My heart skipped a beat again and I cursed myself silently in my head. He was quite stubborn, that was for sure. I nodded in resignation as I watched him sweep up the fallen leaves. I did my part in picking up some random leaves that had just fallen. It didn’t take long for him to finish sweeping up the leaves into neat piles while I admired his efficient movements. The leaves really just kept falling. I turned around and walked over to another that had just fallen before bending down to pick it up. “Thank…you…” I turned to thank him for his hard work before my words ended in a whisper. He was…gone. When did he leave? I looked around but couldn’t see him anywhere around anymore. Just as suddenly as he had appeared, the man seemed to have disappeared into thin air. “There you are…” a woman’s voice rang out loud and clear.I heard the sounds of soft footsteps approaching me and I turned around to see Lady Regina and Sophie walking towards me. They were probably here to see if I hav
“You are always so kind towards the working staff. I guess there’s still many things that I can learn from you,” Regina replied before laughing sweetly. “Darius told me that you were waiting for me at the afternoon tea party that was held recently. I didn’t feel well so I didn’t attend. Anyways, I’m here to officially and unofficially welcome you to the palace. I hope you enjoy your time here, Regina,” Leonard said with a slight nod of his head. “Thank you so much, Your Highness,” Regina said with unveiled pleasure. “Great. I won’t take up more of your time,” Leonard said as he got up from his seat. The smile on Regina’s face froze in place when she realized that he already intended on leaving. The visit was much shorter than she had ever imagined. It wasn’t like she could think up of a valid reason or excuse to stop him; however, there was one thing that she wanted to inquire about. “Prince Leonard…the night of the full moon is fast approaching…” Regina drawled suggestively. “Y
In stark contrast to the loud crashing sound just now, everything was silent and peaceful. I tiptoed towards the door as I debated with myself whether I should open it. However, before I could make up my mind, the door swung opened with a loud slam. “Oh, it’s you…” The man from yesterday stood in front of me in the exact same look that he wore yesterday. White shirt, jeans, and sunglasses. He smiled sweetly at me as he cocked his head slightly to the side. “Hi…” I managed to say after snapping out of my state of shock. Why is he here? “Why are you here?” he asked in wonder. I was about to ask him the same thing. “I was tasked to help clean up the stables. What about you? Do you work here?” I asked. “You’re right. I do,” he replied as he strode past me and towards the horses. I turned as my eyes followed him. The horses reacted to his presence, and they suddenly appeared friendlier than before. The man reached out his hand and petted the neck of one of the horses as he smiled.
“Umm…” I murmured when I felt the heat of his body against my back.I bit my tongue before I said any unnecessary things. That was close, I almost told me that we were so close to each other. “Don’t panic. You’re doing very well,” he whispered close to my ear from behind encouragingly. I could feel his warm breath tickling my ear as I felt the heat of his body press up against my entire back. His strong arm looped itself around my waist and pulled me even closer to him. With his urging, the horse began walking forward. The feel of the beast moving beneath me felt new and exciting. “Wow…” I murmured in awe. “Enjoying yourself already?” he asked before he laughed softly close to my ear. My body stiffened a little when I remembered how close our bodies were. His arm remained around my waist and whenever he spoke to me, he leaned his face very close to mine and my shoulder. I could smell the faint scent of roses from his body whenever I took in a deep breath. He smells so dreamy…“S
“You’ve gotten a lot better at riding. You’re a fast learning, little girl,” he complimented me openly. I walked by his side as I noticed that the sun was about to set. It was unfortunate that another day was coming to an end. We both knew that I had to leave to return to the maids’ quarters before sunset. That was the rule. “It’s all thanks to you,” I thanked him with a smile. He didn’t say anything, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking about. I smiled to myself again as I looked up at the sky as it was turning orange from the setting sun. It was a very beautiful color and suddenly I felt like my life had some hope in it. Before I knew it, I had started looking forward to spending even more time with him. Everything would have been quite fine if those strange dreams that I had at night didn’t persist. The dreams plagued me endlessly and it seemed to be getting worst. I have never discussed this with anyone before because I didn’t know who to talk to about this. “W
“Of course. I don’t involve myself in picking and choosing the women that I mate with. I leave it up to the council to decide or the chamber manager to choose. If possible, I also try to avoid spending more than one night with the same woman,” Darius replied emotionlessly. “You’re pretty amazing…” Leonard said with an appreciative nod of his head. “If you’re lonely you can go back to dating those superstars from faraway lands, you know…” Darius suggested. “I’ll keep that in mind…” Leonard mumbled. “I didn’t want to say this, but you haven’t forgotten why the council and the prime minister moved Regina to live here, right?” Darius asked before he sighed. He knew well what everyone wanted, and it just seemed like the perfect plan; however, Darius also knew that things wouldn’t go so smoothly as far as Leonard was concerned.“I’m not interested in fucking her,” Leonard stated without bothering to mince his words. “That’s what I thought. Who knows? Things might change when the moon
“The king will be making his appearance with the Duchess Isabella so I thought that it would be best to present them with a gift that they would both admire. Someone close to Duchess Isabella gave me a valuable clue that the Duchess is very fond of a particular flower. Please have a look at this,” Lady Regina said as she held a small piece of paper towards me. I slowly approached her and while keeping my eyes down, I carefully took the paper from her hand. The moment that my eyes lowered to take a look at the paper, I found out that it was actually a photograph of a flower. It’s mix of red and purple color along with the shape made it look unique. I had never seen a flower shaped like this before and perhaps that was why the Duchess was attracted to its exotic beauty. “The flower is called Hermiosa and it can only be found in the wild. This special flower cannot be cultivated and must be picked from up in the mountain only. Unfortunately, I don’t have much time left because my meeti
“I better find that flower soon so that I can head back…” I muttered. The driver mentioned that he would be back for me around sunset, so I had to find the flower before that no matter what. Sundown would mark the extent of my search because I doubt that I would be able to see anything after the sun had set. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was extremely poorly equipped for my journey through the forest. I wasn’t wearing suitable shoes for a trek in the forest, and I didn’t have a flashlight to use if it got dark. “Let’s do this…” I mumbled to myself before taking in a deep breath.After steeling my nerves and pumping myself with adrenaline, I marched right into the forest on my search for the flower that the Duchess Isabella was so in love with. The forest seemed less dense when I walked inside and it didn’t feel as scary as when I was staring at if from the outside, thankfully. I breathed a sigh of relief; however, my initial feeling of relief did not last long. I remembe