Chapter 4: A Fateful Encounter

The Duke's territory was at least 2 days worth of travelling away. My entire life, I was either not allowed to leave the house or I could only use rundown carriages for my travel. It was the first time I had sat in an expensive carriage, but even this is only for reputation and not really for my sake.

Along the journey, the carriage had to rest in an inn. The inn was also quite expensive adding to the clause that the king loves his family no matter what.

What a joke.

....

The hours passed by but I couldn't get a wink of sleep. I was neither tired nor excited. I had no emotions towards anything. Why am I like this? Why do I not even feel scared for what's coming? I might die soon so why- why instead of being scared- why am I actually looking forward to it? These thoughts alone are terrifying. Lying with my thoughts open was definitely going to make me lose my mind, and so I grabbed the cloak and decided to go for a walk.

When I opened the door, there was no one standing guard. All the guards were in the lobby drinking the night away. Having to put my life in the hands of drunkards was not a comforting thought.

I walked through the door without any issue and headed towards the park.

It's the middle of autumn. The trees were red in colour and the crunch of the leaves was the only thing that made me feel like I was still alive. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. I felt giddy at every step I made.

I stopped to feel the breeze and the cool wind made my head calm down.

This feels so nice.

…. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Who's that?

From the corner of my eye, a figure appeared behind me. Is it one of the guards? No, they're all drinking at the inn. Then who is it? I started to walk away from the man only to find him following me. Look I know I'm about to die soon, but not this early! Speeding up was no use. I ran into the trees only to find a lake in front of me. However I was still running! Oh no! I'm gonna fall into the lake! I can't swim!

"WATCH OUT!" Yelled the man who was running after me.

My foot slipped and I saw myself falling into the water only for a hand to grab my wrist and waist. He pulled me towards him and the two of us fell onto the ground. When my head finally got to me, I saw that I was lying on top of him, "AH! Oh my god! I'm so sorry!"

Wait. He was the one who was running after me so why am I apologising?

I stood back up and dusted myself clean. I turned to face the man only to see him lying still on the ground. Why is he not moving? Gasp! IS HE DEAD? DID I KILL HIM?

"Hey! Hey! Can you hear me?" I lightly tapped his face-

PFFFTT.

Huh. Did he just- laugh?

"AHAHHAHA! You're so cute!" said the man with a large smile on his face.

"Did you pretend to be dead just so you could scare me!? Wow! You're a jerk!"

The man sat up and pulled the hood off his head. Dark black hair that glimmered under the moonlight and-

"Your eyes…" I have never seen such beautiful eyes in my life. Like diamonds, they sparkled in the faint light, a violet hue set upon those purple eyes. It's like someone replaced his eyes with amethyst gemstones.

"Ah! I'm sorry, they must look creepy." said the purple eyed man as he covered his eyes with his hood.

"NO- I mean no! They're not creepy, they just- I have never seen such a colour before so I was admiring them. That's all. They're definitely not creepy. Why would you say something like that?" At this point I was just mumbling away.

"Hahahaha, you're adorable."

This strange man keeps calling me cute and adorable, even though he looks exactly my age, maybe even younger.

"You keep calling me cute like you're older than me, can I ask how old you really are?"

"Hmmmm, are you curious? Well then-" He stood on his feet and bowed down to me with grace. Such manners, what a gentleman. "I just turned 16 last week, if that makes you feel better."

Ah, he's almost my age. That simple fact made my heart flutter. What's this? All this time, my heart felt like it had already died, so what is this feeling?

He stood up straight and his head was at least two heads above me. He's really tall for a teenager. His black hair fluttered in the breeze and his purple eyes shimmered so brightly, they looked like they were glowing. More than that, this person was actually looking at me. He wasn't glaring or mocking me, he was sincerely looking at me as a fellow person.

"Princess! Princess! Where are you Princess!"

The guards! They realised I was gone!

I fixed my cloak and put my hood back up, "Sorry, I have to go!"

I walked past the lovely stranger I had just met.

"Young miss! Please wait a moment!" The man walked up to me and placed a handkerchief in my hand. "I was only going after you because you dropped this on your way, and also this- as a parting gift and a thanks for your compliment."

He placed a beautiful white rose in my hand.

He bowed and gently grabbed my hand. I felt a light peck on the back of my hand.

"Please stay safe on your journey."

Knowing that I will never meet this man again made my heart ache. I barely spoke two lines with this man so why am I already missing him? Stupid heart!

"Princess! Where have you been! Please don't wander around like this! We'll be the ones in trouble if something were to happen to you."

Lies. I clenched the thornless rose in my hand and glanced behind me, only to find that he had already left.

He never spoke to me like that. I never even asked for his name! It'd be a miracle to meet him again.

I looked at the white rose and strengthened myself;

"Thank you." I cried in my heart.

TBC