The Legend of the Great Empress

Chapter 8: The Shy, Sly Prince

It was another day before the New Year party, and I was just finishing up some work when I received news that one of the day's guests have arrived early. I was quite surprised when I heard who the guest was. I made my way to receive the lone guest, and there he was, standing quite awkwardly, with his head bowed and his hands clasped together, Prince Juan of Aguasuave.

"Your Royal Highness, Prince of Aguasuave, it is with the utmost delight that I welcome you to Morado, and my castle. I'm glad that you could finally attend Morado's New Year's party, and I hope that you enjoy your stay here," I said.

When I finished speaking, Prince Juan finally lifted his head up to look at me, and when he did, his face looked awestruck. He continued to look at me without words until I called his name out to him to get his attention. He suddenly bent down on one knee, took my hand, and kissed it while gazing up at me.

"It is a great pleasure to finally meet you, Your Royal Highness, Princess of Morado, my most wonderful neighbor of the north," he said.

He then stood up and continued to stare at me, with my hand still in his. The action began to make me a little uncomfortable, so I decided to politely send him away to his guest room.

"Well, Your Highness, I do hope for you to make yourself comfortable here," I said, slowly removing my hand from his, "I will call a servant over to lead you to your guest room. Also, feel free to tour the castle to your heart's desire."

"I think...much of the castle's beauty is reflected in the person I am looking at right now," said Prince Juan.

After blushing a little, I promptly called a servant over to us.

"Please take His Royal Highness, Prince Juan, to his guest room," I instructed the servant, "And I hope that you enjoy yourself, Your Highness."

After, reassuring me that he would, Prince Juan followed the servant to his room, nearly not taking his eyes off me.

A little later in the day, Princess Carolina de Bella of Dulcetierra arrived. Now, there are two Princess Carolinas, one of which I used to be friends with, and the other I'm currently very good friends with. The one I used to be friends with is simply known as Princess Carolina, although, how she became a princess, no one knows, as she is an illegitimate child, and heavily associated with the people of the west, yet lives in the north, therefore being one of my neighbors. She also doesn't rule very well; always overspending, manipulating people to do her bidding, and overindulging in her son. She is also rumored to be a very promiscuous sort. All these qualities have resulted in many people not liking her very much, earning her "charming" nicknames, such as "Princess Northwest" and "The People's Manipulator". It's an interesting surprise that she hasn't been impeached after all this time. Our friendship ended when she proved to be two-faced towards me; spreading rumors, siding with my enemies in petty gossip, and whenever she became upset with someone, especially if they were receiving any type of preferential treatment that she believed should only be shown towards her, she did her utmost to paint that person in a bad light until she saw fit to treat that person well again, a chameleon and hypocrite at best she was. On the other hand, Princess Carolina de Bella is among the most charming rulers known in the north, her kingdom being one of the most successful and beautiful places to visit, and her name a most perfect distinguishment from the other Carolina as her kingdom's beauty is also reflected in herself, her being one of the most beautiful princesses I have ever seen, known, and had the honor of being friends with. She greeted me very warmly upon her arrival.

"Your Royal Highness, Princess Kai of Morado. It is such a pleasure to see you again. How are things? Great, I hope," said Princess Carolina de Bella.

"Things here are wonderful, as always," I replied, "And it's always a great pleasure to have you here as a guest, my most beautiful neighbor, Your Royal Highness, Princess Carolina de Bella of Dulcetierra."

"Well, I must say that having me as your humble guest is not as big a pleasure as it is to me in being in the presence of the most powerful princess in the world."

Of course, this made me blush a little. We spoke a little more until more guests started trickling in and we said our farewells to each other, wishing each other an early Happy New Year.

Another day passed, leading up to the New Year's celebration. I was in my room, attending to things, when I received news that Prince Juan wanted to see me. As I was walking towards the door to speak to him, I wondered why he could possibly want to see me at this time. I opened the door to the hallway, and there he was, standing with his hands clasped together and an interesting glint in his eyes. He smiled broadly as he took my hand in his and kissed it.

"My beautiful princess. I hope I'm not interrupting you or anything," he began, "but I wanted to make a request to tour the castle. It's so big that I'm afraid I might get lost."

"It's alright," I responded, taking my hand from his, again, "I can have one of my ladies in waiting take you on a tour."

"Actually...I was hoping maybe YOU could show me around, my princess."

"Oh. Alright."

"Great!"

Prince Juan took my hand in his again, kissing it, before I instructed him to follow me to begin our tour.

We explored the majority of the castle before we made our way to the courtyard. Thankfully, it was a nice, sunny day, which made many of the courtyard's features stand out beautifully. Another thing to be thankful for is that the land of Morado doesn't really have winter weather, or more rain than is needed, adding to many people's reasons for coming here to welcome and enjoy the New Year.

Prince Juan and I were strolling past one of the large gardens planted in the courtyard when a sudden question for Prince Juan popped into my head.

"Your Highness, I must ask, but what made you finally decide to attend my country's New Year celebration after all this time?"

"...Well, my princess," Prince Juan began, "I don't know if you've noticed already, but I'm a bit shy. You see, my parents always wanted me to come visit this amazing country and meet its princess. I heard so many things about you, including how powerful you are as a ruler. But for some reason, I guess I was just afraid to meet you. I was scared of doing something that would possibly offend you. So, I kept putting off coming here. This time, though, my parents practically forced me to come here. They really want to be friends with you. Our kingdoms are already neighbors. My parents also just wanted me to come out of my shell and meet new people. So, I mustered the courage to come here. And you know, I'm happy that I did, because now I know what a wonderful and beautiful princess you are."

Upon first meeting him, I already saw Prince Juan as a shy sort. But the more I looked at him, a new observation of him unfolded. I started to think that not only was Prince Juan shy, but also sly. It was the way he kept gazing into my eyes when we weren't speaking to each other, and the way he smiled. Then, I had another question.

"So, what else do you know about me and my country, Your Highness?"

"Ahh," began Prince Juan, "well, I also know that your country is beautiful, and your people are happy and safe."

"Hmm..."

I was going to ask a little more, when one of my servants came running towards me, calling me.

"Your Highness! Your Highness!"

I asked what was wrong when the servant got close enough.

"Prince Antonio has arrived and wants to see you. And he's brought a guest with him."

No sooner than when the servant finished speaking did the prince appear. However, when I saw who his guest was, I became nearly furious, especially when the prince only stood there, staring in my direction. Kendyl, having appeared from behind the prince, was the first one to speak.

"Juan?!" she called.

"Kendyl?!" answered Prince Juan.