Eleanor felt the tense muscles of his shoulder she held onto for dear life beneath her fingertips. She doubted whether she heard him correctly. 'The prince?'
The man who held her in his arms found it difficult to part with the physical closeness he was sharing with her at the moment. He helped her straighten up, however, and she stepped away from him.
"My parents always called me their prince. All parents share the same mentality." He clarified to the girl who had stared at him with narrowed eyes. He could not let her become doubtful of him and raise her guard up. Eleanor nodded at him. His words made sense.
"Well then Prince, would you mind sharing your royal name so that your menial subject can diss- I mean compliment you with?" she requested with an innocent face barely masking her eagerness.
The prince smiled at her intentional mistake. He knew she was slowly but surely getting used to his presence. He went along with her charade for little did she know how close to the mark it was.
"My loyal subject, you need to redo the royal servant placement exam if you do not know that the name of a royal family member cannot roll off your inferior tongue." Eleanor blinked. "However, since you insist, then Will," He gauged her face to look for any reaction of familiarity. Eleanor stared at him blankly. "Huh?" she questioned.
"You can call me Will, pretty little bloom," he repeated.
Eleanor felt a sense of Deja vu wash over her. 'Will,' she had not thought she would hear that name again. She grasped her waking emotions and asked, "Little bloom? First, I am not a little. Second, why bloom?"
"Any one flower is not enough to encapsulate you. You are an entire garden in yourself, which various species of flora of your different sides fill and beautify," he said truthfully.
Eleanor felt a warmth in her chest and the heat travelled up her neck to her cheeks, painting them a rosy red.
She smiled widely at him, showering him with her grace. His take on her abashed her, flattering her to no extent.
She bowed to him mockingly with one ankle behind the other and bended in a curtsy, hands beside her. "Thank you for your kind words, your royal flirtiness. Anyhow, Eleanor is the name of this mere commoner."
Eleanor's actions amused the masked prince. She was truly a breath of fresh air in his usual stifling life. The tall walls of palaces confined him, the fake behaviors of two-faced people who surround him aggravate him, and his loneliness suffocated him. The brunette beside him was one of his reasons to live and strive to reach the highest pedestal he could step on. She was the most important one of them all.
"Eleanor," hearing her name on his lips sent sensual shivers through Eleanor's system. She never would have believed her name could sound so wonderful, coming from another person's lips. She felt like she was acting as the female protagonists of the sappy romance stories that she loved to kill time with, when they were with their love interests.
"Your name is a mouthful," he stated making the girl gap at him.
She slapped his arm lightly with an offended expression marring her beautiful face.
The prince wondered how the people, who have seen him grow into the cold, heartless person who he is, would have reacted after seeing her behaving so casually with him. Further more, how he indulged her instead of reprimanding her. Would they have fainted or poked their eyeballs out?
"I will call you Nora," he stated and moved forward, leaving the brunette in an unforeseen flashback of the past
Past-
"I will call you Nora. Eleanor is too long," the young boy told the girl who sat beside him, both enjoying the pleasant sight of a beautiful sunset.
"Nora? Sure, I like it!" the girl replied as she swept a lock of her copper hair and tucked it behind her ear, beads of sweat glistening like tiny crystals on her fair forehead.
"But, only I can ever call you that. You must allow no one else to call you by this name, ever." The boy warned his female friend in a stern tone.
"Of course Willie! Re-est ass-u-red" the young girl looked up at the boy beside him, waiting for him to praise her for her last words. She had spent complete two days learning the meaning and pronunciation of the two big words.
The boy with the wild, ink black hair, raised his imperfect eyebrows, "Oh ho! Look who is finally learning big words. Good work Chipmunk, your tiny reserve of vocabulary needs all the help it can get."
The small girl puffed her cheeks like a pufferfish and through her gritted teeth asked," Can you ever stop teasing me?"
"Sure, when pigs start flying." He answered in the most innocent and serious manner possible before abruptly getting up and running away from the outstretched hands of the furious young demoness who followed after him.
Running, the girl screamed after him, a childish lisp in her words," I will hit you and throw you off this cliff! Then it will be same as a pig flying."
over-
"Are you coming or not?" She broke out of her stupor when she heard his voice call her from a distance.
Eleanor stepped up her pace to catch up to him while her mind remained frozen. 'Just a coincidence.' She tried to calm herself, settling down as she reached his side. After collecting herself, she turned to her companion with intricate emotions glistening in her scintillated tender willow orbs. Her voice was firm when she spoke, only her heart seemed to hesitate while her mind was decisive. "Do not call me Nora. I am fine with any other name, except for this one. I hope you understand, and won't ask unnecessary questions." The prince could see through her to her conflicting emotions. He has been too hasty, too forward. It is time to take a step backward.
"Alright. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable." He answered. 'I am the one who gave you the name, Nora. Though only I should have the right to decide when and where to use it, I will comply to your wishes this one time.'
Eleanor nodded and they both fell silent once again. Purposelessly, Eleanor led him off the trail and to her most favorite spot in the whole wide world. The only place other than her mother's arms where she felt at home. The secret place that she shared before with only him. The scene was as enchanting as ever. Under the azure sky, the water of the waterfall reflected its color, sunlight dancing on the liquid body like twinkling crystals on the surface.
The masked prince only remembered this place as the background of his memories. Today, seeing it again made him appreciate it's everlasting beauty. Eleanor took a moment to capture the sight in her mind, something she has a habit of doing, before asking him to follow her.
"This is my escape spot. The place where I always come to forget about reality and bask in the freshness and beauty of nature." She flung an arm out as she introduced her paradise.
" A spectacular sight. I never thought there could be such a magnificent place hidden deep inside these dreary woods, away from prying eyes."
His admiration of this place satisfied Eleanor. She would allow no one who could not appreciate this nature's gift to ever set foot in this place.
She nodded," My secret paradise," she announced proudly.
"Then I am very much honored to be a part of your secret," Eleanor could swear every time his eyes met hers, she could feel him peering inside her soul. As if he could see everything, understand and solve all her troubles.
They walked near the wide stream where the sound of gushing water was the loudest.
"Why do you wear this mask?" Eleanor abruptly blurted out the question, catching him off-guard.
"Why do you think?" he posed his own question as her answer.
Eleanor pondered for a bit before replying, "You are not sick, so either you are hiding a scar or your identity. Are you a criminal," she whirled on him suddenly at the end of her sentence.
The prince raised his hands high in the air before the girl who now stalked towards him with her eyes narrowed in suspicion, "You are really something else, miss. You are right about me hiding something, but that is not a scar. This mask is for convenience because my handsome face attracts too many unwanted flies around itself." His flawless, well-sculpted face was one of his many reasons that brought out his narcissistic side. He was irresistibly handsome, and he knew it. He turned the tables and this time it was him who stalked the pretty brunette like a predator stalking its prey. He cornered her like a wolf does a lamb. An innocent, soft and scared lamb.
Eleanor walked backwards until her back hit a tree. She felt an anticipatory nervousness collect in her stomach.
"You think too highly of yourself, don't you, Mr. Bill?" Eleanor pretended to be brave in front of his predatory gaze.
"Why, I have every reason to, Miss Eleanor." He countered instantly.
"Then I must let my eyes feast on your face, if it is in fact as impressive as you claim," saying so, Eleanor sent a hand out to touch his mask. He immediately moved his face backwards, successfully avoiding her aim.
"Will you be able to take responsibility for your actions after you have seen my majestic good-looks? I am afraid, you will also, just like every other woman, fall too deep for my charm."
"And I think you are a big narcissist. You should fear the fact that you might only be so-so in my eyes because mind you I have seen a good number of handsome boys roam right and left around me." Eleanor scoffed. Her? Falling in love? What a joke! She has never even paid attention to those dozens of immature boys attempting to court her. She would never allow herself to just be another girl or worse a mindless body, in a man's life. She was much too busy for romance, anyway.
The prince gave her some space to let her relax before giving a light bow-
"Of course. After all, you are quite a fine specimen yourself, my lady,"
Eleanor smiled, "If you are really that good-looking then you must have had a fair share of affairs in the past, right? Do you have a girl-friend at present?" She was genuinely curious.
The prince furrowed his eyebrows confuddled at her question. Should he be happy that she was taking interest in her love life and maybe in the future would agree to be a part of it or sad that she did not care if he was taken by another girl or not. 'It has not been long since she got to know you. Do not be hasty,' he scolded himself mentally before answering," No. I was never attracted to the concept of romance before."
He specifically tried to highlight before, but she did not take the hint.
"Are you interested in the opposite gender? Or have you decided to stay celibate for your entire life? Not that I would judge you for either." Eleanor quickly uttered out.
The prince felt like slamming his head on the gigantic tree beside them.
The noise of a disturbance interrupted them both. It sounded eerily like the violent movement of bushes, however, not because of the wind.