KRISTIAN
"Merry Christmas, Kris!" Princess Patricia skipped down the stairs leading to the girls' dormitory and joyfully landed on the seat across me at the dining table.
As it was Christmas, the classes were cancelled and many of us had returned to their respective kingdoms to celebrate the Christmas with their families.
I would have left as well but Princess Patricia insisted on my stay.
The table that usually offered not-so-tempting food was now filled with dishes that made my mouth water. The food was never bad or bland in Wisteria.
Even so, even steak gets dull if you have it daily.
There was another thing that was dulling me lately and it was Princess Patricia. We have been together for quite some months now and I am slowly losing interest.
The spark between us has extinguished.
But I do not wish to hurt her.
At least, not yet.
The problem was not her. It was me. I have been with plenty of girls in my lifespan of seventeen years and none of them has been successful to keep me interested for much long.
"Good morning, Princess." I forced a smile.
"Did you receive my present, Prince Kristian?" Princess Patricia grinned. "A-ah, yes, indeed. The scarf. I did receive it." I responded.
The number of gifts I had received this Christmas could barely be fitted under the Christmas tree that was planted in our dormitory to match the hype of the season.
Nonetheless, it was not much laborious to recognize Princess Patricia's present.
It was wrapped in a radiant red paper. It came along with a note written on a long neon yellow parchment that explained how much she adored me.
I did not bother to read to read that ten-feet-long essay.
I was even more astonished to pull out a scarf of the most eye-aching neon yellow colour… It should even be labelled as a colour. It is just a radiance.
With the most horrified face, I pulled out a neon yellow scarf that had a lime green coloured letter 'P' inscribed onto it.
Princess Patricia is not a bad person… unlike Irene.
She is a devil disguised as a human.
Where was I? Oh, indeed. Princess Patricia is not a bad person. However, she can be… too clingy at times. Being clingy is one snag while the other is her adoration for not-so-pretty things.
Her ballgowns are always too bright that my eyes start to ache.
Her jewellery is often so heavy and out-of-the place.
Do not get me wrong. I am no fashion expert and in no position to judge others' tastes or what they wear. Even so, it gets embarrassing at times.
It got even more embarrassing when Princess Patricia decided to wear a neon orange ball gown to our Newcomers' Nite and Irene who was accompanied by her two minions namely Pristine and Samirah could not stop sneering and passing the foulest comments every time they spotted Patricia.
And I am not a person to get myself involved in cat fights.
At least, not anymore.
"Why are you not wearing it?" Princess Patricia frowned, gesturing at the same hideously hued scarf she wore with the lime-green latter 'K' inscribed onto it.
I diverted my gaze back to the food in my plate. "I tried wearing it. But it felt too hot. I was sweating." I lied, unable to meet her eyes.
"Hot?" Princess Patricia blinked, quizzed.
"Indeed." I nodded.
"But Prince Kristian, it is literally snowing outside!" She gestured at the window through which the frozen atmosphere of the outdoors was visible.
I felt silent.
My brain failed to construct an excuse.
An uncomfortable silence emerged between us. But Patricia yet failed to decode the hint. "I shall go fetch it for you. You may continue eating the breakfast."
Before I could even part my lips to protest, she jumped to her feet and glided away.
Not after long, she was back with that hideous scarf in her grasp. She wrapped it around my neck and collapsed on the seat beside me. "You should keep it on. So as to avoid a cold."
I nodded, flashing a forced smile.
"Oh, Kristian." There comes the mocking voice of the last person I wanted to face while wearing this. "Why are you wearing lemon peel around your neck?"
I sucked my tongue and lifted my gaze to meet that of a sneering Irene with Pristine and Samirah on either side of her.
"Oh wait. That is not a lemon peel." She leaned in as if she was trying to catch a better sight of the scarf. "Is that… a scarf?! Is that a scarf, Pristine?" She snickered.
"I think so…" Princess Pristine timidly said.
"Get lost, Irene." I glared at her.
"Why so cranky, Kristian? I am just well… admiring your scarf that you are matching with dear Princess Patricia here." I wish I could slap that sneer off her face sometimes.
"Wait." She leaned in even more over the table.
"Did a frog poop over your lemon pee- I mean, scarves?" It did not require a scholar's brain to interpret that she was talking about the lime green letters that were inscribed on the scarf.
It is a pointless endeavour to be courteous towards her. "Why are you here, Irene? Did Athenburg finally kick you out?" I snapped.
"Awhh, Pristine, Sam, I comprehend that I have pushed the buttons of the sensitive prince of Chalcedon too far." Irene stood straight.
It is enough, Irene." I heard Samirah mutter.
"Oh yes, I am intruding the quality time of two love birds wrapped in lemon peel and frog's poop, I should let them be." With one last arrogant sneer, she lurked away.
"Don't mind her words. She just has nothing better to do." I told Princess Patricia while staring at Irene's figure that walked out of the door of the dining hall.
If I could go back into the past, I would slap some sense into my past self for presuming he could fix a demon.
Demon is an understatement for her.
She is worse than that.
Father was correct when he advised me not to meddle with Athenburg's blood when he first realised that I would be attending elementary school with the princess of that kingdom.
Father was right.
I should have abided to hid advice.
I had grown up hearing tales about how initially both Athenburg and Chalcedon were allies. But the ruler of Athenburg was a maniacal dictator. He had tortured his subjects to the extent that many had to flee to Dynstown, the kingdom that stands right beside Athenburg.
On the surface level, Athenburg appears to be a beautiful land but as one unveils the layers of secret, one realises that the royal family of Athenburg are just selfish cold-blooded lunatics.
Even though my ancestor had advised the then monarch of Athenburg against following dictatorship, Athenburg refused to follow any advice and hence Chalcedon had no choice but to part ways with Athenburg.
But the fanatic monarch of Athenburg took umbrage and started a battle against Chalcedon.
The monarch also termed that situation as Chalcedon betraying Athenburg.
No one on that battle.
Salvaria acted as a peacekeeper and managed to stop the war mid-way.
Since then, the animosity between Chalcedon and Athenburg has just blazed more radiantly through the span of time.
Generations through generations, both the kingdoms have been sworn enemies.
Naturally, I was taught to hate Athenburg as well.
And I did.
I hated Athenburg. Irene's attitude ever since we started elementary school actually made it extremely facile to hate her.
Irene was pretty. Pretty was an understatement to summarise how allure left me breathless when I first laid my eyes on the princess of Athenburg.
But being attractive externally is never enough.
She was a bully. She used to go around with a mindset that everyone else other than her are pests. She used to pick on the weak. Irene also was prejudiced with the social hierarchy. The hierarchy matters to her as much as it matters to our parents' generation.
She did not even let anyone that was not a prince even court her.
Her character could make even the people of our generation raise fingers at her. It developed in the passage of time. By the end of middle school, the number of males she had gone out with exceeded the fingers on one's both hands combined. She was a flirt. Only minding her outer appearance, a sea of princes and other elites have been swooning over her. And she often returns the flirts.
And I regard it as the most self-humiliating act.
She was the savage, fierce, snarky, impudent girl I had ever met whose attitude could alone boil my blood.
The worst chapter of my life was when her fierceness instead of getting on my nerves began to capture my heart.
I hated her. But it was obvious that she had loathed me. It took no sage's powers to comprehend that she was taught to hate me as well. We have had a past when we have thrown one another into a pit of trouble ruthlessly.
We used to argue as well.
She would pass snarky comments whenever we crossed paths.
I used to despise every single thing she liked. Be it those non-conventional decorative items, balls, her beauty rituals, designing unconventional attires and what not!
But eventually she grew onto me.
It was like she had bewitched me with dark magic. I would not be surprised if she had actually did it. I used to wait for her after every class just so I could engage her in a tussle. I had taken onto the hobby of annoying her.
But it meant that I was spending more time with her.
She became a habit.
Not having her around always felt wrong. My days never went by without engaging in a row with her. Back then, she was younger and did not carry a dagger with her. So, I was safe.
Even so, I had not realised that I started fancying her.
Until…
It was a regular day back in Crestwood Royal Prep. The classes have just ended and the students have already departed to their dormitories. We are in our final year and our graduation ceremony is drawing closer.
It was around four months away.
I am aware that it was still MONTHS away. Hence, we had a lot of time to go. But our teachers did not agree to that statement.
I was a part of the orchestra.
I used to play the lute. Our music teacher had asked me to pay her a visit after the end of the last class of the day as she had a matter to discuss with me regarding the orchestra practice that was to be started after a week from now.
After meeting her at the staff room, I went back to my classroom to fetch my bag.
The corridors feel to cool and deserted now that it is not packed with a swarm of students. I skipped into my classroom. I grasped my bag and was about to leave when I spotted a student in the classroom.
It was dusk.
No students are allowed to stay back in the classrooms after the lessons unless they have received detention. The student was seated towards the end of the class, resting their head against the desk.
A chill ran through me.
Is it perhaps… a ghost?!
It won't be a hazard if it is a normal ghost but I am in big trouble if what I have encountered is an evil spirit.
No- wait-
I recognise that hair and that seat is occupied by…
Cautiously, I lurked closer to the figure, ensuring I do not make any noise. "Irene?!" I had reached the figure. The back of her head was facing me.
"Go away, Kristian. I am not in the mood for any row." A dejected voice unlike the sarcastic one she always wore voiced.
I knew I should go.
But not only my feet froze but they also lead me to go to the chair at the desk beside her in the direction of where the front of her face was.
"Don't look at me in this condition. I look hideous." She turned her head away from me. "I do not regard you as pretty in the first place." I truthfully said. Her outer appearance never captured my attention.
"What happened? Did they appoint you to sweep the classrooms after the students leave?" I pushed my chair a little towards her direction.
No response.
"What happened, Irene?" My voice was much softer now that Irene does not appear in the mood for any cocky banter.
A long exhale escaped her mouth and Irene sat up.
Her hair was dishevelled and she looked like a mess. She ran a hair through her messy hair as an attempt to flatten it down a little. "What happened?" I did not realise how urgent my voice sounded.
"My uncle was assassinated."
I had not realised how much power a sentence bears to make me speechless until this one. I had not anticipated this situation at all.
The princess of my rival kingdom whom I have a unexplainable amount of vendetta against just voiced me the news that the king of their kingdom had been executed.
I should be happy.
As her sworn enemy and as the prince of Chalcedon, I should be elated at the moment.
But I was not.
Irene was not crying. But she was overwhelmed with silent despair. It was even worse. I was aware that her uncle fathered no children adored Irene like his own daughter.
Hence, I was sure that his death had shook her.
"O-oh…" That was all that escaped my mouth. "I received father's pigeon during the last lesson that carried the news." Her strained and dry voice said.
Her eyes were now not beaming with that cheeky glow.
My father would make me the king at this very moment if I pass an impertinent comment which I am supposed to do as the prince of her rival kingdom.
But I could not.
"J-just try not to think about it much…" It was awkward. I was never good at comforting. But making an attempt to comfort the princess of my rival kingdom was even more stilted.
However, it earned me a small chuckle.
"You are failing miserably in your attempt to comfort me, you know that?" Irene did not turn to me. I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly.
"Please don't make an attempt to comfort people in your life, Kristian." She added.
"You are misjudging me. I am not THAT bad at comforting people. Its just that…" My voice trailed off as she turned to me with a smile that did not reach her eyes.
"Its just that comforting the princess of your rival kingdom is awkward for you." She nodded her head slowly. "It is awkward getting comforted by you as well."
"I mean if you were ANYONE else, I would have just hugged you…" What is wrong with my voice trailing off every time my eyes meet hers? It is as if my mind is just occupied by her image in front of me. It is so engrossed by her that it fails to construct any sentence.
"Irene…" I whispered.
"Hmm?" She responded.
"Can I hug you?" I have no clue which spirit haunted me at that moment that made me voice those words to HER.
It was more appalling that she nodded.
She nodded like a child. She seemed so vulnerable. The girl who walked around picking on anyone she laid her eyes on was gone in a flash and there was a girl I wanted to comfort so bad.
Yes, we hugged.
I anticipated the hug to be weird and awkward. But it was not. It was warm. Warm like being wrapped in your favourite cozy blanket on a rainy winter evening while sipping onto your hot chocolate. She felt… right.
No words could describe how it felt.
She smelled like black orchids.
If we were not holding one another, I was afraid I would've melted at that moment. I have no clue whether she thinks the hug was consoling or silted for her.
But for me, it felt like I won the universe and conquered the greatest prize.
"You may shed tears, you know? I won't tell anyone." I reassured. My mother has always told me that bottling up feelings is never the adequate way of handling them.
Irene nodded but she did not cry.
It made me doubt for a moment if she is even a human. She was definitely shattered at the moment and yet her eyes did not water the slightest.
After a while, we let go of one another.
The hug was not awkward but the aftermath was.
We could not meet one another's eyes. Irene cleared her throat awkwardly. "Why were none of your friends with you?" I was compelled to be the ice-breaker.
"I told them to get lost after receiving the news." She replied.
"They…know?" I chose my words wisely. Irene shook her head. "I will be going back to Athenburg tomorrow. They will know by then anyway."
In conclusion, she chased them away because she was about to have a breakdown and did not want anyone to witness it. But I knew better than wording it out.
"Shall we… go to the building then?" I suggested cautiously.
Instead of passing an insult to me or my kingdom, Irene just nodded and leapt to her feet, grabbing her bag.
I fetched mine to and we started for the door of the classroom.
"Irene…" I said as we walked beside one another through the hallway. She hummed as a response. She was shorter than me. So, I stared down at her.
"I did not think you looked hideous back then."
That memory sends chills down my spine for all the bad reasons.
I should have just fetched my bag and exited the classroom that evening instead of letting my curiosity drive my actions.
That evening changed everything between us, we became friends and it did not take much long for the both of us to realise the fire between us as I had started flirting instead of trying to get on her nerves and she had started to flirt back instead of calling me and my kingdoms names.
We had soon started going out.
Yet nothing was ever cool or soothing between us. We still had arguments and banters but they always fuelled the blaze of desire between the two of us.
It always kept the relationship interesting.
But people do not change for good so easily. I had assumed that I could fix her and I regard myself as the biggest fool of the century to have such a misconception.
I had forgotten that Irene was a flirt, a seducer.
I was aware of it even before we had started going out but going out with her made me realise that she was also crazy, overjealous, toxic, awkward, controlling, manipulative, an over-possessive maniacal gatekeeper.
Those things grew on to me through the passage of time.
I was not a saint either.
What made me unable to cope up with her was when she cheated on me.
Today is the graduation prom of our batch. We are finally graduating from Crestwood Royal Prep and soon we will be starting our high school in Wisteria Royal High.
Irene was my date to the prom.
We had come together but her friend, Princess Samirah of Salvaria stole her from me, saying they needed a "girls' talk" moment. I ended up joining my friends who were inscribing their names onto the walls of our classroom.
Angus had snuck out a mystical paintbrush. If one writes anything with it, the words can never be erased from the surface. So, the faculty will have no choice but to break the wall down.
Causing some menace on the last day in Crestwood was in my to-do-list anyway.
The classroom was dark as if we luminated the room, it might catch the faculty's attention.
Laughing heartily, the four of us, namely Prince Angus, Prince Augustine, Prince Benjamin and I collapsed on the desk that was positioned beside the wall to stand on it and reach the upper area of the wall to write our names and… other stuff.
"The teachers are going to face a lot of labour." Benjamin laughed hysterically.
"It hardly compares to the labour we faced while finishing their homework, tests, exams, and what not." Angus groaned out.
Another laugh escaped from the rest of us.
"This will continue in Wisteria?" I smirked.
"Is that even a question?" Angus returned my smirk. "Oh, I cannot wait for us to start high school!" Benjamin exclaimed. "Finally, we are escaping this prison." Augustine hissed.
"Yeah, its finally the prom." I leaned against the wall.
"At the very least, Kristian brought Irene to the prom." Angus said, in a teasing tone.
"Indeed. All of us were fed up, witnessing your banters. She looks good with you." Benjamin wiggled his eyebrows.
I always assumed that blushing was something that jus happened to the females. But that was until my friends started teasing me with 'her' name.
"Indeed. It is shocking to me as well." I admitted.
If the Kristian of a year ago is told that he would court Princess Irene and that he would start seeing her eventually, he would have sentenced you to life imprisonment.
But… here we are.
"Why have you left her alone?" Benjamin suddenly asked. "You should not abandon her during the prom. Instead, you should spend some 'quality time' with her."
It was not laborious to interpret the suggestive meaning behind his words.
I am glad that it was dark.
They can not see the red flush on my cheeks.
Before I could answer, Benjamin stood up and he pulled me to my feet. He then pushed me out of the door playfully. "Go to her, Kristian!" He chuckled out.
"Yes Kristian, man up!" Augustine yelled after me.
"Indeed. Or else we might have to assume that you are perhaps scared of her!" It was Angus' way of giving me a push.
The door was shut at my face and I could hear giggling from the other side.
I noticed that the corners of my lips had curled up.
I was aware of the subtle suggestion of my friends. They probably wanted me to be the first among us to snog a girl.
But the girl I was dating was not just 'a girl'.
She was 'Princess Irene'.
I am not scared of her. But she makes me nervous. This had not happened 'that much' when we used to loathe one another's presence.
But now she makes me nervous for unexplainable reasons. And even the idea of snogging her makes the butterflies in my stomach play Aerofence.
I started for the main hall where the prom is being held. It was on the ground floor.
If it happens. It happens but I am not going to Irene with an intention of snogging her.
As I walked through the hallway leading to the hall, I witness several couples sneaking out. I even spotted two couples snogging. These teens appear unable to control their hormones.
If The Elowyn Gazette came here today, half of the kingdoms of Elowyn would have been exposed.
I shake my head and smile to myself.
With my eyes roaming everywhere, I was skipping to the main hall when I caught the glimpse of the material of a familiar black gown.
A carriage was trembling crazily with its door ajar, providing a scandalous sight of two figures in each other's arms. They seem to be lost in one another, the faces having no gap between them.
The guy's back was facing me and it was impossible at the current moment to catch a sight of the girl.
But that dress material caught my interest.
My tracks came to a halt and I was making an attempt to get a better view of their faces with my heart thumping crazily in my chest as I prayed silently for it not to be the person I suspect it is.
The couple finally parted, gasping for air.
Under the light that was coming from the school building, the face of the girl finally came to view.
The thumping inside my heart finally stopped but at that very moment, my heart sank as well. It turned out to be the person I was begging the heavens not to be.
Irene.
She was giving the guy a lustrous look.
It was the most disgusting sight I had seen in my life. It felt like someone had crumpled my heart into a paper ball. Anger, I felt like I had been punched in the gut, unable to breathe or think.
A torrent of emotions ravaged me- anger, sadness and humiliation swirling together. It was like I was paralyzed, unsure of how to process the situation.
My mind refused to accept the reality, hoping that it was all a terrible nightmare.
But it wasn't.
Irene's eyes soon fell on me and the sultry expression that she wore fell.
The moment our eyes met fury coursed through my veins as I realized the extent of her betrayal.
I was never devoted to any relationship of my past the way I was devoted to her. I was just 16 and yet I had pictured us growing old together. I had made up sentences in my mind as to how I would attempt to persuade both my and her father when we will be of age. How I would suggest that this marriage could finally bring peace within the two kingdoms.
But I forgot that she belonged to Athenburg.
The worst of the kind.
She quickly let go of that mysterious guy and climbed out of the carriage. I had figured it out that she is about to approach me now.
I hated Irene before we had started going out.
But now I 'loathed' her with every inch of me. The sight of her made my stomach crawl with outrage. I could not stand her audacity to try to come talk to me.
I stormed away to the main hall with a clenched jaw.
I remained in a foul mood for the rest of the night, snapping at anyone who tried to talk to me. It was not me. Usually, I would try my best to put on a neutral face even if anything life shaking happened to me.
But tonight, I could not do it anymore.
Irene disgusted me. I was disgusted by myself to try to make a wife out of someone who desires to be the mistress.
I did not see her for the rest of the night.
Until it was past midnight and the end of the prom. The principal was reciting a closing speech but I decided to step out. I could not stay here anymore.
Keeping my head straight, I stormed through the hallway when my wrist was suddenly grabbed and I was thrown into an empty classroom of the ground floor.
The classroom was dark.
The only illumination was of the moon that passed through the windows into the room.
The person who yanked me was none other than Irene.
She is…. Strong. I had not realised it until now.
She locked the door behind her and then turned to me. I anticipated a face of regret and remorse but the indignation and fury that had paled her face were nothing close to them.
With crossed arms and a menacing sneering face, she appeared like a maniac when she uttered my name with abhorrence and disgust. "Prince Kristian of Chalcedon, could not abandon the family legacy of betrayal, could you?" She maliciously emphasized each and every word.
I realised what she was doing.
She was about to blame it all on me and throw dirt on my name just so she could veil her own malevolencies. I scoffed. "You have no self-respect, do you? You are daring to say this after what you have done?! I never had to suppress an urge to hit a girl until now,"
"The audacity-" Her eyes widened with ire as if she was a lunatic.
"Irene. You and I are done. Everything ends here." I sternly said.
"Who do you think you are? You insolent fool! I end whatever we had. Don't you dare show me your face again. I might sever it." Her threat was empty as we would be seeing one another in Wisteria Royal Academy whether we look forward to it or not.
She abruptly turned around and stomped to the door after glaring me for a last time. She was trembling with fury.
She has no right to be angry after what she has done.
"Irene." I made her stop her steps.
"Make up whatever story you want to recite to your friends. I won't disclose the reason to anyone and land you in scandal." I have no clue why I did that. But I jut did not desire to tarnish her name.
At least I am aware of her fidelity and it was enough.
With a last scoff, Irene stormed out of the classroom, slamming the door after her.
I was left alone in the darkness now.
I ran a hand through my hair, resenting both Irene for doing that and myself too for trusting a witch like her.
Irene had threatened me to sever me if we saw one another ever again. But she did not.
We have now ended up in a relationship where only the two of us are aware of what happened that ominous night. We loathe one another to the bones. Her rage is still questionable as she was the one who cheated. I believe she conceals her mistake with the mask of wrath.
We now throw mean statements at one another.
We used to be enemies until I managed to unveil the girl under that guise of a devil. I believed that I could see a side of Irene that no one could and it was the most catastrophic error of my life.
We had become lovers until she unfurled her true colours.
We were back to being enemies now. Just with twice as aversion against one another and this will never change again. I won't let it change.
I stared at her figure on the other side of the door that was not closed completely.
She was grabbing Princess Elizbeth's hair, sneering maniacally at her with wide hungry eyes while Elizabeth yelped in pain.
Is she the same girl I fell in love with?