Lady and I finally arrived in Bullingar, and the streets were busier than before.
Perhaps, because it was already afternoon, people might be buying what they needed at the very last minute. I was looking around when a specific voice caused my head to turn.
Right then and there, a familiar face stood out from the crowd. I got off Lady and walked towards her whilst I pulled Lady along.
“How much for the apples?” Laura asked the vendor as I stood behind her, keeping my silence.
“Twenty gold coins for a barrel,” the vendor replied.
“Twenty gold pieces?! That’s outrageous!” Laura exclaimed.
“I understand that it isn’t a reasonable price. But for the past few days, trade has been made a lot harder for everyone,” the vendor snapped back. “Are you even a rich person to complain?”
“I am,” I intervened.
Laura immediately turned around. As soon as she saw me, her eyes widened in shock. “Robert, what are you doing here?” she asked.
“Just trust me,” I smiled as I stepped forward. I handed the money needed, and carried the barrel of apples. I carefully tied it onto the free space behind the saddle, securing it immensely. As soon as that was done, Laura, Lady and I walked away from the ever-growing crowd in order not to get squashed.
“Robert, you didn’t have to do that,” she said.
I smiled as I replied, “Laura, that was nothing. It’s my pleasure to help.”
“Are you certain?” she asked. She continued, “Because I could have just gone to a different vendor. There are a lot of stalls here that sell apples.”
“Laura, what I did for you is because I wanted to help. You don’t need to be so uptight about it,” I laughed. “And besides, I don’t think another vendor will be willing to sell you apples. Not when almost every stall heard your brief argument with the vendor,” I explained.
She sighed in defeat. After a giggle, she replied, “In that case, thank you.”
“You’re more than welcome.”
“Well, I have to head back to the bakery,” she then walked towards the barrel tied on Lady. She reached onto the rope and turned to me. “How do I untie the barrel?” she asked.
My brows furrowed at her question.
She looked around the barrel for a bit before she continued, “Oh, wait! I think I know what to do.” She reached for the closest knot, but I stopped her just in time.
“What do you think you’re doing, Laura?” I asked, still holding onto her wrist.
“I’m going to untie the barrel. I need to head back because getting the barrel to the bakery won’t be easy,” she explained.
“Oh, no, Laura, you’re not going to carry this barrel all by yourself,” I protested, briefly tapping on the wooden container.
She replied, “Robert, Grandpa Ben gave me this task. Please, don’t take it from me.”
“I’m not taking it from you, Laura. I’m simply helping you,” I insisted. “I’m here now. And because of that, I shall give you a ride back home,” I continued.
“What?” she stepped back.
“Laura, we can stay here all day and argue over this matter,” I scratched my forehead. I continued, “And trust me, the only way for you to return to the bakery is by getting on my horse.”
Laura glanced over to Lady and sighed after. “Okay, I will agree to this. But, I’m only doing this because I need to head back as quickly as possible.”
She walked over to Lady’s left side as I untied the barrel. I then moved it behind Lady’s neck, tying it quickly and tightly. Once that was done, I helped Laura as she carefully hopped onto Lady. I put Laura’s hands on top of the barrel and said, “Make sure that this barrel stays in place. Do you understand?”
She nodded. “We must go now. Grandpa Ben will scold me if I stay any longer.”
“Yes, my lady,” I answered as I grabbed Lady’s reins and pulled them along.
Suddenly, Laura asked, “Robert, what are you doing? Why aren’t you on the horse?”
“We’re already moving,” I said, briefly turning my head. I continued, “If it isn’t obvious enough, I’m pulling Lady as we go.”
“Why are you walking??” she asked, confused.
“You and the barrel are heavy enough for Lady to carry. If I joined you there, Lady won’t be able to carry such a weight,” I explained.
She complained, “I didn’t ask for you to put me on the horse.”
“But I told you to, didn’t I?” I asked as I smirked to myself.
She was silent for a while, and that frightened me. I could only hope that she wasn’t angry with it. Then, she groaned before she answered, “I will allow this to happen just this once.” By the tone of her voice, she was definitely beaten. She added, “I’m agreeing to this, only for the reason that these apples need to be in the bakery right now.”
I smiled to myself once again, knowing that I won. All she could do was sigh or groan. I wasn’t doing this to take advantage of the situation. I just didn’t want for her to strain herself with an apple-filled barrel that she couldn’t even push. “Kindly hold on properly, Laura. Hold onto the barrel,” I reminded her as I held back a smile.
“I know you’re smiling to yourself. Stop smiling as if you won some sort of battle,” she replied.
I snickered slightly. “I want to. But, I can’t hold it in,” I said before I slowly turned my head towards her. I remarked, “Because I know I did.”
She raised a brow at me before she slowly smiled.
~*~*~*~
When we arrived at the bakery, we came into a halt right in front of the window. It was best to stop here so Laura wouldn’t have to walk a longer distance to the door.
With utmost care, I helped Laura get down from Lady.
“Thank you again for your help, Robert,” she smiled as I untied the barrel from Lady.
“You are more than welcome, Laura. Helping you is always a pleasure,” I replied as I settled the barrel on the ground.
“So, um–”
“Laura!” someone suddenly shouted from the bakery.
As we turned our heads towards the door, a small, brown-haired man came out from the bakery. He continued screaming as he approached us, “Where have you been?! I needed those apples a while ago!”
“Will you calm down, Ronald?” Laura rolled her eyes as she replied, irritated. “It’s not you who told me to fetch the apples. Grandpa Ben did,” she continued.
“Well, I’m the one who needs them!” the man snarled as he took another step forward.
“Well, if you desperately needed them a while ago, why didn’t you get them yourself?!” my eyes widened as Laura snapped. I was shocked to see a side of her that I didn’t expect that she would have. She added, “And if you must know, the money you gave me was ten gold pieces short!”
The Ronald man argued, “How am I supposed to get the apples when my hands are incredibly full with orders?!”
“That’s enough for the two of you!” Grandpa Ben’s voice intervened as he came out from the shop. “You two are acting like children… again. And quite frankly, it’s too annoying to witness,” he continued as he made his way towards us.
Turning his attention to Ronald, Grandpa Ben said, “The next time that you ask for someone’s help in getting your ingredients, and I hear you complaining, you will be fetching all of the ingredients for the bakery.”
“How can I not complain when Laura takes too long in the marketplace?!” Ronald whined, grasping his hair before he threw his hands in the air.
“Have a bit of common sense, Ronald!” Grandpa Ben mildly hit Ronald on the back of his head. He continued, “If you must know, there are a lot of people in the marketplace. Especially during this hour. It’s a public area, and you should know that public markets always attract crowds.”
He added, “Don’t expect it to be free from people, especially in narrow streets like ours.”
“But, Grandpa Ben–”
“I don’t want to hear another word, Ronald,” Grandpa Ben immediately blocked his complaint. He continued, “You do this every time, and I’m exhausted from always playing the mediator between the two of you. The next time that you make a scene such as this, there will be consequences. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Grandpa Ben,” Ronald nodded, a sigh escaped his lips. A sign of defeat.
“You may return to your station. All the pies in your oven seem to be… overdone,” Grandpa Ben replied.
Ronald’s eyes widened in horror before he rushed back inside.
“Thank you, Grandpa Ben,” Laura breathed out in relief, thankful that the whole argument was finished.
“I may have taken your side against Ronald, but that doesn’t mean that you’re safe from trouble, young lady,” Grandpa Ben crossed his arms as he spoke firmly to her. He asked, “Will you kindly explain to me what took you so long to get the apples?”
Grandpa Ben didn’t seem to be furious with Laura. But she was still in trouble because she took so long. And it wasn’t even her fault, it was mine. “Pardon, Grandpa Ben?” I spoke from behind Laura. Both of them turned in my direction. “Oh, hello there, dear boy,” Grandpa Ben smiled. “Were you here all this time? Come closer,” he continued as he gestured for me to come closer to him. In haste, I stepped forward. “Grandpa Ben, please don’t give Laura such a hard time. It was all my fault that she took so long in the marketplace. I was the reason behind it,” I explained without giving Grandpa Ben any moment to speak. “Is that so?” he asked with his arms still crossed. “And why is that?” “I was taking a stroll in the marketplace of Bullingar when I heard her arguing with the vendor,” I answered. “I paid for the barrel and on our way back, we had a bit of a misunderstanding about who’s going to ride on Lady, my horse. That’s what kept us in the marketplace.” “And why were you arguin
As we made our way through the vast plains and a few hills, I was left in awe as I took in the whole scenery in front of me. It was… breath-taking. It was beautiful to be able to see nothing but grass, majestic trees, and colourful flowers, as well as how the slopes looked. This view was definitely better than the view that I had from my balcony. “This place…” I said, my mind drifting off slowly as I tried to form a coherent sentence. The beauty of this place rendered me speechless. It was as if all the words were taken from my mouth. “Don’t worry, I understand how you feel right now,” she giggled as she found me dumb-founded. “That’s the same thing that I said when I first discovered this place,” she continued. She hopped down from her horse, and I followed suit. We walked towards a hill. A tree stood on top of it, tall and proud. “When did you find this place?” I asked. “When I was first brought into the town, I looked for a place that only I knew about. A hideout, to put it si
Laura scoffed in disbelief. “Trust me, there is no one,” she said. “That’s impossible, Laura. A simple admiration is a normal emotion to have,” I replied. “Well,” she then played with her fingers, “There is someone that I like. And there is someone, who I believe, is trying to gain my affections.” My heart stopped as soon as she said that. Her admission destroyed my hopes that maybe she was the one for me. But, it would seem that her heart was already occupied. “Really?” I asked as I tried to hide the pain that was about to come out of my voice. I asked again, “Can you tell me who they are? For sure, I’ve never met them before.” “For now, I’d like to keep things to myself. It’s something that I don’t want others to worry about because it’s not for them to think about,” she answered. “I understand. But, perhaps, you can describe them?” I asked, still hoping that she would tell me more. “The one who, I think, likes me is very sophisticated, to say the least. He acts as if he was
A little while later, we arrived at Leo’s stable. I hopped down Lady as Laura allowed Leo to rest. Once her champion had settled, we headed to the front of the bakery. “Thank you for the stroll and stories, Robert. I enjoyed it,” Laura broke the silence between us. Couldn’t she tell that I had been trying to pacify the storm inside me? Was I not sending enough signs for her to realise that? “Well, I guess this is where we part ways,” she turned to me as we arrived in front of the bakery. “Thank you again, Robert,” she repeated as she turned around, making her way back inside. My mouth suddenly blurted, “Are you not–” I stopped myself before I could even continue. Laura stopped on her tracks. She turned around and returned to me. She then asked, “Is there something that you want to tell me, Robert?” “I just…” I trailed off as I fought the urge to speak out; the urge that was pushing me to the edge. It was forcing me to tell her what I had been feeling ever since we left the field
I turned my head and watched as Mallory entered the stables. “Oh, hello, Mallory,” I greeted neutrally. “Where have you been?” she asked. My brows furrowed. “Why do you ask?” I replied with a question. “Because I need to know,” her lips formed a firm line as she walked towards me. “Are you even my mother to know my whereabouts?” I replied sarcastically. I turned around and proceeded to the entrance, only to be stopped by her again. She protested right away, “I deserve to know because we are in a relationship.” “Our relationship is not real to begin with, Mallory,” I rolled my eyes as I turned back to her. “I don’t care what kind of a relationship that we have!” she suddenly shouted. She continued, “We are a couple now, which gives me the right to know everything about you!” I completely turned to her direction and towered over her. “As far as I know, you can only act that way when the relationship is real. A relationship where both people love each other, and are willing to su
“A woman?!” Benjamin asked in a sudden outburst. “Keep it down, Benjamin!” I shushed him in a panic. I didn’t want the maids to turn our conversation into another source of gossip for them. I continued, “Yes, I met a woman in the Mortal Realm.” He asked another, “And let me guess: you took a liking to this lady, didn’t you?” All of a sudden, Gonzalo arrived. With him was a cart, containing the wine, and everything else that I asked for him to bring. After a mountain of hesitation, I answered, “Well, I can’t say that I don’t.” Gonzalo finally reached us and prepared everything for us. “Is she a part of the upper class, working class or the lowest class of all?” Benjamin continued with his questions as our goblets were handed over to us. “I cannot consider her as part of the lowest class of society. She does, however, work to support herself,” I said as Gonzalo half-filled my cup with wine. I could only drink this much because I never drank wine. Unless, of course, if it was for a
As soon as James’ door was in sight, his guards immediately crossed his spears, blocking the entrance. “Your Highness,” one of them greeted, “His Majesty is currently in a meeting. Do you have a message for him?” “Gonzalo mentioned that His Majesty summoned me. I’m surprised that you didn’t know that,” I said, keeping my composure. The two guards looked at each other, confused and horrified. The other guard answered, “Accept our deepest apologies, Your Highness. Please, don’t take us as incompetent. However, as long as the king is in a meeting, we don’t allow anyone in.” Suddenly, the door opened and James’ page appeared. “Your Highness,” he bowed, “Is there something that I can help you with?” “His Majesty has asked me to fetch the young prince,” Gonzalo entered the conversation. “That’s the reason why His Highness is here.” James’ page looked at us, confused. “Did he, now?” he slowly turned to Gonzalo with an icy stare. He remarked, “I’m the king’s royal page. If he were to summ
Currently in my study as I skimmed through the new reports on my desk. Today didn’t end well, but what should I expect? Aside from my impossible relationship with James, my current situation with Laura abruptly crossed my mind. All of a sudden, everything stopped. Laura… What I did to her this afternoon was just… gut-wrenching. Unacceptable. I could only hope that she would forgive me. But, what could I do to express my guilt? What should I say in order to earn her forgiveness? I turned to the table by the window. And I immediately caught sight of a pen, on top of a few pieces of paper. A letter! Perhaps, a letter could help resolve some of the pain I caused between us? I shook my head as I removed myself from my thoughts. Why was I even too troubled about her? We just met and yet, she had some sort of impact on me. What I did to her shouldn’t matter this much to me. But why was I feeling this way? Instead of going back to work, I contemplated even more on what I should do. Sho