TO CARRY A man and teleport away was something that sent shivers all throughout Princess Aquamarine’s body. Moreover, this man was not just any other man, but the Prince of White Rose Palace!
In the same forest where Prince Kyanite wandered after waking on the riverbank, Zeeno waited for his arrival with the dried sky-blue robe hung on his shoulder. He did not wait for long as a strong gush of wind slapped his body, revealing the Eighth Princess of Cold Blood Palace with the sleeping figure of his prince on her back.
He rushed forward and called on his master worriedly.
“He had fainted. I do not know what exactly happened, but he exclaimed ‘fifty’ before losing consciousness,” explained Princess Aquamarine briefly as she placed Prince Kyanite in his subordinate’s care.
“I do not have enough words to express my thanks to you, Your Highness Princess Aquamarine,” Zeeno bowed down his head; his arms cradled the Human Prince. “If there comes a celebration held in our palace after His Highness returns, I would gladly extend the invitation to the renowned Vampire Twins. If Their Majesties would allow, all royalties of Cold Blood Palace shall be invited.”
“I would be very much glad to attend and flaunt my unwavering beauty,” replied her.
“Much thanks once again, Your Highness.” Zeeno bowed for the last time. “I shall take my leave now.” He then turned on his back and walked silently with the sleeping Prince Kyanite.
-
IT WAS ALMOST nighttime when the two arrived at the White Rose Palace of the North. Zeeno was welcomed by the panic-stricken faces of his fellows, the subordinates of the cousins of Prince Kyanite. Ignoring the questions that rained down on him, Zeeno asked one to quickly inform Prince Kyanite’s parents of the situation. The others dispersed as well, probably to inform their respective masters of the news.
“What happened to my son?!” Duchess Sapphirus rushed forward as soon as Zeeno came into her view. Worry was clearly reflected in her rustic eyes.
“What are you, palace servants, doing?” Prince Kamala’s voice boomed. “Zeeno had carried my son from who knows where, and none of you bothered to bring forth a stretcher?”
“Zeeno, what happened?” Prince Kyanite’s older cousin asked as he approached.
Crown Prince Wisteria’s features were quite similar to him; except for the long curly blonde hair tied high up and secured with a glittering golden crown loop and hairpin, both engraved with the white rose emblem and bright blue eyes that he inherited from his mother, the Queen.
Princess Leilani, his younger sister, had the same hair, only longer in length and having the upper half tied while the lower rested on her back. She got the same light gold eyes as Prince Kyanite and her mother’s plump lips.
“Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, His Highness had been held captive by Prince Chalcedony of Cold Blood Palace!” Zeeno answered.
“What?!” Princess Leilani exclaimed as her ears caught the statement. She walked faster and stopped beside her older brother with a stomp. “Did you just say that that vampire locked my cousin in their cellar?!”
“If it was not for Their Highnesses Princess Aquamarine and Prince Adventurine, I am afraid this subordinate might have not been able to bring back His Highness here,” he replied and then lowered his head.
“In that case, should we war against the South, Brother?” the Ruler of White Rose Palace asked Prince Kyanite’s father as he took elegant steps towards the group. Draped over his all-white attire was a glittering white-gold robe with wide sleeves that fluttered in the cold wind of the night, and a larger piece of the crown with the same details as the Crown Prince’s on his silver hair.
King Hyakinthos and Prince Kamala’s appearances could pass as twins. Nothing was different between the two, except for the shape of their eyebrows. Prince Kyanite’s features were the spitting image of his father, except for the nose he inherited from his mother.
Prince Kamala tapped the other’s shoulder. “We should not act rashly, Brother. Let us decide after my son completely narrates what really happened.”
Four palace servants carrying the stretcher arrived. Zeeno carefully placed Prince Kyanite’s body in a comfortable position and followed closely behind as the four brought his prince to the palace’s infirmary. He carried his prince onto the white bed and watched closely as the doctors did their thing. Although deprived of food and rest since the day he began searching for him, Zeeno stayed with Prince Kyanite in the infirmary until he finally woke up the next morning.
Prince Kyanite looked around with his eyes before rising and screaming, as if frightened. Zeeno rushed to his side in panic but instead received a light push to the chest. “Who are you? Where am I? Who changed my clothes? You?” he asked. Zeeno didn’t know how to respond but his prince suddenly turned quiet.
In Prince Kyanite’s eyes, the System popped up.
【Congratulations on the character’s return to White Rose Palace! An upgrade is downloading. Please stand by. … … … Download complete. … … … Initiating System upgrade. … … …】
【Congratulations! Side-missions are now unlocked. Aside from completing episodes, you can now earn points from completing side-missions.】
‘Oh? Where do I get these side-missions?’
【Side-missions are given by the Non-Playable Characters (NPC) around you. The first one is coming up. Please accept the side-mission.】
‘And what if I don’t accept?’
【Reject button is inexistent until you unlock the Reject Side-Mission Function from the System Shop.】
Prince Kyanite sighed and stared at Zeeno. Zeeno called him but received only a deeper sigh. He began asking about how Prince Kyanite feels, if he needs anything, or if he wants him to call his parents over. All questions thrown seemed to miss Prince Kyanite’s ears.
However, his silence didn’t last long as a green exclamation point appeared on top of Zeeno’s head. Seeing this, Prince Kyanite began to speak. “I… I’m sorry for ignoring you, but… who are you?”
“Your Highness…” he breathed the words out and lowered his head; he bit his lip as if stopping himself from tearing up. Zeeno had thought that the vampires of Cold Blood Palace were fooling around, telling him that his prince remembered nothing at all. “Do you really not remember any of us?”
Prince Kyanite shook his head gently and gave Zeeno an apologetic look. Zeeno’s tears slowly fell down his cheeks, refusing to be stopped anymore. “Your Highness, even if you cannot remember the entirety of your memories… Please, please, remember who we are… The people of White Rose Palace, Your Highness…”
The green exclamation point on Zeeno expanded to a green translucent screen. Although it wasn’t accompanied by the familiar beep and faulty YouTube meme narrator, the texts appearing at the speed of a keyboard warrior were similar to the usual System.
Just as Prince Kyanite had expected when he exchanged words with Zeeno, his side-mission was to get to know the people around the White Rose Palace of the North.