Xixi couldn't believe her ears. A prince so shameless? He doesn't at all appear to be like what Riwansa described him to be. Well he is handsome nonetheless. Her heart raced being straightforwardly flirted with by a gentle Adonis.
"Thanks." She said coyly without her own realisation; which unintentionally amused Ziran.
"Would you like to visit somewhere among these places?" He asked with a doting expression.
"Ah? We can do that? now?" Xixi blinked her eyes cutely with excitement.
Ziran nodded at her.
"But we have been away from the party for so long, what if any problem arises?" Xixi bit her cherry red small lips in worry.
__________________________
"ouchhhhh." Steven glared at the pretentious lady before him.
"Sorry, that was unintentional." Riwansa smirked at him as if saying, 'Yes, I did it intentionally, so? what can you do?'.
The dance ended with the male partner rotating his female partner and drawing her closer.
Steven's lips touched Riwansa's as he pulled her excessively closer to himself. His eyes shone with the successful revenge.
Riwansa's eyes were clouded by tear drops threatening to fall. Her face paled with humiliation. Steven hurriedly let go of her waist. Riwansa left the stage immediately barely holding her composure.
Steven felt something was cruelly squeezing his heart. He couldn't breathe properly. Clenching his fingers to subdue the overwhelming anger engulfing him, he dashed away towards the balcony.
He looked at the calm starry sky. The past replayed in his mind continuously.
A youth was sitting by the river, holding a sword five times his weight. Even though the sharp sword hilt dug into his palms due to the intense force he applied on it, he barely felt any pain. His throat was choked with emotions.
He had been practicing swordsmanship when the news of his mother's death was delivered to him. He lost the chance to tell her, how much he loved her just like that. He lost the chance to embrace her and spend time with her. He would never ever be able to do any of those in the future. no matter how many milestones he accomplish his mother will never come near him patting his head and saying "Son, I just hope you are happy." with a gentle smile on her face. He really wanted to apologise to her so badly for his misbehaviour that year. That woman who wanted his father's heart successfully made him turn against his own mother. How could he be so foolish?
His brother severely warned him;yet.....
While he was immersed in self-blaming, all of a sudden; a pair of soft small hands hugged him from behind.
He skillfully rotated the sword and pointed it at the intruder within a second. The intruder, a little girl with an adorable chubby face confused stared at the sword pointed at her. She scrunched her face in displeasure and muttered something under her breathe. The sword disappeared into nothingness as a tiny blue flame engulfed it.
The young prince cautiously took a step back. He ferociously stared at the girl infront of him.
The innocent smile from her face disappeared and her face fell. She sorrowfully looked at him and then ran away clumsily.
Steven didn't have the mindset to care about a random girl at that moment. Strangely though after a few minutes or so, the doll like girl once again came back with her clumsy footsteps. A small bamboo basket in her hands. She sat beside him and grabbed his right hand forcefully. "You are....?" curiosity took over Steven.
"You don't need to know." The girl gloomily said so. She took out some unknown pills from her basket, skillfully mixing them together in a portable grinder. After the mixture was smooth, she pressed them on his hand and massaged a few accupuncture points lightly.
Steven could feel the weariness in his body fading away and his raged emotions calming down slowly. Unbeknownst to him, he dozed off too tired from the storm of emotions he had to go through. It was dark when he opened his eyes. He looked around only to find out a small sliver text glowing beside him locked with personal preference type password.
He clicked over the text with apprehensively. "Follow the routine of taking medicines, you are a royal, so checking whether they are safe to consume or not would be a piece of cake for you. You don't need to look up for information in vain. Your emotions are fluctuating too much. Use the blue pills to sleep for a few days. Revenge is best served cold." The long text appeared before his eyes.
A glass bottle filled with various pills was placed right beside the note. He hid it inside his pocket and let out a long sigh.
"You want to see her for the last time?" Ziran placed his hands over his shoulders compassionately. His voice was also hoarse.
"I am sorry brother." After a moment of silence Steven spoke up.
"Good that you realised it." Ziran spoke lightly.
The two brothers walked back to the castle with heavy hearts.
Their father was seated on the bed with their mom's body in his lap. They all knew how much he loved her. He couldn't accept her sudden loss. Steven's body trembled and finally he couldn't hold on anymore breaking into a sob.
Ziran approached his mom. He always knew this day would come sooner or later. But knowing and accepting aren't the same thing. It was still hard for him to accept how the person who was telling him about royal strategies just yesterday was no more in this world. She has left them all to bear the anguish of parting with her.