บท 80: Rooftop Daydreams
A past memory haunted me as I followed the stiffly walking man.
I was young. Well, all of my memories always seem to be centered on my youth. After all, I died when I was barely a woman.
But I was there, sitting idly around my room right after my tutors had left. I was, what? Thirteen, maybe just a day after twelve? No matter, I was still so innocent. Yet when my father's men came knocking at my door, I knew something was up. My parents never called me for anything unless I had done something wrong. So, I was all but quivering like a newborn lamb when I walked through my own castle's walls.
Quite similar to what I was like now, actually. It was like walking down a dusty path, bombarded by rotten eggs and ever so soft tomatoes, just before being held down to the guillotine.
My father, back then, was his usual, cold self. His eyes were icy and his gaze without a hint of love, care, or even life. He simply stared at me, and like I was a troublesome duty to be ticked off from his never-ending list, he said, "You are to be wed to the crown prince of the Mond Empire. For all purposes, you are to refer to him as your fiancée."
He then dismissed me, just like that.
For a moment, my emotions went like this: fear, relief, nervousness, and then, curiosity.
Who was this crown prince? I knew from all my lessons that the Mond Empire was a nation on par, or even greater than ours. I should all be grateful for the chance of becoming wed to such a figure, especially as a girl with hardly any magical powers.
But, who was this boy? In time, I grew curious, if only due to the romantic tales my maids would tell me. I never saw such love from my parents when I did see them together, and so I could only make my assumptions with flimsy imagination.
For a few days, I was entranced by the idea of a fiancée. A crown prince. A powerful man, one who would be the father of his nation. It made me flush with pride whenever I thought about him, and whenever I imagined myself beside him.
But, by the next days, I knew I would never stand beside him. My tutors had become ever stricter and grilled me worse than before. When the announcement of our betrothal became official, my mother deemed it to herself to bring in more tutors. From the moment I woke until the moment I closed my eyes to sleep, I was taught, molded, and whipped to their version of perfection. My mind was simply about to break by the time the governesses from the Empire came to test me.
I thought my Kingdom's tutors were harsh, but these women were wholly worse.
They didn't hesitate to lash at me until I bled (but always in the areas where it would never be seen, and they were experts in that accord). When I made a single mistake, they would lash at me with harmful words that I still haven't heard of, but of which meanings I could somehow understand, if only through the vileness in their tones.
But that wasn't what broke me apart. That wasn't what made me try to run away.
One day, two veiled women had drilled me with questions all day, and by late afternoon, my mind was all but mush. They were relentless, however, and they seemed tireless.
"A few more questions, princess, and we will be done," one woman said almost sweetly, but I knew her words held little truth. She had been saying those same words in the past two hours. Alas, I only nodded primly.
"Answer this, then." The other woman leaned towards me. "A foreign country's prince and princess comes to visit the Empire's great palace, and they ask for the presence of your husband, the Lord Emperor and his Empress. What will you do?"
I had blinked my eyes, not knowing what to answer. My subjects in diplomacy hadn't talked anything about this kind of situation... All I knew was that foreign royalty must be met with by the Emperor or the next-in-line.
I mumbled a timid question, "May this one ask about the foreign royals' home nation? And what customs they have?"
With their veiled faces, I couldn't even see their expressions. For a long moment, they were silent. Then, one of them said, "How can knowing about these matters help you in this situation?"
"I... Diplomacy must be handled with care, as the fathers of separate nations-" I started, but was cut off.
"And as you've said, princess," a woman said with a poisonous voice. "This only applies to the 'fathers' of the nations. As the future empress, you must simply decline their invitation graciously and most humbly."
"I-" I mumbled, my mind confused enough to allow annoyance and anger to show in my voice. "Then, should I go and deny the visiting royals of their request? As a leader of the Empire, I should-"
"How dare!" one of the veiled women held up a hand, and I flinched back in fear. "We haven't taught you to refer to yourself so grandly! A leader, you say?!"
I bit back a shout as her nails scratched at my cheek. My heart pound as I realized that I might be scarred. Before I could begin to think clearly, my eyes had clouded with tears. 'I'm ruined,' I had thought.
"Useless child," one of the women spat.
"This one needs more education if she is to be a consort of the crown prince," the other said gently. "She still hasn't learned her place... She is as wild as an untamed horse."
Afterwards, a huge ruckus exploded within our court. All of my current tutors and the rest of the governesses came in droves, scolding and screaming at my pride. By the time their momentum had lessened, it had already been a week since that incident, and I found myself locked up inside a bare, cold room.
Almost like there was a wretched schedule to it all, the governesses stopped coming for a week. The rest of the time I spent resting inside my room, weakened and starving from the mental torture. Then, they came back after another week. For a while, this vicious cycle continued on and on.
Years later, I would come to know about this vile teaching method, which was much more popular in the Mond Empire. It was fittingly referred to as a "women's bonding", wherein for a period of time, a young girl will be exposed repeatedly to the teachings of those senior to her in age and experience. It was described as something like a celebration in the books I had read, but it seemed all but that to me.
The Kingdom had taught me that women shouldn't have opinions, but the women of the Empire had a firm set of beliefs. And if I didn't follow them, down to the last letter, they would harshly reprimand me. By the time I knew a whole month had passed by with all this nonsense, I had become too fed up, and just far too tired.
Then, I had asked for Miss Quisling's help when I began to plan my escape, and almost gladly, she had prepared the documents I needed in no time. I should have been more cautious in her presence. Had I never felt it wrong for her to be so harsh to me during those "bonding sessions", and transform back into a sweet, little thing by the time they ended?
I had no doubt... If I had made it to the city gates with those documents, and if that girl hadn't stopped me in my tracks, I would have been exposed at once, and I would have been hurt so badly for it...
I sighed. And now, the cause of all this, the man who would someday lead a nation filled with customs like this... I was about to meet him.
'Monster,' I thought.
What else could I call the father of such a nation?
But...
He wasn't.
He was never a monster, much like I wasn't "The Temptress".
I looked up just as I heard the man's voice announcing my arrival. In front of me was a door opening gradually.
I stared at the boy standing inside the room.
Truly, he looked like a peacock in a field of swallows, with a get-up like that. Smiling like that, he looked as dashing as the day I had pinned him down on Malaya. With his eyes twinkling with mischief, I could imagine him just escaping from the evil men of the Black Caverns of Lunaris. With his whole being, I could imagine him sitting up on his silver throne, a royal scepter in hand. I could imagine him leading his people with a swift and relentless hand.
I could imagine his brown eyes glazing over in coldness, just like my father's, the very moment he sees me...
He was smiling. His eyes were crinkled in joy. And he was looking right at me.
My heart stopped.
"Eleftherion," he called.
'Ah...' I thought. 'Of course. It's because I'm not a girl in his eyes right now, and that's why he can smile so honestly at me.'
Knowing that, my own smile came easily. "Prince Charles," I called to him. "It's nice to finally meet you."
He paused for a while before smirking. "You don't look surprised."
I chuckled. "I'm not that dense."
Then, he welcomed me in, and for a long time, we simply spoke idly over a wonderful dinner. The taste of the Empire lingered on my mouth, long before the last course was cleared out. For hours after that, we simply talked. However, the windows of the room stayed closed, and we never did climb up on any rooftops.
That part of the brown-eyed boy had already died in my mind. True, this boy wasn't a monster, but he was different regardless. Still dangerous. He was still dangerous.
I kept my smile even and measured as he recounted the tales of mischief only a boy as wild as he was could have had. His eyes narrowed as he lied back on the back of his chair. "... I'm tired."
"As you should be, after all that talking," I countered. "You seem far more talkative than a prince should be."
Charles snorted. "And what of it? And who are you to judge how a prince should act?"
I shrugged. "Common knowledge?"
He laughed, the voice sounding both familiar and new. "You're so different from the others, Therion."
Then, his face softened into graveness. "I... I really thought you would begin to act differently."
I blinked my eyes at him. "And why is that?"
"Well..." He shrugged. "I'm not who you thought I was, and I'm the... Empire's prince..."
I huffed. "You never lied to me. I was just stubborn enough to keep denying the truth that had been staring me in the face."
He started to smile. "So you really had thought of the possibility of me being the prince?"
"I've even thought of you being a spy from the other continental nations, if you also would like to know," I mumbled, taking a sip at the after-meal tea that had long gone cold.
The crown prince guffawed. "You're crazy, Therion."
I snorted, and thought, 'You're one to judge. What kind of prince acts like this?'
"You..." he added, his face turned down. "You're just the best friend I ever had. I didn't want you to act differently just because of our... status."
Pursing my lips, I stared at him for a long time, watching as his cheeks reddened in shyness. "You must have very few friends if you consider me the best one."
He finally glanced up, his richly dark eyes glinting. "I'd warrant you're the only one I have."
I chuckled. "Then it makes sense why you'd consider me the best of the batch."
Then, I found myself unable to stare at him any longer. There were moments I would forget about the truth, but it was hard to keep acting ignorant. I realized I had began to stare at him through the reflection of the windows. This was the crown prince of our rival nation. This was the boy I was betrothed to in my past life. This was the boy who... always had a great impact in my two lives.
Now, he was a friend. A best friend, as he had told me.
A fellow victim.
A companion.
A friend...
A boy. Just a child not much older than me. A boy, still so innocent and untamed by politics.
"What?" his voice brought me back to the present, and I turned away from his figure on the window and back to the real thing. He was staring at me curiously. "You've been staring at the windows for a long time."
I shrugged it off, but still found myself saying, "I was wondering what it would be like on top of the castle rooftops."
He stared at me for a long time, before exploding into a careful grin. "Then, should we go find out?"
I stared at him with my mouth wide open. He was already standing up, heading straight towards the windows. His attendants wouldn't find this off, unless they were listening in to our conversation. The boy fiddled with the latch and out he pushed the glass frame. Cold, evening air rushed into the warm room. I felt energized by the sudden change in temperature.
Charles looked at me from behind his shoulders. "You coming? They'll be finding out we're up to no good in a second or so."
I found myself standing up, a laugh dying to come out of my lips. But I held it back.
Charles had jumped with grace onto the sill and had shimmied himself up onto the slanted rooftops. I gasped as he almost lost his balance in his haste. But then, before I knew it, he was hanging upside down from the rooftops, grinning at me stupidly. His hair fell limply down the air, and his fancy shirt escaped from its pristine shape and now hung down, exposing a bit of his abdomen.
"Come on!" he whispered, and disappeared from my view. I looked around the room. I didn't see any of his attendants, but I knew we'd be found out in no time.
Just as I jumped up on the sill, a hand appeared in front of my face, and I took it without hesitation. With his help, I found myself lying down beside him on the slanting roof, our quiet laughter filling the night.
"This is why I like you, Therion." He laughed into the wind. "You're wild."
I rolled my eyes. "Just like you."
Then, he turned towards me, his body half propped up with an elbow. "Oh, that I am. I'm just glad to have met someone just as crazy as me."
Then, he got up in a swift motion, his eyes glinting in mischievousness. "Race to the top!"
I hastily tried to catch up to him, but I had a slow start. By the time I had reached the top of the circular spire, he had already somehow made it to the very, very top of the castle's pole, balancing precariously on one leg.
"Get down there, you idiot!" I shouted up at him.
"Who are you calling an idiot, idiot!" he shouted back. "Come up here, too! We can make space."
I rolled my eyes, but decided it would be fun to push him off of it. So, I climbed onto the pole, and quickly found it to be a challenge. A third way through the distance, Charles started to hop on his leg, making the pole sway.
"Hey, stop that!" I screamed as I held on to the shaking pole.
Alas, and maybe because I told him to stop, he decided to jump even faster and higher. I squirmed up even faster just so I can tackle him down. I was already expecting it, but he slipped the next moment after making a particularly big jump. "Woah!" he shouted.
Then, coating myself with a thin layer of notes, I jumped from my perch, and caught him midair. For a long short seconds, we slid down the tilted spire roof, skidding to a stop just at the very edge. Glancing down at the edge over the boy's shoulder, and deeming that we were now safe, I slumped down onto the rooftops again, my eyes automatically closing.
It felt so comfortable here... So warm.
I only realized that he was right on top of me after a long time. I had opened my eyes to see him glancing down at me directly, half his body right on top of me. With the notes still shielding me, I hardly felt his weight at all...
He was looking at me oddly. "I thought you had fallen asleep."
I tilted my head on the roof tiles. "Yeah? That's 'cause your body was so warm, I felt like sleeping."
His face blushed when his mind finally registered our positions. "Oh! Oh!"
He hastily rolled over to lie down beside me. After a moment of awkward laughter, we simply stared up at the stars. It seemed just like the way I had imagined it in my mind.
I looked over at him, my cheek pressed down on the brick tiles. This time, though, he wasn't a commoner, nor a noble... He was the crown prince.
At that moment, I could almost imagine Charles being the princely figure I had imagined him to be, in the first few days I had daydreamed about him in my past life. This boy with the wavy, brown hair and the crooked smile would match the definitions made by my giggling maids well.
Alas, I wasn't here to daydream. I wasn't twelve, and I wasn't even seven. I was an adult woman, and I knew far more important things than the matters of romantic attraction.
I smiled as I watched him succumb gradually into sleep.
But I suppose I can afford to be without a care for now. After all, I wasn't the princess this time.
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Hua_Li_An
Hua_Li_An Hi guys!
Ugh... Writing about these two just makes me... Ugh!! HAHAHA They're just so cute and stupid, I-
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