Meanwhile, within the Dragon Kingdom's palace; "I must find that book..." Kaitos silently murmurs as he sneaks past his fellow guards, avoiding any unnecessary confrontation; hoping to retrieve something within his master's boudoir.
"Anything to help Matilda and Rose to escape, even if means betraying my prince..." The opal dragon sidles a little in attempt of eluding one of his own species; after waiting a bit, he's on the move again. He sneaks pass though all the security, progressively making his way to Prince Len's master bedroom; he ignores the subtle hints of guilt in his gut.
"After what his highness did, I can't forgive him..." Slyly slipping through the protective sections of the massive wing, he somehow manages to find what's he's been looking for; the master's sleeping quarters.
Before entering, he listens in behind a secluded corner; he hears Len's voice.
"Ah, soon all of the pieces shall be in place; pity that knight in red's coming this way. Rowling...gather some of the other dragons and make a barricade at the main pass, that little whelp and his ridiculous companions mustn't be able to get here before the wedding. It'll be a disaster if they managed to get here before it's finished."
Rowling's voice answers respectfully, "Yes master, consider it done."
The pale reptile mutters hatefully as he observes them leaving, apparently leaving the room wide open; with no one around.
"It's too easy, very suspicious; though I haven't the time to think about such risks..." He murmurs lowly before carefully entering into said place, praying to goddesses he doesn't get caught; thankfully it seems safe to go in.
Kaitos searches thoroughly, trying extremely hard not to disturb certain things in this particular room; "Where could it be?" He wonders in slight worry, checking near the elegant nightstands beside a wonderful canopy bed; not having much luck in finding what he seeks so desperately. He looks high in the bookshelves then glances below onto the finely carpeted floor, yet it's not there; the mildly big lizard facepalms himself with a soft groan of discontent. He spends a few minutes more; seeking what could well break the spell off of the girl, who he worries for.
As he begins to doubt it's really here, his scaly elbow bumps into something on the writing desk; a small navy blue book with a really elaborate design. "Oh goddesses, I've found it!" His mind cheerfully rejoices as he promptly picks up the coveted journal, he tucks it away safely into his right underarm; before making a mad dash out of there. The pale dragon flees endlessly into the darkness of the corridor, only dimly glowing candles light the way; to Princess Rose's sleeping quarters.
On the way though, he bumps into one of the other guards on the night shift. This dragon is particularly smaller than the rest with light mauve scales. "Oh Syria, I didn't mean to; it's just I've..."
Kaitos tries to explain himself when Syria replies with a simple gaze from her light scarlet eyes, "If you're in a rush then, who am I to stop you; besides I got to complete this route or I'm never going to get any sleep..." She lets out a small yawn before just walking around him, ignoring anything else that may come her way; all for the sake of completing her route. The emerald eyed creature breathes a sigh of relief, thankful that he hasn't been caught yet; thus he proceeds down the seemingly endless hallway.
After a while, he manages to find the right door; though he finds that it's been locked for the night. He takes the book, which contains the truth; from under his arm and nonchalantly slides it under.
He notices a shadow at the door, small hands pull the book into the other side of the room; "Thank you for doing this, but you have to go...now..." Rose's voice softly speaks through the wooden door.
With that being spoken, Kaitos leaves the scene; most likely returning to his post so no one can suspect him of not doing his job.
In the privacy of her room, the petite princess cradles the very journal; knowing that it's a lofty risk to take in doing this. "But, I won't allow this madness to continue; Matilda has to know..." She goes to her surprisingly comfortable bed, after effortlessly lights a candle; she opens the personal diary of the madman prince. "Here are entries 12 through 14 from last time..."
She murmurs quietly then gasps slightly in turning a page after the previous entry, "He must've written in it recently..." Rose begins to read it, making sure no one else can see it.
Her childish light red eyes scan the newly made entry; "Entry 15: The wedding's taking place soon, the preparations are almost complete; all I need now...is my sacrifice. Once the ceremony ends, Matilda shall be dead..." The young maiden glares with tiny tears forming in her already moist eyes. "Only then, I'll have the power; which nearly all have thought impossible to acquire. This power is said to...give whoever possesses it; immortality. A gift normally belonging to the bearers of the goddesses blessings, has fallen right upon my lap; in the form of a pitiful girl..."
Her light scarlet eyes widen in horror, the thought of an immortal Len; it's unspeakable horrible. She thinks to herself before continuing to invade the prince's private thoughts, "What a monster, I knew he was abusive; but this is pure evil. Absolutely evil, no one deserves death for having something the other desires so; it's downright evil!"
She pounds her pillow to relieve herself of some frustration, tears trail of her puffy rosy cheeks. After a minute of that, she returns to reading the rest of the page; "No wonder Zelda the 10th wanted her gone, she couldn't stand the thought of a mere shadow; living on longer than her. Oh the irony, well; enough about that. Let's talk about Rose, she's so adorable; it's like she's a little flowery bud. If I could, I'd give her the whole world; that might happen if everything goes accordingly..."
The captive bride to be finishes it, with a look of a both horror and sorrow; "How could he...THAT BASTARD!" She then sheiks angrily, possibly disturbing the peace of the whole palace; almost as bad as Sapphire's temper at its lowest level. "THIS IS MADNESS, ABSOLUTE MADNESS!"
She unknowingly causes someone to check up on her, a knock resounds from the door; "Princess...are you alright?" Matilda's mundane voice quietly speaks from the other side of the door. "I heard...really loud screaming...is there...something wrong...?" The shy maid asks in her usual emotionless voice, with only a hint of worry.
"I'm fine, just had a...BAD DREAM; yes, a very bad dream..." The childish noble fibs a little, to avoid being caught red-handed.
"I'm...coming in...just to make sure...you're really ok..." The mundane looking servant unlocks the door, enters in without noticing much; since Rose just blew out the candle and stashed the journal under her fluffy pillow.
"It's so dark...better light a candle..." Len's loyal puppet lights her own, brightening the nearly blacked out room. "Better..." She murmurs lowly. "Now then..." Her shadowy red eyes scan their surroundings, gradually adjusting themselves; "Nothing strange here..." She turns her seemingly lifeless gaze upon the small teen, who's still in her bed. She inquires curiously as she sits down on the soft surface of the plush covers, "The dream...what was...it about...?"
Her master's soon to be queen replies with a gulp, "Well, it was...a big monster! A really big monster, who likes to eat little children; it was really scary!"
Matilda blankly stares for a second or two before saying, "You're lying...I can see... the guilt...in your eyes..."
She stares suspiciously, noticing something about the pillow; a small yet somewhat easy to spot corner of navy blue. "What is that...?"
She wonders a little, without warning she then; lifts the pillow to find her master's personal property under it.
She gasps out of character, "Are you...nuts, this is Prince Len's journal; this is extremely secret! You could get...killed over this! Hasn't anyone...ever told you...never to touch...certain things...? Because that would...heavily apply to...this moment!"
The usually quiet maid flips out without making much noise, while Princess Rose tries to reason with her; "Listen, I know it looks like I did something bad; but you should seriously look into that thing."
This only freaks out the poor dear more, "No, that would...only add...insult to injury! Besides, I can't...I've given my word...to never betray him...reading this; would betray his trust..." Matilda slightly glares in a sad kind of way.
"You need...nay, you must see what's inside; I've been telling the truth the whole time. I dare you, everything I've been saying; is truthfully written in that log!" Her rowdy highness rebuttals with slight concern and aggression, "If you don't believe that Len's using you, then you'll find the proof in there; regardless of how much you think it's a lie..." She gazes upon her highly discontent company with a rather adult expression, which is very unusual for the tiny princess; in seriousness though it makes sense.
"Stop it...I won't...it's not worth it, master shall be...severely upset if...he finds out..." Matilda defies her with much distaste for this, ironic scene with the evidence; that could shed some light on her whole ordeal. "Also, it's...wrong to peek...at someone's personal...belongings..." She sighs tiresomely, rubbing her head a little.
Rose then gets a ridiculously weird idea, though it may seem strange of her to do this; "Does the name...Zelda, mean anything to you?" She questions with a cute glint in her eye, perhaps knowing it may strike a nerve with the maid; for she was once the target of that hateful hylain.
Matilda's eyes widen in fear, "Zelda..."
A memory instantly flashes before her eyes; a mirror reflects a beautifully vain lady who mocking smiles, "Ah, we may share the same life but; I'm the princess and you're the reflection! Answer me this, who could ever love a creature like yourself; oh pitiful shadow..." It's gone, as quickly it came; it quickly disappears. The frightened servant shivers fearfully, "That girl, who...was she...?" She doesn't realize that her pale hands are cringing uncontrollably, that sudden recollection; has put her in a state of unfaltering shock.
"Are you ok, you're shivering...?" She hears her master's captive asking out of worry and concern. "I'm sorry for asking, it's just that; I'm deeply concerned...Matilda?"
The young maiden's concerns don't reach her still quivering acquaintance, who mutters softly under her shallow breathe; "A shadow...can't be loved...no matter how...badly they...wish to be..."
Matilda repeats these words, with no true reason of why; ignoring her mistress to be as she keeps uttering them. "A shadow can't...be loved no matter...how badly they...wish to be..." She continues this strange trance of fearfulness, not caring if anyone sees her like this; only focusing on saying this.
Before long, a pair of dainty arms wrap around her comfortingly; "There there, it'll be fine; shush..." The somewhat inquisitive blonde cuddles her plain yet frightful anxious associate, gently rocking her in place; in hopes to calm her down. "All I ask of you is to read that book's entries, Len's been lying; see for yourself...I beg you." She whispers solemnly into the silent servant's ear.
Finally after a long foreboding silence, Matilda murmurs mournfully; "I...can't..." She then shakes Princess Rose off, heads for the door promptly; with the small navy blue dairy in her hands.
"Goodnight..." She bleakly murmurs before closing the door behind her, locking it with the same heart shaped key as before; then she flees to her own quarters.
The tiresome person enters in with heavy footsteps, feeling a bit nervous; for she still possesses the very thing that's haunting her mind. "I must...return it..." She worryingly thinks to herself while placing said piece of hand written literature on a nearby desk, having not true desire to gaze into it; her loyalty is too great.
The weight of all this stress, causes her to simply collapse onto her not-so comfy bed; attempting to relieve herself by falling asleep. Her pale crimson eyes slowly close, as she begins to drift off into the darkness of her own mind; with her master's secretive book being the last thing that she sees before completely succumbing to tempting slumber.
As she sleeps, an image appears in her head; a young girl holding a bright red apple. The dream progresses as the young girl quickly grows up to around the same age as Matilda, with the apple slowly rotting away in the process.
She looks slightly like the maid in question but strangely different, she murmurs something as she begins to melt into a mysterious darkness; "Seek the truth...seek it before it's too late...you'll rot away like the fruit...if you don't." Suddenly, the girl's gone; there's only the pitch black scenery now.
A voice lingers in vast shadowy place; "Oh Matilda...you've been deceived...within the pages...tells the story...of how everything...was taken and destroyed...seek the truth within these pages..." After that, it completely fades; the restless maid wakes up in a cold sweat.
Her eyes automatically lock onto the precious dairy, with both fearful regret and a newly born desire; "Seek...the truth?"
She hesitates a little as she reaches for it, understanding how she's basically renouncing her word to his majesty; the prince. "If I do...this deed...I can...never forgive...myself for...this is an act...of absolute treason..."
She contemplates upon these thoughts, something else stirs inside her; a sense of incurable curiosity that now overpowers these loyalties.
There's no turning back now, as she picks up the once hidden secret; the restless emotions of both guilt yet wonder run endlessly through her diminutive mind. Opening it, a tale of conspiracy unfolds before her; she begins to read. After a few minutes, she finishes the first entry with a strange quandary; "Zelda...?"
She briefly recollects the same horrid person, fearfully shuttering at how that person long to end her; to murder her.
The snooping servant shakes off her anxiety towards that girl for now, proceeding to further penetrate the forbidden pages; learning everything that has gone on prior to the present. The second part divulges her previous home and family, which makes her shed a tear; receiving another image. The man who has been appearing in her thoughts, was indeed; her father. The young lad from a previous vision days earlier, was her brother; "What...happened...?" She questions with deep yearning, no long holding back; she reads the last two entries.
After that, Matilda stares in both horror and sadness; "Why...why...master...why...?"
Finally, after the longest time; the long forgotten memory of that day reveals itself. The events that occurred during said day flood her consciousness, scenes full of bloodshed and loss brutally come to mind; a kingdom has fallen.
"The princess...she's been...speaking of the...truth! Prince Len...is truly...a gluttonous beast..." She cries for the first time, salty dewdrops trail off her moist eyes; dripping onto the personal parchments.
At long last, it's covered up no more; the truth has been released.