•FIVE YEARS LATER•
"Aurnia? Aurnia? It's time to wake up and then break your fast. His Majesty is waiting for you in the dining hall." Aramis' stern voice reverberated in the hallway outside the princess' chamber.
His other hand was on his waist, and his brows furrowed deeply when he still got no response from her.
The princess' chambermaid was fidgeting nervously in her spot behind the knight commander's son.
"Five years have passed, and I still need to wake her up every day." He whispered while clenching his jaw.bl
He spun around and met the chambermaid's frightened gaze. "Give me Aurnia's chamber's key, then you can start cleaning the other chambers since I need to wake her up first." He gave the chambermaid a stern instruction, to which the chambermaid hastily agreed.
The chambermaid gave him the key with a trembling hand before she sprinted towards the end of the hallway and went inside the chamber after throwing him another nervous glance.
'Why do they all look at me like I am about to snap their necks out of their bodies?' He thought while wearing a quizzical expression.
He faced Aurnia's chamber and carefully inserted the key into the knob. He held the door handle and opened it slowly. "I'm going in, Aurnia." He warned the princess inside, in case she was already awake.
He entered with his half body first, peering in through the princess' dimmed room and examining if Aurnia was already up. When his eyes had finally adjusted, he saw Aurnia's petite silhouette on top of her bed, snoring loudly.
His face wrinkled in distaste at the princess' unrefined sleeping posture. He clicked his tongue in disapproval and put his hands on his waist as he towered over the foot of the bed.
"Wake up now, Aurnia." He growled while he tapped on her foot covered with her comforter.
The young princess just groaned and went back to snoring wildly.
Alvaro shook his head in disbelief. 'What am I going to do with this girl?'
He stood there, gawking at the sleeping princess, and thought what he should do this time to wake her up.
Pouring out cold water on her face was sure effective, but only for a week. The next week, Aurnia became immune to the cold water.
He already tried blowing a horn near her ears, which was again effective, but only for a few days. When he tried the method again, the princess had put cotton in her ear to muffle the noise from the horn.
And several other methods, but Aurnia had always managed to retaliate.
He let go of his hands that were glued to his waist, and then, without any warning, he scooped the princess from her bed.
He thought that would wake her up, but no—in fact, Aurnia had snuggled closer to his chest, snoring more loudly.
'Her snores are so annoying.' He thought while carrying the princess in his arms.
'Well, if this is still not enough to wake her up, then this might be.' He thought mischievously.
A smirk crept into his lips as he slowly turned the knob of the door to her bathroom, struggling to open it as he was carrying the sleeping princess. 'How heavy is she exactly?' He complained.
When the door was finally opened, he kicked the door to widen the opening. He then slowly entered with wobbling knees, all while carrying Aurnia.
When he spotted the bathtub, he immediately went there and put the sleeping princess into it—still snoring.
He looked around and reached for the shower above him. He disassembled it from its handle and brought it towards the princess.
A mischievous smile appeared on his lips as he slowly turned on the faucet for the shower. He positioned the mouth of the shower toward her. 'Let's see if she won't still wake up this time.'
A stream of cold water gushed out from the shower holes and poured at once at Aurnia's face.
The princess jolted up in shock when she felt the gush of water, almost drowning her. She was waving her hands frantically in front while her mouth was stretched open. The water's now entering her mouth.
It was a comical sight for Alvaro. Aurnia looked like a wet chick, gasping for air while trying to open her eyes.
"Damn you, Aramis!" The princess squealed after being able to avert her head away from the mouth of the shower.
His eyes widened in surprise. "Mind your language, your Highness." He mildly scolded her while turning off the shower. He took two towels from the cupboard and threw the other one toward the princess.
"You use that word all the time, so I don't see the reason why I shouldn't." She frowned while busy wiping her wet face with the clean towel.
Aramis slowly went towards the bathroom, furiously wiping his faded, long sleeves with the towel. "Well, I am a commoner, and you are the princess. You have societal responsibility; I have none." He told her with a passive expression while holding the door knob. "Besides, if your father hears you say these forbidden words, you aren't the one that will be punished; it's going to be me." He told her with a slight resentment.
Aurnia understood his point, but... "I'm going to be careful if I'm with my Father, then. Please, let's keep this a little secret between us. I promise not to jeopardize your reputation in front of my father." She said it with a subtle pleading tone.
Aramis stared at her intently, weighing whether he must agree or not. With the five years that he was with Aurnia, their 'friendship' has somehow made a little progress. Their trivial arguments had become less frequent, and they were now showing tolerance for each other's differences. If the princess had asked him this five years ago, he would have surely declined her request right away, but no. A lot of things have changed in the past five years.
He just clicked his tongue and prepared himself to go out. "Take a quick shower and eat your breakfast. I'll wait for you at the kingdom's official seamstress' chamber to have your ball gown adjusted for your fifteenth birthday." He told her and then finally closed the bathroom's door.