Why Not Stay

Chapter 3

"So uhm Pearce, do you still have any questions before we end this?" I asked.

He first looked at every face of the princes and princesses and lastly looked at me but when he looked at me, he just gave me a serious look.

You know that look that is not deadly but poisonous? I just gave him back a strange look.

Okay? Does that mean anything? Does he want to say something but he just doesn't want to talk? I waited for him to speak in case that was what the look meant but a few minutes passed and we were just staring at each other,

"Okay so I think none," I just said.

Oh Yani. Start getting used to this guy who does not answer your questions because by the looks of it, he is obviously cold.

“Thank you everyone for coming. You may now go back to your respective duties.”

They came out of the room one by one and when the two of us were the only ones left in the room… in fact he did not remove that seriousness, I mean that poisonous stare at me while the princes and princesses were leaving.

Okay, I'm really getting weirded at him. Is he plotting something against me? Why is he looking at me like that?

Shacks! It’s just the two of us who are the only ones here in this office and…

OMG! He can also control all elements like me so in that means, he has no weakness! I tried to keep my composure so as not to be scared and tried to speak as well but,

"Belong?" he said suddenly.

I stopped and was surprised. Again I wondered what he said.

"Huh?" I asked back.

"Dito ako nabibilang? (I belong here?)" he asked again but in Filipino.

It took a few minutes before I could answer because I was really wondering about his question.

"Yes?" I answered in a question.

I don’t understand. Why is that his question?

He bowed his head and soon, he raised his head and then he looked at me seriously again and he asked a question I am not expecting…

"How can you be sure?"

I was really silenced. I thought I could answer him and I thought there were words already formed in my mind to answer him but I was also stopped not only by how he said it but by the question itself.

And since there was a long silence between us, I just answered him.

"Because you can control all the elements and—"

"That's all?" he cut me off.

I stopped again. Oh shacks! It seems like my answer is wrong.

"Uhm… yes?" I answered in question again because I am not sure what I am saying anymore.

He didn't say a word after that and turned around at the same time and would have gone out the door when,

“Wait. Where are you going?" I asked him for him to stop.

I thought he would ignore me again and finally go out but he was already in front of the door when he also stopped.

"You already introduced them to me so I'm leaving," he replied numbly.

“Huh? Ah okay so uhm I'll just take you to your room—“

"I'm leaving this nation," he interrupted, so I was not able to finish what I was going to say at the same time I’m very surprised.

What? Leaving the nation? As in leaving here in Eullenuum Nation?

“Wait. I think you don’t get it. We introduced you in this nation because you will live here and we will take you around this place because it is like a maze and so that you don’t get lost— “

"You don’t know what you are saying," he inserted again.

And again I stopped because what he said was true. I don't know what to say… especially what I will answer to his questions. Of all the people sent here, I have never faced anything like him.

Just after our introduction, he thought of leaving here. I feel like even if he is just one person, it’s like I am in front of a lot of people getting embarrassed.

"I don’t understand," I just said with mixed confusion. "Why do you want to leave?"

He didn’t say a word so there was silence again in the office.

Soon there was a knock on the door which caused the silence to break.

"Ah pasok… I-I mean come in."

The door immediately opened and Jethro appeared. He was surprised when Pearce appeared in front of him so he wasn’t able to speak for a moment and Pearce and him stared at each other before he thought of looking at me.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, your majesty but why is he still here?" he asked.

"Uhm…" I just looked at Pearce's back and bowed my head at the same time because even with his question, I don’t know what to say.

He paused at his place before finally closing the door and approached me. I came back to reality when he called my name. I tried to smile at him to hide my confusion.

"Ah well uhm he has uuhh… Pearce just asked me something and we're actually about to leave."

Jethro just looked at me and immediately turned his gaze to Pearce's position who was looking at us.

"Uhm why did you come here? Do you need anything?" I asked Jethro.

He stared at Pearce first before he looked at me and smiled.

"Nothing really, your majesty. Fuego is just giving free snacks today so here..." he handed me a plastic bag at the same time. "...this is for you."

I was surprised by what he said and looked at the food before I looked at him and smiled.

"I'm fine. You shouldn't have done that."

But in my heart, you don’t know how happy I was when he just did that.

He smiled at me again. "Don’t deny it, your majesty. I always notice that you tend to forget to eat because of the paperworks so take it. Besides, if you deny this, you just wasted Fuego’s and my effort for you just to eat."

I was shocked by what was said.

"Ah sorry. I didn't mean to—"

He suddenly put his hand on my head so I stopped.

"I'm just kidding your majesty. You're always serious," he said with a smile.

I was slightly dazed by his face before I bowed my head down.

This is the reason why I can’t forget how I feel about him. He really changed this much and it’s so ironic that the time when he has no longer any feelings for me, that's the time he is really sweet.

Aish, restrain yourself Yani.

"Thank you Jethro," I said as I grabbed the plastic bag. "Do you need anything else?" I asked, but he did not answer me because he was already looking at Pearce with a serious face.

They exchanged glances and there was silence between us.

"Uhm Jethro—"

"I'll take him to his room," Jethro said while turning his gaze to me. "Don’t you have a lot to do, your majesty?"

"Ah no it’s okay. I can handle this and shouldn't you be helping Callie now?" I said.

"I told her I would be back soon and I knew it would only take a while to take him to his room."

"That's the point. It will only take a while—"

"Your Majesty..." he inserted again so I stopped. "Just do what you have to do. I'll take care of him," and he gave me a sincere smile.

I fell silent immediately after he did that. I don’t know how he really manages to silence me and at the same time, make me happy just because of his smiles but at the same time I will feel sorrow.

"All right. Whatever you say so," I answered gently and looked at him and tried to give him a smile.

He smiled at me again and bowed in front of me. "Goodbye your majesty and just a reminder..." he gave me another sincere smile. "Don't starve yourself, Princess Yani."

I tried to match the smiles he was giving. "Yes," I replied.

He turned around and walked to the door.

I am already happy about the fact that he always smiles at me and sometimes jokes around but I know that those have no meaning. I know he only does this because he is a polite and humble person because the ice in his heart has completely melted. So at the same time, I feel sad every time he does that because I know he does the same to others and I am not special in his eyes.

(Third Person's POV)

Jethro was already out of the office and Pearce was following but only Pearce saw that grief on the face of the princess they left inside the office.

When he left the office, he immediately looked at the prince with him and just gave him a serious look while the prince returned him back with a smile.

"Come and I will guide you to your new room," smiling, Jethro said to him as he walked.

Pearce first watched the prince walk and at the same time looked at the door next to him before he followed him.

They walked down the hallway and not one of them spoke. It didn't take long for Jethro to stop in front of a door so Pearce also stopped. Jethro immediately opened the door and stepped aside.

"You can go in now," Jethro politely said.

Again, he gave Jethro a serious look before he entered and looked around the room with no trace of emotion on his face.

"If you look around, the basic things we know you need are already provided here."

Pearce walked over to a door and opened it.

"Don't worry because the things you need like soap, shampoo, towels, toothbrush and toothpaste are already in that bathroom."

He walked to a large closet and opened it.

"Edmondo will bring your clothes here soon."

Jethro came in and opened a cabinet and took something.

"This is the key to your room," and handed it to Pearce but he just looked at it. Jethro didn't say a word and smiled at him again at the same time he just puts the key on top of the cabinet.

"Before I leave, do you still have any questions?" Jethro asked.

Pearce just avoided looking at him.

"If none, just please wait for Edmondo here for your clothes," Jethro said while walking away.

Pearce looked around at his new room again…

"And last of all ..." Pearce was slightly surprised because he thought he already left. Jethro turned to him.

"Don't worry because we will not hurt you and we have no bad intentions to do to you," he smiled and walked again but...

"So, you heard what we talked about earlier?" Pearce asked the reason he stopped from walking away.

There was silence between them when Jethro confronted Pearce.

"I don’t know what you are talking about but whatever it is, I am not saying this because of that," Jethro replied. "I'm just used to telling that to newcomers here in our nation so they won't feel scared."

Jethro smiled at him. "You don’t have any plans to leave here, right?"

Pearce didn't say a word and just gave him a blank face. Jethro turned around.

"But just in case you do have the intention, I myself will say this to you that you are the only one who will have a hard time to do so," Jethro lastly said before he finally left the room while closing the door.

Pearce was left standing in his place at the same time he also looked out the window of the room and approached it. He looked around and saw only trees and plants. Later on, he looked up at the sky as he thought of the last words the prince said.

Soon, someone knocked on his door, the reason why he looked at it in no time. He knocked again before Pearce thought of opening the door.

A woman appeared in front of him and wondered even though it was not obvious on his face.

He knew to himself that he did not remember the names and faces of those who had introduced themselves earlier but he was sure that it’s a man who had the name Edmondo. They just stared at each other before she spoke.

“I don't know if Yani told you that Edmondo will be the one to deliver your clothes so you’re wondering why I’m the one in front of your door and if that is the case, I passed by him earlier and he asked me to deliver this box full of clothes for you,” explained the woman.

Pearce just looked back at her.

"If possible, you can enter this cart inside and just leave it outside your room because Edmondo will take it later—"

Pearce stepped aside the way.

"…or I can just push it so it will enter," she replied to herself.

She pushed the cart and entered the room. They also immediately put down the box from the cart and Pearce watched the woman open it.

"Ah, by the way," said the woman as she took some plastic. "This is also part of that box," as she handed it to Pearce.

He took it and opened it.

“Those are clothes with shoes. Edmondo said you should wear that tomorrow because you will eat breakfast with us. Someone will come here to pick you up,” said the woman.

Pearce just looked at the clothes and shoes inside the plastic and ignored her.

“So that's all. I’ll take my leave,” she said goodbye and turned around…

"What if I don't want to?" Pearce suddenly asked as the woman stopped and turned to him.

"What's that?"

"What if I don't want to?" he asked again.

"You don't want me to leave here?" the woman asked in astonishment.

"What if I don't want to wear this tomorrow?" while pointing at the clothes.

"Ah," the woman said, understanding what he meant. “Uhm I don't know because that's all I was told to but I think, it's okay. As long as you have clothes tomorrow to go to the dining area, that is what is important,” she replied.

Pearce did not speak.

"Uhm you have any more questions?"

"How to get out of here?"

The woman wondered at Pearce's question. "Get out of here?"

“Here in this nation.”

The woman was slightly surprised. "Why?"

Pearce just avoided looking at her.

"You just arrived and you want to leave?" the woman asked further.

Pearce did not say a word and just looked out the window so the woman also looked at it.

"Wait, is it because you left a family in your home—"

"I have no family," Pearce interrupted as she stopped.

"Oh uhh sorry," she paused. "So uhm why do you want to leave then?"

Pearce just avoided looking at the person he is talking to.

"Did something happen?" she added.

There was only silence between them and it only broke when the woman sighed.

"Well if something happened or not, I can not answer you because even though I have been here for a long time, I have not tried to leave here."

Pearce looked at her while listening.

"There are some who know like Zoltar and Aes so if you want an answer, just ask them," she added.

At first, Pearce was surprised because it seemed like this woman was casually answering his question like nothing unlike the others.

"How about you, are you not planning to leave?" Pearce asked.

The woman looked at him for a moment and sighed again. "I'm a princess so why will I leave…"

Pearce was about to speak when…

"…but that's not the only reason," she added again. “I really want to leave here at that time. They took me because I thought they had bad intentions but I was wrong. They welcomed me warmly and little by little I also felt that I belong here but really it’s all because of him…”

The woman stopped for a moment and Pearce saw her blush but she immediately shook her head.

"A-anyways my point is…" she said. “…I am not being dramatic right in front of you to convince you to stay here or say you belong here. If you want to leave, I will not stop you because I understand how you feel but this I can say…” the woman smiled at him.

"There is a reason why you’re here."

The shock on Pearce's face was not obvious but he looked away again.

“It is no coincidence that you’re the one who was brought here today. There are many others out there that they can take, why you?”

After the woman spoke, there was silence when the woman turned around.

"If you have no more questions—"

“Name,” Pearce said so the woman stopped again.

She turned to Pearce who was staring at her in astonishment. "Didn't I say it already earlier in the introduction?"

Pearce just looked the other way. The woman sighed again and started walking towards the door.

“Elesa. Just call me Elesa,” she said before she finally left the room.

Pearce just looked at the door and turned his gaze to the clothes that were exposed from the given plastic bag as well as to the outside of his window while thinking.

What if I stay here even just for a few weeks?