💕 💕 💕
UPON arriving at the palace, I was surprised there was no sense of urgency or other indications that anything was amiss. Even the servants who greeted me at the front doors were smiling and cordial.
Father and I exchanged glances. Whatever had happened to Prince Vincent was so dire that they couldn’t allow word of it to escape. I clenched my quivering hands and relaxed my quickened breathing. I must not allow myself to grow too worried before even learning what’s amiss. Prince Vincent would remain calm and composed were our places reversed.
Once our arrival had been announced, we were led to the deepest room in the palace, the king’s private chambers. A small table and chairs were assembled for visitors, but all the seats were vacant. Instead, the queen and Prince Vincent were standing alert at the bedside, waiting for us. In all my times visiting the palace, I had never once visited this room. That alone was a testament to the secrecy of this news.
A portrait of Her Majesty was on the wall beside her bed, painted when she was younger. Her face hadn’t changed a bit in the intervening years, and a delicate smile was on her lips. Father cast it a dubious look, but Her Majesty seemed unaffected by his surprise.
If Her Majesty doesn’t mind a portrait of herself in her room, perhaps Prince Vincent won’t, either? No, it’s not the time for such thoughts.
His Royal Highness was looking at me in awe. “A-Are you an angel?” he muttered.
A what?
I turned around, but I could see nothing of the sort, and I certainly hadn’t misheard him. He seemed to be in fair health, however, and I grew more curious about the reason for our summons.
I tugged on Father’s sleeve, and realizing his rudeness, he hurriedly bowed. I curtsied beside him.
“We have arrived with all due haste, as requested,” Father announced. “May I ask what the problem is?” His gaze drifted to the bed, where His Majesty was lying, his face oddly pale.
“Let’s dispose of formalities,” the queen insisted before pinching her husband’s nose closed. “Wake up, now, dear.”
His Majesty’s face grew strained, twisting with discomfort. He moaned painfully. “Gh…ugagh…”
“A-Are you certain you should be doing such a thing?” I hazarded.
“Of course,” Her Majesty promptly replied. “He’s simply resting from a lack of mana. I’ve given him some of my own, so I imagine he’ll awaken presently.”
“M-My apologies,” I hurriedly replied. “I had no intention of overstepping my bounds.”
“No, it’s quite a normal response.” She nodded graciously.
To each their own.
Her Majesty’s fingertips gave off a pale glow, and moments later, His Majesty’s eyes fluttered open.
Father rushed to his bedside. “Your Majesty.”
Before the king could breathe a word, Prince Vincent stepped forward. He was smiling warmly, but something was decidedly off about him—his eyes brimmed with an odd, sharp confidence, and his smile was a mere upturning at the corners. His pervasive gentleness was gone, and his grace concealed something else—a ferocity, almost.
His Royal Highness gingerly took me by the hand, and as if we were meeting for the first time, he bowed deeply and kissed the back of my hand. He looked up at me as he did so, causing my heart to skip a beat, though not even that could quell the maelstrom of confusion rising in my chest. His next words were far more harrowing.
“I nearly thought an angel had descended upon us! You’re quite the cruel man, Your Grace, hiding such a gorgeous young lady from me.”
“P-P-Prince Vincent…?”
My eyes swam, seeking any possible explanation, before alighting on Lord Harold behind my prince by the wall. His mouth was a hard line, and his silence seemed to be killing him. Even his shoulders were visibly trembling.
What in the world…?
Prince Vincent regarded my shock with a saccharine smile. “Shall we get married? Ah, but first, I suppose I should ask your name, my lady.”
I froze, and my mind went blank, and he politely cocked his head to the side as he awaited my reply.
His mannerisms, the way he spoke, everything about him were foreign to me, save one crucial detail. His luminous jade eyes were brimming full of iron will, a facet of him that I’d come to know well over the past decade. I had no idea what had caused such a change in him, but I knew I could trust him. He had to be the same gentle man I knew him to be.
I closed my eyes, pressed my hand over my throbbing heart, and took a breath. I focused on how it felt passing through my body, fixing my pose from my feet to the very crown of my head. There was only one response I could offer him.
Taking another breath, I proudly met his gaze. “I am Elizabeth la Montlivere, Prince Vincent. I am both your fiancée and your lover.”
Surprise overtook his eye. “Fiancée?”
“Yes.”
“…Lovers?”
I nodded firmly. “Nothing less.”
It was embarrassing to repeat it, but it was by his own admission, and I did… well… l-love him, after all. Acting bashfully about it was nothing less than an insult.
He folded his arms and stroked his chin. For a long moment, he was silent. Then, “So that explains it!”
With that, he promptly fell to the ground and curled into a ball. Lord Harold hurriedly reached out and helped him back to his feet, but the servant’s face was downcast, and his shoulders continued to tremble.
“We were right not to fear,” His Majesty mused. “Of course, he would fall again.”
The queen shook her head. “Ever the lovestruck fool, it seems.”
The royal couple knew what was wrong with my prince.
I turned to them. “Might I ask what happened to His Royal Highness?”
“You see,” the queen began, “the King Cait Sidhe that had been sealed in the palace basement revived. It was a fierce monster that attacked us some twenty years ago. With His Majesty and my mana combined, we succeeded in sealing the fiend. I knew the seal would need strengthening soon, but it appears we were a tad too slow.”
“Oh my,” I muttered.
“The fellwyrm’s resurrection was the trigger, no doubt. That much miasma in motion likely altered every seal in the palace.”
I hurriedly dipped my head deeply. “I’m dreadfully sorry for that.”
Lord Lars was my familiar, and although he was a hallowyrm now, it was my fault he fell to such depths in the first place. I glanced at the small dragon to see his tail between his legs, wings quivering shamefully. Given the day he spent with Her Majesty in the past, he seemed terrified of her, and rightfully so. At his side, Prince Vincent’s head was still in his hands as he moaned on the rug.
“It’s no fault of yours,” the queen replied. “My slothfulness is to blame.”
“But what of His Majesty?” I asked.
“His state has nothing to do with you.” She glanced at the king. “After all, I would’ve had more than enough mana to reseal the creature for good if someone hadn’t interfered in an attempt to show off.”
The king shook his head. “We could not let you shoulder such a burden alone, Mariabel.”
“You wound up manaless and unconscious on the ground, did you not? You must also consider you’re twenty years older than you once were, as I warned you, Gaius… but I suppose we should return to the topic at hand.” She cleared her throat and gestured at His Royal Highness. “The fiend encountered Vincent almost immediately after breaking free. According to Harold, who was present at the scene, the foul feline stole ‘his greatest treasure’ from him.”
Prince Vincent looked up at his mother, betrayed. “Why is this the first I’m hearing of this, Mother?”
“His greatest treasure,” I muttered to myself.
So then…would that mean…?
The more I thought, the hotter my face became. I had to fight to maintain my composure. Vincent pointedly turned away, a childish pout on his lips. As if to accentuate the new divide between us, Her Majesty sighed.
“It seems that all of Vincent’s memories of you are lost to him,” she said.