บท 21: The Ace and the Jack

LILY RETURNED A little under the promised twenty minutes later with a tray of hot food to accompany the drinks which had been served before. The plates filled up the table, leaving nearly no space behind to spare. Under the warm, dim lights of the tavern, Alice could still see the waft of smoke that rose from the piping hot plates.

Although he said that he would order some of his personal favorites, Spade ended up ordering nearly one of every dish available on the menu. On their table now sat fish and chips, beef stew, shepherd's pie, bangers and mash, and haggis, just to name a few. All of the dishes present were food items that Alice recognized as classic British food and were all items she knew and loved.

Their mugs were already half-empty by the time the dishes were presented, the fruity drink nearly drained. Alice sighed, smacking her lips lightly together as she dug into the plate of fish and chips. Spade, on the other hand, ladled a portion of the beef stew into a separate bowl before digging into it, his actions poised and elegant despite their clamorous environment.

"Oh my goodness!" Alice exclaimed as she took a bite of the fried fish, her eyes nearly watering at the taste. "I've had plenty of fish and chips before in my life but I've never had one as good as this."

"It's good, isn't it?" Spade chuckled, placing his spoon back down. "This is my favorite spot out of all of Gladiolum's eateries. Even the royal palace can't compare, in my honest opinion."

"I'm sure the chefs in the palace will be disheartened if they ever hear you say that." Slicing another portion, Alice shoved it in her mouth, momentarily forgetting all about how she should be practicing proper etiquette even when eating. With a tasty meal before her, nothing else mattered other than eating. "But it's truly amazing how they've seasoned the fish. There isn't any bit of that funky smell that's sometimes found in fishes. And the fries! They're perfectly salted. Definitely better than the soggy excuse they serve at McDonald's."

Spade's eyebrow quirked up with interest at the foreign term she had used. He pushed away his finished bowl of stew, lifting the mug of ale to his lips as he spoke, eyes still glued onto Alice, unwavering.

"I'm afraid I don't recognize that name. Is McDonald's a place you often dine at in your hometown?"

Her fork came to an abrupt halt right before the fish touched her lips. Alice hadn't even realized that she had let the familiar fast-food chain's name slip from her lips. The word had come to her so naturally and she had felt so comfortable with her surroundings that once again, she had forgotten her bearings. She wasn't in Riverside Creek nor was she anywhere else in the twenty-first century. Here in Gladiolum, there was no such thing as fast-food restaurants.

"Oh… Erm…" Alice hesitated, her fork lowered back down to her plate. "Yeah. It's a popular restaurant where I come from. They sell bur— sandwiches of all sorts and they often come with fries like these." Holding up one of the fried potato sticks, she wiggled it around. "But sometimes it's left out for too long so it gets a little soggy. It's still edible, of course. In fact, it's one of my favorite comfort foods so this dish…" She stared at the half-consumed plate of fish and chips that sat right in front of her. Her voice dipped, a little softer than before as she spoke, "A little weirdly, this kind of reminds me of home."

Alice's grip on the fork and knife tightened, her knuckles turning white as her nails dug into the metal cutleries. A brief image of her family and old friends from her neighborhood flashed in her mind, all gathered around a small booth in the fast-food restaurant, food and drinks scattered over the surface as everyone shared a meal and a laugh. All of it seemed like a memory from eons ago when in truth, it hadn't even been a month.

She looked up, tearing her gaze away from the plate of food and back at Spade who was staring at her with gleaming curious eyes, glittering with curiosity.

"Thank you for recommending this place," she said after taking in a deep breath. The words tumbled out without much thought. "Speaking of which, how did you even discover this tavern? It's situated in the middle of nowhere and truthfully, it doesn't look like the sort of place where a dignified prince would head to." The sights they had passed by en route to the tavern flooded her mind's eye. It certainly was no place for royalty, especially with the rowdy atmosphere and sketchy people that lurked around those dark streets.

Spade chuckled at Alice's question, raising a hand to his lips to shield his mouth as he laughed. He looked almost delighted by her choice of words, bathing in a red glow that was particularly magnetized to his cheeks. The color bloomed as his voice — superiorly elegant compared to the boisterous din that surrounded them — rang above the others.

"Well, since we're sharing minor secrets as a testament to our budding friendship, I confess that I had been a very mischievous lad in my childhood years," Spade confessed. "I often snuck out of the palace whenever my tutors and guards weren't looking and one day, I stumbled upon this really rundown place after spending hours rolling about in all sorts of trouble. It was still bright out so the tavern wasn't nearly as lively as right now since they had just opened but Lily, who owns this tavern with her husband, ushered me in all the same." Spade reminisced fondly, looking at the crowd that had gathered in the compact yet cozy space. The expression he wore and the warmth written in his eyes contrasted the mask he had accessorized with at the ball. There was no frost in those blue irises. All it held was a calm cerulean sea basking under golden sunlight. "All they saw was a boy in distress with his clothes dirty and messy. The couple offered me a bath and some food and at first taste, I fell in love. Ever since then, I've been sneaking out of the palace every once in a while just to have a taste of the food here."

"You must've been really skilled to be able to escape your parents and those guards," Alice offhandedly commented.

However, at the mention of his parents, Spade's eyes dimmed. Gone was the peaceful summer sea and in its stead came the storm that raged a war against all that dared ventured near its waters. The chilly winter crept back, freezing those azure irises into a cold cobalt slate. His mask was back, just slightly short in power compared to the expression he wore at the royal ball. The only crack it contained now was the sliver of sadness that dripped through. For the first time, Alice couldn't spot a hint of a smile on Spade's lips.

"My father…" Spade hesitated, sucking in a deep breath through his teeth.

Something snapped in him right after those words, and instantly, that broken patch in his facade was fixed. Alice could no longer see what was written in his mind. Now, he wore a smile that slowly stretched at his previously-impassive lips, just as handsome as before but also every bit bitterly cold. In her head, Alice classified these two people as contrastingly different personalities.

'Prince Spade', the first of the two personalities, wore a mask that hid his emotions. He was perfect, polished, pristine, and elegant. However, he was also an ice prince that no one could ever get near. He seemed calculative, intimidating, and maybe even dangerous. At all times, he was required to be the cardboard cut-out the rest of the royal family probably expected him to be. After all, he was the second prince and he had also mentioned that he had a very capable crown prince as an older brother. Surely he had to strive to be at his best constantly and even so, he might still be endlessly compared to his sibling.

Alice knew from both shows and books that the royal life was not as extravagant as starry-eyed dreamers had imagined it would be. There would always be scheming plots, underhanded tactics, and words that held hidden meanings. For a child that had grown up in the royal palace and yet often snuck out, Spade surely mustn't have had that great of a childhood despite being royalty.

The second of the two personalities Alice had discovered was 'Johann', the deshelled version of Spade that he could set free every time he escaped the walls of the royal palace. Unlike 'Prince Spade', 'Johann' was allowed to act however he wanted to. There were no expectations for him to live up to, no one to constantly compare himself to. He was surrounded by friends under the vast blue sky, free to roam and behave as he saw fit. He had no need to adorn a mask for he wasn't bound by the rules of the blue-blooded. Unlike 'Prince Spade', the smile 'Johann' wore was sunny and bright, warm and genuine.

"My father, the king, hardly has the time to care about his sons. After all, there's a kingdom to rule and countless senate members he had to entertain. My mother, on the other hand, died early. The current queen on the throne is my older brother's mother, not mine." Nonchalantly, he picked up the spoon again, carefully eating the beef stew, unbothered. He occasionally spooned a few scoops of the other dishes into his own plate, munching on them with great care. "As such, there was no obligation for her to care about the second-born son like me, especially when her own blood offspring is to sit on the throne in a few years' time."

"Oh." Stunned, Alice unconsciously hunched her back, drooping. "I'm sorry for bringing it up. It must be an unpleasant memory."

Spade didn't reply, simply taking the time to finish up with his meal before dabbing the corners of his lips with a sheet of white napkin. He gestured to the shepherd's pie as if asking if Alice wanted some more. Instinctively, she held up her plate, allowing Spade to idly scoop a portion for her as he continued to speak.

"There's no need to apologize for something you don't feel apologetic of, Alice. You're not the reason why my mother is deceased, anyway. Besides, I'm not telling you this to obtain your sympathy but rather warn you not to make the same mistake again if there is ever a chance for you to speak with the queen. Don't make the mistake of who is her son and who isn't. She doesn't like it."

Not sure of what she should do or how she should act in such an awkward situation, Alice continued to shovel the food into her mouth. She obediently chewed, the flavor hardly even registering in her tongue before she swallowed. Her mind was no longer on the beautifully cooked dishes in front of her but rather it was on Spade, the man, the teenager that acted as though all was right in the world when it most likely wasn't.

He was simply a boy forced to grow up too soon in order to survive another day.

"Now, enough of that depressing palace talk. As promised…" The kind 'Johann' never returned. It was purely Prince Spade speaking, frigid and icy like a raging snowstorm. "Are you up for a story?"