Absence makes the heart grow fonder

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The princess had no business arriving at the West Kingdom that early. She had made her decision in a moment's rush and now, she could not back away from it.

As she strode through the hallway, an unpleasant thought nagged at her mind and she actually had to slow down.

She couldn't just leave the palace with the maid accompanying her. Her brother could follow her if he slightly cared for the maid. Princess Sarocha knew well enough that her brother did care, even if a little, for the maid. That could not happen. Princess Sarocha needed a diversion for her brother and she needed to act fast. The palace ritual that happened every two years fell the next day. She knew, that since her brother was back, her father would definitely want him to partake. That meant that she needed to leave very soon before her brother could make up an excuse to meet the maid again. For some godforsaken reason, Princess Sarocha absolutely couldn’t stand seeing her brother and the maid being too friendly.

She swiftly turned and headed for her father's study, she needed to come up with anything to keep her brother busy. Anything

The guard at the large door announced the princess's arrival to the king.

The princess went in and greeted her father.

"Dear, what brings you here?" The King enquired from the other side of his table.

"Father, what of the two small islands off the coast of Jenepa we invaded a few months prior?"

The king intently listened, not understanding what his daughter was trying to get at. "What of it, dear? Haven't we taken care of everything already?"

"Yes, but Father, I need to send my brother to see if everything is under control."

"Worry not, my child." The king adjusted his glasses on his nose, trying to focus on a hand-written paper. "It is under our control. It's just tiny pieces of land with only a couple hundred people residing. There is no need to send your brother."

The princess walked closer to her father. She could just have sent her brother without the king's consent. But she had to come to ask first for the formalities of it.

"Father, may I remind you that my own brother had disobeyed me. He came back today to apologise for what he had done." A pause later, she added, "I will send him to go and assess the administration process of the two recently conquered islands. It doesn’t matter if it takes 3 days for him to get there. His disobedience shouldn't' go unpunished. If he goes and does everything as I tell him, he can earn my confidence in him back."

The king simply stared at his daughter. He knew better than to meddle.

“Your brother has to take part in the ritual.”

“I understand, father.”

With that, Princess Sarocha turned to the door and signalled the guard to come in. The guard in question rushed a little and bowed.

"Send my brother here. Tell him it is urgent,"

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The princess was in her grand dress-fitting room, making adjustments in the gowns she was going to take with her for the ball when the royal butler walked in, visibly out of breath.

"Your Highness," He called.

The royal butler hardly ever came and disturbed her like this. The princess dismissed her designers who had been attending her.

"What seems to be the rush?" She asked with her smooth voice, running her fingertips over the neatly pleated design of her gown over her waist area; she quite liked her red dress. She always felt crimson was her colour, the colour of blood. It gave her power and she felt as though red represented her the best.

"Your Highness, your brother is planning to take Miss Rebecca with him today. I reasoned it would be best that I let you know beforehand since Your Highness also mentioned bringing along Miss Rebecca with you earlier."

"What nonsense! Has he lost his mind?" The princess flicked her hair in annoyance. " me" She commanded. The dress designer who had retired to the corner rushed to help the princess.

"Send him to me here at once."

The princess found herself pacing back and forth while she waited for her brother. She was very bothered and it was very unlike her to stress over trivial matters. She walked to the nearest chair and sat down, one leg over the other.

Prince Non silently walked into the room. He had enough courage to walk up to his sister with his eyes set on his sister's stern ones.

"I would love to know why you decided to bring along a useless, sick and frail maid who will be of no use but will only serve as a burden in your journey. You are not going for a vacation."

"I reasoned she would be the safest with me." Prince Non dared answer his sister, his eyes never leaving his sister's mocking, piercing stare, which got more menacing by the end of his sentence.

"My foolish little brother, why on earth do you bother so much for that lowlife?"

Prince Non blinked rapidly as he tried his best to keep his bubbling anger at bay. "I would appreciate it if you stop calling her that. She is my friend and I promised to protect her."

Prince Non could see rage flicker through his sister's eyes. The princess’s calm exterior could have fooled anyone else, but again, not her brother.

She stood. Simultaneously, Prince Non leaned back a little even if he was standing a fair distance away from his sister.

"Well," Princess Sarocha began, "A piece of advice for my dear prince in shining armour wannabe," The princess gave a little smile. "Do not make promises you will never keep."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Prince Non enquired without missing a beat.

"Brother dearest, I will keep that useless friend of yours alive while you're away.”

"She is not safe here." Prince Non argued.

"The only reason she was in trouble was because of you. If you are out of the picture, you see, she won't be facing any more problems."

"If she comes with me I can be sure she is safe at all times."

The princess stared her brother square in the face. Since when did her brother learn to talk back to her in such a way? It was unacceptable.

"I do not allow you to take her anywhere with you. I will keep her safe if you promise you will not see her before you leave. You leave after the ritual and that is the end of the discussion."

Prince Non regretfully reasoned it was also a part of his punishment that he was being kept away from Becky. He knew it was wise to not provoke his sister. He knew his sister was a bloodthirsty tyrant, a manipulative diplomat and a heartless human being. But he also knew his sister would keep her promises.

Princess Sarocha's eyes softly landed on her brother's tightening fists.

There was a moment of silence after which Prince Non nodded. "I trust you will not harm her more." With that, he bowed a little and left the room.

Meanwhile, Becky and a couple of other maids were escorted to the dress fitting room and the seamstresses there were making adjustments to their simple yet pretty maid- uniforms. Since they would be attending a royal ball, even the maids were to look presentable. Becky felt a little lightheaded when the seamstress spun her around gently to make notes for adjustments on the dress.

“Why do we suddenly need this dress?” Becky thought out loud, looking at the two other maids who were happily engaging in conversations while they were getting their measurements. Both of them looked at Becky, “The three of us will be accompanying the princess to the Royal ball.”

“Where at?” Becky enquired, her brows furrowing a little.

“We are specifically advised not to tell anyone that we are accompanying the princess. So don’t tell anyone you’re going too.” The other maid chimed in. “We went there just last year. This will be my second time.”

“But why?” Becky asked, brows furrowing in confusion.”

“You will know when you get there”

“Oh”

“When are we going?”

The two other maids looked at each other before looking back at Becky. “It is today. You weren’t informed or what?”

Becky shook her head.

“It is short notice though. Never would I have ever thought you of all maids would be joining us.”

“W-Why is that?” Becky enquired.

“You are unwell and you haven’t any experience.”

“How far is it though?”

“It’ll take one and a half days without many stops along the way”

Becky gulped. Was the princess bringing her along so that she could drop her off somewhere? The thought was sad enough to make her want to cry.

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Lady Nam barged into the princess’s room while the head maid and Princess Sarocha were picking out the best tiara to bring.

“You’re going to the West without me?”

“Yes.” The princess answered, not paying much heed.

“I have just sent men to get my fancy clothes.” Lady Nam said as she walked further in.

“You are aware that you did not get an invitation.”

“Who needs an invitation when I am your cousin” Nam answered. “Since you will be leaving days earlier than scheduled, I figured I’d come and keep you company.”

Silence answered Nam.

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It was around 5 in the evening when they took off. Lady Nam reclined in her seat inside the fancy horse-drawn carriage, she was completely on her side, propping her head on her arm. She stared at her cousin who was currently looking out the window, sitting as straight as attending a royal ceremony.

“You will thank me later. I am saving you from boredom here.” Nam spoke. “Or I am gonna die because of it” Nam muttered under her breath. Princess Sarocha ignored her cousin as she continued to stare into the darkening scenery.

“So, you must be excited to see your Prince Charming. Bet he cannot wait to marry you. You have no idea how he longingly looks at you every time.” Nam sighed.

“Be quiet or I am going to force you out of this carriage” Sarocha retorted. She would not have minded her cousin commenting on her relationship any day but right then, the princess was having none of it. Not when she’s stressed out. “I regret agreeing you to accompany me.”

Lady Nam sat up, crossing her arms like a child, “it’s not like I was dying to come with you. Your brother begged me to go with you so I can keep an eye on his girl”

Nam regretted whatever had just escaped as the temperature suddenly seemed to have dropped several degrees inside the carriage and she was being given a death stare by the only other occupant. She felt a chill down her spine as she stared back into her cousin’s eyes.

Nam always freely joked around her cousin but deep down, if she was to name one person she was afraid of the most, it would be none other than the princess sitting right across from her. It would take the princess a second to put a bullet in her skull. And her death would be covered up like it never happened. The princess had killed many times before and she would have no issue doing that again.

“What else is going on between them that I should know about?” The princess spoke calmly.

Nam had to recover a little before she could answer. “I-I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him yourself or something.” Nam answered, stuttering a little. Now she definitely needed to speak less if she wanted to live longer. “I’ll try to get some sleep.” She said and laid down, facing the other way.

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Becky lay down on the bed of the shared room. At last, she was able to lay down after 6 hours' worth of journey. The other two maids and one stylist who were in the same large room with her had fallen asleep. Becky watched the candle flame burn larger. Soon, the candle would burn out.

They were currently staying at one of the many royal castles the king of Aries owned. It was lavish and well-maintained despite the royals seldom visiting it. Becky overheard the royal butler mentioning they would be staying there. For three days before they could move on to the West Kingdom.

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Becky had woken up early again. It was the third day of their stay. She went ahead and made herself useful around the new castle. Everybody there was so polite and kind to her. It actually felt like the world was a better place. However, she did find it slightly disheartening to hear people commenting on how skinny she was. The. The food was delightful as always and the ambient atmosphere was very calm. Becky quite liked that place. She felt it in her gut.

She hadn’t seen the princess at all in the last three days despite coming together and staying in the same place. In all honesty, Becky would have liked it if she was able to get, if only a little glimpse of the princess. She sure was a busybody, going out there and supervising things herself.

The other maids were out of the castle to run errands but for some reason, Becky was not. Allowed out. She really would have loved exploring outside.

She sighed as she entered another room in the castle. She kept her bucket and mop down and slowly made her way to the far side of the room to open the window to let some more light in so she could clean better. But when she turned from the window, she was faced with a painted portrait on the wall. Her heart sank at the sight and she had to stand completely frozen in place for minutes, for there on the wall was a large life-size portrait of a younger version of the princess, so life-like that it almost looked like the portrait had a beating heart. Only the most famous, the most sought-after artists could achieve such a feat. Becky’s breath came off as a shudder as her hand automatically reached to touch the portrait. She carefully lifted the painting down and leaned it on the wall so she could come face to face with the painting.

Tears came running down her face as she looked. That was the face she knew and adored the most. Although the picture looked a little older than 16, the chubby baby face the princess had at 13 when Becky last saw her was still very present in the picture.

“Princess” Becky whispered as if the painting would reply. “I am sorry I was away from you. I am sorry I missed seeing you grow up.” More tears made their way down her cheeks, “I miss you so much”.

In the empty room, in the far corner of the castle, Becky silently wept for the lost years and the lost friendship.

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Had to cut this chapter in two parts because it was quite long. Lol I really do not want to wait another month to upload the remaining part of this chapter. So lets do something. This author hereby announces she is going to upload next chapter as soon as this chapter gets one more upvote. Lol seems fair :D

So, Princess is going to be super jealous next chapter.

Question is, do you find Prince Non to be sweet? Or do you find him annoying?

So, you are going to hate one of these characters: The Princess’s fiancé, Prince Chen or Prince Non. You guys will soon have your least favourite character :D

Because Drama fon start soon :)

Leave your thoughts and comments please. You enjoying or what? Don’t be a silent spectator :0 make some noise