Currently in my study as I skimmed through the new reports on my desk.
Today didn’t end well, but what should I expect? Aside from my impossible relationship with James, my current situation with Laura abruptly crossed my mind. All of a sudden, everything stopped.
Laura…
What I did to her this afternoon was just… gut-wrenching. Unacceptable.
I could only hope that she would forgive me. But, what could I do to express my guilt? What should I say in order to earn her forgiveness? I turned to the table by the window. And I immediately caught sight of a pen, on top of a few pieces of paper.
A letter!
Perhaps, a letter could help resolve some of the pain I caused between us?
I shook my head as I removed myself from my thoughts. Why was I even too troubled about her? We just met and yet, she had some sort of impact on me. What I did to her shouldn’t matter this much to me. But why was I feeling this way?
Instead of going back to work, I contemplated even more on what I should do. Should I finish half of the reports? Or should I spend more time thinking of an acceptable letter to apologise for my actions? My eyes switched back and forth, from the stack of papers to the table across the room.
My mind scolded me as it reminded me to continue reading, to put my duties first. As the prince of Western Wind, my responsibilities as heir should be my priority.
My heart, however, said otherwise. Mother raised me to have accountability with my actions, to apologise for any wrongdoing that I made.
Duty? Or to be a compassionate being?
A sudden knock interrupted my overwhelming thoughts.
“Who is it?” I answered.
The door opened and Gonzalo entered with a tray of my food. “Your dinner as requested, Your Highness,” he said.
“Thank you, Gonzalo. You may put it over there, please,” I instructed as I pointed to the table by the window.
He nodded and proceeded to where I told him. He carefully settled the tray down and returned to me. He continued, “I also brought a message from His Majesty to you, Your Highness.”
Another message from James? At this point, I just wanted to burn everything that was on my desk. All because I told him what he didn’t want to hear, he couldn’t tell me his thoughts to my face?
Was this the effort that my mother, sister, and Nana Olsa asked me to think through?
“What is it this time?” I asked, frustrated.
He replied, “His Royal Majesty asked to retrieve all the reports that’s been sent here right now. He said he will not be assigning any more financial reports to you starting tomorrow. A few of his servants will be sent here to fetch the documents.”
I sighed as I shook my head. I pursed my lips firmly as I glanced over the pile to my left. “If he says so.” I then closed the report in my hands and put it back onto the unfinished pile. “These,” I prepared the pile to my right, “These are the finished reports. Tell him that he can make any revisions that he wants.”
“Understood, Your Highness,” he bowed. He asked, “Is there anything else that you would like for me to bring to you?”
I turned to the table across me and did my best to hold back my impulsive nature. After a moment to process everything, I said, “I will be writing a letter while I eat my dinner.” Looking at Gonzalo, I continued, “I shall call for you once I’m finished with everything. But, I would like for you to have the messenger ready. He needs to send the letter to a bakery in the Mortal Realm.”
Gonzalo slightly tilted his head. “A bakery in the Mortal Realm? Did they upset you, Your Highness?” he asked.
I shook my head. “On the contrary, everyone there has been accommodating. I just need to write a letter to a friend that I made there. And it must be delivered tonight.”
“As you wish, Your Highness. I’ll have the messenger prepare himself right away.” He then bowed and headed for the door.
“Also,” I said as I stood up. He came into a halt and faced me once again. With my hands behind me, I continued, “I would like for this to be just between the two of us, Gonzalo. His Majesty doesn’t need to know about this. Tell the messenger precisely that.”
“Is that a logical thing to do, Your Highness?” he asked. He explained, “If His Majesty finds out that we’re doing something without his knowledge, the punishment will be incredibly unimaginable.”
I stared at him as I was slowly annoyed. I thought I already told him that there were some matters that I wanted to keep from James. Not everything had to be reported to him.
“Gonzalo, must I remind you what I told you before lunch?” I asked.
He thought everything through for a while. And when he realised what I was pertaining to, he simply nodded.
I answered, “The king will not know anything if we keep our thoughts to ourselves. At the same time, he will not be able to suspect anything if you act as if you were only doing a mere chore.”
With his head low, Gonzalo said, “Yes, Your Highness. I understand.”
“Good. You may leave for now. I would like to have some peace and quiet,” I said.
He bowed once more and left without another word.
I returned to my table and laid out the food for myself. Fish, a few muscles, some vegetables, accompanied with a bowl of soup and a glass of wine.
Such a beautiful meal.
~*~*~*~
Putting the quill to the side, I reread the entire letter that I just wrote,
“Laura,
“I would like to apologise for the way that I treated you this afternoon.“I admit that I was hostile towards you, and that I ended our day in the worst possible way.“If you believe that I don’t care about your feelings, that is beyond the truth. No words can express how much torment I am currently in because of what I did to you.“I would love to see you again. But, if you prefer not to see me again, I will respect that.“I will await your response. There will be a special item with this letter. Should you plan to reply, put that item inside your letter and burn them together.“It may be an unusual way of sending a letter. But you have to trust me.“Robert.”
I then folded the letter three times, and carefully slid it inside a small, elongated wooden box. I turned to my right hand, closed it into a fist and whispered a simple spell into it. As I slowly opened my hand, a sparkling leaf appeared. Gently, I put it inside with the letter.
With a magical tug on the service bell, I waited for Gonzalo to arrive as I tied the box with a simple bow. I then planted a small peck on it, which left me stunned for a moment.
The door opened. “Your Highness,” Gonzalo bowed as he entered.
“Thank you for coming right away, Gonzalo,” I smiled as I stood to meet him halfway. I handed the box and said, “You know what to do with this.
“Yes, Your Highness. I already informed the messenger and told him exactly how you wanted things to be done,” Gonzalo nodded.
“That’s good to know. You may go.”
Before he turned around, he saw the soiled plates and utensils on my table. “Should I bring those with me as well, Your Highness?” he asked.
I briefly turned my head before I returned to him. “There will be no need for that, Gonzalo. I will send it down to the kitchen through my dumb-waiter. The letter is your priority for tonight,” I said.
“I shall take my leave, then.” With a quick bow, he hastily left my room. I prayed to all the ancient gods and high ancestors, hoping that Laura would reply to my letter. Even if that response was to push me away, it wouldn’t matter.
I needed to know her thoughts.
Water rushed in from every corner that I turned to. As I ran through the long corridor, I searched for the ones I was with. Everyone was screaming as they ran to save their lives. And all I could do was to follow the direction where everybody was headed. “Robert!” a voice shouted my name from behind me. I turned around to see who it was, only to be carried in the arms of a man. “Hold onto me, son,” the man said as he pulled my head closer to his shoulder. “You’re safe. I’m here.” It was my father and he was running in the same direction that I was. “Darling, hurry!” a woman in front of us shouted as she turned her head to our direction. It was Mother. She was holding my sister’s hand as we all ran. My father was about to catch up to them when suddenly, he slipped. He lost his grip on me and I slid to the left side of the ship. It was already filled with water, deep enough for me to be submerged into. “Robert! Hold on!” my father screamed as I did my best to keep my head above
On my way to the kitchen, I accidentally bumped into James. Just the last person that I wanted to see. “James!” I exclaimed as I stopped on my tracks. “Robert,” he greeted as he looked at me, baffled. “Why are you running in the hallway? You know how I feel about that.” “My apologies. I just needed to get to the stables as quickly as possible,” I replied. “Stables? Are you headed somewhere?” he asked. I froze for a second. ‘Great! I just gave him even more reason to question me,’ I thought to myself, scolding myself for my carelessness. ‘Think of an explanation and quick! It has to be acceptable!’ “I’m quite late for my time with Lady today. I’ve decided to take upon the responsibility to give her a bath, and everything else that she would need for today,” I reasoned. “Didn’t you assign that to some of the servants? Why the sudden interest in taking care of Lady?” he asked. I did my best to calm my nerves. I couldn’t show him that I was panicking deep inside. If he found out
“Laura,” I stood in a heartbeat as I walked towards her. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “I came to see you.” “Did you receive my letter?” she asked after she paused for a bit. “Yes,” I nodded. “I told you: if you follow the instructions, I will receive your response.” “I still don’t understand the instructions that you wrote,” she shook her head. “All I told myself was to do what you told me to do.” “Well, you did a good job,” I smiled as I gently patted her head. I froze as I realised what I just did. I pulled my hand back and we both stood in silence for a bit. I then cleared my throat. “Would you like to have a seat?” I asked as I gestured towards the bench. “Um, of course,” she smiled. I stepped aside, allowing her to sit down before me. When she was comfortable, I sat beside her. “Is there something wrong?” she asked. “I’m surprised that you’re here during this time of the day. Don’t you have duties, responsibilities to take care of?” “I already finished some of
Ronald peeked out at us from the entrance of the bakery. “I hope that your short time with your friend is enough because you’re needed back inside,” he snapped at Laura. “Oh, of course. Tell Grandpa Ben that I’ll be right inside,” she replied after a nod. Ronald scoffed as he went back inside. “Why do you always have to put up with him?” I asked as she turned back to me. “I have no other choice but to bear with him,” she shrugged after a short sigh. “And I can’t simply remove him from the bakery. Only Grandpa Ben has the authority to do that.” “Then, why does he let Ronald treat you like that? He has no respect for you,” I complained. She giggled before she cupped my face. “Will you calm down, Robert? You shouldn’t be bothered by what’s happening here. You don’t even work here,” she replied in an attempt to comfort me. I held onto her hands, caressing them with my thumbs. “I’m just worried that he might do something to you. Something I can never forgive,” I said. She sighed
Rushing towards James’ door, the guards immediately blocked my path. Perhaps, they sensed my anger from a mile away. “Let me in,” I ordered. “Your Highness, His Majesty is--” “I don’t care whatever he’s doing right now. Let me in!” I shouted, not caring even if my voice was heard throughout the castle. “Is that your son, Your Majesty?” I heard one of the lords inside say. I looked at the guards and they were confused, absolutely having no clue what to do. “Are you going to open the door or are you going to wait for me to explode and have you both sent to the dungeon?” I threatened. They quickly removed their spears, giving me a way to barge into the study. The lords and James suddenly looked in my direction as the doors swung open and hit the wall behind them. “Robert,” was all that James could utter at the very sight of me. “May I have a word with you?” I replied, trying to control my anger. The lords looked at each other. “Your Highness, we’re about to go on a trip right
What was she doing there? Was she following me this whole time? Did she know what I was up to? “Where did you get that?” I asked, eyes wide opened as I pointed at the basket. “Oh, I visited a bakery in the Mortal Realm because of a friend I made there,” she said. “It’s been quite a long time since we last spoke to one another and I had a lot of stories to tell.” My heart skipped a beat horrified. Somehow, I felt like she already told her friend about us. “And stories are these, if you don’t mind me asking?” “It’s mostly about my life,” she replied as she opened the basket. “How my life has been, what occupies my time recently and…” she slowly stopped. “Did you mention anything about us?” I asked. “It’s not like that–” “Did you tell someone about us?” I asked once more, not allowing her to give an explanation. “Robert, let me–” “I don’t need an explanation, Mallory,” I cut her off again. My blood boiled again as I continued, “Just answer the question: did you mention anything a
In the middle of a very important report, someone knocked on my door before it opened. My page peeked his head through the doorway. “Your Highness?” he asked. “Hm?” I raised a brow, not turning my attention away from the report. “Gonzalo is here with Mallory, Your Highness,” he informed. I closed the report and put it on my bedside table. “Let Mallory in. Have Gonzalo bring my dinner up here,” I instructed. “Yes, Your Highness,” he left the door open and Mallory entered. “Close the door, please,” I said as I stood up, walking towards her. Mallory gently shut the door behind her and walked over to me. “You asked for me? That’s odd.” “We need to discuss my unplanned introduction to your friend,” I said. “Robert, if you don’t want to, I understand–” “I did say I’m letting you introduce me to your friend, am I correct?” I interrupted, my hands on my waist. “Oh, thank you, Robert! Thank you!” She was about to hug me but I stopped her, blocking her with my hand. “I’m not finished
An hour has passed, and I finally finished packing and eating my dinner. While I waited for my body to feel exhausted, my door suddenly creaked open. I put the report that I was reading onto the table and removed the blanket from my legs. As soon as I tried to get out of bed, Elizabeth slowly entered my room. “Oh, Elizabeth,” I breathed out of relief, “I worried for a second on who it was.” “Um, your page isn’t here so I thought you’re not busy,” she explained, briefly pointing outside of my room. “Are you in the middle of something? Is this a bad time to pay a short visit?” she asked I smiled as I patted the part of the bed next to me, asking her to come. She closed the door and walked towards me. I reached out my hand and she took it as she sat beside me. “Elizabeth, how many times do I have to tell you that you are always welcome in my room?” I replied as I held her hands in mine. I continued, “No matter what I’m doing, if you want to come and talk to me, you can.” She smile