Understimate

Year 1691

"If you keep weeping like that, No lady is ever going to marry you!" A young girl snickered as she watched the snot run down the boy's chubby face much like hers. she had her hands folded in front of her dress in a relaxed manner, yet panic pricked behind her eyes which would scan the unkempt lawns behind the palace in case, one of her bully brothers decided they wanted to surprise her. Again.

"You talk as If a man would marry a stiff princess like you!" the boy retorted back as he wiped away his tears with the silk handkerchief the girl handed him earlier. they both went quite and a long silence stretched between them other than the sniffling of the boy.

"Then we both can marry each other." the girl said and the boy gave her a look of pure disbelief.

"But I am a man!" the girl cocked her head in confusion until she remembered his previous statement and her face went a little red.

"And I am the only princess of my Kingdom." She gave him an unsure smile expecting him to shut up but the boy simply gave her that sad little smile in return, his eyes softening in pity.

"Are you even a princess?" he asked her, his eyes flickering to her plain attire. she had no jewels weaved into her hair either and there were some fresh scratches on her shins beside the tiny faded scars on her hands as if she played in the bushes with the wild rabbits. If she was really a princess, her wounds would have been carefully treated and they would have never let her precious skin be littered with ugly little scars.

The girl was startled hearing the boy, she knew he didn't mean to hurt her depite how his words gutted her like a knife to her tender heart afterall, he only knew what he saw and she was too embarrased to tell him the unsavory truth so she shot to her feet and ran inside the crumbling building. that day, he should have gone after his one and only friend in an unfamiliar kingdom and consoled her but all he did was stare after her in bewilderment for he didn't understand her. that was the last time he would see her. her kind face would fade in his memory and years will pass by before he would her get to see her again.

19 Years later.

Year 1710.

A woman stood as still as a statue in the Holy Church of Bahumat. there was a chill in the moist air of the crypt but her thick, luxurious cloak was more than enough to ward off the cold now. gone were the days when she would tremble quietly in the dark with just a scratchy blanket to protect her while her sunken belly grumbled with hunger. not a single muscle budged in her stoic face as she regarded the dozens of mausoleums scattered infront of her.

A king and nine Princes. A father and nine brothers. she couldn't help but scoff at the absurdity of it all. It didn't matter if you ate from the golden dishes and dressed in the finest of silks or rags. it didn't matter weather one was a king or a pauper. In the end all that was left of them after their rotten flesh melted into the earth were their bones.

It was the order of the universe. a fatal truth that the rulers of this world would forget in their lust for wordliness that how fragile their mere existence was.

Who would have known that in two decades a lesser and contemptible emotion such as greed would swallow the whole royal lineage of Bahumat?

Who would have known that the abandoned and powerless princess of Bahumat born in the world ruled by misogynist aristocrats was born with the blessed fate of a reigning monarch carved into the palms of her hands?

Princess Rosalique's serene countenance shattered when her lips stretched into a mocking smirk.

"Tut, Tut. Dear Father and older brothers...you should have never belittled me." her feet slowly carried her to the grandest mausoleum. her naive heart used to crush under the weight of her father's ignorance and her brother's hatred but now, It felt numb.

Years have passed by and now she didn't have much left to say nor she wanted to anymore. perhaps, her silence spoke much louder to the dead now.

"We should get going. I have already wasted half of my day." Rosalique announced and her aide who had stepped back to give space to the Princess showed her out. The Royals of Bahumat had always been burried in the crypt under the church. It was a tradition that had been going on for centuries now and Rosalique wouldn't deny that this was her least favourite place. the place have her the fucking creeps and if it weren't for her public Image, she wouldn't have ever