chapter two
STRANGE ENCOUNTERS
the duke swirled the wine in his cup around slowly, making sure it did not spill. "so..."
"so?" heinrey asked before taking a slice of meat into his mouth.
"how is his majesty?"
"well, he's doing better."
"good to hear."
"mmhm. how's your engagement going?"
"oh, it's going fine!" duke ergi chuckled. "we agreed to break it off if we found better people, though. i suppose the contract benefits both of us."
"a contract engagement.." heinrey looked at his friend disapprovingly. "hm, shall we move onto dessert now?"
"dessert would be nice." duke ergi smiled and turned to you. "wouldn't it, your highness?"
"sorry." your eyes wandered around, avoiding their gaze. "i think i'm going to leave..i don't feel very well."
"aah..alright." his smile widened. "i do hope you have a good rest of the evening."
"yeaa– yes, thanks." you corrected yourself and hurriedly jogged out of the dining hall.
"no, you mustn't get up before the guests, your highness!" you heard your etiquette teacher, madame vive's voice play in your head. sometimes, she appeared in your dreams, shrieking about the same few things over and over again.
you edged along the hallways. your mind felt crowded. if only you could speak with no formalities. it had only been a day or two since you started practicing them, but it was already a pain trying to remember all.
you finally reached one of the outside doors. the sky was navy but the night seemed so young. the breeze circling the area was warm against your cheek. it smelled of lavender and a refreshing scent of roses.
the garden was a beautiful distraction. if the man who carried the greatest of burdens was to enter through that very gate, he could come out as if the feeling of worry did not exist. it was a wonderful place. it left you speechless.
you loved sitting and dreaming about things that would never come true. this habit grew on you as you were mostly alone in the tower, your only entertainment being books.
you spent some time admiring your surroundings in the dark, not noticing the passing time. you were about to head back up to your room when you heard light footsteps behind you.
"it's easy to forget how quick the time passes when staring at something beautiful, isn't it?" a suspicious pair of green eyes stared at you, waiting for a response.
you sighed and got back up on your legs as you tried to improvise something to say.
"i think the sigh was a bit loud for my liking." he tilted his head and smiled.
the duke was polite enough, but he seemed untrustworthy.
"nobles are harsh when it comes to public appearances. especially towards women, i'd say. you would be torn apart by your own kind within the first minute of entering the ballroom."
you raised your brows, listening to his speech.
he chuckled at your face expression. "i hope you don't think i exaggerated all this."
you were just about to say that you indeed thought he was being a little dramatic and in no way would a little gathering affect you that much, when someone trudged over to you.
"duke, what are you doing?" heinrey scoffed as he made his way over to you. "hurry."
"oh, nothing. just having a little chat with her highness."
"oh.." he glanced at you. "forget it. your fiancé must be worried. better get going."
"haha, no way. she doesn't care about me." he hummed a little tune as he joined heinrey.
you watched as they bickered away, leaving you on your own.
'is it fun having a friend?'
the garden was huge. days of exploring but you were met with a new area everyday.
though it got quite boring very quickly.
heinrey insisted that you did not do any official work until you fully adapted to your new role, so days passed with you spending days in the garden, library or the study room learning etiquette.
today you had some extra long classes so you had to get through madame vive to go for a little walk. after a lot of debating, you ended up victorious.
usually, the people who wandered around the garden were staff in sharp uniforms, carrying baskets or maybe a broom or two. you made sure to keep out of their way, and they made sure to keep out of yours.
well, the workers collectively seemed to avoid you, so you didn't really need to make a big effort.
you noticed a few people walking down the path.
you didn't want to think much of it. it was probably a few kitchen staff heading over to the side building to gather ingredients. except the outfit wasn't a plain uniform. it was rich in colour and looked expensive.
soon enough, they got closer so you managed to take a good look at the person at the front.
you recognised his platinum hair and dull eyes. he looked exactly like the portrait you saw when you first arrived, even though some of his features weren't as sharp anymore.
"who..?" he saw you and asked the person closest to him.
"oh! your majesty, that's–" the young man next to him leaned in to whisper something in the king's ear.
"etiquette classes? is she the one?"
the person whispered something again.
his majesty's curious gaze dropped as he furrowed his brows at you. "how uneducated. at this age, too."
his words poked fun at you. it angered you, but it was true.
he seemed to want to say something else but as he opened his mouth, deathly coughs spewed out of him. he desperately sucked in air as someone pat his back.
"your majesty!"
"i'm fine." he gave you one glance before he walked away.
you dissolved in your own silence.
what would you even say to him if you opened your mouth?
'you're underestimating me.' ?
'you're wrong.' ?
or,
'it's not my fault your coward father locked me in a tower because he couldn't own up to a mistake he made.' ?