Finding The Prince of Astoria

"Thank you! Please come back next time!" One of my customers smiled and waved at me before heading out of my cafe. 

I looked around and saw people sitting in groups in different uniforms; The Royal's uniforms. 

My name is Gwen and I've been living in a small country named Astoria for around 4 years. Previously, I used to live in San Francisco with my mom. She is a single mother and my dad passed away somewhere in 2017 due to an accident. 

Until one day in 2019, I got an invitation from my grandma to come to Astoria and help her run her cafe since she does not have anyone to be asked for help. I am her only grandchild. 

"She used to ask me to manage it before but I refused it," I remember my mom told me about it back then.

"Why?"

"Astoria is a small country. It's pretty, Indeed. But you'll be stuck there and it will be monotonous."

"Just because it's a small country?"

"Yea, because I love freedom and you know, I'll be marrying Ben soon…"

Bennet is my mom's current husband. The convo happened in 2018 and I didn't have much to say about it, nor did I have the right to stop her wedding. She went through a lot after my dad's pass. I think she deserves to be happy with someone she loves. 

But my dream has always been about living in a small country and I've searched a lot about Astoria. It's a beautiful country. So, without thinking any further, I decided to accept my grandma's invitation and flew to Astoria in early 2019, after my mom's wedding.

My grandma passed away around 6 months after I lived there. So the cafe is passed down to me and I've been managing it for 4 years. 

I decided to go out just to check around, and then I accidentally eavesdropped on the convo between the two guards who were taking a short break from their job.

"The news will break out soon. Everyone will go crazy. After years, There will be another 'finding' soon…"

"When was the last time?" 

"The King?"

"Right…it was a very long time ago, Wasn't it? The King and Queen got married and they have three children–two daughters and a son."

Interesting. The guards talked about 'finding' referring to Astoria's tradition related to The King, Astoria King in general: The royal family members in the Astorian kingdom have the right to marry commoners. 

The upcoming King usually hides his identity before being introduced to the public. He will spend his pre-King life living among the commoners and observe them until he is ready to sit on the throne and be introduced as a king.

The purpose of this tradition is to make the royal understand their people's concerns and pledge to fix them once the King is settled. 

The Finding tradition will be announced, which means there will be a new king soon. Currently, Astoria is led by King Frederick of Astoria and his queen, Wilhelmina. 

Queen Wilhelmina used to live as a commoner until she met the king during his Finding days. She was a tram driver that The King used to use back and forth from work to home. They connected with each other very well and King Frederick learned a lot of things about People's concerns through Queen Wilhelmina. 

After he proposed to her and they agreed to get married, That's when they were announced as the future King and Queen of Astoria. 

From their marriage, They were blessed with three childrens: Two daughters and a son, who will be the future king of Astoria.

One of their daughters, Fiona Zachary of Astoria, is currently married to the son of the Prime minister and they were blessed with a beautiful daughter. The second daughter is pursuing her studies abroad and loves to travel around the world with her boyfriend. 

And the youngest, the only son in the family; Arthur Frederick Zachary of Astoria, has been hiding among us for so long. 

No one knows about his appearance. He was first introduced to the world, only when he was born until he was 3 years old. It was around 1997 until early 2000. As he grew older, He was sent abroad to study and came back here without anyone knowing. So judging by the year he was born, The Prince's age might be around 26 or 27. 

Since the royal guards talk about Finding, It means Prince Arthur is already in his mature phase and he is ready to replace his father as a King. 

But a King can't walk alone. That's the reason why The Finding tradition exists; in order to find a queen who can resonate well with the king. That's why the king needs to find the love of his life by himself. 

"The Finding will be held soon?"

The guards turned around to me, "Yeah! Dress up well girl! She might be around you, He might be me."

"Then I'll prefer to stay single." Their laughter broke after listening to my lame-ass joke.

"I'm married, honey, no worries. But for real! You'll regret it if you don't join the Finding. The Prince is really handsome."

"I can see it from his father," I decided to excuse myself from them and went back to work. Even inside the cafe, It's already a buzz even though the royals haven't announced it yet. It's no surprise since most of my customers are the royals' workers, So they have heard it first before us. 

I was trying to not pay much attention to it and just focusing on my work until another customer came in–my favorite customer to be exact.

He is just a smiley young man who always comes around lunch time. I love the way he casually dresses whenever he comes here–so boyfriend material, But I believe, someone like him has a partner. 

Today, He comes in a simple white tee tucked inside his jeans. He often gets his hair permed, but today he looks fresh with black straight hair. I want to know his favorite barbershop. 

He arrived right on my counter exactly at the time when the sun came through my cafe's window and kissed his beautiful tanned skin. He looks majestic.