Chapter 18

"Have you gotten any news about my family or my kingdom?" I asked King Lilac, who sat on his throne. He lifted his hand up to his face and scratched his beard for a moment.

"We have word that no civilians were harmed from the attack. We also know that your castle was not completely demolished; therefore, not everyone was harmed." He stated. A ping of relief hit me, but I still had so many worries.

"Have any deaths been recorded?" I questioned not even wanting to know the answer. King Lilac must have sensed my severe anxiety and sent a sad grin my way. "Please, tell me the truth. I won't stop thinking and obsessing about it until I know."

"Yes, but only a few have been recorded. Although they have not been identified because of the severe burns they had encountered." I felt my heart sink further into my chest at the news. "As of now, I have yet to hear about your parents and your friend." I lightly nodded my head and looked down at my feet. "We will figure everything out soon, Princess. Please, try to not worry for the time being.

"Thank you, King Lilac," I said.

"Angelo, my name is Angelo." He announced with a warm smile. I gave him one in return and noticed his attention shift behind me. "Son, good afternoon." Gazing over my shoulder, I saw Roman enter into the room.

"Good afternoon, Father." He chirped as he walked in my direction. Roman swiftly took ahold of my hand and placed a warm kiss on my fingers. "Princess."

"Please, neither of you have to call me by my formal name." I pleaded with a quick laugh.

"My apologies, it has just been engraved in our heads by the Emperor to call you as such," Roman said. "How is everything looking? Any news?"

"Well, Roman, if you cared to show up on time, maybe you would know by now." His father scowled jokingly. I sent him a playful glare as he rolled his eyes. "But no news, not for now." Roman tilted his lip in disappointment. "Why don't you show Taisa around the garden? The weather will be nice until this evening. "

"Great idea!" Roman cheered, holding out his arm for me. "How does that sound?" I took ahold of his bicep.

"That sounds wonderful, Roman. Thank you for speaking with me, Angelo." I said. Angelo gave me a single nod in response before waving us off to leave.

"I'm sorry about the lack of information you're receiving right now. I would have thought that we would have known some things by now." Roman spoke as we walked to the garden.

"No need to apologize. It is not your fault at all." We eventually reached the garden to see that the flowers were beginning to welt due to it being fall. Although there were not many flowers to see, it was beautiful. "Wow, this is lovely," I commented as we began to walk along the stone path.

"You should see it in the summertime. It is much more vibrant." He said. "Plants such as lavender and marigolds are grown here, drawing in many butterflies."

"Butterflies..." I said with a hidden smile. The word alone brought me back to memories, which I held close. "What kinds of butterflies?"

"Venessa Annabella...they are my favorite ones to see." He said, making me narrow my eyes in confusion.

"You have those here on your land? I thought those were only located in my region."

"Invasive species." He chuckled. "But they sure do love the sage plants grown there." Roman pointed to an area behind a section of trees. "You know your butterflies, I see."

"It was just one of those things I was obsessed with as a child. I placed my math studies aside to look at the butterflies outside my window." Roman held a smile on his face at my explanation.

"Come with me." He said before taking my hand and leading me in the direction of the trees. I let out a quiet giggle as he started to pull me along faster. We stood deep in the trees, completely hiding us from the sun except for the few rays that glistened through the leaves. "Close your eyes," Roman said.

"Why?" I questioned, nervous about what he was going to do. Roman took my hands and placed them over my eyes impatiently.

"Just do it! I will tell you when to open them." Roman said before I heard him shuffle away. I held back a few nervous laughs as I heard him walk closer to me. "Now...don't freak out. You will feel something on your nose." I then felt the skin on my nose slightly tickle, but I stayed still. "Open."

I slowly removed my hands from my eyes to find a butterfly, a Venessa Annabella, on my nose. My face instantly brightened from the surprise. My eyes then met Roman's to see that he had a butterfly on his nose like I did. At this moment, I realized how beautiful this moment really was. It was the first time I felt like I was making a real connection with somebody, regardless of me not knowing them for very long.

Roman puckered his lips and lightly blew on his nose, causing the butterfly to lift up. I copied his actions and watched as the butterflies flew up into the array of lights coming through the tree canopy. I smiled at the beautiful sight and turned my head to him to see that we looked at each other at the same time.

"Finally... someone to share that with." He voiced softly.

"What do you mean exactly?" I asked, looking back up at the canopy.

"I come here when I can to look for any butterflies hiding away. They are not frightened of me, however, so I hold them and let them fly onto my clothes..." He trailed. "My mother was the only and last person to share this place with me."

"If I may ask, what happened to your mother?" I questioned, returning my gaze back to him.

"She became ill many years ago with leukemia. I was maybe around eleven or twelve when she passed away." He explained. My face softened at the information.

"I am so sorry...I hope your family has healed." I said comfortingly, and he nodded.

"We took it well, actually. My father, brother, and I have a firm bond, and I believe that we have become closer because of my mother's passing. We love her very much, and we believe that she still is the one keeping us together with her spirit." I couldn't help but be amazed at his attitude.

"That is so wonderful, Roman. And this brother of yours, is he around?" I asked as Roman subtly began to guide me out of the garden.

"Eric, yes, but he tends to be quite shy. I kind of understand why he hasn't made himself present to you, knowing that you are Princess Rosewater after all." I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head.

"I wish that I wasn't so scary or intimidating to people. I am just a person," I sighed. Roman just laughed at my statement.

"You may be a person, Taisa, but do you not remember who you are?" I rolled my eyes.

"Tell me what makes me sooo scary," I said as we continued to walk out of the garden.

"I could start with the fact that you are the Emperor's darling, or that you are the most respected person on the planet, or that you are the only royal woman who is treasured by the world, or fact that anybody could be killed just for looking at you the wrong way...I could go on if you'd like." I held up my hand to get him to stop, knowing that he was trying to annoy me for the fun of it. We made our way back into the castle to find that Angelo was on the phone, nervously pacing around. Roman and I looked at each other nervously before walking his way.

"... Emperor, I promise that there has been no sign of her...Someone would have contacted me if that were to happen....alright, I will let you know....bye." My eyes widened as he mentioned the Emperor.

"Why was Emperor Maroon on the phone?" Roman questioned. Angelo sighed and shoved the phone back into his pocket.

"The Emperor and King Heart have suspected that you are not in your home kingdom. They have begun a search for you, Taisa." I felt the blood in my body become cold from the news. Roman must have noticed my anxiety and placed his hand on my upper back, to ensure that I was alright.

"Where do they think I am?" I asked.

"They are not sure, but they are going to start with King Heart's neighboring kingdom, which is here," Angelo said. "I am also sure that they will want to call for a castle inspection." I heard Roman curse under his breath.

"Where will we put her? We cannot risk taking her outside when they come." Angelo tapped his finger on his lip, pondering the question.

"The wine cellar. They won't think to look for her in there. It is also dark and has good places for her to hide." Angelo stated confidently.

"They would still look if they are sure enough that she could be here," Roman added with frustration building up in his voice.

"I am going to say this now so that you will remember it," I announced. "It will not be your fault if they do find me." Roman shook his head.

"No, it would be our fault because we are to protect you. The whole purpose of us capturing you from your castle was to protect you, and we should live up to that responsibility." He said. My face fell into a frown, not knowing how to respond to that.

"The wine cellar is probably our best bet, son. I also wish that we could form a better plan, but I believe that they are coming soon...very soon, in fact."