1. Prologue (His Past) - 5. Peace Alliance Meeting Party
Days quickly passed, the meeting day arrived.
It was a sunny day in Eternal Harmony City. The city was more lively than usual as more guests arrived at Golden Light Castle.
Angel swung the reins around his hands and pulled it to stop his horse as he arrived at the castle entrance. He came down from the horse and stepped quickly to enter the castle. A man in white official uniform stood side by side with him who began to walk in wide strides.
"Your Highness, the king is waiting for your report in the main hall."
He simply answered him with a nod.
After seeing his reply, the official stopped his steps and bowed his head.
Meanwhile, a red royal carriage with the wolf crest of Zephyrus in gold arrived at the entrance. Some of the servants put a short staircase at the door of the carriage and guided the king who came out of it so he did not step on his robe.
King Eudon Crystoll Heart was the current King of Zephyrus. He had dark red hair, purple eyes, a fierce face and a thin beard. He wore a red royal military uniform, his ascot pinned with a red badge of the Zephyrus crest and the red robe with white wolf fur on his shoulder.
After a while, an elegant faced woman in a red royal dress followed him. Rose Ambrosia Heart was King Eudon's niece and the only princess of Zephyrus. Although she was only sixteen years old, her beauty was clear. Her long dark red hair was slightly wavy and half braided. Her eyes were purple with thin coral red lips.
An official bowed to greet them politely.
"Welcome to Asteria, Your Majesty, Your Highness."
Both of them replied with a nod.
"The king has ordered to serve you well. I will escort you to your room," the official said as he gestured to follow him.
King Eudon and Rose followed the official to their room. While their knights and guards were tailing them.
Rose let out a quiet sigh as she remembered her conversation with King Eudon last week.
'The peace alliance meeting party will be held in seven days. There will be high officials and princes present there, you can choose your future husband from one of them. But I heard Prince Ilex of Asteria is the best of all. He's a handsome and talented man, many women have fallen in love with him. His age should be not far from yours. '
She silently followed King Eudon, but her mind was lost in thoughts. She knew King Eudon only wanted her to do political marriage voluntarily since many nobles still opposed him. Her family was also always considered the weakest compared to other royal families abilities. That's why King Eudon decided to seek support from other kingdoms through marriage and Prince Ilex of Asteria was the best choice. If Rose married him, her family would have full support from Asteria and her family's position as the ruler of Zephyrus wouldn't be considered weak anymore. This method was also the most peaceful way to overcome the rebellion in her kingdom. But ... Was a princess destined to marry someone she didn't love and had to sacrifice her happiness?
The official's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Your Majesty, this is your room. We can change it if you don't like it," the official said as he opened the door to a luxury big bedroom.
King Eudon entered the room and swept his gaze around it before returning his gaze to the official.
"I will take this room."
"You can pull the rope beside the bed if you need us," the official added.
"Fine," said King Eudon.
Then the official turned to Rose and gestured to her to follow him.
"Your Highness, I will escort you to your room."
Rose nodded, but when she was about to follow the official. King Eudon instructed her.
"You have to get ready early today."
"I understand," she replied, though there was a bitter feeling about this. Then she bowed and followed the official to her room.
'I won't give up ...'
-----
The sun had set, fireworks glittered in the night sky above the Golden Light Castle. As Rose and King Eudon entered the main hall, a guard in front of the hall's door announced their arrival.
"King Eudon and Princess Rose have arrived!"
Everyone's attention turned to them. Her appearance attracted the attention of several men who saw her.
A man in his twenties with black hair and dark blue royal uniform approached them. He bowed.
"Good evening, Your Majesty. Do you still remember me?"
King Eudon was silent for a moment as he looked at the man, before he finally noticed.
"Prince Artheur! I haven't seen you for a long time, I barely recognize you! You were still a little boy the last time I saw you. But look at you now, you've grown into a fine man!" he said in excitement.
Artheur smiled.
"Thank you for your compliment, Your Majesty."
"I almost forgot, where's your father?" said King Eudon as he swept his gaze around.
"Father can't be present, so I came here to represent him," answered Artheur.
"Too bad, I haven't talked to him for a long time," said King Eudon in disappointment.
Artheur cleared his throat and glanced at Rose, as a request to King Eudon to introduce him to her.
King Eudon noticed Artheur's request.
"Ah ... Where's my manner? Let me introduce you. This is my niece, Rose." Then he turned his gaze to her.
"Rose, this is Prince Artheur of Draconis."
She Bowed and Smiled.
"Good evening, Prince Artheur."
Artheur bowed with a smile to reply to her greeting.
Suddenly, the guard in front of the hall's door gave another announcement.
"Prince Ilex has arrived!"
They shifted their attention to the hall's door. A golden-yellow hair man about the same age as her, tall, well-built with a typical Prince of Asteria's uniform entered the hall. He stepped with dignity as he kept flashing his smile towards the crowds.
Ilex's presence caught King Eudon's attention.
"Excuse me for a moment." Then King Eudon left.
King Eudon approached Ilex and started a friendly talk with him. While Rose looked at them from a distance.
Artheur's voice made her attention back to him.
"Princess Rose, I've never seen you before. Is this your first time attending this meeting?"
She turned her gaze to Artheur and quickly apologized to him as she realized her impoliteness.
"Yes, this is my first time. So, I apologize if my attitude is not pleasing for you."
After those words left her mouth, one of King Eudon's aides approached her.
"Your Highness, His Majesty is calling you."
She shifted her gaze to King Eudon briefly before returning to Artheur.
"Prince Artheur, I will excuse myself." Then she approached King Eudon.
She bowed.
"Uncle, did you call me?"
"Prince Ilex, this is my niece, Rose," said King Eudon with a happy smile, as his plan went well.
Ilex bowed.
"Princess Rose, welcome to Asteria."
She bowed to reply to his greeting.
"Thank you for the invitation, Prince Ilex."
"Take your time. I have other business to do," said King Eudon.
She knew that was just an excuse to bring them together. After they replied to him with a slight bow, King Eudon walked away from them.
Ilex turned his gaze to her.
"I heard a lot about you, they said you are a beautiful girl, as beautiful as Moonlight Sunrose. But today I can see it's all wrong, you're more beautiful than any flower in the world," seduced Ilex.
Rose forced herself to smile.
"Thank you for your compliment."
'Uncle, are you sure you want to set me up with this man?'
The sound of waltz music started to flow.
"You're the most beautiful girl I ever met. If you don't mind, would you dance with me?" said Ilex as he extended his hand politely.
She took his hand as she maintained her forced smile. They walked to the middle of the hall, bowed briefly at one another. Then put their palms together and began to dance. They spun around to the music, their eyes looked around them. Among the crowds that watched them, she could see King Eudon smiling satisfyingly for his success. Despite the objection in her heart, she knew she had to keep her composure in order to protect her kingdom reputation.
Minutes passed, time went so slow for Rose until she finally found an opportunity to escape. She saw King Eudon busy talking to several people, blocking his view to her, while his aides were also not there.
"Pardon me, Prince Ilex. I'm a little tired. May I rest for a while?" she asked politely.
"Of course, do I need to accompany you?" asked Ilex.
"I'll be fine by myself," said Rose.
"Very well." After that answer, they released their hands.
Ilex lowered his head and flexed his leg slightly as he took and kissed the back of her hand gently.
"Thank you for accompanying me tonight."
She only replied to him with a slight smile before quickly stepped out from the centre of the hall and slipped out of that room.
'Choose he said? This is clearly an arranged marriage! ' she thought.
Just a few seconds after she left the hall, she heard the sound of footsteps following her. Realizing someone was following her, she fastened her steps and quickly turned at the end of the corridor. She kept running as she looked around, trying to find a way to escape in a panic. A few seconds later, she saw one of the windows open. Without any second thought, she climbed up the window and jumped down, though she was on the second floor.
She hid among the bushes.
'I'll get caught if I stay here. At least I want to hide until this annoying party is over. '
Rose noticed a tall iron fence a hundred meters away before her.
'Well then, I'll leave and take a walk in the city.'
She ran as fast as she could and climbed the fence to get out of the castle toward the city. At least that was what she thought ...
-----
Meanwhile, Angel entered the main hall at the same time as Ilex but he forbade the guard to announce his arrival. When everyone's attention was on Ilex, he quickly moved to the corner of the hall, the only quiet place there. In that place, he could pay attention to his surroundings without being noticeable.
He didn't like parties, since his hair colour made him stand out among Reinheart's descendants and became everyone conversation's subject. In contrast to him, Ilex was very fond of parties, his cleverness with words made him easy to get along with other nobles, besides he was always mentioned as the strongest candidate for the next King of Asteria, so he attracted everyone's attention naturally.
Angel shifted his gaze to the crowd in the middle of the hall and could see Ilex proudly showing off his dancing skills with a girl.
'It looks like Ilex has found his new target.'
At every party, Ilex usually would approach a girl to make her accompany him all night and no one ever rejected him before. As for the girl, it was an honour for her to be chosen by him. That's why he was known as Asteria's Prince Charming.
Angel took a glass of champagne from a servant that passed beside him. Since he had poor alcohol tolerance, he also didn't like all kinds of alcoholic drinks. A glass of champagne could make him drunk all night. But for an important event like this, he usually still took a few sips or held it throughout the party as a formality.
He stared at the champagne that sparkled like stars in his hand. His mind began to drift away remembering his childhood memories when he danced with his father in this place.
Ophelia's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Angel, will you dance with me?" she asked shyly.
He gave her a slight smile and refused politely.
"Thank you for your offer. But I'm not in the mood to dance."
She looked down to hide her disappointment.
"Alright, forgive me for bothering you." Then she left.
'Forgive me, Ophelia, I'm sure Ilex will go berserk if he sees you dancing with me. I don't want to cause trouble. '
Angel turned his gaze back to the hall. Suddenly his attention was shifted to a girl in a white dress who slipped out of the hall in a hurry.
'Didn't she just dance with Ilex? Why is she in such a hurry? '
Realizing something was wrong, he put down his glass and followed the girl out of the hall, down the corridor before finally disappearing at the end of it. He checked the situation around where she had disappeared.
'How could she disappear without a trace? Does she use Teleport? But this castle is already protected by Magic Shield. Abilities like Teleport can't be used here. ' Teleport was the ability to move places in an instant. While Magic Shield was a barrier that made all magic power unusable.
When he decided to search for her somewhere else, he looked out the window and could hardly believe what he saw. He saw the girl climbing the hunting ground's fence. A place of full monsters and beasts that was specially prepared for tomorrow's hunting competition.
"You gotta be kidding me!" he said as he climbed the window and jumped down.
*Glossary
Moonlight Sunrose is a rose-shaped flower that glows in white when exposed to sunlight and glows in red when exposed to moonlight.