Huff...huff...huff…
I sat up, my body drenched in sweat.
Anxiously, I looked around for Juwon or anybody I knew, but dismayed, I realized that they weren't here. I had just had a terrible dream.
The little boy I saw reminded me of Juwon and it made me wonder how he would be doing back in my world. Would he look for me when he realizes that I'm not home? Would he be sad to know that I was gone? There was also a slight chance that my previous body was living my life as usual and in that case, would Juwon realize that something's different?
I switched my attention to the dream I had. It was very strange. First of all, I didn't recognize anybody in it, except for the Emperor who looked very much the same. But the woman and the boy were definitely unfamiliar. I grasped that the woman must be the Empress. Was she really the princess's mother? And if so and this is really how she died, then what about the Emperor? According to the dream, shouldn't he also be dead? What prophecy was the man with the concealed face talking about? Why was he so eager to take the princess? Also, that boy...was he perhaps Cynthia's brother? If that was the case, where was he now, not dead, was he?
I was pondering over a million questions when I suddenly heard a clink. Instantly, my eyes shifted to the huge glass doors and froze when they caught sight of a dark figure perched up on the balcony.
My first thought was that it must be an assassin. Why else would someone enter the Princess's room furtively from the balcony and not come through the front door like a civil human? I opened my mouth to call the guard outside my door but the figure put up his hands as if to surrender and said "Shh, your Majesty. I come in peace."
No way was I falling for this. Immediately, I turned to look for some sort of weapon, but the only thing I found was an umbrella (and a very strange one at that).
"Stay where you are. If you try to hurt me, I'll call the guards, I swear. No, better is that I'll kill you myself," I warned quietly. "What business do you have here?" I lit a candle so I could see his face better.
It was a man about 20 years of age. If he lived in my world, he'd definitely be a model. His tan skin looked absolutely majestic paired with the green-blue eyes he possessed. I couldn't see his hair because he was wearing a cloak. "My princess," he said through the glass door, his voice low and husky. "I know it would lead to big trouble if anyone noticed both of us in your bedroom, but I'm afraid I'll be caught by a guard if I stay out here."
I gripped the umbrella's handle tighter and prepared my stance. "So...what do you want me to do? Let you in?" I narrowed my eyes. "I don't think so."
"Princess..." The man scratched his hair helplessly. "I won't be able to help you if you don't let me in."
I narrowed my eyes further, scrutinizing the moonlit figure that stood not to far, barred from me by a glittering panel of glass. "Oh yeah? Help me how?"
Silence. I had expected him to answer immediately, seeing as he was so eager to get in to 'help' me, but surprisingly, it appeared that he was hesitating.
"I..." I could see the wheels in his head turn as he thought over his words. "I bear important information."
I waited for him to carry on.
"But for me to tell you all about it, you'll have to let me in. Don't worry," he said. ''I'll be sure to stay at a safe distance from you. Look, you can even check my pockets," he said, flustered as he emptied out his pockets before me. "I am unarmed."
"How can I trust you?"
He thought for a while. "It's true, you can't. But if you think even for a second that I'm making a move on you, you can always call that guard by your door."
"How'd you know about the guard?" I narrowed my eyes again. "You're very suspicious. Tell me, what kind of information do you carry?"
He sighed with frustration, and cried out, raising his voice in the spur of the moment. "Just let me in! I already made it clear that I'm not here to hurt you, so I don't get what's the problem! Goddammit..."
Some movement could be heard outside my door. "Your Highness! Is everything alright? I hear noises in there. Are you perhaps in need of assistance?" The guard suddenly called out from outside my door, startling me and the man both. The man suddenly made himself disappear from sight by flattening himself behind the wall that connected the glass doors to my room.
I knew how dangerous it would be for me as well as the man if the guard discovered him on my balcony. "No, it's alright," I cried out. "I was just-erm...brushing my hair... No need to worry."
The guard mumbled a faint reply and apparently went back to his post.
"Princess..." The man in the cloak said rather sadly. "I should perhaps leave now..."
"No! Wait," I stopped him. Crap. My curiosity was getting the better of me. "I'm going to let you in, okay? Though stay well far away from me."
Cautiously, I unlocked the balcony door and hopped quickly over to the other side of the bed, near the door so that I could make a clean exit in case of any complication. "Now, what is it that you were so eager to tell me that you had to risk your life to sneak in here?"
The man took off his cloak to reveal a head of majestic black hair. He held up his hands in the air where I could see them properly. I noticed that they were sweaty.
"Before you start, tell me your name," I said as I lowered the umbrella a little bit.
"I go by Reynard, Your Highness."
"Alright. Now Reynard, what is it that you have come to tell me?"
Before he spoke, Reynard looked around my bedroom in awe, briefly stopping his eyes to carefully observe every single piece of furniture and decoration. "Princess, are you perhaps aware of the prophecy?"
Nope, I wasn't. "What prophecy?"
"It's a prophecy that's been passed down among the members of the Royal family since 500 years. Pretty much every sane adult in Wisteria is aware of it...but it's a strongly enforced law among the Wisterians that the Princess herself must never come to know of it." He chuckled then. "I hope that you're aware that I'm literally risking my life to inform you of this long kept secret from you."
I still didn't completely trust the guy. How bad did this prophecy have to be that it was a freaking law to keep it hidden from me. "Tell me."
Reynard bit his lips as he eyed the purple carpet down below."Well...it may come as a horrible shock to you, but you aren't what we call a 'normal' human being. You were born to serve a purpose nobody else could."
I had no idea where this was going. "Pardon?"
"You see...the day you will turn 17- which is of course, coming very soon- you will discover all sorts of changes in your body. You'll start to feel a tingling sensation in yo-"
"Hold it!" I hissed as I suddenly raised the umbrella in alarm. "Are you here to give me a lesson about puberty? I'm sorry but you should know your place."
"No, Princess! I-" he blushed a deep red, "It's not that."
My untrusting glare finally gave him the will to keep going. "On the 17th year of your birth, you'll be gifted with certain divine powers."
"Huh?" I still didn't understand where this was going.
"Divine powers like-"
Thud, thud, thud.
I whipped my face around as someone banged on my door loudly. "Princess? Are you alright? I heard another voice in there," the guard shouted. Jeez, he was going to attract every single person in the palace. "I'm entering, Your Highness."
The door handle turned. "Wait! I'm changing!"
"What?" the guard opened the door an inch.
"Get out!" I yelled. "I'm changing, for goodness' sake!"
Why wasn't there a godd*mn lock on this freaking door?
I forcefully shut the door and looked around for Reynard. I was surprised when I saw that he was already perched up on the balcony's railing.
"Princess! Are you sure you're alone?" the guard called. He was seriously getting on my nerves. Was this idiot ever gonna stop?
"Yes, of course I am! Now stop disturbing me or I'll have you punished," I warned. "Reynard," I whispered desperately, turning my head back once again, "when can I meet you again?"
Reynard turned to face me and smirked as he pulled his cloak over his head, shadowing his face till only his lips were visible under the late moon's light. "Soon." And with that he jumped off of the balcony.
"HEY!" I shrieked as I swiftly ran over to the balcony and looked down, but was only met by darkness. Who was this guy? How did he manage to get all the way here from the palace walls without a single guard noticing him? The only logical excuse I could come up with was that he lived somewhere inside the palace walls. But I knew that was impossible because the only people who inhabited the palace were the Emperor, the princess, the mistresses, the palace staff who lived in their quarters and the knights back in their barracks.
The door to my room flew open and a couple of guards flooded in my room. "Your Highness! Are you okay? We heard a male voice in here."
I turned to them, slowly.
"Well, I'm just fabulous."