Unrequited

"My brother always mentions his adventures outside the castle. Well, not really, I remember him talking to himself before about a certain well he found. He said he wanted to visit it one last time before he suddenly vanished. All I know is that it's in the forest, an abandoned well that has scriptures that he wishes to decipher. I wish to see it too and understand him a little and the reason he left but my frail body and my father would forbid it"

Frederick read as he and some of his knights inspected the vicinity of the fallen house that his son visited a day before.

"Are you certain that this is where Nicolas and that boy came from," he could only sigh, closing the book after seeing that it was the last entry that was ever written.

"Yes, your majesty. There is nothing else besides trees and wild boars pass this point, and of course, that grave over there," Orwell, Anton's former second-in-command and the new night commander, showed him the map.

"Is there a well here perhaps"

"There's one but I'm afraid it's already buried under the rubles of house. We can clean them but it would take us a day to do so"

"I don't care, I need to be certain of something"

Frederick can still remember his disappointed face as he descended to see things for himself. The bottom of the was deprived of any life, not a single alga, and certainly not a single scripture that he hoped to see. There's no signs of tampering either and that frustrated him even more as he sat on his study table. He can't help but itch to ask Nicolas what happened but he doubt that even if he already knows something, and interrogation will not bear fruit.

"Frederick, dear. Are you busy?" Natalia took him out of his fixation, "You've been staying up late for these past nights, are you okay?"

"Not really, I'm just making sure that the merchants won't be able to bare their fangs towards us again. How about Nicolas, how is he doing? Did he say anything about his little endeavor"

"Well, he seems to be doing well. He busies himself with the arrangement of the guest rooms for the Algernons and never mentioned anything"

"He's not acting like he's not himself is he"

"What is this about," Natalia took some of the papers from him and hid it under the cabinets.

"He vanishes for an entire day only to return with an injury, moreover, with the boy that he hates from the bottom of his soul. Don't you think he's the one who caused that—"

"Really? That's where you're at? Didn't it even occur to you that they might have been attacked? As you said, he hates the boy. Do you think he'd even bother to carry him back here if he's the one who did it," Natalia shushed him up, "You trust him when you're at the meeting table so why can't you trust him as a person? Think this over on the sofa tonight, I will not hear any of this when the guests arrives"

The day came as fast as if flipping the pages of a book, at least that was what Princess Meriane thought as she watched the scenery from the carriage, excited yet anxious on what the following days may bring.

"Welcome," Nicolas greeted the Algernons but as usual, their two princes are absent. He rarely saw them since and this is no exception.

"Are you looking for my brothers? Don't mind them, they are now busy with their fiancés after all. Always blabbing on how beautiful they are etcetera etcetera," Meriane gently lifted the sides of her red dress as she a curtsied.

"That's fine. This is my mother's day, Queen Herina is the most important guest here, and, because there is no other guess," Nicolas laughed. "Let me call Marie, she'll show you to your room."

"Won't you be showing us personally?"

"Uhm… Well, the feast will not be happening until tonight and I still have my lessons I need to cover. You know, from most of the visiting days, right Anton?" he waved at the man as he approached.

"Lessons?"

"Yes, we're about to go right?" Nicolas smiled at Meriane as he stabbed Anton's side with his elbow.

"Ow— Oh, right the lessons, yes"

They were about to leave when out of nowhere, Frederick and Ferrol caught wind of their conversation, "There will be no lessons for today"

"But father"

"What's happening dear?" Queen Natalia and Queen Herina also joined the conversation.

"Well, I'm just letting our son the day off he desired from his lessons, in fact he's not going to have lessons today or for the rest of the week."

Nicolas tried pleading his case but with the Queen agreeing with the King, there's nothing else he could do, "Isn't this great Nicolas. This certainly does not come regularly, maybe it is time for all of us to relax"

Nicolas expected help from his butler but he's now out of sight, minding with his own business on a corner with Selene. "VERY reliable," he thought before facing the princes and offering his arm, "Well then, shall we go, princess"

"And Son, after you showed them to their rooms, take the princess on a stroll around the castle. I'm sure she already forgot her last visit. Anton you're needed here," King Frederick mandated, separating the man and Selene.

Nicolas tried hard to keep a hold of his temperament even though it seems like the world is preventing him from having one peaceful day. "Yes father," he replied before once again inviting the princess.

"Is Uncle giving you a hard time again. I can talk to him if you want," Meriane whispered to him, noticing the graze on his cheeks, "A— are you injured?"

"A little, you might not want to pull too much on my shoulder though, I got in a little bit of a mess a few days back"

"You should have said sooner," she retracted her hand but Nicolas assured her that it's fine.

"No, it's fine, but to answer your first question, Not really, if that's the way he'll treat you every day for 9 years, you'll get used to it, eventually," Nicolas sarcastically replied trying to make a laugh out from what he said.

The 2nd floor of the castle is where the Great Library was located, he already knows that Meriane does not have that much fascination for books so they walked passed it without having a look together with the throne room and continued for the chambers on the same floor.

"Does the knights also sleep at this floor your majesty?" Selene asked as she scanned the long hallway. Other maids can be seen walking pass, greeting the prince and the princess as they walk by.

"Knights or do you mean Anton?" Nicolas cheekily smiled, which turned Selene red. He cleared his throat before continuing. "The Knight order has a separate quarter. If you remember, there is a hallway beside the stairs on the main hall. That leads to the knight's quarters and armory so that they can respond to things more efficiently."

"Too bad—," Meriane teased her maid as she rubbed her shoulder.

"But don't worry. Since Anton was handpicked to be my personal guard, he also sleeps up here too. If you want to, you can sleep in his room tonight. It's at the far right, and the last room"

"That's a great idea Selene. I won't be calling you tonight if you want to, you know, have fun," Meriane again added fuel to the fire.

"Oh, come on princess, I— I can't do that," she desperately recollect herself, "We should get going Prince Nicolas so I can prepare the princess's things.

"Right, so anyway, on top of these stairs leads to our chambers," Nicolas explained as they reached two branching stairs. "This right one directly leads to the top front flank of the castle where the tower that my room resides and your temporary room opposite of it. The other one is directly at the back half where the guess room and my parent's room resides. Although it won't matter whatever you choose, you will always end up on the same floor so you can just circle around," he pointed to the back half as they finally made it to the top. "And here we are at your room"

The room was remarkably big, it was intended to be a guest room ever since. The walls are filled withs scenic paintings of the mountains and flowers at most. It was tidy and thoroughly clean, the furniture, cabinets, and even the bed are specifically arranged to match the chamber of the princess back at Algernon. Meriane was left amaze at the door, he had invited the prince once to her room several years back, she never expected that he would memorize most of its contents. Two of the maids are still inside, placing white roses at the window and making their last preparations before the princess settles.

"Does your room have the same layout? Where is it?" Meriane asked as Selene and the other maids settled her baggage.

"Didn't I told you that this whole floor is a square. Of course, it's the one directly opposite here," Nicolas pointed at the other room.

"May I come and see?"

"I can't see why that's necessary," he avoided her gaze, "Besides, my room have no appeal. You'll probably be disappointed to how it looks, not to mention it has the same view and all."

"What's up with that long explanation? It's not like I will ransack your room for your belongings," her eyes are awfully determined.

Nicolas could only scratch his forehead as he let out a lengthy sigh. The servants are also staring at him so keenly which made it harder for him to decline. With nowhere to hide from their persecuting eyes, he once again sighed, "Fine, just this once."

Meriane ran ahead of Nicolas. She was so eager to see what's inside and did not wait for the owner of the room to open the door for her. She intruded with a smile on her face only to be disappointed at how baren and boring the bed chamber looked. Except for the books on the shelf that he has, there was no decoration, not even a painting nor a single petal of a flower. It was rather black and white making her wonder if this could even be considered a room, to her, it looked more like a cell.

"What's up with that look on your face. I already warned you didn't I?"

"How would I not be disappointed. The walls are bare, you only have white cloth for everything, even your books are a shade of dead colors. How can you live with such lifeless environment," she marched into the room straight towards the closed curtains, "There you go, much better, bright and fresh air."

"I like my chamber the way it is, besides, I'm not like some girl I know that fills her room with unnecessary things," he smirked.

"At least her room is colorful and fun unlike some boy I know," Meriane glared at her, retaliating as best as she could.

"Haven't you seen enough. We should get going now," the prince walked out the room and waited outside.

"But I just got in. Give me one more minute," the princess insisted as she scanned the cabinets, but seeing that he's not watching, she went straight to Nicolas's wardrobe. She got a bit distracted from his undergarments but a small box at the bottom distracted her from her distraction, "Hey Nicolas, what's this tiny box?"

"Box?"

"Yes this one," she bent over as she tried to reach for it but Nicolas was fast on his feet.

He quickly pulled her away before shutting the cabinet's door. "You should not be touching other people's stuff, especially without permission," he roared, his eyes sharp and focused before taking the box and placing it back to its hiding place. "Moreover, isn't that enough sightseeing in my room, want to go for a walk instead?"

"Sorry, but you didn't have to pull me like that you know. I would understand if you told me nicely," she held her hand close to her chest, regretful and ashamed as she walked out the room. The thought of the box still lingered in her mind.

"Forgive my insolence too, I should have told you nicely."

"It's my fault so its fine," the awkward silence took over for a minute before she broke it, "So, where are we going again?" she wore her smile once again but Nicolas remained guilty.

They left the room before going down to the ground floor in the main hall. They traversed the hallway at the back of the stairs where they met some of the knights that's preparing for their guarding shift and rounds. Continuing through the hallway separating the knight quarters and armory, they found themselves on the training field.

"Do you practice bows too?" Meriane asked as she picked up one of the bows that was forgotten on the shooting range.

"Isn't that an obvious requirement?"

"Well, I don't practice even practice the sword so I don't know"

"I mean for us princes, does Edmund and Darius does not do so?"

"Oh yeah, I did see them doing so when they are not on about finding a wife," she laughed as she tried firing an arrow. It flew off from a distance but awfully far from target.

"Put that down, you might hit someone," Nicolas confiscated the weapon. "Let's just go to the pond for goodness sake"

"You're serious, you have a pond?" the princess rejoiced, she had seen springs and visited waterfalls in their territory but they never had a pond on their castle, with it being elevated and all. "So many fish!," she yelled in excitement before going in.

"Don't go in the water," Nicolas yelled at her as he was putting the other bows in place. A moment later, he knew he was too late. The princess is already on the water with the ends of her dress soaked, having fun as if it's her first time touching some water.

"What are you, four years old? you're too old to be playing at the pond. Besides, you're a princess, at least act like one," he scolded her before pulling her back to land.

She desperately tried to regain balance as he did but the algae covering the undersoil prevented her. Landing over the now preoccupied prince. Now fixated with the sight he had almost forgotten existed, he found it reassuring that it still has the same old ragged roof and bricks, nothing's changed except the children that used to visit it.

"Are you even listening?" Meriane called him back to reality.

"I guess"

"I said, we don't have a pond at home, so, I was excited to see one."

"Didn't you have a fountain and all, anyway, can we get up now?"

"Am I that heavy for you? I'm keep everything I eat in check you know," Meriane complained as she stood up and extended her hand to help the prince up.

"I did not say such things"

"You know what? Let's just go back, there's still a place I want to see"

"Aren't you going to prepare for the feast?"

"It's still too early," she insisted. As they reached the top again, she asked, "Here, where does these stairs lead to?"

Nicolas watched as Meriane pointed at the spiral staircase halfway between his room and Meriane's. Guilt started to climb his spine as he took the first step following the princess

The princess on the other hand could only express her awe as she reached the top, meeting the breathtaking view of Gregoria. Nicolas never had the time to ever visit the top tower again since their frequent business at Algernon and continuous lessons, but one thing is remarkable. The houses had already been built back up, the farmlands are all now functional, and the central square was now changed back to its primary purpose

The lushes green trees were back as flowers and grass grows from the soil. All is well, Gregoria had finally got back to its feet and soon it'll finally be able to take a step towards the future. It was a beautiful view with the mountains in the background but it did not give Nicolas peace. He badly wanted to go down from the tower as soon as possible before the Gods charge him again for his sins.

"Now that you've seen everything, can we go back down now?" he asked while already at the door, taking the step descending the stairs, leaving no chance for Meriane to argue.

"We just got here, hey— wait up—"

No fancy decorations but the few flower vases of fragrant flowers to color the hall. The atmosphere was filled with calming music from a solo violinist and a single piano, there were no orchestras nor a jester. There are no other guests despite the closest friend of the Gregorys. Considering the normal gatherings that the royals tend to conduct, Queen Natalia's birthday celebration is simple, all according to her wishes and the same as any other celebrations in the family since the incident. The knights are on high alert for the night, not even the servants are allowed to sleep nor they wish so.

"My best wishes to you Natalia," Queen Herina greeted the celebrant, leaning in for a hug. They had been talking since their arrival this morning but their stories seems like a bottomless void and no one is backing down.

"Thank you Herina"

Nicolas can see how wide his mother's smiles were while sitting at the other end of the table next to Meriane, it must have been freeing for her to finally have someone to after all those years. He can't help himself but smile, he knows how much of a burden he had placed on his mother's should and this break really is something she deserves.

All is well, not until he turned to the princess, "That's wine," he quickly grabbed the glass as if it was poison that could kill her in one taste.

"Don't worry, didn't you say so, I'm already old. Too old to play at the pond so, already old enough to drink," she just laughed before drinking straight from the bottle, "Oh, it's a bit sweet, oh wait, any way do you want some?"

The princess offered her the bottle but shaking his head, he refused. The celebration went on, both the Queen are taking their sweet time talking to each other while the Kings are heavily drinking, singing merrily to the two-man musicians.

When was the last time he had seen that smile from his father, he had already forgotten, but similar to his mother, he's at least thankful that he can lower his crown for a bit and let his shoulder be free from his duties and problems. He on the other hand was left to look after the princess. Despite only letting her a glass or two, she's already swerving and her speech is failing her.

"I think you've had enough," Nicolas snatch finally seized bottle of wine and the glass, "You're already drunk, let me call Selene," he whispered to the red beat colored face of the princess before looking around for her maid.

"Don't you dare bother my lovely attendant. She already worked hard assisting me. Let her enjoy the knight— I mean the night. And would you give that back, it's already have a glass worth, it would be a waste," she said before a hiccup.

Nicolas was a little confused as to why the princess would repeat the word "night" twice but he's more concerned that she's too drunk to walk. Sighing, he drank the rest of the bottle to put her case to rest, "There, you have reason to stay here now. Since I'm feeling generous, I'll accompany you to your room."

"That you shouldn't do. It's your mother's special night. You should stay here until the event is over"

"Are you out of your mind? You can't even walk straight, what if you fell off the stairs and die"

"What's up with that grim imagination of yours," she laughed as she stood up. "Want to fight me then? You'll know I can't walk if you beat me," she added before she boxed with the air.

"Just so know, I'm easy to talk to," Nicolas rested his case.

"Yeah yeah, I can manage by myself. Goodnight, and don't follow me or I'll bust your nuts."

He accompanied her until the door, "Goodnight, be careful," he greeted as he went back to his seat. After an hour with nothing to do, he too decided that he'll go back up to his room.

"Mother," he interrupted. "Once again Happy Birthday, I apologize but I'll be heading off to bed."

"Already?" Natalia replied fondling with his hair like when he's small. He was too embarrassed but let it slide, it's her night, he reminded himself. "Have a goodnight then, and don't forget to tell your father on your way."

"Yes I would," he went in front of the orchestra where the two Kings are.

"Father, I'll be going ahead."

Both of the kings must have been too drunk because they are too easy to talk to, especially Frederick. He just smiled and replied, "Sure, go on," before continuing his song with Ferrol whose cheeks are now turning red.

"There's no dead body downstairs so she should be sleeping by now," he thought as he walked passed her chamber. It was quiet and there was no sign of struggle so he rested his worries and went straight for his room. He loosened his necktie and freed the ends of his long sleeves from being tucked in, and then lit up the room with the lamp beside the door.

To his surprise the princess was on his bed.