room, she surveyed around. The crimson striped wallpaper covered all the walls, matching darker red curtains on the room's windows. All the drapes were halfway opened, only allowing the cabinet to be basked in sunlight. The polished wooden desk was particularly shining as it was placed by the window. There was a carpet set in the middle of the room, with two wooden armchairs and a small oval table.

Even the golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling had a touch of red.

But what drew her attention, though, was a grand piano in the middle of the room, enlightened by the rays of sunshine passing through the window. There was even a harpe near the piano and some more wooden furniture spread across the room.

Does that mean Prince's the one who played that melody? The knowledge shook her to the core. Slowly she shifted her attention to the person sitting on the armchair. Of course, its the Prince.

He was strikingly handsome, tall and broad, though his outfit was out of the ordinary. He's wearing a black velvet suit jacket over a black shirt and black trousers, the same colour shoes. It's far from what royals usually dressed. Most of them believed the colour to be worn only during funerals; another superstition was attached. Celina never bothered to understand it. She imagined that most royals wouldn't be able to let that one go.

This Prince was quite confident in his identity, which was admirable.

His face was beautiful too, all high cheekbones and strong jawline, eyes the pale green of a lily pad. He had his hair swept into a half-hearted quiff, curling around his milky pale face in an admittedly attractive way. There was no smile on those full lips, simply set in a straight line. At least now she knew for sure that the rumours about Prince being intimidating and scary had not been exaggerated.

The Prince stood up and towered over her ominously. He came in with an air of confidence yet didn't seem arrogant at all. There was even a small slump distinguishable in the line of his shoulders, but it couldn't be counted as a sign of weakness. No, his presence seemed to downright pull attention everywhere he went. But Celina could be a little biased since the man was undoubtedly the most attractive man she had ever seen.

"Ahh, the new maid", The Prince pointed out with a tilt of his head.

Celina found herself admiring the muscles, his bulging biceps that were noticeable through his  shirt. She couldn't ignore the pull that was present in between them, but the young maid would continue to explain to her conscience that it was only because of the Prince's homelike scent.

She dumbly nodded her head in response to him.

They stood in silence, quietly regarding each other. Everything seemed so new, so fascinating —their two different worlds colliding with each other, a fact that both of them were entirely oblivious to.

"What's your name?" He asked, his voice rough and soothing at the same time.

A delicious shiver ran past her body. The heat spread across her abdomen as he bore his eyes into hers, raising his brow slightly. But what affected her the most was his scent. It was so far from the uncomfortable muskiness of the room and so achingly familiar that it left the eighteen-year-old reeling— thick vanilla woody smell engulfed her, making her lips part slightly.

"Celina, your majesty," She croaked, suddenly feeling her throat dry.

After a pause, her eyes caught the Prince again. He looked reluctantly confident—like he wanted to reach out and touch her, but something was stopping him. The genuine confusion on his face caused her chest to painfully twinge.

"Hmm," The Prince crooned. "My people address me with authority, but my name is Javier DeRose."

Their eyes are locked; they're breathing the same air, bodies only a few inches away from one another. She basked in the heat rolling off the Prince, her own body being drawn towards the source of the warmth.

Prince Javier. She rolled off those words, tasting them in between her lips. The moment didn't feel real under the sunlight, but luckily it was.

"Are you afraid of me, Celina?" The Prince asked huskily, and she shivered at the intense look in his eyes. Celina didn't answer, making him take a step forward in her direction.

He reached over and ran his thumb across her cheekbones, watching her breathing pause as she dared not move beneath the touch of this strange, imposing man. That was enough to snap her back into reality as she watched the Prince swallow the lump in his throat.

"Well, you should be."

She managed to dumbly nod her head, refusing to move much as she didn't know how the Prince would react. Her entire body froze, her ear tingling as Celina heard the floorboards creaking. Javier standing in front of her, closed his half-open mouth, hearing the stirring as well. Something inside him shifted as he suddenly took a step back, clearing his throat.

He pointed towards the driver standing behind her, whom she almost forgot about him, beckoning him closer. How could she erase a person standing in the same room as them?

She took a few more frantic step backwards, feeling colder the farther away the Prince moved from her. How humiliating!

"Alfred here will take you to Beth." The Prince sucked a sharp breath turning on his heel before continuing. "Beth will assign you to your duties."

Her eyebrows were furrowed, confused; she's wringing her hands, nervous the entire time. The tranquillity of the whole place was broken as her heart rate rose. As time passed, the reality of the situation began to sink in.

"O-Okay, your majesty" She swallowed thickly, her eyes flicking softly from hands to his face.

"That will be all. You can leave now."

He dismissed them after that. Celina was unable to listen to the driver or pay attention as they exited the room. She kept looking over her shoulder to the Prince perched in front of the grand piano. Her heart ached to go back.

***