Prologue: Loyalty

Cassandra for all her life was an abandoned daughter of the Duke of Cruise. She was borned with a curse that made her skin disfigured whenever the sun lays her rays upon her. In addition to that she was a mute for some reason.

Due to her condition, she was isolated by the whole household. As a duke's daughter despite her afflictions, she was not abused as one might expect. To protect her from all sorts of malice from the outside, they gave her a separate wing on their estate where only a few could come in.

And things were like that until her younger siblings were born. A pair of a boy and girl twin was born five years after her. Unlike her they were born normal and gifted. The true futures of their ducal house.

In all truth Cassandra was afraid to get close to them. They are beautiful creatures unlike her. Born to enjoy the sun and see the world, it lights up for the chosen ones. A world that the very light has rejected her.

Her sweet sister and brother were loving and caring of her. They visited her regularly and talked with her regularly. In her mind, she knew that her younger siblings were determined to protect her from the world they themselves are not familiar with. She is sure that they are thinking of supporting her all her life because her future is bleak due to her curse and situation.

Therefore despite her reluctance to be associated with them, she loved them so. Doing her best to provide them what she could. Making sure that they had an ear to talk to, a confidant and a loyal friend who will always give them the council they need. This is the greatest thing she could do for her beloved siblings.

Years passed by and there were little to no changes in the lives of the ducal household. But on her eight birthday, a letter from the palace changed everything.

The third prince was required to get a study companion from one of the noble families of their kingdom. As a ducal house, they are not exempted from being the first batch of households where the prince will stay for a few days to find his companion.

Their ducal household did not think it was treated as an honor rather a plague that they wanted to avoid. The reason for being so was simply because they don't like the king and they rather be neutral to all sorts of scheming the old bastard is brewing. Ducal family they might be, they don't want to be entangled with the bitter infighting the palace is infamous of.

Still they are loyal vessels to the crown. They made ample preparations for one of the candidates who will rule their kingdom. Perhaps this child is more worthy of their allegiance than the fool his father is.

The prince was only six years old at that time. Beautiful grey eyes and bright blonde hair that seems to be the sun itself. Cassandra has thought that the boy was an angel sent to the mortal world to gain experience when she first laid her eyes on him. He was the one and the only one who has made her know that she too has a future other than being a weight for her family.

He chose her among many children who were vying him to choose them. His hands were the one who reached out for her and brought her away from her loving family. It was under his eyes that she has grown into a figure she never once dream of.

As his study companion, she studied the subjects he has. Like her, the boy whom she was taken to be a companion of was a lonely child. Other than what he was required to have as a royal, he did not have the best might one expects a prince should have. In the vast manor they lived in, there was no other person he could play with and chat with other than her. A pitiful life that she suddenly thought that she lived a far better life than him.

She did not know the reason why he lived like that, nor did she try to ask anyone as to why. There is no reason for her to know, nor can it make her change her determination to make the boy feel better.

In her thirteenth season, she made a decision to be a maid to the prince. Her family was saddened by her decision, but learned to accept it as she had never been too cheerful without the prince by her side. They had also known of the prince as they had seen what type of child he was. With heavy hearts, they personally sent her off.

Even as a maid, there was no change in how they got along with each other. The prince did not treat her as one of his employees, instead he made her more of a trusted confidant than a lowly maid. To her is where his important papers were entrusted. It was a puzzle to her why he trusts her so much, not that she will ever betray him.

Seasons come and go. Her prince has turned sixteen. Full of shining glory he was sent to the battlefield just after his adult ceremony. For two years he waited for him in his lonely and lifeless manor.

He was eighteen when he returned and she was twenty. No longer young children, she decided that she has to leave him for his life to continue rising. With her by his side, the boy she saw growing up will not have a good relationship with his future wife if she is around.

But her angelic prince did not allow her to go. Instead he turned frantic and put a barricade to the whole manor just to not let her leave. He even went as far as not receiving his honours on time just to make sure she will not leave her.

It took her days to coax him to lower the barricade and let her go. He ultimately allowed her to have her way. But since the has become a close off man. No allowing anyone else to get near or even open his heart to anyone.

He earned the title of a Steelheart, cold and unfeeling royal who cared not of fame, wealth or beauty. A sad existence that she never wished for him to be. The man she knew has forever left the world, only the shell of his perfectly angelic face remains when she sees him once in a while in the distance.

But no matter what happens, she still cared for him. She still gathers some rumours about him to know his general situation. Although most of the things she heard were not the things her ears would like to hear, she held onto them like a dying person.

A year ago, he could have been the king. But he did not accept the anointing and passed it to his younger brother. Afterwards the gossip about him has dwelled. He became an even introvert person than he is initially in the societal scene.

One day a letter came to the ducal house addressed to her. It was a plain letter with the symbol of a lone rose— the sign of the house her prince had established after they parted ways.

There states an invitation for her to come into his manor. Worried about him as has not heard of him for a long time, she went there with an anxious heart. Never did she expect that she would see him in such a weak state that he is practically dying.

If she could speak, she would have scolded him for being so reckless and careless of himself. Make him listen to her nagging until he will have no choice but to reflect upon his actions and not worry her. But that was only an if. After all she cannot speak nor can she make her listen to her.

A cursed daughter and a mute.

Who will ever hear her council other than her sweet siblings?

"Finally you came to me." The man who she once saw as a boy weakly said. "Are you finally staying with me and never leaving me again?"

"...."

"It does not matter." The prince said as he smiled so peacefully as he led her to the gardens that she noticed to have perfectly recreated the same ones they used to play in.

He led her to a tree that offered enough shade for them. He made her sit there and then placed his head upon her lap. Like the young boy he once was, he gazed at her face from where he was with great concentration as a student to the subject he is to study.

"I missed this Casie." He said as he wounded his arms to her stomach. "I really missed you."

She could feel the wetness in her clothes. Feeling him pouring out his heart, she cannot bear to leave him. So once again she stayed with him. Accompanying him to his days and making him happy like they used to have.

Still happy days did not last long. She doesn't know how many enemies her prince has nor does she want to know about them. But her prince was poisoned with no cure during the period of time they were apart. Her heart was in pain as she cannot do anything but take care of him.

He was dying and he knew it. When he felt that his time was near, he made a request for them to stay on the gardenside like they did long before. There he took his last moment, lying unto the lap of his beloved.

Cassanda cried and cried when she felt the increasingly weaker breath of her prince. Out of melancholy she tried to sing like the boy once sang to her upon the nights a nightmare visited her. But unlike the song he used to sing her, she sang that one song he has gifted her on her sixteenth birthday.

She cannot talk therefore she cannot sing. But she cherished the score and repeatedly studied it. Memorizing it by heart despite her inability to perform it.

She wanted to sing it to him. Even if in the end it was only wishful thinking, she opened her mouth. And to her surprise her voice finally came out.

But she was not happy with the ability to speak out now. Her beloved master is leaving without her. It was not even certain he could hear her now.

Tears pooled upon her tear ducts until they ran across her face. Melodies of his song came out of her mouth as she fought the urge to sob and ruin the beauty of his gift.

In the next few days there have been rumours of a beautiful voice singing upon the manor of the third prince Maximilian. It sang for days and nights. Until it stopped and no more could be heard.

It was only the next week that someone from the palace dropped by to check the manor that everyone knew of the death of the prince. There he saw a scene he could never forget.

Time seems to have stopped for them. They looked so peaceful that no one could get near them. A scene that even the newly crowned king has declared to never be allowed to be seen by others as it was his brother's will.

Then a funeral was made without the corpse of the dead man. Everyone was puzzled about it but dared not to question. Because even without seeing his dead body, the whole kingdom was grieving for the loss of their hero and royal.

Still it did not stop everyone from talking. Rumours have it that he died in a picturesque place with flowers blooming all over. A perfect place for someone as beautiful as he could have his last breath.

The only thing that has destroyed it was the woman who had the perfect man in a protective cradle was ugly. She has long raven hair and quite decent features. Only that her whole skin was like it was burned badly. Like a beast protecting a precious flower it held upon the man so tenderly in her last breath.