Chapter 44

Do you know what pink roses stand for, Your Royal Highness? It doesn't look like you do. I didn't

know for a long time either, so don't worry. Well, they can stand for so much, gratitude, beauty or

recognition. But they also stand for something that the prince could not have imagined at that time.

The delicate pink also symbolizes the young, blossoming love. The princess had these flowers in

her hair when she had a fateful encounter in the woods that was to change absolutely everything.

As much as the princess loved her family and her home, she was still a child of nature. So if no one

was paying attention, she snuck out of the castle and ran through the woods. Just like you, she was a

free spirit. During one of her long walks, she came very close to the border of the sun kingdom. The

two kingdoms were not enemies at the time, but we did not have any resources that the Sun Empire

considered important or valuable. Therefore, the residents had no relation to the foreign realms.

But on this day, of all people, our dear princess met a handsome young man from the sun kingdom.

He was on the hunt and had chased after a young wolf into the ice kingdom. He was just about to

shoot him when our princess threw herself in front of the animal to protect it. Fortunately, the young

man was able to turn his rifle away in time. But Feronias courage and beauty made him fall for her

immediately.

Overwhelmed by the affection for our princess, he destroyed his weapon, threw himself on the floor

in front of her and swore to never hurt any kind of animal again. Princess Feronia accepted his oath

and forgave him. Afterwards they talked for a long time and at the end of the day they were both

madly in love with each other. It was the first time for Feronia that she felt such feelings for one of

her young suitors. They met significantly more often afterwards, but it was only after their fifth or

sixth meeting that she confided in her brother. Prince Ulric, however, was deeply dismayed by her

confession. But it wasn't the fact that the young man was from the Sun Kingdom. He was worried about her feelings for a complete stranger.

Do you remember when I said that children of nature perceive loss and grief differently? Well, sadly, that's not all. They are also capable of a love that we cannot imagine. If they love, it is with all their souls. Unfortunately ... they only love once in their life. If that love fails, they will never fall in love again until they die. Prince Ulric was afraid that his sister would have to spend the rest of her life with a broken heart. But Princess Feronia convinced him that her lover was a good man.

So our prince admitted defeat, he couldn't have refused his sister one way or another. Nevertheless,

he warned her not to rush anything." At this point Nevis paused for a moment and a dark shadow

fell over his face. "Everything went well up to this point. Unfortunately, that should change faster

than we all would have liked.

The princess was enjoying her little game of hide and seek with her lover, so she hadn't wanted to tell her parents about it yet. But it was not long before Feronia and her lover swore eternal love and secretly became engaged. With this oath her fate was sealed and when she told her brother about it ... he got angry at his sister for the first time. He raised his voice in front of her and locked her up in her chambers. He couldn't understand how she could secretly make such an important decision.

Especially since her parents didn't know anything about the man and he had never met him as well.

He didn't let his sister out of the room the next day either. First, he had to find a way to talk to his

parents about the engagement without them going into shock. Especially our queen, his mother, who suffered from a weak constitution after the birth of Feronia, had to be carefully prepared for it.

Meanwhile, Feronia was worried about her lover. She had no way of contacting him and was afraid he might be looking for her because she had not shown up at their meeting place as usual. So on the third day she made the decision to break out of her room and sneak away." A tear ran down Nevis' cheek. "What happened after that ... I will probably never forget. No matter how much I wish to.

The escape of the princess was discovered much later and when Prince Ulric found out about it, he

got very angry and ordered to search for her immediately. Nobody found her in the castle or the

forest. But our prince knew one last place where she often went when she needed time for herself.

Right next to the door that led to the king's bedchamber. Since you've already been there, you know I'm talking about Feronias garden.

So my prince and I made our way to the garden, though my master reached him earlier than I did.

Suddenly I heard a loud scream. I ran the last few meters to the garden and saw the prince kneeling in front of the large wisteria in the middle of the garden. In his arms the lifeless body of the princess. On one of the branches of the tree there was still the remnant of a silk ribbon.

It took seven guards to separate the prince from his sister. His sobs and cries of desperation still echo in my ears. Feronia was not even 17 years old at the time.