Poison Apple Bud (Book 7: The Pink Blossom Series)

The Good Life

It had been ten years since then. My name is Princess Rysa Wisteria and I was born with exceptionally rare crimson hair. I had heard that the crown prince disappeared, which would change the tides of who was next in line for the throne. Apparently, that chain now stops with me. After Prince Zen and my Mother, I would be the ruler of Clarines. I didn't really care, but I had been curious as to why they would skip Tancity. She was older than me. I thought that was how it worked. It was then that I was informed about the adoption and Tancity wasn't a blue blood. Therefore, she would never rule Clarines. At this point, I wasn't concerned by this. Tancity is my sister and I really enjoyed playing with her. Who else was I going to play with? Mother's bird, Ru Ru? I wasn't as close with Amari, but we hung out from time to time, too. Tancity was my awesome big sister. I had spent a lot of time with her and even though she wasn't a royal by birth, she was my only friend.

Amari and Tancity were together a lot too. I felt really alone, being the youngest, so it wasn't always sunshine and rainbows. My Mother made an effort to see us when she wasn't busy, but Father had spent a lot more time recently on inspections and I think Mother is feeling really lonely too.

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I was sitting by myself in the courtyard, when I was interrupted from my lack of activity.

"Rysa? There you are!" Mother smiled as she approached me.

"What's up?" I inspected her face and suddenly realized I spoke a little too casual, but like normal I knew she wouldn't press it. "Sorry. You were looking for me?" I asked her genuinely curious.

"I was. How would you like to leave the grounds for a while?" Miko asked sweetly.

I stood up in complete astonishment. "Seriously?!" I shrieked. I had to know if she was joking or not. This would be a dream come true! I haven't left the palace once yet.

"Certainly. I thought it would be nice to get out for a while." She pulled out a little box from her pocket and handed it to me. "This is for you."

I opened it quickly to find a lovely teal gemstone of some kind, that rung like a bell.

"I would like you to keep this with you, always. It's a walnut stone. As long as you have this with you, I will be able to find you. That way, you will never be alone." Her tone became a little more serious. "Can you promise me, that no matter what, you will keep this with you at all times?"

I stared at her face for a moment. If this was some kind of condition to leave the castle, then it's fine by me."Sure." I gave her a big hug. "Is Tancity coming too?"

"She is busy for a while, so it's just us. I hope you aren't too disappointed."

"Not at all." I had a big smile on my face.

"Then, shall we?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" I hated composing myself. I don't think Mother minds. But she does constantly remind me to stay composed around others. I don't know how she does it. She never loses face. If there was anyone I would like to be, it would be just like her.

We snuck out of the castle and headed into town.

I was so excited as we navigated through the marketplace and saw more people than I had ever seen before. People around us did not ignore us in the least. Everyone knew my Mother and made points to shower her with praise. She would express her gratitude and continue. People did give us our own space after a while. It was so peaceful here. Someone approach Mother while I was looking at some jewelry at a stall. I saw out of the corner of my eye, the man passed her a letter. She read it after he left and I saw her expression change, but only slightly.