Dark Path to Heaven [Demon Romance]

Chapter 22

The princess was brought up by two loving yet, sometimes, overprotective parents who never ceased to give her their full attention, in spite of their important duties. But, even if she didn't have the king and queen by her side, she would never feel lonely because she would spend time with her younger sister or her friends, princesses of other kingdoms. She was always told how pretty and kind she was and she was aware of her numerous merits. She felt confident in herself because she could have anything she wanted and her innocence and purity were admired by everyone in the kingdom. Her future was bright and the faith in herself unwavering.

On the day of her eighteenth birthday, the castle held a sublime ceremony where the noblest people of all kingdoms were invited. Kings, dukes, counts, and barons were all there with their families. And, of course, the prince she was destined to marry. 

She had seen him a couple of times in the past, once when she was still a little girl and once more as a teenager. She was convinced that this was the man of her dreams since dreams usually became reality for her. He was, naturally, handsome and especially wealthy since his kingdom was even more powerful than hers. The only thing that preoccupied her was that he always appeared somewhat reserved towards her and her family but she thought that this would be normal since he didn't appear to be very sociable in general.

The day of the big ceremony was no exception. In fact, he seemed colder and even more disinterested in the whole celebration. She began worrying even more and kept wondering what kind of sentiment that was. To make things worse, royal weddings were so thoroughly planned that if one of them didn't succeed, it would be difficult to form a new bond. Pairings were predetermined from the day when a noble reached adolescence and it would take time to renegotiate and decide upon a new one. Certainly, the pity and disapproval of commoners would complicate matters even more since the royalty depended on their favor.

Eventually, the prince ended up marrying a maid from the princess's castle who had fascinated him on the day of her eighteenth birthday. She wasn't very beautiful nor talented. But she was smarter than the innocent princess and didn't hesitate to abandon her official duties for a while in order to get to know the prince better. 

He was the one who had started chatting with her and discreetly asked if she could find some more time to talk to him. The maid could see that, after some point, the prince had started taking an interest in her and she knew that he wasn't famous for his social skills. He was rather selective and that – along with her strong intuition – was what had made her believe that he was serious about her. That was why she hadn't minded acting unprofessionally for a short period of time. Because if her guess was correct, it would last a lifetime.

When the news officially spread and weren't mere rumors anymore, the princess committed suicide. The citizens' opinion of her, the uncertainty of her future, the breakdown of her innocent view of life, her unfounded love for the prince, everything preoccupied her and left her restless. She was unable to adapt to the new situation due to how little she knew about real life and how frail the faith in herself was. Everything was so perfectly made for her that she had little reason to question matters that didn't directly concern her. And, apart from this, she was pure and innocent by nature.

Naïve and spoilt then, I thought when I finished the book, late in the afternoon. No wonder why the prince was able to adapt to the new circumstances even when he was the cause of this tragedy. He was intelligent and persistent with good reason. Of course, his parents' love and power combined with the strength of his beliefs and arguments were enough to create a proper fairytale for him and his wife.

I took a big breath, feeling a little tired. I had skipped at least one meal. As for my emotional state, I was certain there was a hint of true sadness somewhere inside me. The death of an innocent person is not something to be taken lightly. For sure, the princess wasn't the only one at fault. Her parents held part of the blame for not making sure that their daughter was taught meaningful things except for etiquette.

Nevertheless, this grief inside me was overpowered by the satisfaction I usually felt when meritocracy was applied. The prince was smart and serious about his feelings, as well as the maid he fell in love with. Why should noble people be the only ones to have a chance for happiness? Social status alone is meaningless if someone doesn't deserve it. I was mostly delighted with their happy ending.

As I started wondering what kind of emotions the ring would spot, I glanced down at it and was amazed at the view in front of my eyes. The once transparent Lucite ring had now become full of colors. The dark shade of purple and the bright white and yellow were the first ones that caught my eye. Apart from those, I could also see green and blue in paler shades. So had my emotions been transformed into colors after all? I couldn't wait for tomorrow's lesson so that I could ask Mr. Astar about the results. It had been a long time since I last experienced this kind of feeling, similar to taking an exam: I would offer him a tangible part of my mind.

This wasn't the same, though. There was no reason to be afraid of my own emotions. I was aware enough of what it was that I felt and I trusted that Mr. Astar himself had already suspected a few things. And he liked me for who I was. He did, didn't he?

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