Melissa stood beside her father as he cried in front of her mother's grave. Everyone in the kingdom came to see them after their queen had passed away. Everyone was crying, except for one little girl who stood beside the king. Many thought she didn't know what was going on, they all thought Melissa was confused like how any other child would after seeing one of their loved ones dying, except, Melissa knows what death is but she doesn't want to make things worse by just crying about it, she already accepted the fact that she had lost her dearest mother...
King Marl could only hug his daughter as he cried over the loss of his wife, he couldn't bear to lose anyone else but his only daughter. Ever since that day, King Marl never let Melissa out of the kingdom without him. If she wants to go to the village, she will have the guards walk along with her to make sure nothing harms the princess. If the king needs to do something outside the kingdom, he will not let Melissa out of the castle until he comes home, which usually takes about 3 weeks or more.
"Princess Melissa, The king wishes the see you at the dining table" The butler called from outside her room. Melissa closed the book she was reading before walking up to her bedroom door and opening it. She then walked with the butler to the dining hall where her father sat at the end of the table, waiting for his daughter to sit with him with a big smile on his face.
"Melissa, it's good to see you, my dear. I told the chef to make your favorite meal for dinner!" Her father said, smiling brightly at his daughter. "Thank you, Father..." Melissa said with a small smile before sitting down next to him and started eating her sticky honey roast, her favorite meal for the day. As the two royals eat together at the dinner table, the king coughs a bit to get Melissa's attention, to which she only glances up at him. "My dearest daughter, you are going to be 20 years old next week and I want to give you an early present!"
"yes, father?" Melissa sighed, waiting for her father to tell her about her present. "You know the rules about not being able to go outside without having the guards with you, so for today, I-"
"You wanted to give me more guards to keep an eye on me so nothing can ever harm me" Melissa cuts her father off while sighing. "I already knew you were going to say, Father, You should've let the butler tell me.-" She said while munching on her meal.
"Actually no." Marl smirked before continuing to speak, "For tomorrow only, I will let you go outside alone without the guards following you around the village. You can go anywhere you want all alone in the village!" Melissa almost choked on her food as she looked at her father with wide eyes, "Father...Are you serious right now?"
"Just think of it as an early birthday present from your old man" Her father ruffles her long black hair while laughing. "But remember, only tomorrow that you'll get to go anywhere without the guards, and you'll have to stay inside the kingdom walls, okay?"
Melissa couldn't help but hug her father as tight as ever while having the biggest smile on her face. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, father!! I love you so much!!!", Marl chuckled while hugging her back, "I love you too, sweetie".
The next day, the princess woke up and immediately started getting ready for a stroll into the village. She wore a simple but fine dress with a coat along with her tiara. She then walked out of the castle without the guards following her to the bridge that leads to the village nearby. Many stopped to admire the princess as she walked down the streets alone, clearly, everyone was surprised to not see the guards with her.
Melissa was happy to finally be able to go around the village without the guards, she happily roam around the village, helping her people while also being the noble princess like always.
As time passed, it was starting to get dark and Melissa was about to head back to the castle when she glanced at the giant gates from afar. She wanted to take a peak before heading back to the castle, so she hurriedly ran up to the gates and quietly went past the sleeping guards before going out of the kingdom with a sly smile on her face. She then walked around the road for a while before stumbling into an enchanted forest down the river. Out of curiosity, she walked up to the lake to get a better look at the forest. She stood a few inches away from the water while staring at the forest in front of her.
The trees are tall and vibrant with the color of dark purple mixed with a bright blue. The flowers were nothing like she had seen, they were glowing with various kinds of petals and with different sizes and shapes.
It was magical, like something out of a fairy tale.
Melissa looked at the lake below her, there was a path of slippery rocks that led to the enchanted forest. She knew if she took a step, she would slip and fall into the lake, but she really wanted to see the forest closer. Without a second thought, she slowly walked up to the lake and tried to walk on the rock when something suddenly caught her foot, the leaves from the enchanted forest started to shake violently and then they flew towards her, the leaves then flew around her for a while until they made a bridge under her feet for her to cross. Melissa was stunned by the sudden magic, she almost fell if the leaves weren't there to catch her. She quickly got back on her feet and started crossing the lake using the leaf bridge to cross.
But just as she was about to take a step into the forest, her father shouted from the distance, "Melissa, What are you doing!?" She was then grabbed by the hand as her father dragged her out back to the other side of the lake. "Are you okay!? are you hurt, my dear!?" Marl panicked as he checked to see if she had a wound on her body, "Father, I'm fine, I'm not hurt" She said, trying to push her father away."What were you thinking of going out here!? Have you not realized how dangerous these woods are!?" Her father screamed out of anger, "We are going back to the castle and I'm having some serious talk with you, young lady!"
"But Father, What about the.." Melissa pointed into the enchanted forest before she realized the forest was gone, it disappeared out of sight. Was what she saw was an illusion? an imagination? She knew what she saw wasn't some imagination, but her thoughts were interrupted when her father dragged her back into the kingdom and back to the castle. Melissa had to go back, she needed to know what was that forest about, If it meant breaking the rules her father told her to follow, then she would break the rules to find the answers.
As soon as he dragged her back to the castle, Marl gave Melissa a stern talk about how dangerous the outside world was and how she could've died if she stayed longer outside the kingdom walls. "But father I'm fine, I'm not hurt!" she protested, hitting the sheets of the bed below her.
"You're not hurt now but you could've gotten hurt at any moment if you stayed out there!!" he yelled at her. Marl eventually calmed down and apologized to Melissa for yelling at her. It was actually the first time he actually yelled out of anger at his own daughter.
Melissa didn't show any signs of emotion when he yelled at her, she was just sitting on her bed with a blank look on her face, he couldn't tell if she mad or was upset with him.
"I'm sorry dear, but I'm gonna need you to stay in the castle for 3 months, I have a royal matter to attend to in another kingdom so.."
"I know, father, I know.."Melissa murmured, having her head looking low to the ground, not daring to look at her father in the eyes. She wasn't mad or upset at him, She's just...Huh, looks like she doesn't know how to express this feeling right now.
Without a word, Marl kissed his daughter goodnight and left her room. Melissa soon lay her head under the covers as she closed her eyes. After all, that arguing, she just wanted nothing more than just to sleep and hoped tomorrow something fun might happen. A few hours had passed and It was midnight, the kingdom had fallen into a deep slumber, there was no one in the street, only the sound of dogs barking and the wind howling in the night.
As Melissa slept on her bed, she heard something knocking on her window, the knocking kept getting louder and louder until she got annoyed and decided to check what was making the noise. She stood up from her bed and walked towards the window where she saw a tiny figure flying outside. She opened the window to get a better look at the tiny figure and then it spoke.
"I knew it! I knew my eyes weren't playing tricks on me!!" The tiny figure squealed in joy as she got closer to Melissa. "My lady, where have you been? It has been decades since we have seen you!" Melissa took a few steps back from the tiny figure, a normal person would probably be scared but Melissa felt a connection to this creature. "I'm sorry but... Who are you?" She asked, a bit shocked and nervous at the same time. The tiny figure laughed, "Oh Lilith, you and your silly jokes!... Uhm but seriously there is no time to be joking, My lady. You have not come back to the forest for thousands of years! Without your powers, the great evil might take over again.."
"Woah there, firefly..." Melissa stops her, now looking as confused as ever. "When you say Lilith.. Do you mean my mother?"
"What's a mother?" the little figure asked, it was now her turn to look confused just like Melissa. Melissa completely fell silent when she said that, "You know what, never mind.". The tiny figure got suspicious, she soon sprouted her long wings out and flew closer to Melissa, taking a few minutes to take a closer look at her features. "Wait, You're not Lilith, but you look just like her.." She muttered, not taking her eyes off Melissa. "No I'm not, I'm her daughter, Melissa" Melissa sighed, "and who are you and how did you get here to find me? And more importantly, WHO are you?"
"From your magic! When I saw you being taken away from that evil man, I followed your magic trace and followed you here in this room! Oh and my name is Kiki, Kiki Rosebud!" Kiki explains, her expression soon turns into a sad and serious one. "So, you're not really Lilith?"
"I'm her daughter, Think of it as, I'm related to her. Me and my mom aren't the same person, but some people say I'm just like her but I'm not actually her" Melissa explained. Kiki looked down in sadness before speaking again, "So, where is she now?"
"My mother has passed, she is no longer here with us... Her duties as a queen are over, and soon enough, I'll probably take her place someday" Melissa said, sitting back down on her bed. "A queen? But I thought she was a witch... Has she been lying to us all this time!?" Kiki said in shock while covering her mouth, "What!? What are you talking about... My mom is a witch, that doesn't make sense. She's human.. like all of us"
"No, she's not, Lilith was a witch and she helped to protect the Enchanted Forest from the great evil... She had been our guardian for thousands of years" Kiki screamed angrily while pouting at Melissa.
Before Melissa could say anything, she heard a knock on her door and immediately grabbed the tiny figure and lay on her bed, pretending to be asleep. She had her hands under the blanket while putting a hand on the tiny figure's mouth so she wouldn't scream. Her father soon came inside to check on Melissa, he saw the window being opened and Melissa sleeping sounder on her bed. Marl sighed before he went out to close the window and sat down on Melissa's bed. "I will be leaving now dear, forgive me if I have been a bad father to you. I promise one day, I'll take you anywhere you want but for now, I must keep you safe from.. them" Marl kissed Melissa's forehead before he walked out of her bedroom and closed the door behind him.
Melissa let out sighed of relief as she sat up and let Kiki out of her blanket, "Sorry about that" She quickly apologized while sitting up. Kiki mumbled something angrily before turning back to Melissa. "Ugh, whatever"
"Yeah, Anyway Kiki, You should go back to wherever you are, it's getting late" Melissa gently grab Kiki and place her on her palm, she then brought her to her window and placed her down.
"What, No, you have to come back with us, Lilith! The forest needs your magic to protect us all!!" Kiki screamed, flying up to Melissa's face again as her red hair slightly glowed a bit. "The forest is in deep trouble and we need your magic!" "I told you I'm not my mother, I am Melissa and I am not a witch or anything... I am a princess to my kingdom and I order you to leave my room at once!" Melissa yelled in frustration, she stomped her foot down and pointed out of her window while glaring at Kiki.
Kiki looked at Melissa in disbelief and let out an angry huff. "Fine! If you don't want to see me, Malachite, or Lady Grandma ever again then that's your fault! The forest is going to fall and it's all going to be your fault, Lilith!!" Kiki screamed, her hair glowing as bright as ever as she flew away into the distance.
Melissa sighed as she lay back on her back, thinking back about her encounter with Kiki.
'My mom is a witch, and a guardian for that weird forest..? Oh heavenly gods why is life is difficult and so confusing!?' Melissa groanned but eventually, she turn her body to a more comfortable position until she finally drifted off to sleep with her mind still thinking back at the about what Kiki had said to her.