BXBX NOVEL Chapter 104: The Festival
"But it\'s not their fault," I said. "Why hate them?"
"That\'s just how it is, Your Highness."
"Ugh, I don\'t like it. Like who cares what his eyes colors are or what kind of ability he has? He is a great king and that\'s all," I grumbled. "You know what? Let\'s not talk about it anymore. I think I\'m losing my sanity."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Ruby did not say anything about it again. The days passed by without anything special going on. Every morning, I went to practice swordsmanship with Ezekiel, then sometimes went to hang out with Luc. I often went to spend some time with Mother as well and kept writing Demetrius letters and he replied as soon as he could.
"Your Highness, there is a festival going on. Would you like to visit it?" Ezekiel said. Ruby had told me about the same thing a few days ago. I wrote Dem about it and he said that if I really wanted to visit the festival, then I needed to take Mother with me. It was not like I was too curious about it. I was more absorbed in enjoying learning swordsmanship.
Ezekiel said I had improved greatly though I could see I still had a lot to learn.
"Not really," I muttered as I took a sip of tea in the bright afternoon in the garden. Ezekiel was with me as always as he was my personal guard and Ruby was there as well. They both were having tea with me since it was awkward to have it alone.
"His Highness doesn\'t like Her Highness to go outside the palace ground," Ruby said. "And besides, it is not safe for Her Highness to wander around as well since she is a human."
"It is Her Highness\'s life. She needs to decide for herself," Ezekiel said.
"But Her Highness is doing the right thing to stay inside. And why is Sir Ezekiel talking like this? His Highness wants the best for Her Highness. That\'s why he said all this. And moreover, His Highness has prepared everything within the palace ground so Her Highness doesn\'t need to go anywhere," Ruby protested.
"Then are you saying this is okay? This is basically like locking up a bird in a golden cage with food," Ezekiel said.
"Sir Ezekiel, you have no right to talk like that," Ruby said. "You can\'t..."
"That\'s enough," I said calmly. Honestly, my head was hurting hearing those two argue about something so pointless. I could not care less about the festival. I just wanted to improve my swordsmanship skill and wait for my handsome husband to come back and show him what I had learned. That was all I wanted.
I had no idea where Ezekiel got the idea that I was locked up inside the palace by my husband while I did not want to go out in the first place since it was too tiring. I could not change the way of his thinking that I had learned by trying to tell him the truth again and again which he was too arrogant to believe.
But I was glad that Ruby was trying though I had a good idea that she would have to give up eventually as well just like me. "I want to relax."
"Ezekiel, is it possible to teach me twice a day?" I asked, looking at Ezekiel who was sitting in front of me.
"Twice? But would Your Highness\'s body be alright?" he asked.
"I will be fine. It\'s so cool to wield a sword," I grinned.
"If Your Highness wants so..."
Ruby was grinning broadly as well. Her sour mood had improved drastically. And I knew the reason too well.
"That would be great!" she exclaimed.
Just like Demetrius, she was always making a fuss about how much food I ate. She had been saying that I ate too little and that was why my body was so weak. Since I was learning swordsmanship, my appetite had improved and she had been more than happy to bring more and more food.
She was even saying how strong I had become though I did not notice much of a difference in my strength. But I was glad that she was attempting to cheer me up.
"You look happier than Her Highness," Ezekiel said tiredly.
"That\'s because Her Highness doesn\'t eat much at all," Ruby said. I just wanted her to stop talking. It was embarrassing. "She eats so little that all the maids and His Highness were worried. Even the cook tried to change the recipes slightly so Her Highness would eat more. It did not help much since Her Highness had so little appetite.
But now, Her Highness can eat more. The cook is trying to make new recipes as well."
\'Ah, thank you guys for worrying about me. But now that I hear it myself, it\'s really embarrassing.\'
"Is that so, Your Highness?" Ezekiel asked.
"... Well, I had a bird\'s appetite," I muttered. Now that I thought about my whole life, I was always compared to a bird. My appetite was compared to a bird\'s appetite. I was called the bird without wings and even I called that myself. Some thought that I was locked inside a cage just like a bird.
And I had no idea how many times these types of coincidences would keep taking place. "But I am fine now."
"Oh, Blue... Fancy seeing you here."
I looked back hearing the familiar charming voice. It was Mother. We had gotten a lot closer, thanks to the increase of the time we spent together.
"Mother," I said and stood up," would you like to have some tea with me?"
"Ah, sure," she said as she came to take a seat beside me. "Were you enjoying tea with your maid and knight?"
"Yes," I said. "It is good to have some tea at this time."
"Indeed," she smiled brightly. These days whenever we spent time together, I was more focused in her eyes. I wanted to see how her eyes reacted when she made different expressions. Every time I would do so, I would compare her eyes to Demetrius\'s. And no matter how many times I did so, I could not find anything wrong with Dem\'s eyes. Unlike others, I could not tell that his eyes were expressionless.
Just like his mother\'s eyes, his eyes also sparkled when he was happy. It was just his eyes that had a different way to sparkle that I could now notice right away.
"Blue!"
"Ah, yes? Have you said anything?"
"You look like you\'re thinking about something," she said. "Is there something on your mind?"
\'Think of something. Say something, or it would be so weird.\'
"I was just thinking about the festival," I said as it was the first thing that came to my mind.
"The festival?" she repeated. "Do you perhaps want to visit it?"
"No, not really," I said quickly. "I was just thinking about it... It\'s not like I want to visit it or something." Now I regretted saying this.
"But I want to visit it," she said in a slightly sulking tone. "And if I am not here, it would be dangerous for you, Blue."
I knew it! She was doing this on purpose. There was no way I could not recognize this technique since my cunning husband was just the same. He liked to use weird expressions so I would not be able to refuse. I was sure that Mother was doing this because she thought that I was too shy to tell her that I wanted to go to the festival. And now, I could not even correct her.
"If Mother wants so, I should accompany," I mumbled.
"Your Highness, can I come as well?" Ruby asked eagerly. Her eyes were shining brightly as well as her red hair. I could not just say no and besides, I did not have any problem if she came along.
"If it\'s fine with you, your maid can come along," Mother said.
"Yeah, sure, you can come with us," I said.
"Your knight will come too, right?" Mother asked.
"Hmm," I muttered. As my personal knight, Ezekiel needed to go everywhere with me and Dem kept reminding me, again and again, the same thing. "By the way, what kind of festival is this?"
"It is a festival that takes place once every year. That\'s why it\'s quite famous," Mother said as she took a sip of the tea that Ruby poured her. "It will be your first time visiting one. So, you should enjoy yourself."
"Right," I mumbled while thinking if I truly would be able to enjoy myself. I was never good at being around too many people. But guess I should try to let myself loose a bit.