A day after the matters with Princess Camille, the captain of the royal guard assigns knights to Prince Julien as his personal bodyguards. The royal army expects danger to come close because of the upcoming wedding. The wedding symbolizes a deeper and stronger relationship between Gallia and Inglatera. The neighboring hostile kingdoms would want to prevent the wedding from happening as much as possible.
After they finish preparing for their duties, Gianni and Gabriel go to the prince’s room to help him. When they arrive by the door of the prince’s room, knights stand by it blocking their way with their spears. They demand to state their business.
“We are the official butlers of the Crown Prince, Julien S. Montmirail,” Gabriel says. “We are here to check up on him as part of our daily duties.”
“Understood,” the knight on the left replies, “we will let you through after a security check.”
The knigh
The night is quiet. The busy hallways turn silent. Everyone in the palace slumbers, except for the patrolling knights and a prince deeply engaged in thought inside his room. Unable to think anymore, Prince Julien calls it a day. He still doesn’t know what to respond to Princess Ariana. The night silently passes as if a thief steals it. Time passes in a blink of an eye and morning comes like the wind of change.Before Gianni and Gabriel come to check on him, Julien leaves his chambers and goes for a morning walk in the palace gardens. The chirps of the birds, the fragrance of the flowers, the relaxing atmosphere, and the sound of flowing water are what the prince needed. He needs some time away from matters and things that remind him of his duty.In the middle of the garden, his ability to think returns to him. He is finally able to think about the big picture with what he wants. He thinks long while staring at a creek. He notices that no matter how many pebbles b
“I think I understand why Johannes did what he did. Our village lies near the border between Gallia and your kingdom, Inglatera. Before the peace treaty, the ruling noble of our lands, Johannes’ grandfather along with other Gallians in our region were killed at the hands of Inglateran knights. The blow is too devastating that even now bandits attack our village because it is greatly weakened.”“Forgive me for all the troubles that my people and my ancestors have done in the past.”“No apologies necessary, princess. The past is the past.”“Tell me what is your dream? Aside from being wealthy and powerful, what else do you seek?”“Well, I want to go on an adventure with people. Maybe go on a quest across the seas. Perhaps, search for a treasure that nobody has yet found. Or even go on a journey of self-discovery.”The princess’ eyes begin to sparkle. In her eyes, Leon shines like
When Prince Louis returns to the palace, he wastes no second as he searches for his brother to tell him what transpired in the café. From his brother’s room to the Grand Library, he searches for him in a hurry. He finds him in the palace gardens having his daily lessons with Lady Adela. He wants to tell him what happened as soon as possible, but he is more afraid of Lady Adela, so he waits and waits until he could wait no more.He approaches Prince Julien and asks Lady Adela for permission if he can take him away for a second. Since Julien is doing remarkably brilliant in his lessons, Adela lets it pass and allows the second prince to talk to his student. Louis grabs his brother outside the pavilion.“Lord Brother,” Prince Louis hyperventilates, “I saw Princess Ariana with a knight.”“A knight? Where? Calm down, Louis.”“They were eating so casually in a restaurant at the western part of the Capital.
Prince Julien immediately helps Gianni get off of Gabriel, when he sees them. Gianni quickly apologizes to Gabriel and helps him collect all the books that scatter all around the floor. They get back to the study and let Julien continue his studies. Suddenly, the door of the Grand Library slams open. It is the royal messenger.“Your Highness,” he speaks as he huffs and puffs, “His Majesty, the king feels ill.”“What?” Without anymore word out of the messenger’s mouth, Julien rushes to the king’s chambers where he lays on his bed surrounded by his subjects. The queen kneels by the king’s side and weeps for him. The king is completely conscious but mostly unresponsive. He goes in and out of convulsions.“Are the doctors still not here?” Julien shouts at the maids and attendants present in the room.“We have already sent for them, Your Highness. They will be here soon,” the messeng
As the day comes to an end, the entire palace remains busy. Queen Sophia assumes all the responsibilities of the king, from domestic issues to economic affairs. Prince Julien stays in the Grand Library deep in thought. He refuses any meal brought to him. Gianni and Gabriel continues to care for the king. Together with the queen’s closest aides, they look over the king’s health and safety. Princess Ariana returns to her chambers and begins writing a letter addressed to Leon.She can barely hold the quill that she uses, as she pours all her emotions in what she writes. As the night reaches its climax, each and everyone begins to retire and the entire palace falls into silence. The defeaning silence covers the structure like a blanket. Only the burning blaze of the torches that light the palace grounds are audible.The day thereafter, before the sun can even lift itself from the horizon, Ariana orders a knight loyal to her to do an errand. The knight swears fe
It is Gianni’s first week as one of the royal physicians. He completely returns the king to the brim of health and all the while helps and cures the ailments of the attendants of the palace. As days pass, he feels winter wandering ever so closely. It is his first time going through winter in the palace. Before he becomes a butler, he would spend the holidays in the Seinetarne domain with his family.Their tradition of exchanging gifts, while telling medical stories by the fireplace is such a distant memory. The chocolate fondue that they make and the pain au chocolat that they bake together. The sweet custards and the confectionaries that they create mixed with herbs to create a unique blend of flavor. The laughter and the smiles are now distant memories inside Gianni’s head.The smell of mint reminds him of the mint-infused pain au chocolat he made when he was young. A bit adventurous and creative, but more on the reckless and mad. He gri
Princess Ariana receives the letter that Leon writes for her two days after. The letter is again ready by Prince Louis’ eyes and ears, but they ignore it for being too abstract and vague. Ariana knows otherwise. He understands every word that Leon writes in his letter. Throughout the entire day, her spirits are as high as heaven.As she heads to her daily report with the queen, she gleefully graces through the hallways and through the concourses. She arrives in the queen’s room finding Prince Julien and Queen Sophia amid discussion.“Hello, dear,” the queen stands and welcomes her with open arms, “how is your morning?”“This morning is one of the best ones of my life,” the princess replies.“Is that so?” the queen smiles at her and looks at Julien. “Did something great happen?”“Have you finally found an inspiration to write something again?” Julien joins in the con
The church bells ring early morning signifying the day of the wedding. Everyone in town is busy setting up everything according to plan. The Cathedral of Rimes is the venue of the wedding. The nuptials are preoccupied with preparing themselves. Princess Ariana looks stunning on her white wedding gown. The gown has flowers designs of crystals and silk. It is sleeveless and reveals her distinguishable collar bones. Her hairstyle and veil complements the dress having the same flowers of crystals and silk. The only thing missing on her stunningly exquisite look is a smile. She stares blankly on the clouds hoping that the person she truly loves comes to rescue her or crash the wedding.Prince Julien, meanwhile, finishes. He wears a simple suit with a white tailcoat. A carnation serves as his boutonniere. Its petals reveal its freshness. He is a picture of royalty. A man who can win over the hearts of all the women in the kingdom with just a glance. After finishing, he visits Giann