31A/N: Chapter 6~! Hope you'd like it!
Sapphire here! Sorry for being away for 3 chapters. But I decided to let the Princes tell a bit of their story and also because I was ill. So, on with my story of the rich and the famous...
Whatever happened in the ball was atrociously embarrassing and definitely against my better judgment. I swear on my ancestor's grave I had no intention to scream at Lucius but neither do I regret. He deserved it!
My alarm clock rang and I pushed myself out of bed shielding the evening sun out from my eyes. Fuck… School time… I dragged my hands down my face and moaned. How was I supposed to show my face in school much less in front of the princes?
"Sapphire!"
Huh…?
"Sapphire! Are you even up yet!?"
I blinked. I lived alone and that meant I'm not supposed to hear any one's voice at all except that annoying little one called conscience. I continued to brush my teeth. Maybe a screw's loose in my head thanks to the ball yesterday night.
Huh… No… That's not the little voice in my head.
"Sapphire!"
Oh wait… I think I know who it is…
"Sapphire GRANCHÉ!"
I dropped my toothbrush on the floor.
A murmur: "I'm sorry, Lord Cain. She'll be down very soon" Lord Cain? Who the hell's that?
Oh shit…
Not them… Please almighty father of hell, don't let it be them!
There was a knock on my door and I quickly slammed my bathroom door closed. "Uncle George! I'll be out soon! Can you please wait downstairs?"
"Be quick!" That was my nasty uncle of a betrayer. After I heard the door slam, I leaned against the door and slid down to the cold tile. I looked up at the white spotlights above me and grumbled with toothpaste still in my mouth, "Perfect. Another royal pain in the ass to make my day."
After dressing for school, I hurried into the living room and saw Uncle George standing beside a very uptight man. His back was straight, he wasn't smiling, and he was staring straight at me with those crazy fierce eyes. "Ah… Good Morning Lord Cain." I curtsey out of formality at him and blatantly forgot to greet my Uncle. "So are you here to bring me to prison for disrupting yesterday's ball and screaming at the princes?" I tried to laugh it off as a joke but when his lips drew themselves into the thinnest line I've ever seen, I stopped.
He cleared his throat and slowly stood up. "On the contrary, Miss Sapphire, I'm here to bring you good news. His Majesty has taken a liking to you and you're to dine with him 6 sunsets from today at the Castle."
I blinked and choked on my saliva. My legs started trembling and I quickly sat myself down on the sofa. Me – Sapphire Granché – is invited to dine with King Kendrick instead of having my head chop off. Can you believe it?! After how I behaved yesterday!
"Are you sure?" I croaked.
"That is correct. Please dress formally as well. Be reminded that the King would not pardon you again if you misbehave." Lord Cain eyed me skeptically and I frowned at him. "This is your invitation." – He handed me a silver and red envelope – "Keep it and present it to the guards when you have arrived." He turned to my uncle and nodded his head. "That is all."
I let out a breath of relief when he was led out of the house and slumped. What am I gonna do? Uncle George walked in again and I glared at him. "Thanks for evading my privacy like that. You could have called!"
"And you'd never pick it up." He replied and picked up his coat. God, I hated him. "Well," I stood up and walked up to him, "I have a very good reason not to because nothing good ever comes out from you! You only know how to take everything away from me."
He glared back and snarled at me. "I have no more patience with you, Sapphire. Everything I've done is for your own good and for your future especially after your father died. If you hate me, at least cover it up by showing some respect."
Have you ever met someone who just is able to piss you off no matter what they say? Even if you know they make sense and you have no right to be pissed about it? And you are pissed because you're being plain stubborn and prideful.
"There's no room for immaturity anymore, Sapphire." He sighed and opened the door. His long charcoal eyes looked softly at me and for a second, I see my deceased father in them. I took a step back subconsciously and used the excuse to pick up my bag to break eye contact with him.
When his back was finally facing me, I asked, my voice trembling and my head cast down. "How's my mother?"
There was a paused. (My mother was mentally ill and currently resides in a mental hospital. No one knew about this nor the fact that I'm fatherless and I planned to keep it that way although it hurts sometimes because there was no one to share it with.) An intense silence and he answered unnecessarily because we knew the answer already. "The same."
His words lingered in the air, even after he was gone. I started to cry and flung my bag away helplessly. I looked up at the ticking clock and realized that I was already late for school. And well, really, when you were me at that point of time, screw school and screw the dinner. All you'd want would be to lie down and press your cheeks onto the cold hard floor for hours.
I know I said 'SCREW THE DINNER' but in the end after the whole moping and dreading and self-pitying, when the 6th sunset finally arrived, a limo arrived at the last stroke of 6:59pm. Didn't have much of a choice there, did I?
When the limo finally arrived at the grand gate of the castle, I looked at it again with awe and was instantly mesmerized by the sheer beauty of it. It was hard to describe thoroughly how the castle looked. Anyone would be lost for words at the sight of it. It bore the signature look of ancient Europe castles with great stonewalls and fortresses that sparkled with magic with bright lights shooting into the sky from it (large spot lights, I guess?) especially under the smothering glow of the moon. Occupying a large area of green pasture, it stood majestically on top of a highland with a vast pasture of land like a king looking down on his subjects from the highest place. A flag that bore the sign of the Golden Circle waved proudly in the air at the very center of the highest roof of it. To even add to the effect, a small river surrounded the castle and you'd need a wooden bridge to cross over it. I couldn't believe that I didn't notice all of this the first time I came a week ago.
As I got out of the limo, I heard the sounds of a car screeching to a stop. I turned my head when the door of the limo behind me opened as a long pair of legs wearing glass stilettos set foot onto the ground. My breath was caught in my lungs as a familiar looking girl with exuberant beauty appeared and was startled to see me as I was to her. We exchanged smiles but was given no time to get aquainted just yet.
Portraits of the long ancestral line of the Golden Circle vampires hung across the hallway and chandeliars brightened the room. We were ushered to the tearoom by their butler to wait since we were half an hour early. When Lady Charlottle and I settled down quietly in apparent boredom, she extended out her hands and I took it with surprise. "I'm Charlotte." To introduce herself so casually is quite… informal I guess. And not you would expect someone from the Royal Class to do something like that. "I'm Sapphire."
"I know." She smiled with amusement. "You've been the topic of our school's gossip lately."
A blush crept up my cheeks and I shook my embarrassment off by shaking my head. "What a great way to start off as a freshman huh?" Bloody gossips. When I went back to school, everyone was giving me stares and glares. One group of seniors actually came up to me and demanded an apology for humiliating Prince (Note sarcasm please!) Lucius and when word got out that I was invited to dinner…
Bah. Disaster.
She laughed and linked my arm with hers. I stared at her, baffled. "And I thought you were a carefree girl." She raised her eyebrows. "Here I am, trying to get on your good side by being warm and casual while you're being so uptight."
I looked into her eyes wondering what was up with her friendliness. After a bad start in the Academy, it was impossible for me not to be cynical. But I concluded that since she had already pretty much gain the position as queen – seeing that she would be a better candidate than I am – she really must be that nice. I broke into a smile and felt myself loosen up a bit.
"Sorry." I apologised. "It's just that if anyone started being friendly with me, it's usually ends up they're up to some plot to make me miserable as of late."
"Oh it's alright." she brushed it off with a wave of her hands. "You interest me, Sapphire, ever since I saw you standing up to Prince Lucius. I really do like a girl with some backbone. And those princes deserves some humiliation shoved at their faces. You'd be able to handle either of them if you're queen." She huffed and stuck her tongue into her cheek.
I laughed. I think I'm going to like her very much. "Thanks for the compliment. But truth be told, I don't want to be a Queen. I don't understand why I'm even chosen."
Lady Charlotte seemed shock at my answer but what's there to be shocked? She has everything that I have as I am and even possess that refined fiery grace that I do not have. Just as she was about to argue, there was a knock on the door. Surprised, we looked at the direction of the creaking door and lo behold, the almighty damning Prince Lucius stepped into the room wearing a white plain dress shirt that was unbuttoned at the top beneath a black tailcoat and pants. His no nonsense green eyes zoned in on me and I felt myself pushing back on my seat. "Lady Sapphire, may I have a word with you for a minute?"
Who was I to say no?
As he lead me further and further away from the tearoom, my palms were starting to sweat. Annoyed at myself , I yanked at my gloves angrily and got them off. "Stupid gloves..." I muttered and wiped my hands against the side of my skirt. Yes, unladylike, you've got a problem with it? I was really aggitated, nervous and all other words with the same meaning in the dictionary. I honestly had no idea what I had done wrong again and I definitely was aware that I stepped on the wrong footing with him especially on first impression. All the while as we walked, I daren't even look at that broad shoulders of his from the back so I contentedly kept my eyes on the floor.
I kept walking, not noticing that I was heading in the direction of a round knee-high table with a very expensive looking statue on it. To top off as the icing on the cake, I tripped on my gown and stumbled with a great big yelp, hurling myself at the table with arms flailing and finally knocking the statue off the table. Horrified, I lunged myself at the statue and managed to bruise myself but catch hold of it before it shattered.
I let out a huff and achingly stood up, no thanks to Lucius. "So?" I asked impatiently.
He smiled and that made me frown. "I hate your smile." I muttered.
Lucius completely brushed off that statement. All the more irritated that not only did he not be a gentleman and save me from that near disaster but he even ignored my snipe remarks. Just as I opened my mouth to tell him off , he did one thing that made me almost dislocate my jaw when it dropped to the knelt with one knee down at my feet, his black tailcoat sweeping the red-carpeted floor. He look ahead into thin air before looking down and I took a few steps back.
"What the HELL are you doing?" I queried.
His reply was to lower his head even more with one hand on the floor and the other on his knee and finally he spoke in a voice void of emotions. "Lady Sapphire Granché, only daughter to Joshua Granché, please accept my apologies for my unsightly manners towards you during the Ball of the Golden Rose. It was completely uncalled for and I had acted out of irrationality."
I swallowed my saliva. Good grief! And I'd never imagined a day when a PRINCE would kneel and ask for my forgiveness. Imagine the amount of pride this guy had to swallow. I must be dreaming!
I thought that my tongue was literally cut off when I couldn't speak nor move. In fact, neither of us moved and we stayed like that for approximately two minutes. "Well, I ah… you really… ah…"
On he went, kneeling there like a statue. I knew that until he had officially gotten an 'I forgive you' from me, he wasn't budging. I rolled my eyes up heavenwards thinking, This is so wrong... and ruffled my hair. I bit my lips, panicking. I've never been apologized to like that and I really did not know what should I do or say. "Okay okay! Get up already! How long are you going to kneel there! I forgive you, geez!" I burst and finally, to my relief, he stood up and patted the dust off his pants.
"Thank you." He said stiffly. Too stiffly for a normal vampire.
"You're welcome." I answered curtly and looked away. Well, if his plan was to embaressed me, he certainly did a good job at it as I felt my cheeks heating up.
When I finally had the guts to look at him, he was already turning on his heels to walk away. I rubbed my temple and watched his retreating figure. I really don't get him. We vampires are very proud creatures. More prideful than you humans can even imagine.
An idiot would know how prideful Lucius was. An idiot would also realize how much of a puppet Lucius looks under the all the laws that govern us vampires - even the rules of ethics! A question began to make my tongue itch and I called out to him, stretching out my hand to grab him by his arm. He jumped in shock but did nothing to turn around, regaining his composure almost instantly.
"Why? Why so serious and apologise like that? You know that I was in the wrong too and all you really needed to do was say that you're sorry standing up and wait for my apology as well."
Lucius kept quiet for a few seconds and the sound of the fan above us grew loud by each nano second. He finally turned and look me in the eye. I searched for some hint of emotions that I saw during the ball. Nothing. Zen. Na dah! Cold and distant and almost... dead.
"Because," he answered in a whisper. "I'm a prince."
His answer was short and simple yet it did all the explaining needed. I let go of his arm and stared at my hands...
I hate my life.
Fast forwards to half an hour since my arrival...
The dinner was surprisingly uneventful but The King and Queen had small talks and friendly conversation while the princes stayed relatively quiet.
Occasionally I would glance at them and felt awkward and weird. Aside from Lucius, Derek and Darren were not acting normal and I could feel the tension radiating from them. I wondered how it was really like to be brought up knowing that the weight of the world would rest on their shoulders one day and being ripped off from all childhood fantasies so that they could be trained to be leaders.
When dessert finally came, His Majesty said something that quite caught my attention and I'm sure that you, my readers, would want to know too.
He said, "You girls are probably wondering why the selection? Why let the to-be Queen choose her King rather than the other way around? I'm going to tell you why so listen carefully." He paused and glanced at the princes.
"You see, everyone has flaws, including my sons here." He gestured towards them.
"And to rule the vampires is no easy task. A Queen's job is to aid the King in his ruling and she has to possess qualities that the King lacks in order to ensure a perfect ruling. Now if I were to let the future king choose his own bride, he would choose an obedient bride, one that would not give him any trouble at all, and perhaps, stay out of his way."
He paused and took a sip from his glass. "Aren't I right, my princes?" he asked them and they said nothing. Taking that as a yes, he continued, "But that will not do now, would it? After all, a strong woman who can cover up their flaws would definitely bring clashes due to different point of views. So it is our duty," he took his wife's hands in his, "to choose a bride that is able to cover up flaws that our sons have. And now, the two of you - who both in your own way has certain qualities that all three of them lack – will be narrowed down to one."
He smiled pleasantly at us and I wondered why I ever thought that the King was a frightful creature. Maybe it was because of his facial hair and thick eyebrows. Hmmm…
"And also, the chosen Queen is to choose the next King to eliminate any possibilities of favoritism from me although I do have the right to intervene and try influence your decision. But in the end, it's really entirely up to you."
Oh, so that's the reason for this stupid game. I think I did understand it coming from the King but I still think he's making a big mistake in choosing me.
Picking up glass, I looked at Lucius from the rim of it. He looked so serious among his three siblings. I also noticed that whenever the King mentioned that the princes have their flaws, Lucius would twitch slightly. It'd take careful attention to see it.
I took down his attire and compared it to his brothers. His was so formal and old-fashioned. On the other hand, Derek wore a dark green tailcoat with a white dress shirt that has narrow vertical silver lines on them. He looked like a leprechaun but don't tell him I said that. He'll start going, 'Yes, but a very hot and cute looking leprechaun'. Darren on the other hand wore the exact opposite from his eldest brother. A pitch-black dress shirt under a pure white tailcoat.
My attention shifted back to Lucius and what happened before the dinner crossed my mind again. The feeling of distance, so far as if no matter how you run or stretch your hand, you'l never be able to touch him.
At that very instant as our eyes met from across the table for the first time, I knew that I'm going to get to the bottom of who he really is. What I didn't bargain for was how much suffering I had to go through too in order to do that.
Dear readers,
Whenever you read romance novels, doesn't the dark, silent, stoic and mysterious man captivate your heart and just melts you into a puddle? How you'd be the one to pry those layers around him and is the only one able to see the insecure and pained side of him? After giving him hope and security within that short amount of time it's all happily ever after in far away land?
Dream on.
Seriously, it isn't all romance and temporary climatic conflicts you'd get in fiction. It's much scarier and deadlier.
A/N: Like it, don't like it? It's up to you. But if you like it, please review! Thank you!