Beyond the Poppy Fields

{0.5} Interlude: The Past II

Everything soon became clear to you by the second month.

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"Excuse me!" You called out to the merchant, waving a hand. Not hearing you above all the shouts, the man continued tending to the other customers.

It certainly was a busy day today. There were so many people at the stall that the crowd around the stall almost stretched across the entire street. You huffed in defeat, guess there's not going to be any bread for the next few days. The sun was still up and about, shining in all its glory, meaning that it was probably around noon or early afternoon right now. Walking away from the crowd to a nearby bench, you paused and looked over at the filled basket in your hands.

Okay...fruit, fruit...I have apples, mangoes, blackberries, blueberries, plums, check check. Vegetables... You looked back at the list you were given, double-checking the contents in the basket once more. Ehhhh, good enough. Who needs vegetables anyways?

"Alright, where to next?" you mumbled quietly to yourself. You pocketed the list into your skirt pocket, deciding that it was time to head home for the time being as you had previously promised your sister you'd go to the shops with her.

Suddenly, there was a loud commotion as many of the villagers began talking loudly amongst themselves. Curious, you looked over to the town square that was just a few distances away from you. To your surprise, you saw what you assumed were to be the royal knights escorting whom you assumed to be a member of the royal family. The carriage and the knights' armor bore the royal crest, something you had only seen on the seals of the public royal decrees and announcements so it couldn't have been any regular old noble.

"His Royal Highness seems to have come back from his business trip to Ducrolia." You overheard one of the merchants say. "He spent such a long time there that everyone thought he was going to stay there for good to marry Princess Lucilia. I wonder what made him come back."

"Is that so? I thought the only reason he left was to establish Avlyrithe's jewel markets there." An elderly patron, whom you recognized to be Mrs. Pansy, responded.

Another voice belonging to a young man, probably around your age, chimed in. "Who knows? Perhaps that was his original purpose, but he fell in love with the princess along the way."

After that, you walked away from their conversation. As curious as you were to know what the Crown Prince had been doing in his time away, you were also still new to this world that you didn't know much about the royal family to pry in their business. You quickly made your way towards your home, following the little map Lillian had drawn out for you a month ago. Hopefully the crowds clear by the time you and Nessa come out again to shop and stroll around.

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"I'm home!" Walking through the front door, you headed towards the dining room to hopefully find your family. "I bought some mangoes for us since they looked very fresh. We could ma—" You cut yourself off once you turned the corner as you realized there was a man whom you didn't know in the dining room with the rest of your family as you were now more or less accustomed to calling them.

They all turned and looked at you, stopping their original conversation. Giving an awkward wave to the man, paired with a meek "nice to meet you," you gave a look to your parents as though saying, 'who the hell is this dude and what is he doing here in our house.'

In return, they gave you an apprehensive look. The man looked at you in shock, eyes wide. "[Name]?" He let out in an almost inaudible whisper. His brows stitched together into two unruly lines. You felt even worse when you saw that tears were beginning to brim his eyes.