Unrequited Love

"You win!" I said looking at my three maids and two guards who were standing in front of me almost begging for an outing.

"Where do you want to go?" I asked.

"The arcade" I heard an excited Violet yell. "Boring," I said.

"The market," Lilly said. "Crowded," I continued.

"Forest," Henry said. I liked his suggestion so my eyes widened in excitement.

"No," my head guard effortlessly rejected the idea carelessly standing a few feet away from us. His hazel eyes still seemed furious for some reason. He had been staying this way since the morning. I originally thought an outing may relax him a bit but still, he was not happy.

"Lake?" Merlin asked. That would do too. It would be nice for us to get some air and watch the swans. It can help the angry people to calm down a bit as well.

Victor frowned even further as he emphasized another "No".

This time I furrowed my brows as I looked at him. 'Why is everything a no for him? Such a spoilsport!' I thought. When our eyes met, he turned away with a frown. I could only say that he was angry with me. I couldn't guess the reason.

"Beach?" we all heard a sweet voice. It was none other than Flora's.

"Beach?", "Yes, the beach" I heard a few babbles around me. But my focus was all on the guy who was standing away without rejecting this idea as he did before. I could only tilt my head and squint.

'Unable to reject her idea? So you love her that much?' I fumed inside. "Beach is dangerous" I shook my head rejecting it instead of him.

"But Your Highness, there won't be anyone in the evening," even the ever silent Nilo supported the female lead's idea.

"Yes, we can play treasure hunt there" Merlin giggled.

"Yeah. We can also build sandcastles" said Violet.

Hearing them giggling and blabbering like three-year-olds and seeing Victor being silent, I was annoyed. "How old are you guys?" I made a face.

Though we were in a sovereign state which followed a system of monarchy, as someone who respected democracy, I chose to respect their wish. Finally, I agreed!

"Ok, let's go!" I mumbled as I start walking in the East direction.

Victor and Nilo surpassed me and walked in front of me looking around, for security reasons. Flora ran to me and walked by my side. The other four were already in tourist mode so I could hear them giggling and chatting as they followed us behind.

When we reached the third eastern gate I saw an old lady sitting beside the gate. She looked like a beggar woman. Judging from her look, she must be someone above seventy years old. 'Abandoning someone of that age in the street... how cruel her family is?' I thought. 'Or could it be she have no family?' I pondered as I slowed down a bit with a frown.

Looking at me slowing down, Flora stopped too. "Your Highness?" she confusedly asked, then followed my gaze. When she saw the old lady, she immediately darted to her. Just in time, Victor also went near the lady. He kneeled on one knee beside her as Flora stood by his side.

With their every move, I was realizing why she was the suitable spouse for him. She was indeed a good girl. She suited his nature. For some reason, I felt so inferior to her when it comes to personality.

The two conversed with that old lady then Victor turned to Nilo to give him some instructions. I could say he was trying to provide her with food and shelter then. Flora helped the lady get up from there, then she helped her walk. When I neared them, Flora bowed as she asked my permission to leave with the old lady.

I nodded and let them leave. To my surprise, instead of accompanying Flora, Victor chose to stay with us. He had sent Nilo with Flora. Still, I couldn't feel relieved. "You may also leave if you want to," I said.

"Nilo will take care" he replied. After that, he was the one who walked beside me till we reach the beach.

The sun was already set. Since the beach was located on the Eastern coast, it was not a suitable place to watch sunsets. What I could see at the horizon were darker clouds. The tranquillity and gloom of the area scared me a bit.

The maids started to build a sandcastle as they planned and my guards were just standing and giving them a few ideas. After a few minutes, annoyed by their criticism, Lilly had already destroyed that beautiful castle they'd been developing so far. Promptly, they had a dispute and the girls and boys found a separate area to build their castles.

I was not interested in their play thus I kept looking at the deep dark horizon. Although Edward had already told me that he'll take care of James and Evelyn, I was still afraid of them. Day by day, my life in this world was getting complicated. I may have accidentally dragged myself into even further problems by falling in love with Victor. Everything may end up in a bad way, for both of us.

'What am I going to do now?' I continued to look at the horizon expecting an answer inside my head. I couldn't think of anything further since everything was getting blurred in my real life. At that point, I was really out of ideas. I was in a position where I have to wait for a trigger before stepping forward.

I don't know how long I stood there, but the lower rim of my blue dress and my feet were wet because of the waves. After a few minutes, we saw the moon rise from the east. Now it was indeed becoming beautiful with the passing time. I understood that it doesn't always have to be the sunsets. Moon rises were beautiful too. Just like how I thought Edward was the perfect man in the world but now I have already fallen for this man who was unreasonable most of the time. Whatever, my love was fated to be unrequited.

With this thought, I turned to look at him. Then only I've noticed that he was standing one step behind me all along!

I was indeed startled. Before I could properly react, he stepped forward and stood beside me. Since he was standing right next to me, I was able to understand the high difference between us. He was indeed much taller than me. When I looked up at his face, he was nonchalantly looking at the moon. Though he still looked serious and intimidating, I was honestly enjoying his side profile that exposed his sharp features well.

"Merlin! Don't!" Lilly shouted waking me up from my trance. When I turned, I saw my two guards trying to mess the beautiful castle my maids were building.

"I'll destroy yours!" Violet warned him.

"It's already destroyed," Henry pointed to a dune.

"You shouldn't have built one so near the sea," Lilly chuckled.

"Now that our castle is gone, can we rent yours?" Merlin asked them. I titled my head since I understood where it was going. Hearing him say that, Violet blushed.

Seeing Violet's reaction, Lilly looked at the two of them in confusion. "Wait Merlin, I thought you were a eunuch" she said.

"What?" Henry couldn't help but laugh at Merlin.

"Why are you laughing? Are you also not a eunuch?" now the question was directed towards Henry.

He seemed extremely furious thus he flattened their castle with one kick. "You! Lilly got up trying to punch him. Merlin had come to Henry's rescue. Like that, within a few minutes, their verbal abuse turned into a fist fight.

I facepalmed and turned away from them. I knew I shouldn't interfere in their business since I may end up with some fatal injuries. Since Victor was also silently watching I didn't mind them either. But I couldn't stop myself from smiling because of the curses they've used.

Within a few minutes, they've settled the issue by themselves as they once again started to build one sandcastle. I too let it slide and looked up at the moon with a smile on my face.

Since Victor had been silent for too long, I turned to him, trying to start a conversation. Maybe my tough luck, when I turned, I caught him looking at me. Not only that, his right-hand index finger was just an inch away from my face.

I knitted my brows and looked at him in confusion. When he realized that I had already turned in his direction, his hand hesitated and his eyes met with mine. I could see the uncertainty on his face as well. Since he looked funny, I smiled wide as I asked him "Have you lost your mind at last?"

This time, his eyes had already drifted back to my left cheek. He poked my dimple once with his raised hand. My eyes widened in shock as I forced myself to stop smiling. Victor was still looking at me with the same expression and his right hand was still in the air.

I turned straight as I clutched my gown beside my thighs. 'How should I react to this?'. I had no idea and was not in the right mind to make a good decision. I gulped once in agitation. But who would have thought, that a gulp would expose my dimple to him one more time? This time instead of poking, his index finger touched then relaxed on my cheek.

If it was a few weeks ago, I would have slapped that hand away then punched him in the face. If it was a few days ago, I would have scolded him for doing so. But now, all I could do was to pray the god to protect my heart from exploding.

Though a few seconds had already passed, he had no idea of taking his finger away from my face. Unable to take the teasing, I grabbed his hand with my already cold hand and slowly push it away from me.

After this, I was not ready to look up at his face since I was afraid to see a smirk or mocking eyes. I tried my best to not look at him and hastily turned. But again, I confronted four pairs of widened eyes.

My two maids and four guards were looking at us with open mouths.