“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
My body froze in fear and suddenly the atmosphere around me felt very cold. My eyes widened as they focused on the golden eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. ‘Beware of Wolves…’My lower lips quivered as everything went completely silent all around me. My fear and panic made my chest felt tight as I stood there glued to the spot. The loud sound of my heart racing against my ribcage was the only sound that echoed in my ear. Suddenly, there were more than one pair of eyes staring back at me. It was like some kind of dark magic how the number of golden yellow eyes staring back at me from the darkness seemed to multiply at such a rapid speed. Before there was only one pair of eyes and now there were countless of them. My eyes darted all around me as even more of those golden orbs appeared in the darkness all around me. I’m surrounded. Just how many of them are there? I never thought that I would feel so much peace in my last moment. How can a girl outrun a pack of wolves in th
Suddenly, my eyes could make out a moving shadow approaching where I was. The wolves around me began to shrink backwards as if a much larger predator that they couldn’t handle was approaching. As if this pack of wolves wasn’t bad enough already. Is a tiger approaching this time?There was a series of loud rustling sound as the tree and its lower branches seemed to move. My eyes were glued to that spot as my body froze in panic again. If I’m going to die anyways, can we get this over as fast as possible, please?The tension in the air was stifling and killing me…“Somehow…I made it in time…”A man?My eyes widened as my hand flew to my mouth at the unexpected sound of a voice that I had gotten so familiar with. Instead of a larger wolf or a tiger, the tree branches parted to reveal just a man.No, it’s so dangerous!“Don’t come any closer! There are wolves all around here!” I shouted loudly.The moment that my loud and desperate cry left my lips and echoed throughout the woods around m
**A Few Hours Earlier **“Seems like she’s not coming here today...” Florian said with a hint of teasing in his voice.Leonard watched as his younger brother stepped out from the shadows of the stables and into the open where he could see Florian’s face clearly. Florian had a beautiful smile on his lips; however, his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Why are you here?” Leonard asked instead of reacting to Florian’s words. “I could ask you the same thing,” Florian replied as he looked around the stables with distaste. “This place doesn’t suit you and you’re not a big fan of horses. Did you come here just to see me?” Leonard asked innocently. “My nose told me that a very sweet-smelling little maid had been working here every day,” Florian replied before he laughed playfully. “Well, it seems like you scared her off because she didn’t turn up today,” Leonard replied smoothly. “You knew that she wouldn’t be here, but you still came. I don’t even want to know what that means…” Florian mut
It had been many hours already and the sun was already setting. Even if he found out now, what can he possibly do about it? “Answer me, Regina…” Leonard demanded coldly. He’s so angry…“I am meeting your father and Duchess Isabella tomorrow, so I asked her to find the Hermiosa flower that the Duchess favors to give to her as a gift. The maid that you are looking for should be in the mountains…” Regina replied as if she had done nothing wrong. She smiled charmingly at the prince while telling herself that she had not done anything wrong. The Duchess had requested for the flower, and she simply had one of her maids travel up the mountain to find it. Without waiting for her to say anymore, Leonard turned and walked hastily away towards the exit of the room. “Leonard! Please wait!” Regina called after him.She hurried after him before pulling on his arm to stop him. Why was he so worried and doing so much for that maid? She’s just a maid. She smiled sweetly up at him and then their
If I remembered correctly, I was sent to the forest up on the mountain to search for a rare flower. In the end, I didn’t end up finding it and I was chased by a pack of wolves when it got dark. Then, just when I thought that I would end up dead as a meal for the wolves for sure, the nameless man saved me. Then somehow, I woke up here. My eyes lowered to the navy blanket that covered my body from the waist down before moving upwards to the light pink satin and lacey night gown that I had on. If I wasn’t wrong, I was wearing my maid uniform…I looked up again to see the man staring at me with intent interest as if he was observing my every little reaction and I started to blush. This was the first time seeing his entire face clearly and I guess I could say that it took my breath away. My brain still found it hard to reconcile the truth with my dreams. Was it even possible to reconcile the two or piece them together? Suddenly, I felt very shy and even more conscious of the fact that
Instinctively, I tried to cover and hide my breast by folding my arms over my chest and turning away. Prince Leonard chuckled before he closed his eyes and began laughing opening. I took a step backwards when he suddenly took a step towards me, immediately close the distance between us. “Get back in bed. You’re not well…” he ordered but his tone was gentle. When his face came closer to mine and his blue eyes peered into my face, my chest started to feel tight. I have never felt my heart clench like this before. He was so close again and when I took another step backwards, he took a step forward to close the distance between us again. I must have been playing right into his hands because the more I retreated away from him, the closer I got to the bed. After taking yet another step backwards, I felt the bed against my backside. “I should head back…” I murmured as I tried to avoid meeting his intense gaze. “Get back in bed. That’s an order,” he ordered sternly. His presence felt sli