Kathy walked toward the hall, Shirlyn reached her in the corridor and both of them were staring at the infinite course, wondering how it might be to live there.
Shirlyn's gaze went to analyze the portrait that was in front of her. It was imposing and natural in size.
"Look at his mustache." Shirlyn giggled, pointing at the portrait in front of them that pictured an old Sir. "He has more hair there than he has on his head!"
Kathy tried to suffocate the imminent laugh but the more she stared at the picture, the more Shirlyn's joke was making her laugh.
"I bet he got his hair moved onto his mustache." Shirlyn pretended to caress her imaginary mustache, assuming a funny expression. "Lady Kathy, you look very gorgeous. Do you find my mustache attractive??"
Kathy exploded in laughter, as she couldn't take it anymore.
After a shared laugh, Shirlyn scoffed and said, "Now my sisters will complain all the time because he looked at me for like two seconds." She rolled her eyes. "Why is everyone obsessed with him? Look at the castle I would get lost looking for the bathroom." Kathy smiled, giving her a supportive look.
"And the ladies who glowered at me for enjoying the pastries? What was I supposed to do? Paint a still life from the food that was specially put there for us to eat." She shook her head, but Kathy's smile faded away, turning in a red face while her eyes widened.
"I hate them and the King too. Why is everyone so obsessed with him? He's such a mystery, for instance, where is he now? He invited us here and then disappeared after a few minutes." Shirlyn kept complaining, Kathy's eyes became more and more widened, she seemed extremely embarrassed.
"You're right. I was not supposed to disappear like that, indeed I was finding my way back inside." A warm voice resounded from behind her, causing Shirlyn to widen her eyes before turning around. It was the King in flesh and blood.
Shirlyn bowed down at the sigh. He returned the bow and then raised an eyebrow.
"After all, I'm glad you appreciated the pastries. Surely my intention was not to have you paint a still life of the food."
"I'm sorry, your highness, I didn't mean to offend you." Shirlyn murmured.
He took a few seconds to check her down, as if he could perceive something different from her, yet couldn't figure out what.
"Introduce yourself," Kathy suggested, who was almost as red as the underlying carpet they were standing on.
"Oh... I'm Shirlyn from Walton House, I'm glad we got acquainted," she said.
Shirlyn nodded, but before he could speak, both her sisters intruded.
"Your highness." Abigail bowed down, followed by Sharon.
"Don't mind our sister. She was looking for the bathroom. We brought you those." Sharon handed the baskets to him, but he gave a quick gaze to look back at Shirlyn.
"Thank you for your kind thoughts, Ladies Waltons."
"We've been looking forward to meeting you. All our family loved how your father ruled. We are very grieving for your loss." Abigail commented, catching the gaze of the King when she mentioned his dad.
"You knew.. my father?" he questioned.
"My...our mother used to work in a bakery in which he usually bought desserts from," Sharon explained.
"I see..." He commented, then took a few seconds to think. "He always had a sweet tooth."
"I heard, my highness, you love meat instead." Abigail commented, staring at him, smiling.
"I do.. Everyone has its.. weakness. I suppose."
"I also love meat, well cooked." Sharon lied. She rarely ate meat, and when she did she just ate chicken.
Shirlyn tried to suffocate a chuckle, hearing her sister's secure tone of voice that accompanied her obvious lie.
He took a light bow, then he glanced at the three sisters before speaking. "I'm heading back to the ballroom to make an announcement. Find me there. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, ladies." He said, before giving a light nod to Shirlyn and then made his way toward the ballroom.
"I've never seen someone as charming and as nice. I can't understand how people can say he's bad looking or rude," Sharon took a deep breath while she cupped her chin, staring at him walking away like a teenage girl would do while looking at her high school crush.
"You barely know him. You just talked to him for 10 minutes!" Shirlyn scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"By the way, what were you doing here with him?"
Sharon raised an eyebrow and folded her arms.
Shirlyn was prepared for that question, but joked about it, "he fell in love with me, he couldn't control his eager intentions so pushed me in the corridor to consume our premature love."
Both her sisters went to glower at her as they didn't appreciate her response, so Shirlyn opted to tell the truth instead, "Kathy and I wanted to explore around the castle and when I saw this portrait," she pointed the finger to show the portrait in front of them, "I joked about it and the King heard it."
Abigail widened her eyes and went to slap her forehead with her hand, shaking her head. "Please tell me that didn't happen." She was concerned, trying to remain calm hearing what her sister said.
Shirlyn shrugged, but her second sister, Sharon, intervened, as always. She never missed the chance of scolding her sisters, even if it was unnecessary. "Rose, that's his grandfather. You basically made fun of me. his. grandfather ." She spat out, emphasizing the last words.
"At least, thanks to my bad joke he now knows about our existence, you shall thank me." Shirlyn showed a proud smile, but her sisters frowned even more.
"Let's go now, he will wonder what we're doing here." Abigail scoffed, making a gesture to go.