When I was born, it was October and the trees just turned yellow and red and the leaves just began falling. That year was special, Mom told me that it was because I was born. That year, all the fairies in the kingdom and around the world come to visit me, the food, and the bad. The kingdom's people didn't know what exactly happened but they know that their next queen is born and is acknowledged by the fairies.
I was sent to a dark and tall tower at the age of three with a maid. It was a tradition for the next Queen to be isolated from the world at the age of three at the tower. There, I was taught many things, such as manners, history, music, dances, art, magic, and many more that I needed to know. I was never really bored in the tall tower because I have my maid there with me and my tutor. We would bake cakes, clean, and read together. It is very peaceful and quiet. Mom would occasionally visit me when I was young, to make sure that I was doing well and that I was not bullied. I didn't know why she is always so worried but I was always happy and excited to see her when she comes. She usually comes on my birthday every year and that is about the only time I have ever seen her.
Every year, the most exciting day of my life is always my birthday. That day, my mom would always visit me, and thousands of lanterns were released from the lake. It was a beautiful sight. I would stare at the lanterns for hours until they disappeared into the night sky by the window and the next day, my maid would found me asleep there.
While my maid was in charge of taking care of me, my tutor would visit me every day for my lessons to be the next queen. She taught me most of the things that I need to learn to be the next Queen. She is strict but gentle at the same time. She is like my grandmother to me. She would stay from after breakfast before dinner before leaving the tower and the next day repeats.
While I was never bored, I want to make friends. Every day, I would hear the laughter of the children my age playing with their friends. I never have a friend and I am envious of them. Since I was never supposed to be seen by the public, I made many little snow rabbits and snowmen to keep me company. They were alive, being blessed by the fairies that occasionally visited me. My maid and my tutor never know about the rabbits and the snowmen because they were always hidden. I want to tell them sometimes but there is always this voice inside my head that said to not tell them.
When I was eleven, I made a friend, I guess. It was a girl. She is very pretty with her short brown hair and sapphire blue eyes that seem to sparkle. She is wearing a simple red dress and red flats. I don't know how she comes up this high since there is no entrance that I know of and you will need magic to come up this high. Even my maid and my tutor have to climb up and down from the window with my very long hair every day to leave and come in. Yes, I have a very abnormal long hair that my maid told me to never cut off, which is strange. Her name is May and she is the Crown Princess of the Fire Kingdom, one of our allies. She said she is hiding away from her fiancé, Crown Prince Drew of the Grass Kingdom. I decided to hide her in my secret room where I kept all my rabbits and my snowmen. There we talked and played all day. We become instant friends with all the similarities we had with each other. May stayed for a few days before Prince Drew took her away. During the whole process, my maid and my tutor never know about her.
My life starts to change after I turned thirteen when I noticed something weird is going on around me. It may be that I never really noticed it before or it just happened but something weird is happening to my maid. She is acting very strange. I never know why but her eyes towards me slowly began to change and she slowly became impatient. I don't know what changed her but since then, I stopped telling her anything because I am afraid. I am very sensitive to changes and even though we have been close, it was never that close.
That year, I met my grandfather who I never met before, Louis. He is the former king of the kingdom and is the father of my mom. Although we never met before, we have a connection between us that it seemed as if we have met our entire life. I loved him. He always came during my break time. My tutor also seems to know him too so during breaks, my tutor would always leave us alone. He would tell me a lot about his journey in the Dark Kingdom and a prince. I always loved listening to his stories about the outside world and the prince. In his tone, I can tell that he is very proud of the prince and slowly, I began to fall in love with the prince he was talking about and wanted to meet him one day. My maid never knew about my grandfather's visits since she was never in the tower when the tutor came.
At the age of fourteen, I have an accident. My maid led someone into the tower. I don't know how she secretly let someone in. I guess it is my long hair. She led the person into my room. Luckily before anything happened, my rabbits and my snowmen attacked him and my maid. When I left my room, I saw my hair was out the window and I immediately know how he got in. I was skeptical about why my maid did this but I didn't have time to think with two people attacking me in two directions. My rabbits and my snowmen were able to push them out of the window. They were holding onto my hair when they fall but I know that I cannot let them in. The flashes of my maid's knife that were trying to cut me and the man's looks haunted me. I felt I am in danger and so exposed to many things that I never felt before. When I saw the man climbing up slowly with my hair, I did the first thing I can think of, citing my hair at the window.
I don't remember what happened but when my hair was cut off at the window, I hear their screams as they fall and the echoes. Then, I remembered what I did. I was so frightened that all I can do is to close all the windows and hide under a thick pile of blankets in the living room and cry. I also hold the knife that I used to cut my hair close to me. My little snowmen and my rabbits all stayed near me to comfort me but I was scared. I don't know what happened to them after they had fallen from the tower and I am afraid of going down.
My tutor found me in the position the next day. She didn't say anything but just comfort me. Then she told me the truth. When I was born, my mom and my father were divorced. My father had an affair outside and have a girl one year older than me. When the fairies all come, my father thought that it is his girl that is being blessed as the next Queen. When I was sent to the tower, my father never knew. He never knew that I was born, no one does except for my family, my mom's assistant, and my maid. He always thought that his daughter, Veronica is going to be the next queen and she thought so too. Therefore while I was in the tower, she would be around nobles and getting followers. My maid heard about her and that she is going to be the next 'queen' and began to wonder why she is stuck in a tower with a fake 'queen'. That is why she decided to kill me with her lover outside so that she can leave the tower.
After that incident, I was sent back to the castle at fifteen years old, entering my second stage of lessons, which is experience. I was greeted by my family and fairies. While we are not close, we know that we can trust each other. My favorite person other than my mom and my grandfather who visited me is my cousin, my big brother, Kenny.
In my family, the ruling system is different. In every generation, two heirs will be born and it is always two. The two will always be ruling together as the king and queen since the genders are always different. My mom is the queen while her brother is the king and it will be the same with me and Kenny. The spouse of the king and queen cannot rule in the kingdom after an incident a long time ago. The queen always ruled the fairies while the king ruled the people. The two work together to rule and they limited each other's power. The queen was sent to the tower to learn and to train until her magic is stable and then returned to the castle, where she will be recognized as the next queen.
I met Veronica there, who refused to believe that she is not the next Queen. The people who followed her was shocked. Since I entered the castle, I will be under the protection and it means that I was recognized as the next Queen. I know that she felt deceived and she didn't like me but I don't mind. It is not her fault for thinking that way. But I also don't like her too. I don't have to like her if she didn't like me. She is also always have hidden meanings to her actions and words. When she noticed that she is not the next queen, she did try to seduce Kenny and that is what officially made me not like her. Of course, she didn't succeed.
During my time in the castle, I was exposed to the world and start my physical training and my other training. Every year, I would leave with Mom to start the winter season and to greet the fairies. I always love what I see but I also saw the good and the bad in society. The world is not perfect than I thought. Kenny would sometimes join us on our journey to greet the people and to see the land. We would sometimes work together to do work, such as communicating with our allies and planning parties and charities.
When I turned seventeen, my grandfather finally returned to the kingdom and I was finally able to leave the kingdom myself. I tried to find my prince but I never find him during my journeys. One day, however, he appeared in front of me and my brother and I know that he is my Prince Charming. I don't know but I felt a connection with him. When my brother left me to go back to the kingdom at Eterna City, I decided to stay back. During my time with him, I learned so much about him and he became even more charming than what my grandfather had said. I still remember his face when I told him that Louis is my grandfather. Luciel, his guardian, is also cute. I know then when I left him that year that I need to take him away from the kingdom.
When I left the kingdom, I worked hard to become the queen. I continue to travel and occasionally stop by the Dark Kingdom to visit him, secretly or not. I began to start ruling side by side with my mother and with Kenny. I was thinking that when I become Queen, I will marry Paul over to the Ice Kingdom. That plan, however, was brought forward by a few years when I heard that his father is planning to marry him away to another kingdom. Angered, I asked for a married between us and rushed to the Dark Kingdom for negotiations.
It was hard to negotiate with the king, especially with Veronica watching my steps along the way. It takes forever and in the end, I have to steal Paul from the kingdom on the day of his wedding. Yes, I break the wedding and I had fulfilled my wish to elope with him. It is very hilarious when the soldiers tried to stop me but I stopped them. The king accepted my proposal without reading it through so I can legally take Paul away. Yes, I also tricked the King after he didn't allow Paul to marry me with a crystal mine.
I still remember our wedding and his awkwardness. It was a grand wedding with hundreds of guests. Paul is just so cute! I can't believe that he is so adorable underneath his cold demeanor. I also love Luciel, who was always pranking Kenny. My life ever felt so complete. Paul was always there when I was in trouble ruling the kingdom. He was by my side when my grandfather passed away and when my mom passed away. He was also there when I was giving birth to our son and when I am tried. We do argue sometimes but we always get over it.
"Dawn, what are you thinking?" Paul asked as he looked at me.
I was at my desk, signing papers. I looked at him and smiled before I get up and walked toward him. He was reading a book in my office on a sofa. I sat on his lap and hug him around his neck. Then I kissed him on his cheeks which he blushed and placed my head on his chest. Paul sighed and put down his book on his hand before he held on my waist. "I am thinking about the past, how I married you," I said.
"Don't remind me. It was so embarrassing," Paul sighed.
"It is. You are so awkward. I am glad that I am your first woman," I smiled.
"You are the one that took me away," Paul said.
"Yes, I did. Aren't you glad that you married a pretty girl like me?" I asked, jokingly.
Paul sighed but I knew he agreed with me. The door to my office opened again and our little boy running in with Luciel and Kenny running after him.
"Mother! Mother!" Peter called, running toward me. Peter is fourteen now and is undergoing his training as a prince. I am proud to say that he is like his father in most areas. He did have my eyes though. He will become a great king one day.
"What is it, Peter?" I asked, standing up.
"Your son is in big trouble!" Luciel exclaimed, pointing at Peter.
"Don't blame other's intelligence!" Peter retorted back.
"What happened?" Paul asked.
"Your son splashed a bucket of water on us! With glitter and perfume in it!" Kenny cried.
"I see why you are so shiny and scented today," I giggled.
"Dawn! Don't encourage him!" Kenny replied.
'Every day is a new adventure for us, as we survive every day. I wonder what will be next.' I thought as I looked at my family in front of me.