Princess of Poetry

After seeing the second prince, Gianni takes a quick peek at the dining hall. He looks for the prince he serves but to no avail. Thus, he heads to Prince Julien’s room.

As he comes closer to the door, he notices some maids looking at him, whispering. He thinks something is strange, which is worth inquiring about. But he reserves it for another time and continues his way to the first prince’s room.

Upon entering, his olfactory catches the scent of carnation wafting throughout the air. The fresh fragrance of the flower fumes in fickleness. It is a familiar scent to Gianni, perhaps too familiar.

As he goes inside, no one is there. But he hears two people talking and splashes of water. He sees the prince’s messy bad and fixes it. He then goes to the source of the splashing sound.

Behind the folding screen directly on the opposite corner of the prince’s bed is an open door where the sound is coming from. Gianni approaches the door and hears Gabriel and the prince conversing. He enters the room and sees Prince Julien in the bath with Gabriel, who scrubs his back from behind (Gabriel is not in the bath).

“Good morning, Gianni,” Julien greets him. “Nice of you to come.”

“Good morning, Your Highness,” he shows obeisance. He grabs a brush and offers to scrub him. “Where should I scrub you?”

“Here,” he lifts his feet from the water, “scrub my feet to my legs.”

Gianni removes the ring he got this morning, putting it in his pocket. He starts scrubbing the prince’s legs. The bath gives him a relaxing, so the prince closes his eyes.

After a while, both Gianni and Gabriel finish scrubbing every decent part of the prince. The prince bids Gabriel prepare his suit and robe. While he orders Gianni to pour the carnation perfume into his bath.

Gianni gets the bottle of carnation from the prince’s organizer which is at the corner of the small room. He pours a generous amount on the bath. Julien then orders Gianni to scrub his chest and abdomen. Gianni grabs the scrub and obeys the command.

As he diligently scrubs the prince’s chest and abdomen from behind, the prince suddenly grabs Gianni’s hands and directs them.

“Do it gently,” he says as he scrubs his body using Gianni’s hands. From his chest to his bosoms, to his upper abdomen. “Do it like this,” he makes Gianni fondle his bosoms. Gianni complies. The prince lets go of his hands and lays back as Gianni does the deed.

“Now do it here,” he holds Gianni’s hand once more, making him reach down to his lower abs. Gianni scrubs the prince’s hard abs yearningly up and down. He feels as if he is doing it on smooth hard rocks. When he goes down to scrub his belly button, he feels something before twitching the belly button. The prince’s head is hot and stiff, twitching as he nudges it.

“Your Highness,” Gianni feels disturbed by what he touched. “S-s-s-should I s-s-stop scrubbing?”

“Why did you stop?” the prince for the third time, holds Gianni’s hands. He directs them to his lower abdomen below his belly button, where his thing collides with Gianni’s hands. He even made it so that he would surely scrub it. “You feel so good.”

Gianni turns apple red. He strokes the thing intently using his right and using his left to fondle his breast. Suddenly, the door opens, and Gianni jerks back in an instant.

“Your suit and robe are ready, Your Highness,” Gabriel suddenly barges in saving Gianni from the embarrassment.

“Oh, it is?” the prince turns to Gabriel. “Get me my towel then.”

Gabriel gives the prince his towel, telling Gianni to wait outside. Gabriel is aware of the prince’s schemes. He knows that he is doing them to mess with Gianni and that he is not serious, but he cannot express what he feels. He feels envious and stricken with anger. He stays quiet, maintaining his composure as still as silent water.

Gianni gets out of the small room into the prince’s quarters. He grabs Louis’ ring from his pocket and puts it on. Gabriel follows him and the two wait as the prince finishes. When the prince finally comes out, Gabriel helps him with his robe. Prince Julien immediately sees the ring on Gianni’s hand, and angst instantly begets him.

“That ring,” he points to it, “who gave it to you?”

“Prince Louis gave me this ring, Your Highness,” Gianni replies as he stares at the beautiful piece of art around his finger. “He gave it to me as a sign of thanks.”

“Return that to him,” the prince sternly replies. “You serve me not him.”

Gianni wants to talk back, but he holds himself. “As you wish, Your Highness,” Gianni leaves the room with puzzles in his mind. Why is Prince Julien angry with a ring Prince Louis gave me? He does not want to anger Prince Julien any further. But he also does not want to insult and disrespect Prince Louis by returning a gift. He decides to hide the ring in his drawers. Never to be seen in public again.

After eating breakfast at the dining hall, Prince Julien leaves for the library. It is Saturday and their literature teacher is going to be there. As usual, his butlers accompany him.

When they arrive, the second prince and the first princess are already here with their attendants. In a corner of the Grand Library stands a round table, where the leaves of litterateurs’ light and love. Prince Louis and Princess Camille sit across each other at the round table. While their teacher wears an illustrious ornate gown, beautifully made to match its wearer. Just like a royal, she sits straight in a magnanimous manner. Her flawless beauty exceeds her overflowing poise. Her eyes sparkle like the Mediterranean and her lips are redder than the reddest rose. She is the picture of immaculate pulchritude.

Before finding his way to his seat, Julien goes to their teacher. He kneels and kisses her hand, “Gracious day, princess.” Afterward, he goes to his seat, across from their instructor.

“Who is she, Gabriel?” Gianni whispers. “Is she a princess from another kingdom?”

“Yes,” Gabriel concurs whispering, “she is Princess Ariana of Inglatera. Queen Sophia is her godmother and Prince Julien is her fiancé.”

“Fiancé?” Gianni’s expressions fill with aghast, “that perfectly beautiful princess is Prince Julien’s fiancé?” Gianni cannot help but feel happy for the prince. An eminently beautiful woman is his fiancé.

The day delicately smiles,

At your perfect eager minds.

Even I traveled for miles,

To witness what my heart finds.

Princess Ariana begins speaking.

O, the carnations waited,

Only to you, they wavered

And even if time is wasted,

Their beauty never lasted.

Princess Camille continues.

In the great halls of knowledge,

Isolated from fall’s chills,

Ignorance falls to the edge

As her precious sweetness fills.

O, how long have I waited

To see carnations waiver?

Wasted not, they were never.

Prince Louis looks through the crystal windows and to Ariana as he speaks.

The carnations have waivered,

Yet my heart never yielded.

Why do I feel like tampered with?

Doctors are what I needed.

Prince Julien replies then laughs.

“What was that all about Lord Brother?” Princess Camille reacts in disgust. “It is the first time I think your poetry stinks.”

“I think it was great,” Prince Louis replies.

“It was splendid,” Princess Ariana calmly speaks, “to ask why your heart is different. Your poem underlines your smitten heart and why it has become so different. You need someone to heal your heart. But let me ask this, why do you need someone to heal your heart when love is beautiful?”

“Because it is a forbidden love,” Prince Julien replies.

“Ah,” Ariana replies knowledgeably, “no love is forbidden for only the people around us make love forbidden.”

Silence follows her statement. “Love is like a flowing river. It overcomes all its obstacles. Stones and boulders may block its path, but those hindrances will never be a match. Sometimes, it violently rampages and rapidly proceeds. Sometimes, it becomes still and silent, yet it continues to flow. It also separates to make room for more. However, all rivers end up to the sea, where all life is determined by the forces that govern it,” she continues.