Just like every morning, Charlotte opened her eyelids even before Emma woke her up. Truthfully, Charlotte left her bed even earlier than usual.
Yesterday, she had a hard time sleeping. She kept on rolling in bed nervous about her second meeting with Prince Logan. It wasn't their actual second meeting, but more like Charlotte second attempt to win Logan's attention. She couldn't sleep well at night and woke up racing with the rising sun.
"Good morning, Emma," Charlotte greeted Emma while sitting behind her make up table.
Emma was a bit stunned seeing her mistress already dressed up beautifully. She brought the warm water to Charlotte and started helping her mistress styling her hair.
"Isn't it still very early?" Emma asked while fixing the flower ornament on Charlotte's hair.
"When you are going to war, you have to be ready at any time," Charlotte said with a nonchalant but also serious tone.
"The war has ended years ago."
Emma shook her head. Did her mistress eat something bad? Did an unfortunate accident happen in the meantime she hadn't seen Charlotte? Why did her mistress become even harder to understand?
"Is it ready? My request from yesterday?"
"Yes, it's in the study room," Emma answered.
"Good, thank you Emma," Charlotte smiled before dismissing her most trusted maid.
Charlotte spent most of her time in the study working. She didn't go anywhere except for the dining table for lunch. She even skipped breakfast although her mother had nagged her about it.
Right after lunch, Charlotte was getting ready to go to the Royal Palace. The day she had been waiting for! Finally, it's here! She could finally see the Palace East Garden on top of executing her revenge.
From the carriage, Charlotte didn't stop staring at the magnificent Palace that had stood strong for almost a century. There might be some renovation, but the historical feeling from the building hadn't completely gone.
Although this wasn't Charlotte first time visiting the Royal Palace, her heart was beating loudly. A part of her heart was excited to visit the place from her memory. Another was nervous about things that might happen. To tell the truth, most of Charlotte's time in the palace didn't give her good memories.
The palace guard that had already been informed of her visit quickly opened the gate. The maid in the palace escorting Charlotte to the drawing room. She sat there drinking tea until the door opened for Logan.
"Should I announce it, Your Highness?" the guard asked.
"No need," Logan answered.
Charlotte could hear the conversation outside the door although it sounded faint. Knowing it was time to meet Logan, she dusted her neither messy nor dirty dress and corrected her posture.
"Good afternoon, Miss Riverion," said Logan the moment he came into the drawing room.
Charlotte stood up, "Charlotte Riverion greets Your Royal Highness, Prince Logan."
"Please sit down," Logan smiled.
The maid came to pour another tea for Logan. When the maid came out, Logan started their whole conversation.
"Did you wait long?"
"I was enjoying my time here while waiting for Your Highness," Charlotte sipped her tea.
"Please forgive me, I had some important matters to attend before."
"It's alright, You Highness. I wouldn't want to rush a busy person either. Besides, I had fun looking at the paintings in this room."
"That's good to hear," Logan said with a smile before sipping his tea.
The two of them sat down for another minute without speaking to each other. The Prince broke the silence between them first.
"Which paintings do you like most?"
Charlotte took another glance at three paintings on the wall. On the left was a painting of breezy winds on the beach with sunset as the background. On the center was a painting of the blue and white rose garden, which once upon a time was true on the royal garden. The last one was a painting of a young girl with blonde hair playing on the swing pushed by a blonde boy.
"Forgive me Your Highness. As a person who wasn't adept in paintings, I wouldn't dare to give my assessment."
"Please just answer freely, I would love to hear your opinion," Logan chuckled at Charlotte's polite rejection.
Charlotte eyes twitched. She couldn't believe how pushy the Crown Prince was, although she understood the real meaning behind that question. She hid her astonishment beautifully and smiled politely.
"If You Highness insist," Charlotte paused and put on a confident face, "I loved the 'Swings of Innocence'. The memory, history, and irony could not be compared to the others."
The moment Charlotte spoke of the painting's name, Logan's expression changed. It became gentler, but an intrigued expression can be spotted too.
"Irony? What kind of irony?"
Charlotte eyes twitched again. How dare he ask for further confirmation when it was already hard to give a descent answer in the first place. Charlotte hid her panicked eyes with a sip of tea.
"The irony of time because growing up means things cannot stay the same forever."
Charlotte was glad to be able to find the perfect answer.
"Hmm irony, interesting," Logan smirked.
"Do Your Highness have other opinion?" Charlotte asked out of politeness.
"No really. I just have complicated feelings toward that painting. Every time I saw it, I felt anger, sadness, and guilt."
In a split second, Charlotte disguised her surprised expression with a business smile she always showed at work. Regret? Guilt? Did Logan know something?
Charlotte wanted to ask further but decided to close her mouth. It wasn't good to poke around matters that almost seemed like a secret.
"Do you know the painter?" Logan asked again while staring at the painting.
"Of course, Your Highness. 'Swings of Innocence' was Princess Eleanor last painting. I was there the time she stroked her brush on the canvas while remembering her childhood time."
"Correct. It's the only painting out of three that was painted by my aunt."
Logan drank his tea until the cup was empty. There was no maid in the room to refill his cup. An excellent excuse, but Charlotte already knew it was on purpose.
"I did promise to show you the garden, should we go now while continuing our conversations? I will have the maid prepare the tea and refreshments there. What do my lady think?"
"That would be great, Your Highness."
The Palace East Garden.
It was beautiful and wonderful beyond words. No poem, expression, or even paintings that would be able to grasp its beauty. Charlotte stopped walking for seconds when she saw it from up close. Staring from the drawing room and seeing it with bare eyes at a short distance was entirely different. Back then it looked like a painting. This time it felt so real, but also magical. The wind blew Charlotte's brunette hair, making it very similar to a flowing veil.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Logan asked.
"Can 'beautiful' give it justice?" she smiled softly.
Logan chuckled a little.
"Please," Logan escorted Charlotte to the inner gazebo of the garden.
Just like he had stated, the maids had already prepared tea and cakes for them. For a while they were only talking about weather and flowers. It was pointless conversation that's only there for—you know—being polite and following decorum.
As the conversation went on, Charlotte could hardly turn away from Logan's eye. Her ears might listen to his deep voice explaining the garden, but her eyes were staring at his face. Out of every feature he had, Charlotte liked Logan's dark brown eyes the most because they looked calm and gentle, but also strong and secure. It looked just like her uncle whom she missed dearly. She knew she had to hate him, but humans just loved beautiful things.