“Prince Benjamin,” Gonzalo greeted from behind me. After we pulled away, Benjamin walked to Gonzalo. “Gonzalo,” Benjamin put a hand on Gonzalo’s shoulder, “Formalities are unnecessary. You can call me by my name whenever I visit.” “Unfortunately, I cannot do that, Your Highness,” Gonzalo replied with his eyes stuck to the ground. He explained, “I am to pay the utmost respect to anyone who has a connection with our prince, especially when it comes to his family and his friends.” Benjamin chuckled as he returned to me. “Gonzalo is definitely the finest. You are blessed to have such a loyal servant,” he remarked. “I agree completely,” I smiled as I put my hands behind me. “Shall we take a walk in the garden?” I asked. “If that will help console you, then let us have a walk. But I will need to put my horse in one of the stalls,” Benjamin replied. He was about to grab his horse when Gonzalo got to the reins first. “Please, allow me, Prince Benjamin,” Gonzalo bowed his head before Benj
My heart stopped for a moment. The manner of how he spoke was similar to Mallory. And I couldn’t help but be concerned. Should he walk the same road that she did, he would be hurt if things didn’t go as he would expect. “She told you that?” I asked. “Her actions speak for her.” “Benjamin,” I looked directly into his eyes, “You can’t simply rely on actions. You need a direct answer from her. Otherwise, you will only get your heart smashed to bits if she doesn’t feel the same for you,” I scolded him. Benjamin never exerted this much effort towards a woman. Ladies would surround him always and they were the ones who made steps to be in his graces. For him to be this invested only proved that he was indeed smitten by whoever this woman was. However, if feelings weren’t mutual from the beginning, the end would be heartbreaking. He sighed as he put his hands behind his neck. “She protests whenever I do something for her. She is never amused with my jokes. She never showed interest in
His brows furrowed as he grew confused. I cleared my throat as I moved closer to him. “Do not be too certain, too confident that she will give you the answer that you want to hear.” His eyes widened, horrified. “Are you implying that I have no hope with her? That I will not win her heart?” he asked. “I implore you not to twist my words to antagonise you, Benjamin. Like what I said before, you can have any woman that you want,” I replied quickly as I wanted to explain everything right away. I didn’t want for our relationships as brothers to be strained because of a woman. I added, “I only ask that you do not be too complacent. We still don’t know what she will say.” “Robert, she will be with me,” Benjamin said as he looked into my eyes. He was full of certainty, utterly determined. He didn’t blink as he continued, “There is no ounce of doubt within me. I know she will be mine.” Never have I seen him act in this manner. I could only wish that I had the same confidence when it came
“We have arrived.” My eyes widened at our itinerary. Winston’s Bakery. “What are we doing here, Benjamin?” I asked as we got down from the horses. “This is where I met the apple of my eye,” he replied as we walked closer to the bakery. He continued, “And if I remember correctly, you said you also met someone that worked in a bakery.” “Yes,” I nodded, “She works here as well.” “Is that so?” his eyes widened, shocked but delighted. He continued, “Well, that is a good thing for the both of us. Most of the people here are warm and welcoming. We couldn’t have found the best place to find someone special. Do remember to introduce me to your lady, dear brother.” “Of course,” I smiled. Benjamin looked into the window, probably checking if his lady was still in middle of work. “She seems to be working right now. And the bakery is filled with so many people,” he remarked as he stepped away from the window. He returned to me and continued, “I will look around the stalls for a gift. Do you
“Go ahead, Robert. Tell her,” Benjamin whispered to me. My heart shattered even more as he begged for my help. His eyes were desperate as his chance was limited. His usual persuasion wasn’t working on Laura. At the same time, Laura’s eyes pleaded with me to stop Benjamin. We never broke eye contact. But I still saw how Benjamin shifted his gaze between the two of us. Truth be told, I wanted to be honest with Benjamin. Laura was the love of my life. I never wished to and I would never trade her for anything else. I would fight for her until the very end of the world. However, Benjamin was my brother. I had known him for my whole life. I didn’t want to destroy everything that we shared, all because we loved the same person. On the other hand, Laura was the woman of my heart. In the short amount of time we spent together, we faced different challenges. And I never wanted to lose her again. Unfortunately, I already knew the right choice for this situation. And as a future king, my em
My head turned in an instant. Laura stood behind me with a bouquet of sunflowers and daisies in her hands. Gently, she walked towards me without breaking eye contact with me. “May I?” she asked as she referred to the flowers she brought. I nodded. She left a small kiss on the bouquet before she put it on top of Lady’s grave. She then proceeded to sit beside me without a word. We stayed that way for a long while. We were so close and yet, so far. I wanted so badly to pull her into my arms and hold her tight. But at the same time, I wanted to push her away. I wanted for her to stay as far away as possible so I could recover from the pain that was inflicted on me. I knew she didn’t deserve to be blamed for the pain I had been feeling for days. But she became a part of the problem as Benjamin chose her to be his wife. I cleared my throat to diffuse the tension between us. “So, what happened between you and Benjamin?” I asked as I kept my eyes on the sunset. “He left a few minutes af
“This shows exactly my point,” Bethilda remarked as she pointed at me. She turned back to Mother and James and asked, “Is this what you call exemplary manners?” I instantly stepped right in front of her, face to face. My distance caught her by surprise and Bethilda stepped back right away. I put my hands behind my back and lowered my voice as I said, “And who are you to call us animals? Who are you to say that my parents failed to raise us properly? And who are you to disrespect them in their own castle and kingdom?” Her eyes widened as she grew terrified with my tone and close distance towards her. She tried to avoid my glare but she knew she couldn’t. “Robert, please,” James cautiously called me as he tried to calm me down. “You have no right to stop me now, James,” I replied without removing my stare from Bethilda. “This hog is a relative but she is also a mere guest. She does not have the right to scream and demean the both of you in your own household,” I continued. Bethilda
Nana’s sudden appearance startled me. I stopped what I was doing and slowly turned around. “Hello, Nana,” I smiled at her amidst my shaking knees. “Are you going somewhere?” she asked as she approached me. She glanced over to the basket behind me. “This is not the appropriate time to have a picnic.” “Oh, um, I was just… uh…” I stuttered as I tried to stay calm amidst my panicked state. “I was just preparing this for later in the morning,” I reasoned as I prayed in my mind that it would work. “I already planned a picnic with Lady. I didn’t want anyone else to use the basket.” She then nodded slowly. “That’s good thinking on your part. It was supposed to be used to deliver bread to other servants tomorrow. But if you need it, you can use it,” she replied with a smile. “Thank you, Nana.” An enormous wave of relief washed throughout my body. “Don’t forget to clean the kitchen once you’re finished,” she reminded me as she headed back to her quarters. The kitchen was connected to th
A prince had a peaceful night all to himself.His fireplace burned brightly as it kept his quarters warm against the harsh, cold atmosphere outside the old castle he currently resided in. A direct view of the beautiful moon outside his window. And a scrumptious meal right in front of him.He happily dug into his meal, which was something that he hadn’t done in a long while. Not after all the sleepless nights that he had. As well as the days where he pretended in front of his family.‘Ah, finally,’ he thought to himself as he cut through the tender meat on his plate. ‘A night where I can finally enjoy my food.’Just as soon as he was going to take a bite, a knock came upon his door. He groaned as he put his fork down. “Who is it?” he answered, irritated.The door creaked open and a servant called out of the dark. “Prince Benjamin?”“I thought I made it clear that I wanted to be left alone for a few hours,” Benjamin replied as he scratched his forehead.“My apologies, Your Highness, but
“Grandpa Ben?” my brows knitted together as I called out.“What are you doing here? Where did you come from?” I asked as he approached us.Grandpa Ben stopped right before us. He immediately glared at Gonzalo. But Gonzalo didn’t back down. He stared right back at Grandpa Ben.Grandpa Ben then cleared his throat and returned to me. “Go ahead. Bring Laura back. However, I want for the both of you to return safely. If I don’t see you with her, I will never forgive you even in death.”“Have you no regards to his life?!” Gonzalo protested, making us turn to him. “For the sake of getting your daughter back, you’re willing to put the prince at risk?! Don’t you mortals ever think of anything but yourselves?!”“And what about you Immortals? Don’t you do the same?” Grandpa Ben snapped. “I may look like a weak, old man. But I’m well-versed with stories of your kind. I never imagined that the myths of gods and goddesses being selfish were actually true. But you,” he pointed a finger at Gonzalo, “
The moon shone high in the sky as I looked out my bedroom window.The whole room was pitch black, dark as the night sky above. And only the powerful moonlight was able to illuminate my room.Well, at least a portion of it.I was incredibly frustrated with everything that I never bothered to light my torches as night fell.After I returned from James’ study, I remained in my room and did absolutely nothing. I simply sat by the window and drank tea without any signs of stopping. I also requested for an early dinner, an attempt to avoid James during dinner time.I just wanted to be left alone.I just wanted some space.‘I just want progress. Was that too much to ask for?’ my mind shouted, helpless as no one could hear it. And no one bothered to listen or even ask me.Then, a knock on my door echoed throughout the room. But I didn’t answer. I already rejected persistent knockings as I remained in my quarters. Even though someone from the other end called for my name, I never made my prese
Bethilda’s mouth hung in disbelief.“Your Highness, my heart's already breaking for the sacrifice that I am to make. Against my own beliefs and wishes, I am giving you my men to aid your cause. Just because I want them to have some time to prepare, that doesn’t mean I am on the other side of this debacle,” Bethilda protested.She added, “Your impatience will put their lives at risk. And that’s a risk that I will never be willing to take.”I pressed my lips together as my nose flared after a deep sigh. Truth be told, I gave my full respect to Bethilda as she put her servants before anything. However, I couldn’t wait again for a longer time. We already wasted too much time here and we never made any sort of progress in terms of the rescue mission.I cared for Bethilda’s household the same as I did for my own. But we couldn’t afford to wait another week before we could proceed. We didn’t even have the slightest clue on what could be happening within Benjamin’s territory.The mere thought
Bethilda’s eyes widened whilst James immediately turned to my direction.This was the fastest solution that I could think of. James already exhausted all of his efforts for this debacle. I had to do something, even if he didn’t like it.Bethilda looked to James for a moment before she returned to me. “Whatever the reason is for this sudden request of aid, I am afraid that it will do you more harm than good,” she answered. She added, “My soldiers aren’t fully trained for combat. I only trained them to protect and to distract enemies. And besides, I don’t think that His Majesty is in favour of this decision of yours, Your Highness.”“James has already given his all for our cause. We don’t know who to turn to and we are running out of time,” I answered. James’ stare never left but I paid no mind. I had no time to argue with him.Bethilda asked, “Have you reached out to other kingdoms? I know that you are attempting to rescue a friend. If that is the case, shouldn’t it be advised to ask t
“I already sent some of the guards to gather more troops back home.“We don’t know how many men Benjamin has to protect him,” James replied. “As much as possible, I don’t want to spill too much blood, especially within their territory. I don’t want this debacle to cause a scandal. And I also don’t want to destroy our alliance with them. At the same time, we can’t waste the lives of more men, both on his side and ours.”For James to still honour our alliance with Eastern Sun, even after what Benjamin did, was frustrating.Benjamin betrayed me. Trust and loyalty were values that I held in high regard. But Benjamin disregarded that, all because he didn’t get what he wanted.For that action alone, the friendship between our kingdoms was also destroyed. How could we possibly trust a traitor? Even if that person was our ally, it already destroyed their credibility as someone we trusted deeply.However, I understood why James was still worried about the alliance. Eastern Sun wasn’t simply a
Marcus chuckled as he shrugged.He looked down to his feet and replied, “My loyalty to the duchess is more than just of a servant, Your Highness. And even though that was the case for me,” Marcus returned to me, “I never overstepped nor did I ever use my emotions to my advantage. I respected her as my mistress. The person who gave me a home and a new life. Nothing more, nothing less.”Marcus’ response rendered me speechless.Who would’ve thought that a servant would develop strong feelings towards their mistress?Perhaps because of Bethilda’s care towards Marcus, his gratitude slowly turned into something else. Unfortunately, in this world - or in any other world in that retrospect - a relationship between a servant and their master would never be acceptable.I could only feel the ache on Marcus’ behalf as I once felt the same for Laura. That feeling that we wished we were born within the same kind of beings, just so nothing would be able to stand in the way of what we felt for each o
“Thank you for accompanying me all the way here.“For now,” I turned to the two guards behind me, “I would like to have a moment alone.”After I woke up from my nap, I decided to take a quick stroll around the castle grounds. Luckily, the guards told me that Bethilda had a small garden. So, I asked them to show me its location.The two guards shared glances with each other, worried and unsure. One of them replied, “But Your Highness, His Majesty specifically said that should you ask for our company, we are not to leave you alone. Especially when you are outside the castle.”I chuckled. “There is nothing to be scared of, gentlemen. With the location of the duchess’ residence, it’s a bit impossible for enemies to attack from within these walls,” I explained. “At the same time, I don't think that these walls are penetrable from all fronts.”The guards looked at each other again, still uncertain of what to do.I sighed, which made them turn to me. “I assure you, I can manage on my own. I
“And how long have you been in service within the duchess’ household?” I asked the maid in front of me.An hour had already passed and I was still only halfway through the inspection. I had to be very careful when I asked certain questions. At the same time, I had to discern personalities behind prim and proper facades.I couldn’t rush the process even if I wanted to. I didn’t know who could possibly have dark motives against Bethilda so I had to proceed with caution. I didn’t want to be the cause of her death, all because I chose the wrong people to serve her.“I have been serving the duchess for seven years,” the maid replied.“Ah, that would mean that you are fairly new within the household,” I said as I wrote the information down. “In your few years of service, how familiar are you with everything?”Her response was interrupted when my doors suddenly opened. We turned our heads and watched as James entered my room. Immediately, we stood and gave our greetings.“Did I interrupt any