Chapter 3: The Runaway Cinderella

Gareth was pissed as hell with the disappearing act of his Cinderella two nights ago. How dare she leave him hanging by the hair! He was the friggin' fourth prince of this kingdom for Pete sake! For the first time in his life, he wanted to impose his title over someone! He really wanted her, and he will get her no matter what.

He could still remember the sweetness of her succulent lips against his, how it tasted so decadently delicious like wild berries. Just remembering her taste brings pain on his crotch. It was so destructive that he was even tempted to bring matters in his own hand. And damn her for doing that to him!

He gave an intense stare of the pair of shoes sitting on top of his coffee table. It was the same pair of shoes that Steffanie aka Cinderella left during her 'Grand Escape.' He did not care if he would fit this friggin shoes to every maiden in the kingdom just like in that fucking child's story. He will find her. He'll definitely have a taste of those wild berries again.

His train of thoughts were suddenly put a halt when he heard one of his attendance announced the arrival of the Queen Dowager's entourage.

"Your highness, the Queen Dowager is requesting for your audience."

Why is the Queen Dowager seeking his audience? This is highly unusual. Her majesty never leaves her manor. Under normal circumstances, it's always her attendants and court ladies who always fetch the people whom his grandmother wants to talk to.

"Please, have her enter."

The leaves of his two-door manor flew open and came inside was the Queen dowager. After his long years of absence in the palace, he finally saw the Queen Dowager. The years have been good to her, she was still the same beautiful and graceful woman he knew.

He met her half-way and made a ninety degrees bow to her. He may hate the King and everything in this palace but this woman deserved his utmost respect. She treated every child of the King equally – even if they are the children of a concubine. She never made it awkward for them. In fact, she was more of a mother to him than a grandmother. In the past, it was always her whom he'd always confide his problems and worries to. And that one fateful night five years ago, it was the Queen Dowager who gave his freedom from the confinement that was the Arondight Palace.

He was expecting the same bow from her to return his respects but she did something else. She came to him and gave him a tight embrace, a motherly hug that assured him that he was indeed home.

"My Prince, I am glad you're finally back," she said in between sobs.

He cannot help but to have his heart melted over the compassion of this woman. He could feel the sincerity of her words. Truly, of all the people in the palace, the Queen Mother was the most genuine.

He laid out one of the chairs in his living room for her to sit on.

"Please Your Majesty, have a seat."

She fetched her hanky from her pouch to wipe the remnants of her tears.

"For the past five years, my heart was flooded with nothing but worries, Prince Gareth. I always asked myself if I did the right thigh when I allowed you to leave," she said.

"Please accept my humblest apologies if this wayward prince of yours had caused you misery, my beloved Queen Mother," he was about to kneel down but she got up from her seat and stood him up.

"Don't." she said.

"Please, don't. You did no wrong, Gareth. You just sought what your heart desired."

He sat opposite her while she returned to her seat. Truly, she was still the same sweet-tempered woman he knew and love.

"There's no need to be formal with me, it's just the two of us in this room. How are you? There are so many things I've heard about your escapades. And boy, oh boy. It was nasty."

Coming from anyone else, he would just shrugged that comment off. But now, coming from the Queen Dowager herself, he felt ashamed of his actions.

"I am s..." he was about to utter a sincere apology but the Queen Dowager beat him to it.

"Don't give me that I am sorry Schmuck, Gareth. It's nasty, yes. But this old soul is glad that you're able to attain your goal."

"Such freedom. Such liberty. Those are the things that the palace had deprived all of us. And please, call me like you used to. Call me granny."

He gave her a smile of affection and understanding. If that's his father, he would have furtherly rubbed his escapades down at his face.

"Don't worry Gareth, I did not come here to hook you up once more with palace obligations. I'm just here to personally greet you back and I am happy that your back."

"You should have not come here, granny, I am actually planning to visit you at the Rose Palace later," he said.

"It's not a bother to me. In fact my visit is long overdue already, I should have visited you on the first day that you're here."

"Your highness, I do not deserve your kindness. I know if it was up to you, you would have not let me go. But you're compassionate enough to grant me something that had never done before."

He remained quiet for a moment, trying to find the right words to say to his grandmother.

"I could never stop, you, dear prince. I am just an old woman, I could never ask you to stay. You are always a free soul. Even when you're a kid, I know by heart how loathed the palace. You hated the laws and protocols. And you hated the restrained life inside this place. Others see the palace as place of money and power but you see it as a prison. So I set you free, letting you feel the freedom outside our ancient laws."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Happy as I am, right now. I came to deliver a bad news."

His grandma paused for a bit, as if trying to find the right tempo to drop the bomb, "This morning, I received news from the Royal Physician. It's about the Imperial Consort Guinevere."

He felt like he has been kicked to his gut.

"What happened to her?" he asked, dreading to hear something good.

"The Royal Physician Reported that her situation worsened. They needed her to be in Asphodel so they can have undergo several mediacations."

He immediately stood up, prepared to immediately chase down his sick mother. But he was stopped by the Queen Dowager. She tightly held his arms. Pulling him back towards her.

"Please! Be level-headed, my Prince. No one was allowed to go with her. According to the physician, it might cause an outbreak should she not be quarantined. And right now, I know for a fact that the consort does not want you to catch the same virus that she did.."

He wanted to shrug-off her arms, but he just couldn't. Not with her tear-stricken face. He calmed himself and returned to his seat.

"Do my brother and sister know?"

"They both do not have any idea about this. Prince Lancelot left early this morning for a parliamentary visit in the European Faction and I'll go visit Princess Lavaine after this."

"Thank you for letting me know first, Your Majesty."

"I also came here to deliver a message from the King."

"What does he wants from me now?"

"Please, don't be like this. The King just wants the best for you."

Best my ass. He just wanted to rub off his power to his. But he did not dare to voice it out, not in the front of the Queen Dowager anyways.

"Please treat this as my personal request also. The King wants you stay here and continue your study in medicine," she compassionately said.

"I will not do such thing! I refused to be manipulated years ago and that did not change over the years."

He clenched his fist. How likely of his father to tie him back down to this giant cage. He will never give in.

She gave out a heavy sigh, "Prince Gareth, it's an absolute order from the King. No one in this kingdom can overturn the absolute order of your father."

He could feel the uneasiness in her voice.

How would he forget? His father's power was tail-gating him ever since the day he was born, always imposing his authority all his life.

"I would never come back to royal school," he said in finality.

"You won't. This time, the King is asking you to study at the University of Pendragon, otherwise, you would be exiled from the kingdom."

So that's it? Study or be exiled. Typical of his father to do that,

She held his hands. Tears were now free-falling from her eyes, "I am begging you, my prince. Just this once, heed to your father's request. Do it for me, for your siblings and for the imperial consort."

With Her Majesty's tears, he knew that he did not stand a chance.

Steffanie was having a dinner together with her bestfriend, Sofia at the renowned cafeteria of the University of Pendragon. She scanned the marvel of the place. This was certainly not your typical cafeteria for a typical university. With professionally trained chefs ready to cook for you, opulent structural design, and waiters always ready to serve you, this was more of a five star restaurant than a canteen. But why else would she wonder? This is the University of Pendragon, the home of the rich, brilliant and the bold.

"Steff, I gotta asked you this," Sofia while feasting on her steak.

"What is it?"

"Where were you two nights ago at the King's party? You suddenly disappeared. I was looking all over for you."

She nearly spit what she ate at the sudden question of Sofia. Memories of her midnight escapade came like a massive kick in her solar plexus. She, herself, could not believed that it happened. She would never have done that, not in a million years. But she did. It was as if her rational thinking was razed at the touch of that man. Not that she'd blame the entirety of it to him. Unexpectedly, she was so delighted by that kiss, it was so unexplainably arousing that she was enchanted to yearn for more.

Nodes of electric impulses deluged her body, raising hot streaks of foreign sensation into her. She felt ashamed of herself. At this rate, Sofia will be able to read her expression. She's always the open book type while Sofia was the gossip mongering type. She, instead, looked down and played her salad, trying her hardest to conceal the on-going chaos inside her.

Erase that thought Steff! She chastised herself. But it was no use. It's already painted in the canvass of her mind. She could still remember the sweetness of his assault against her delicate lips, how his well-trained tongue sparred with hers, how she responded to every movement of his mouth. It was so exhilarating that even remembering it could send overflowing blood to her cheeks.

"You know Steff, you are not very good in hiding your feelings," Sofia said in a casual tone.

She just continued to pretend to feast on her salad, praying in the gods above for Sofia to drop the topic.

"You've got that I-have-a-secret-but-I'm-not-gonna-tell-you sign written all over your face," Sofia teased.

"How was your class today?" she tried to steer her away from the topic. She's really uncomfortable now.

"You know Steff, you'll never be the segue queen. You're hopeless. You are too candid. In fact, your tomato-red face says it all."

Was she really that easy to read? She could imagine the thoughts and speculations running inside Sofia's mind. Humiliation flared in her already burning face. She was embarrassed to death that acids were now filling her insides. But she knew she got to move on. No matter how mortifying and unexplainably pleasurable it was the same time, it was still her first kiss. She should just charge it to experience.

She was suddenly disgusted by the flows of her thoughts. She sounded like a common tramp. What happened to the self-preserving Steffanie she knew?

"Steffanie Mary Smithson, everybody needs to walk on the wild side once in a while. Don't be bothered much about it."

And just like what she always do; she remained quiet, silently consoling herself.

"Once you're ready to share it, I'm all ears anytime, anywhere Steff. You know that," her comforting smile said it all.

She was truly her best friend, her most trusted confidante. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought that Sofia will be her best friends. They were worlds apart. The differences were just too great that they consider themselves as polar opposites. She was not a very social person but Sofia was the pro-active type of individual. Sofia preferred to hike mountains while she'd rather paint inside her room. Sofia was the active, outdoorsy type while she's the passive and shy type.

Quite unbelievable but it happened. They just clicked together, as if two jigsaw pieced together perfectly.

"Fine, let's switch topics. You're so uncomfortable, Steff, that you can't even swallow your food," Sofia smiled at her.

This was how they actually both spent their time together, Sofia talked and she listened. She really fancied her bright personality. Sometimes she was even envious of it.

"Have you heard of the recent buzz?" Sofia was always updated to the recent happenings from the grape vine.

"Of course not. You know how I don't dip my fingers in those type of things."

Sofia rolled her eyes, "You're as lifeless as ever. What would you do without me?"

What can she do? She found tranquillity with her paints and canvass. It's what makes her feel alive. She'd rather paint by herself in her studio than have her nose stick on someone else's business.

She leaned more to her side of the table. "Rumor has it that a member of the royal family is going to study here," she whispered.

She raised an eyebrow, "How can that be when there is the Royal School responsible for the education of the Royal Family?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "Beats me, no one could really figure out the Royal Family.You know how crazy those folks are. They're a couple of loose cogs and sprockets."

They both laugh at their own humor. "That rumor is definitely circulating in the Medical Department. It seems that whoever from the royal family will be here, he will be enrolled in the faculty of medicine. But that's not it, the female species in the whole university is going berserk, they're going nuts. They are so excited to meet some blue-bloods."

Both of them were still in the middle of discussion when an uninvited guest greeted them.

"Look girls! It's a table of low class and whores!"

It was from a table near them where a group of five girls were seated. She did not need precognitive senses to know whose voice was it. It was from Natalya, the Queen Bee of their campus.

"Ooohh... I love it. Pretending not here me, hunbuns," Natalya teasingly said.

They were the most famous clique in the campus, the self-proclaimed rulers of the University's Social Circle. Rich, spoiled and dangerous! In fact they are actually the proponent of the Pure Bloods, a sorority in their campus that only accepts members with royal lineages.

They were also the same group who took a habit of bullying her, making her university life very miserable. All of those because she did not have any title attached to her name.

Sofia stood. Her fried was on her fighting stance. Her eyes were now flaming with anger and disdain. But she held her arm tightly before she could do any damage.

"Sofia, it's not very wise to have a catfight with them now. Please remain seated," she pleaded her.

Sofia completely ignored her. She slowly approached Natalya and her cronies. She really adored her stubbornness and feisty personality. She can never be like that. But sometimes her hot-tempered personality got the better of her.

"Low class and whores? C'mon Nattie, you could do better than that. Do you want me to whack your brains out, so you'll know what and who are you referring as low class and whore? Oops, sorry... my bad. Didn't quite realize that you don't have anything to whack out, for a moment there, I thought that you have a brain," Sofia mused.

She saw Natalya's face turned sour.

"Oh, by the way, I nearly forgot how stupid you are. How long had you been in this university? . I mean, six years for a business degree? God! You're ancient. Either there's much love for you in this university that you enjoyed extending your stay here or you're just plain stupid. The university should charge double rate for overstaying students like you."

Sofia leaned her hand on their table, giving Natalya a viscous eye contact.

"And besides, how dare you call us whores? Coming from you? Goodness!" Sofia made her voice so audible that the whole room can hear her.

"Low and behold, the Queen of Harlots who reigned supreme on your sorority's recently concluded whore fest! You are an itch waiting to be scratched by any man out there."

Natalya held her glass of water but Sofia was faster. In a blink of an eye, Natalya is showering with evian.

"Let me not remind you of our status, Nattie. Your Dad is an Earl and my Dad is a Duke. Get your hierarchy right. How would you think the Duke of York would react if his precious daughter was hurt by someone directly below us?"

"You know Nattie, bloodline is definitely nothing if the brain is empty and if the attitude is sour. So if I were you, you'd better recalibrate yourself for the better. And finally, I could speak normally if I want to. Putting emphasis on, 'IF I WANT TO.' I'm not like you or your girlfriends who conform to the worldly standards of royalty. I make my own standards. If calling a person low class means freedom from this radicalism, then be my guest and call me low class all the time. Just be prepared to face me. "

Sofia really knew how to drop a bomb, all of the girls were rendered speechless and seething with anger.

"Mess with me, I can tolerate. But mess with Steff, I'll deal with you myself."

Natalya's group went out of cafeteria with anger in their eyes. For this round, Sofia won.

Sofia then returned to their table.

"Those dimwits! Gosh!" she then devoured her food.

"You should have just ignored them," she said.

Sofia beamed a glare at her, "Why'd you always run away Steff? Try to stand for yourself once and for all. You see. That's the reason why they prey on you. You're too nice."

She answered her glare with a smile, "You know that I'm the passive type and I hate catfights. And besides, what would I possibly gain from them?"

"Probably some self respect. C'mon Steff, you should lose that Mother Theresa attitude already. I'm the one hurting for you," she squeezed her hand, trying to at least knock some senses into her.

"It'll just get worse, Sofia. If I defended myself, they'll fight back. It'll just be an endless cycle. I just want a low-profile college life."

"Steff, Low-profile? Did you just said that? You know that this campus is full of metal detectors for low-profiled students. The more low-profile you are, the more bullying you get."

"Just don't mind things. Besides, they're right. I should not be here."

"You know that's not true. You and your inferiority complex."