"Greetings your royal highness. I don't suppose you remember me. I'm Adrian Castiel from the Azalyn kingdom." He said with a smile that brings shame to the sun. His golden hair beamed along with his eyes. Soft and golden. He seemed like he was in every lady's (wet) dreams. Not including mine….of course.
After a few seconds of blankly staring, my brain finally recognized him. I quickly stood up and held out my hand for him to shake.
"Ah yes prince Castiel, it's so wonderful to have you here! My fiancé is currently busy. I hope you don't mind me instead." I said with a smile.
My face hurts from smiling so much but I bear with it for the sake of my head still being attached to my body. He probably couldn't hurt me that much but I still wouldn't appreciate a bruise.
"Of course, I don't mind at all and to you as well it is so nice to see you again. By the way, how are your siblings doing? Last I heard prince Ezra was in Rosannia and Missy was still trying to find a suitor." He looked down into the seemingly untouched tea cup he was holding and I suddenly felt shy that I was the only one holding alcohol while everyone else had tea.
"Ezra is doing well as always. Last I heard, Missy is still looking for a husband. If you were interested I could put in a good word. You would certainly be in the top 3 of choices." That sounded awful in my head and putrid coming out of my mouth, but as reluctant as I was to flatter the prince I had to keep up with his mindless facade until I saw an exit.
Speaking of an exit. my fiancé sees me standing with the prince and immediately excuses herself from the ladies and walks over with a long stride. She politely nods with a bow and claps her hands in front of her. Her maids followed behind her still holding the tea and coaster.
"Prince Castiel! How lovely to see you here. I had sent an invitation but I had no idea if you would show up or not. I would have prepared something for you." She spoke.
Why would she invite him and not prepare something in case of an emergency? That's a little incompetent in my opinion. Then again nobody asked what I thought. I excused myself and walked over to my sister.
"Excuse me ladies." I said to the women who were sitting at the table sipping tea around my sister.
"Missy, I think it's time for me to depart. I'm not feeling well and a nap would certainly help." I looked at her with pleading eyes. I would have gotten on my hands and knees if I wasn't trying to look presentable.
"Yes brother, you do look a little pale." She said with fake sorrow.
Thank you sister! I knew she would understand.
"Yes, as I said I do not feel well. I shall head home. Goodnight my ladies." I parted with a graceful bow.
"Safe travels, brother." she said with a warm, teasing smile.
I excused myself and said my farewells to my fiancé before heading out of the garden gate. It took a minute before I heard the 'clip clop' of the horses dragging the carriage down the stone path. I immediately hopped in and kicked off my shoes while letting out a long and exaggerated sigh. While it was inappropriate, my feet were sore and swollen from the tight fitting dress Shoes. If the driver saw the most he could do was find it amusing that a noble could still act like a human. Or maybe he could silently judge me…but either way I don't care what he says because, no matter how snobby I sound, I'm the prince which means he can't say anything to my face.
As I settled into the seat the rhythmic motion of the carriage quickly lulled me into a relaxed state. Looking out the window, I watched as the countryside rolled by, a blur of green and gold in the twilight. The stars were blinding out here. If you reached high enough it almost seemed like you could touch them.
Admiring the landscape outside, I let my thoughts drift back to my childhood. My parents gave me the bare minimum when it came to love but I still got the freedom of a young prince. I don't have that much freedom anymore since I'm older now but I still get away with things. Living in a castle is also a perk but I can get lost and there's a lot of people I don't know that also live in the castle. It's not like I live in an attic. I have my own big room just like my sister but the difference is that my sister gets the love and undivided attention. I'm not jealous in fact, I'm glad my sister will never know the harsh reality of our parents disapproval and disgrace. Maybe it was the bullying growing up, or the fact I was dismissed on many family occasions without me knowing, but I'm definitely not a snob like my cousins which is another reason I'm grateful. I didn't end up a spoiled brat.
When I got home I dressed in more comfortable clothes and walked to the meadow not far into the forest. It was humid and I could barely see where I was going. The only light I had was the moon. Guiding me through the trees and brightening mh path. The quiet hum of insects filled the air, and the earthy scent of wet leaves mingled with the fresh smell of the night breeze.
I always loved this place and came here to relax and hide from the world. This is also where I read. Sometimes my sister would sit here and read about science and facts while I took a nap or we would play games and she would kick my ass every time. She always liked things like chess and poker. I don't, it makes my head hurt and personally, I don't think It suits me much anyway. It's too competitive for me.
My sister was my tutor for English, piano, and etiquette, while my tutor Mr. Lyathin taught me math, politics, and strategy. That used to be my brother's job but he's busy taking care of the kingdom and doing odd jobs for the king. It's embarrassing to admit that my sister tutors me, but she's smart and she has a way more advanced schooling than I do thanks to my mother. I would also like to think I'm more of a bookworm than a math genius but Mr. Lyathin likes to say otherwise. I guess I'm not that bad at it but I'd rather sit and read about pirates and fairies than calculate the distance of the sun from the earth. Seems like a waste of time since I'm not visiting the sun anytime soon.
Mr. Lyathin always said that Numbers are infinite but that just proves my point that there's no reason to learn all about it since you physically can't. I can see how some subjects are necessary in life but I don't need the number for a triangle to know it's a triangle. I have eyes. I can see that it's a triangle.
I will die before I can even begin to understand. Nothing will ever be original. Even the smartest thought has been somebody else's passing thought. With multiple reality's we only have to try our best to fit into our own but I'd rather read about another's reality and drown out what happens in mine.
I stretched and laid on the grass humming a tune before drifting off thinking of the recent book released by my favorite author. All the book lovers are talking about it and I'm gonna be the first to receive it.
As I was about to fall into my dreams I felt someone reach into my pocket and pull out the pocket watch that was kept there for safe keeping. At first I was disoriented but as soon as I realized what was happening I sat up so fast that I got dizzy. I shook my head and shakily got up from where I was laying.
"Hey!" I yelled and turned around.
The man standing before me wore a white suite but it was a design I hadn't recognized.
He has to be a foreigner, there's no other way to describe him. He also had rabbit ears and a tail but for all I know It could be some type of hobby. Weird but not totally unheard of.
Among other peculiar things he had bright blue eyes that looked cold against his dark chocolate skin. What also stood out was the snow white Hair and his silver adorned jewelry that I've never seen before. His pin straight white hair was typed up by ribbon and reached his low back. Only a noble could afford such luxurious items such as silver and silk but why would a noble steal my pocket watch?
"Are you the alice? What a peculiar name for a man." He emphasizes the word "the" like I knew who he was referring to. It wasn't me. My name was certainly not Alice but I feel bad for the real Alice having to deal with such a rude man.
He had my pocket watch in hand and I tried to grab it but when I did it was too late. He was running off with my fiancés pocket watch she gave to me. He was yelling something about being late while looking down at my watch.
"Hey! Come back here!" I almost trip and fall trying to catch up to him but I regain my balance and pick up my speed.
I was quickly catching up and was about to grab his shoulder when he dropped into a hole. If I hadn't seen the hole I would have thought I was going crazy. I still think I'm going crazy. This all seems so real yet also so surreal. I can feel the wind and the itchiness of the grass recently on my skin but the thought made it all seem more like a dream.
"Are you dreaming?" A deep voice suddenly echoed through the hole in the ground.
"What?" I said while catching my breath.
"Or are you awake?"
The voice was deep and baritone and sent a heavy shiver down my spine. Not startling but rather smooth and thick like melted chocolate.
It felt like it was crying out to me to look but it didn't seem worth the risk to look further into it. I was about to walk away when something from behind me pulled me in by my leg. I didn't have time to look at who it was before I was falling. The branches snapped out of my grip and I closed my eyes, waiting for impact.
The sound of clocks and chimes were going off around me and the smell of freshly baked sweets filled my nose.
I passed out from the adrenaline and woke up to where I assumed was at the bottom of the hole. Emphasis on the assumption because I honestly wasn't too sure about anything right now. I had wondered how I survived the fall without even the slightest injury.
When I looked around me I found I was in an odd room. The floor was playing tricks on my eyes and giving me a headache. Whenever I looked down, the spiral design made it look like it was about to cave under me. When I looked up I only saw the vast darkness of the hole I fell into. The void made me nervous so I decided to keep my eyes forward.
There were five doors in front of me. The first door was red and had a glass door knob. The second was black and the door knob was a skull. The third door was golden but the warning sign on top of it didn't seem so welcoming. The fourth door was purple and had a special pattern on it that made me dizzy when I looked at it for too long. The fifth was the most unsettling, despite its welcome sign, and pure white color, it seemed almost alien and spine chilling.
The only door that seemed almost remotely safe was the first one. So I walked up to it and opened it. Smoke came out so I decided to walk in to take a better look. If not now when, so why not now? I opened my eyes after a few steps to see myself back in the room I started at. I couldn't help but let out a groan and tug at my hair in frustration.
Why was I back where I started? Was it not the right room? Is this a trap? I decided to try the next best door which was door #2. I walk up to it with caution.
I grabbed the skull but before I could I heard someone yelling. I quickly turned around and shouted back,
"Hello?!"
Of course no one was there. Dang it Alex, get a hold of yourself, you're acting crazy. You can't be hallucinating now. That was my mantra before I heard the yelling again. This time I realized where it had come from. I looked down to the doorknob and almost shrieked when I saw it move.