I stumbled out of the temple with a troubled heart and mind, cursing the day I was born..
Then, my eyes caught the shiny lights from the castle, a couple miles away from here.
I knew the 'right' thing to do was to go to the castle and prepare myself for the big event the next day but I clearly wasn't in for that.
So, I did what I had always done… I followed my heart.
And it led me directly to the double glass doors of the public pub downtown.
There and only there could I have found peace… or so I believed.
I sat down on one of the stools by the bar and ordered for a giant shot of straight whiskey.
After taking several giant shots, I felt glad and uplifted again. Then, I began sharing stories of my adversities with the rather uninterested bartender who only paid attention because he knew I was the prince.
"Do you think I'd be a good king?" I asked.
He nodded his head almost immediately. "I think you'd make a fine king."
Although he was a talented bartender, he was also a terrible liar.
I giggled as I received another shot from him. "I think you'd make a better king than me."
"What??" The bartender asked in shock and alarm.
"I hate it! I hate this life." I whined as I took in the next shot.
The bartender stared at me, motionless and speechless and it hurt me a lot as I would have loved to be friends with him.
But as a 'Prince', your friends are being chosen for you as they didn't want any form of bad company around the next king.
For several years, the old men and masters had brought in boys my age from different well-to-do families, in order for me to socialize with them.
But I had made it clear that I wasn't interested in any of them as they were no fun at all.
Most of them had already graduated from the best schools of martial arts and had brains bigger than the globe.
And anytime I attempted to make friends on my own, it seemed too weird for the people I approached to be friends with the 'prince'.
That was the main reason I loved Baron(my pig), he never cared about what people thought about him. He just stood by me every single time.
He was the closest thing I had to a friend. So unfortunate that I had named him after my late father who was nothing but a loser.
I chuckled as I remembered taking off my father's hugest portrait in the castle and replacing it with an equally big portrait of Baron (my pig), and honestly, I found it more attractive and artistic.
I watched people go out of the pub, one after the other, some drunk to the extent of falling and staggering as they walked.
Soon, the pub was almost empty with only a few depressed and given-up men in it. Some were soliloquizing about how terrific or amazing their lives were while others were quiet and peacefully killing themselves with pints of rum.
I, on the other hand, was doing both. I stayed quiet for a while and later I shared my stories to myself and the poor bartender who looked worn out.
Then, I heard an explosion which shook me and landed me on the floor.
My heart began racing and it literally took me about three minutes to realize that the explosion I had heard was just a mere knock by the bartender to draw my attention.
"It's five minutes to midnight." The exhausted bartender said.
"Really??" I asked as he pulled me up from the creaking wooden floor.
Taking a look around the pub, I realized that it was empty, which meant only one thing… I Was The Most Miserable Person In The Land.
"Oh, I see." I said as I wiped my face with my palm.
"It's several hours past our closing hours, sir!" He said carefully.
"I understand." I said as I struggled to balance on my feet. "I'm sorry to keep you here for so long, pardon me."
I reached into my pocket and brought out a handful of coins, then I poured them down on the counter.
The exhausted bartender soon became pale as he stared at the coins with both his eyes and mouth agape. "I-i-it's-s g-gold" He stammered as his eyes were still fixed on the coins.
"Is it?" I asked as I looked at the pile of shimmering gold coins on the counter. "Oh, it is gold!" I said as I realized my mistake.
I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess it's your lucky day."
The bartender was still staring at the gold coins when I left the pub, feeling a little bit happy and contented for enriching the bartender.
As I wandered the empty streets of the town, kicking anything that came in my way, I heard a noise behind me.
When I turned around, I saw no one.
Unbothered by the noise, I continued my midnight stroll.
I heard the noise over and over again but whenever I turned around to see who it was, I saw nothing.
Then I made up my mind to stop paying attention to whoever the stalker was, until I heard a voice.
It was definitely a female's voice.
This time when I turned around, I saw someone hiding in the shadows.
"Who are you?" I asked. "And why are you following me?"
"Does it matter?" The voice replied as she stepped outside from the shadows.
The lady was masked and was in an all-black outfit. From my first glimpse of her, I knew she wasn't just a normal girl.
I sighed. "I know you must have been sent by one of those wrinkly old codgers, but tell them that I don't need a bodyguard to protect me."
She chuckled. "I haven't been sent to protect you, Novich."
My heart jilted as she brought out a sword. "W-whatttt!!!"
"In fact, I'm here to kill you." She said,
The smile I had on my face vanished quicker than it had appeared. "W-who sent you??" I managed to ask.
"That's none of your business." She said as she began walking towards me with so much confidence like she already knew I sucked at fighting.
My mind wavered as sweat broke out from every part of my body.
I had to do something! I had to at least try to defend myself.
I took in a deep breath and assumed a confident posture. "Well, I'm sorry for you because…."
GBAAMMM!!!!!
I found myself on the cold dusty ground, clutching my face.
"Do you have any last words??" She asked as she stood above with her glimmering sword high up in the air.
"Yeah." I said, trying to buy time for my brain to think of something to save me.
"Be quick about it?" She said, coldly.
Just then, a silly idea came to my head.
"I know I haven't been the best prince or anything at all. But I pray that you help me deliver this message to my chief house help."
"What message?" She asked impatiently.
"I-it's written on my arm." I said, whimpering intentionally.
"On your arm?!!"
"Yeah." I said, moaning in pain as I clutched my arm.
"Read it out!" She ordered.
"I can't!" I said, sobbing.
She rolled her eyes. "Fine." She crouched and reached for my arm.
Now that I had the golden opportunity, I attacked.
She shrieked in pain as the flood of dust I had thrown at her got stuck in her eyes, giving me a free chance to run as far as my legs could take me.
After running for at least half an hour, I stopped to catch my breath.
I sat down on an old pile of rags and laughed at myself as I realized how scared I was of dying.
I really wanted to live! I wanted to keep this criminal life of mine.
And just like that my mood changed as the sharp blades of a dagger were placed on my throat.
"Here we are again." She said,
"Please don't kill me!" I begged. "I don't want to die."
It seemed like she had lost patience. "I wouldn't kill you here, so GET UP!!"
I rose up slowly, aware that either way I wasn't going to make it out alive.
As she led me to the top of a high-rise building, I began to regret my past decisions. If i had known, I would have practiced and mastered my martial arts but it was too late now for me.
"Why are you taking me up here?" I asked.
"Because I want you to jump." She replied casually.
"Why?" I asked, completely terrified.
"Because I want people to think you killed yourself." She replied.
I giggled nervously. "No one's going to believe that."
She laughed. "Trust me, no one will think twice about it. To them, you're simply a walking corpse. They are all expecting the day they'd wake up and hear the news of your miserable death."
I wanted to say something in my defense but then I realized that she was correct.
Sadness and grief washed over me and it wasn't because I was going to be cold and dead in seconds but because I would have lived a life in which no one loved or cared about me.
I didn't say a word as I stood at the edge of the building.
"It's going to hurt." She said, surprisingly calm. "I'd advise you to look at the stars. It's a more peaceful way to go."
Then she pushed me gently from behind and like a bird, I went down.
At the sound of impact with the dusty ground, I knew that was the end. So, I looked up to the beautiful constellations and those twinkling stars were the last things I saw in the world.
Peaceful indeed were the last moments of my death but the opposite was my return.