𝕾𝖔𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖔 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖓 𝖙𝖔: 𝕳𝖆𝖕𝖕𝖎𝖊𝖗 𝖇𝖞 𝕺𝖑𝖎𝖛𝖎𝖆 𝕽𝖔𝖉𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖔
***
The reminiscence of that day made me feel like a fish outside of the water, and my chest felt heavy as if the pain from the penetrating sun went to move across and boil my stomach which was in continuous knots.
When my gaze went to my hands clothed in purplish fabric up to my arms, I could see the servant already fixing my hair.
"Is there any problem, Milady?" I heard the maid ask and I shook my head, as the corners of my lips showed a side of me that would always face my problems alone.
"No, I'm all right..." I said, dismissing my thoughts with one utter of breath.
"Then please enjoy the banquet today, Milady, I heard that the second prince specifically announced yesterday that he would want to make you his partner..."
I wanted to say to Bertha that I've already known that even without his announcement, he's just a mysterious man I met along when Klein introduced us to each other.
Though I never bothered to utter those words as I nearly rolled my eyes when if felt that my head turned, only breaths of silence came looking forward to the silence I created.
"Milady?" I heard Bertha ask and I faced her.
"I guess it's just his way of surprising people, right Bertha?"
"But please Milady, in loving someone do not put your whole trust in them"
"Why?" I asked as I became curious about her words, as if she had the same experiences I had in my past life, or that she had been betrayed before...
"Because Milady if you put your whole trust in that person, then where would you be able to find trust in yourself?"
Her words stood some hair from my body and eventually, the corners of my lips flattened.
"Don't you think that being in love requires trust in the process?"
"I do, Milady but as advice, I guess you should trust your intuition first than anyone else since the second prince had a history before..."
I knew Bertha, I knew that all too well, I wanted to say those words but instead, I gently searched for her hands and caressed them.
"Trust me Bertha, I've had all I've needed to trust myself, for now, I just wanted to find my own happiness..." because in the first place, we weren't in that kind of relationship, we were in a contract relationship and there was no romance involved.
"Milady? We are already here," despite my thoughts swirling over on what Bertha had said, my sight opened to see a very beautiful and huge place, I've set my eyes on.
It was full of golden lights with misty air descending on my figure, but the moment the horseman opened the carriage that wasn't from our household, I immediately offered my hands only to fully know who opened the door when the lights from the outside engulfed his whole being
"So my dearest lady had indeed accepted my proposal..." his voice sounded like a play, as if it was wavy and at the same time confident. He didn't even hesitate to grab my hands and pulled me closer to his figure until my whole silhouette had been caged in his arms.
I could smell his forest minty woodland scent that would always make me hold my breath and gasp in the end.
He had the appearance of a cradled child in an angel's form as his emerald eyes shone from the golden place we were.
When his arms lifted me from the air, I could feel my legs had been caged in them, and my hands that were clothed in the softest fabric came to descend on his broad shoulders.
I should have felt embarrassed, but I couldn't, not when I felt a very familiar silhouette not far from where I was. I could see his crimson eyes narrowing with the actions we were displacing.
From the huge entrance of the imperial palace, we were in the middle of the circular landscape full of red roses, and as some of the petals swirled by the wind, same as my hair did the same, and all I could do was close my eyes and arched my back to feel the loveliness of the surroundings.
I must have felt that everyone's eyes were on us and I could also sense that someone was gritting their teeth from behind us and I just chuckled.
"You just wanted to capture the people's attention with his soft gesture of yours, Vaxius. Now we should head within," Vaxius mimicked my expression and shook his head but the corners of his lips twisted playfully.
He then put me down as I sighed but I still managed to grab him by the hands.
"Of all times, why do you have to wear gloves, right now?" He asked as his eyes remained on our hands I guess I could sense some curiosity in him but I just shook my head.
"For you to not always intertwine our hands, got that?"
"I guess my intuition is always correct then," I saw him sigh but the corners of his lips remained and sometimes, I just couldn't help but be puzzled by his reactions.
"This night would be tough. I indeed saw earlier how Klein seemed to be annoyed and the one you heard gritting their teeth earlier seemed to be Lady Sylvia. So, you need to be careful in tonight's event," I could see how depth his voice was and I could only nod straight looking at him in the eyes.
"Then expect to be confronted by Klein as well, because before this started, a few days ago, he asked me to be his partner but I refused..."
I heard him chuckle again and later than that, he managed to pull a halt to our movement, as the messenger announced my arrival with the second prince.
The guests within had mixed reactions but most of them expected that this would happen since Vaxius already announced within the empire that he would make me his partner for tonight.
I could feel how intense their gazes were until I couldn't feel anything more since his warmth was so overwhelming that in my vision, everything got blurred and there was only him in the middle.
"Then for the moment, be prepared because right now and then, we'll have to start the greatest show," as he leaned in with his scent overruling my nose, I nearly gasped when I felt something wet touches my ears.
That's only when I widened my eyes when he immediately chuckled and leaned to my face, I could see how the corners of his lips twisted in this devious grin that I know only the devil could have and yet, he must be the most handsome devil I could ever saw in my entire life.
With his penetrating gazes his impeccable words and undying actions from that eternal warmth that he had, everything seemed to be focused only on this young man.
"Don't you know that me being your partner, was always prepared?" I chuckled and instead of him swirling me around, I managed to pull him closer as we headed to our own table.
As seconds passed by, new guests continued to come and eventually, the guests arriving wouldn't even let the announcer rest and it continued until the time of the event came when the crown prince already descended from the stairs.
He had raven hair and ocean-blue eyes, the same appearance as the first empress, his late mother. The emperor loved the empress so much that he couldn't have had a second child if it weren't for a mistake.
That was what the rumors held, and that's why the imperial family members even the crown prince didn't seem to be concerned with the second prince, instead, he seemed to be cold.
As the heir to the throne continued to descend the stairs, he had this luscious white and golden suit, as well as pants that swirled the elegance of how the imperial family would cost within the empire.
His hands were also covered in golden gloves gently laid on the wooden handle of the stairs and the other one was holding one of the most beautiful hands a lady could ever ask for, when my gaze set straight upon his companion, I couldn't help but widen my eyes.
In the past, the lady disappeared right after a few years while being in the arms of the crown prince. It is said that she contracted an illness, so the emperor vanished her to the barren land, even though she was the daughter of a duke, and yet, she was proven to be an illegitimate child.
As if the lady never existed and yet, she had these red curls, this majestic smile that anyone could be mesmerized by as if she was made of golden dust, that no one could be compared to, and she was one of the few that managed to catch the crown prince's attention.
For the longest time that they've been together in the past, I knew that the crown prince loved her, and yet, when a year had passed since the lady disappeared, he eventually replaced her with someone else.
Not minding as if Lady Valentina existed in the first place. It felt as if he was only easy to let go of her when in reality, I don't even know what he must have felt back then
"Don't look too much on my brother, he'll melt if you do besides, you're already hurting my heart," Vaxius whispered through my ears, and despite what he said when I looked at him, he seemed to act like he was pained.
With the hands between the middle of his chest and closed eyes with knitted eyebrows.
"Get a grip of yourself, Vaxius, we both know what is there to know," I said with my gaze set straight on him and he just chuckled while shaking his head.
"But if you wanted to look at him, just do so in a place I would never see..."
"Why? I was just observing him"
"That's all the ladies I've been with said but in the end, they couldn't help falling for him"
"What did he even do to make them fall for him?"
"Nothing..."
"Ad you expect me to do the same thing?"
"Oh, I forgot you already had Klein..." then he ushered as if he was shaking some of his thoughts with his hands waving in the air. I only shook my head nearly rolling my eyes on this young man.
"You're just...."
"But aside from that, don't you think the lady he holds in his arms is the most beautiful lady in the entire empire?" And that's the moment I knew, not from his words, but from the gazes he held to the lady which he couldn't have.
"Vaxius, could you tell me the truth? Are you in love with your brother's partner for tonight?"