Tatiana greeted Bjorn with a grin.
Bjorn looked at her strangely, chuckled, and shook his head. She offered him his things, which he gladly accepted. They both walked away from the crowd, and while Bjorn was wearing his cloak, Tatiana stared intensely at him.
"What do you want?" he asked her.
Tatiana gave him a knowing look and snickered, "You enjoyed it."
When Bjorn didn't answer, Tatiana jokingly bumped her body into him, but ended up bouncing off and almost hitting another person when Bjorn caught her. They stared at each other in silence for a while, then started laughing.
"What were you trying to do?" Bjorn asked her.
"I don't know!"
The two of them walked in silence while staring at the people enjoying themselves. The sun was setting and the lanterns were lit up. The place looked more and more magical as it turned darker. Music started playing, people gathered around musical plays, and children surrounded the magic shows.
"I wish I had come here when I was younger," Tatiana whispered to herself. "It would have been great to come here with a family and spend our time here together."
In both lives, Tatiana never experienced a family's love. She was an orphan in her previous life, and in this life, well, it's twisted and full of controversies.
The stars in the sky looked like glitter. What she loved the most in this world was its starry sky and its moon, which was so big and near that she felt like she could touch it with her bare hands.
"I always wanted a family of my own," She started by saying, "I imagined being a mom with many children in a simple home, and every day we would do things that ordinary families do. We would all sleep together in a small bedroom, and we would have our own farm and garden, and everything would be peaceful and life would be so simple."
But that was just a distant dream for her. She died like an orphan in her previous life, and in this life, she's also bound to die if she doesn't do anything about it. Having a big, happy family is also almost impossible since she will be crowned queen by a future king she knows nothing about.
People can't have everything in life, and that's alright. If she or Elliot becomes the ruler, then it will be fine. If Elliot becomes king, she would gladly accept it and continue working at the orphanage with the children.
She noticed that Bjorn was silent for a while, and it dawned on her what she was talking about. She immediately turned to him and waved her hands.
"I'm-I'm not referring to you! I won't lock you in something that will make you unhappy," Tatiana explained to him, "I'm just talking about dreams, you know, just fantasies that I know won't happen."
"Why won't it happen?" Bjorn suddenly asked her.
"Well, first of all, I'm a princess who will one day be crowned as queen, and that explains most of it, and âand"
She trailed off.
I don't even know if I will be alive by then. but she can't say that out loud. She remained silent about it and just smiled.
Bjorn didn't push any further and just remained silent with her until they came back to the palace. Bjorn personally escorted her to her chambers. Both of them were silent, not knowing what to say to each other. It was awkward for them to be like this when all they did was bicker and fight.
"I had fun," Tatiana whispered, "Thank you for coming with me."
Bjorn took something out of his pocket. a small pouch the size of a golf ball and handed it over to Tatiana. She was confused at first but she opened it to check it. It was the blue ring she saw earlier. She was at a loss for words and didn't know what to say.
"That's for the music box, and for today," Bjorn told her.
Tatiana smiled and placed the ring on her finger. It perfectly fits her. The swirls and orbs inside it never failed to captivate her.
"It's really pretty," she said, admiring the ring.
"I know," Bjorn answered timidly while looking at her amazed expression. "Well then, I'll get going."
Tatiana nodded and waved her hand at him. Bjorn walked away, and Tatiana stared at his back before he disappeared into the darkness.
"Thank you for the ring!"
When Bjorn finally left, Tatiana went inside her room and saw Emma waiting for her in her seat. The smile on Tatiana's face immediately disappeared, and the lingering feeling of happiness was replaced with anxiety.
"You skipped today's preparation when there are only two days left for your party, your highness."
"I'm sorry, Emma!" Tatiana immediately ran to Emma and enveloped her in a tight hug, "I needed rest, and it was suffocating already!"
Tatiana prayed with all her might that Emma wouldn't scold her. In the end, Emma sighed and pulled away.
"Did you enjoy the festival? Did you enjoy it? " She asked her. Tatiana looked at her with confusion when Emma looked at her head.
"Oh! This!" Tatiana said and took off her flower wreath and smiled, "it was beautiful Emma, I'll bring you, William, and Elliot next time."
"You better," Emma told her, "I had a lot of explaining to do to the people involved with your preparation. You don't know how much I suffered from Miguel when he came and found out you weren't here."
"Promise I won't do it again," Tatiana pouted her lips, "I'll be a very good debutante."
Emma sighed and laughed, "What will I ever do with you, your highness. Wait, is that a ring?"
Tatiana looked down at her finger and nodded, "yes, Bjorn gave it to me as a gift."
"Sir Bjorn did?!" Emma gasped and immediately covered her mouth, "Tell me everything that happened, princess!"
Tatiana soon told her about how their day went and she couldn't stop herself from smiling excitedly. Skipping today's classes was worth it.
--
Meanwhile, Bjorn was greeted by Morgan in his room after he took a shower.
"I heard you became a champion in today's festival, captain," Morgan said.
Bjorn didn't mind him and continued drying his hair with a towel.
"You left me waiting in the training grounds while you were at the festival," Morgan continued mocking him. His voice was sullen and his face looked disappointed.
"I'm sorry, alright? I just had some stuff to do," Bjorn answered and sat on his bed.
"I heard the princess also skipped today's preparation. The people inside the palace were going crazy over it."
Bjorn paid him no mind and continued on his business. Morgan always complains and sulks but he gets better immediately so Bjorn doesn't want to waste his energy trying to make Morgan feel better. They all know that he's an empty, soulless man, in a sense.
I imagined being a mom with many children in a simple home and every day we would do things that ordinary families do. We would all sleep together in a small bedroom and we would have our own farm and garden and everything is peaceful and life would be so simple.
Bjorn paused when he remembered what the princess said. A big family, huh?
"Morgan," Bjorn called him, "what would you do if the princess decides not to become queen and live in the outskirts?"
"I'll go with her," Morgan answered, "I will be her personal knight after all. In two days, I will make an oath that I will dedicate my entire life to her."
"Are you sure you want to be her personal knight?" Bjorn asked him, "I thought you didn't want to serve the people who were partly responsible for your family's downfall?"
Morgan turned silent. He wanted to assassinate the princess himself when she becomes queen as revenge for the downfall of his family, of course only he knows of this, but as time passes by, his plans and thoughts start to change.
"She's different from what you said. I don't think she's like her family." Morgan honestly thinks that if the princess becomes queen, things around the kingdom will change. But if she doesn't become the queen, he still doesn't know what to do with her.
He noticed Bjorn in deep thought. Bjorn has been acting strange around the princess ever since she woke up and lost her memories. Last time, he did his best to avoid her and made sure she knew that she will never be loved by him, but now, Bjorn is always the one looking for the princess, even if the others don't notice.
Both of them seem to have been charmed by the princess in one way or another. But for Morgan, his cause is more important than his emotions. He abandoned his emotions a long time ago. When most of his bloodline died, his emotions and empathy died along with it.
--
END