Chapter V

“Good morning my prince.” Lucian kissed his husband’s hair. He could not stop smiling, remembering each moment they had the night before. They were maybe still strangers, but it felt like they knew each other for a very long time.

“Good morning.” Axel smiled back.

“It is late. Leon will kill us for being late for breakfast.”

“I do not want to see how an angry Leon looks like.” Axel chuckled and stood up, wearing his robe and heading toward the bathroom.

“Very beautiful,” Lucian whispered, staring at him from behind.

After bathing and wearing their uniforms, they finally left the room. Lucian put his arm around his husband's waist and smirked to the servants staring at them.

“We are very late, I know.” He said. “But I had a great night with my husband.” He smiled. “I hope we did not disturb you!” He said, dramatically putting a hand on his lips.

The maids blushed and hurried to leave the corridors. Axel was laughing as he found it very funny that the prince could do such things.

“Good morning,” Leon was ready to explode, but he softened when he spotted their entangled hands. “Oh, my!” He widened his eyes. “Nathan!” He called the butler. “Bring wine and chocolate!”

The couple blushed and sat at their breakfast table.

“Would you mind me joining you?” A deep voice surged from behind.

“Your Majesty!” Lucian grinned when he saw Daniel. “You are welcome. Please join us!”

“Good morning sir.” Axel smiled at the king.

“I heard you had a good night,” Daniel smirked, causing both of them to choke on their wine. He laughed. “Easy gentlemen! You look very good together I must admit.” He said.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Good morning Lucian! Good morning Axel!” Andry entered the hall with a wide smile. 

“Oh.” He stopped when he spotted the charismatic king sitting with the princes. “Good morning Your Majesty.” He bowed to him.

“I feel hurt,” Daniel said. “You call them Lucian and Axel while you call me your majesty. It is not fair.”

Andry smiled. “I cannot call you by your name sir. I am not a disrespectful man.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “Will you please sit with us?” He asked.

Andry stared at Leon who was pointing at an empty chair. He took off his long jacket and sat in front of the king. He stared at him while he was talking to Lucian. He thought he looked very beautiful. His eyes are the part he liked the most, they were small and attractive. His white shirt highlighted his dark eyebrows and hair. Even his posture was amazing, he could do nothing special and he would still appear classy.

Looking at him, he could guess that he was brave, serious, honest, charismatic, intimidating and very mysterious.

“Hum,” Lucian coughed and woke him up from his trance. “Have you not heard me?”

“Hum no, pardon me.”

“I asked if you could show sir Daniel the Garden Alley. I am sure he will like it.”

Andry shyly nodded, feeling Daniel piercing him with his stare. “With pleasure.” He said.

“What is the name of this flower?” Lucian asked after picking a small yellowish plant.

“Oh, it is called Acacia.” Axel smiled examining it.

“Acacia... pretty name.” Lucian smiled. “What is the meaning of it?”

“This flower represents love and beauty,” Axeñ said. “They say that whilst exterior beauty may be fading, inner beauty will last forever.”

“I see,” Lucian rubbed his chin before writing something on his notebook.

“What are you writing?”

“What you just told me. I want to learn about flowers, you are my instructor now.” He smiled staring at Axel who chuckled.

“Right. First lesson, Acacia flower.”

“I think I will call it Axel instead,” Lucian said.

“What? Why would you?”

“Because you represent love and beauty.” The prince said with a very serious tone, making Axel's heart flutter.

“Then I would like you to take good care of this flower and cherish it until it grows stronger to live longer,” Axel said, not taking his eyes off him.

“I will, with all my heart.”

“You should teach me how to read, Lucian.”

“Accompany me to the library after dinner. I will look for some good books for you.”

“There is a book I always heard people talking about in the village.”

“Which book?”

“Snow White.”

Lucian smiled and kissed his cheek. “It is a story about a princess who was very lonely at her castle until a charming prince came to change her life,” he said. “Her story is somehow similar to mine. Maybe I should be called Snow White instead.” He chuckled.

“I will tell you until I read the book,” Axel said.

“Do not worry, you will learn in no time.”

“Come on Sword, come on my boy.” Andry kissed his white horse before heading to the Garden Alley.

“You give all your affection to your horse and you do not let anything for us people.” Daniel rolled his eyes.

“Sometimes horses understand you better than people,” Andry said.

Their horses were close to each other while they were staring at the beauty of nature.

“What is it that people do not understand?” Daniel asked.

Andry sighed. “Sometimes I feel lonely and bored. Everyone at the castle is busy with their things. I find no one to talk to and no one to spend my time with, this is why horses keep me good company. I forget everything when I go to the stable. It may seem strange but horses do understand us. I can talk to them and they would put their head on my neck to comfort me.” He chuckled.

Daniel was just staring at him. Serious Andry had nothing to do with the Andry who talks about something he likes, the Andry smiles.

“You have me now.” These words went out of his lips without realizing it.

Andry turned and looked at him confusingly.

“If you feel lonely, I can keep you company. If you need to talk, talk to me.”

“I would not want to bother you, Your Majesty.”

“You won't. It is my pleasure.” Daniel said with a serious tone. He widened his eyes during the scenery that appeared in front of them.

“This is the Garden Alley.” Andry smiled.

“Beautiful!” Daniel was amazed by how the different colours of the tree leaves could create such a marvellous scenery. “If only I did not forget my camera at my palace.”

“Camera?” Andry asked.

“It is a device that captures what you see. If I had it I would have taken a picture of this alley.”

“You make me more curious about Agustus,” Andry said. “It seems like a very advanced country.”

“It is,” Daniel said proudly.

Daniel's horse started to make weird sounds and shaking his head violently.

“Scarlett!” Andry shouted. “Easy! Scarlett!”

“What is wrong with her?” Daniel widened his eyes

“I don't know. Scarlett, what is wrong my girl?” Andry tried to reach her but she shook her head. “A mouse!” 

“What?!” Daniel shouted when Scarlett moved violently, tapping with her heels everywhere.

“Scarlett!”

She let a loud sound before throwing Daniel's body on the floor and ran, escaping the small creature.

“Your Majesty!” Andry jumped from his horse and ran to the king. “Oh, god are you alright?” He asked, kneeling in front of the male.

“I am, do not worry.”

“No, you hurt your leg,” Andry said, pointing at some scratches. “There is blood.”

“It is nothing bad, there is no need to panic sir Andry,” Daniel said with a comforting voice.

“No,” the knight shook his head and tore the sleeve of his shirt.

“What are you doing?” Daniel furrowed.

“I should stop the bleeding. Look, you cut this part on your knee.” Andry said before putting the piece of cloth around his knee.

Daniel groaned when he felt the pain. 

“It hurts a lot?”

“Just a little,” Daniel mumbled.

The knight stood up and offered his hand to the king to help him stand up.

“I am sorry for this, Your Majesty.” He bowed to him. “She is not usually like this.”

“It is alright,” The king smiled. “I am sorry that she ran away.”

“She will return. She knows the road.” Andry pressed his lips. “Can you walk?”

“I think so.” Daniel tried to move but his injury hurt him. 

“Wait a moment. Sword!” Andry called his horse which came running to him. He turned to Daniel and lifted him.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Daniel widened his eyes, not expecting it to happen.

“The wounds hurt,” Andry said before he put his small body on the horse and sat right behind him. The king's heart started beating very fast when Andry put a hand on his waist and the other around him to guide the black horse.

“I am sorry, Your Highness. It is just for your security.” He whispered in his ear.

“I understand.” the king nodded with a nervous smile. 

They went through the alley, admiring its beauty. Andry stopped the horse to let Daniel look around. Daniel wanted to look at something else. He turned his head slowly to face Andry, who was too close.

“You know,” he whispered. “I have met many young men and women back in Agustus, but I have never seen such gorgeous eyes before.” He said, not taking his eyes off his eyes.

Andry shyly smiled and nodded. “Thank you, sir Daniel.”

“Oh, you said my name. “ The silver-haired male smiled widely. 

“No,” Andry protested. “I said, sir Daniel.”

“But you still said, Daniel.” The king chuckled. Andry laughed and they kept staring at each other for a while. Without words. They approached their faces slowly and kissed. A very sweet and gentle kiss.

After parting, both smiled shyly.

“Well, back to the castle, shall we?” Daniel said.

“Yes, you need a nurse.”