“Can you please at least tell me where she is? Where is my mother, uncle?”
The word “uncle” was not the word the king expected him to hear. But somehow that word made him realize something. That is to tell the prince where the princess is. “Fix yourself. She can't see you like that," he said, commanding the guard to lift the prince off his knees. “Mr. Osiris,”
Mr. Osiris stepped forward.
“Ready the prince. Have him wear the best suit.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Everyone went back to their respective jobs. In a room, where one of the servants puts the suit on him, prepared for him by Mr. Osiris. I just sat on the side while he was deep in thought, not caring what the others were doing. Afterward, the king asks the prince to go downstairs, where there’s a caddie cart waiting for him. He hops into the cart without turning around. Maybe he doesn’t want me to go with him.
The caddie where Prince Augustus was riding was already ahead. And I was about to go back when the king asked me to hop into another caddie cart. The king offered his hand for me to hold. Except for the one who is driving the caddie, there is only me and the King. Nothing but crickets can be heard in the area.
“You know, I was planning to tell him after he was crowned to be king, but I didn't expect it to be sooner. Because I still want to hold him as my son. I didn't know until now that calling me uncle would hurt this much.”
Like the king, I didn’t expect him to call the king "Uncle." “I'm—sorry, Your Majesty.”
“You don’t have to. Well, actually. "I should thank you for doing what I ask," he said, his gaze fixed on me. “So, starting tomorrow, you will no longer be his maid.”
----------------
At the end of the garden stands a small hidden house, where Princess Damiera may be. His Majesty then signals one guard to unlock the door. Prince Augustus stepped in front of the door that had been locked for a decade, put his hand on the doorknob, and turned it. My heart was throbbing so fast as he pushed the door open.
Prince Augustus was just standing there, stunned by what he was witnessing. Princess Damiera, his mother, was right in front of him. chained to her chair. Seeing his mother's situation broke him; he couldn’t bear to watch her. So, he looked away, along with a sob that caught in his throat, escaping in a strangled cry.
Princess Damiera looks the same as before but is no longer in her right mind. She was murmuring something that only she could understand. Except for the appearance and the prince’s name, Princess Damiera couldn’t recall anything. The prince moved closer to his mother until she glanced at him and addressed him by his second name, “Sebastian,” which caused the prince to break down.
Princess Damiera was trying to reach her son, but the chain in his feet didn’t let her. Her trying to let the chain go was heartbreaking. She was begging, then reaching for the prince again. “Sebastian, Sebastian!” calling the name of the prince repeatedly. The prince, despite being there, couldn’t do anything because that’s the condition King Lucien gave. He can see his mother, but he can’t talk to her or touch her.
The prince was about to touch his mother when the guards stalled him. "Remember what I said," King Lucien reminded him.
"Argh!" His eyes, which were now filled with hatred and despair, began to shine through once more.
All along, the mother that he wanted to see for a long time was only a few miles from him. But now that he saw her, he had no chance to touch her, not even a strand of her hair.
In time, Princess Damiera grew tired of trying to remove the chain from her feet. Prince Augustus, who was sitting on the side, also stopped crying, but he refused to leave the house. One by one, the guards start to leave as the His Majesty commanded. Until then, it was just the four of us. King Lucien, Mr. Osiris, Prince Augustus, and I “Your time is enough, Augustus. Gemma will escort you to your room now.”
“I said no!”
“Listen, Augustus. Being here will just trigger her more."
Prince Augustus gets up. “She’s okay; nothing’s wrong with her. She recognizes me, don’t you see?”
“I’m taking her away!” King Lucien said it out loud. “And I don’t want you to see that.”
"No," he cried, his voice shaking. “No, no, father. Please..." and then slowly kneel. “She’s my mother.”
I can't take what I see anymore. I went out, and the tears that I had been holding back suddenly came out of my eyes. It was heartbreaking to see the prince beg for her mother.
An ambulance car arrived. It went inside to get Princess Damiera. I could do nothing but listen to the sound of wailing and the suffering of the prince that echoed throughout the house.
The pain doubled as the princess was suddenly in lucid time. She was normally calling out the king. Like the prince, she was begging. "Let me have my son, please; he’s the only thing I have!" Tears of pain ran down her cheeks. But those tears and begging did nothing to win over the king. In the end, he separated the mother and son from each other again. Living the prince alone in sadness.
I didn’t leave him in the house alone. I was outside, while he was inside, still crying out for his mother. This is not what I expected to happen; I assumed that after knowing his mother, the pain would have left him. But the truth is, this caused him to break even more.
“Pack your things. I want you out of the palace before dawn." And that’s the word I was waiting for him to say, so why hearing this tore my heart. “The months you spied on him were enough. You did a good job," he said after a brief pause. "About your father, don't worry; I will continue to support his case; you can count on it."
How can I say that this is the last night I will be with him? How could you ask me to leave when he's in this state?
I stood up from my seat, began walking quickly, didn't realize I was running back to the palace, and entered the king's office without greeting or bowing. "Don't ask me to leave, at least not until he meets Princess Damiera again."
"You dare walk into my office to ask that."
"I know why you want me to leave the palace. Not because I'm done with my job,"
"Glad you know. You can leave now."
"But I will not leave the prince. I know this is rude for me to say, but even if you drag me out of the palace, I won’t leave until you agree.”
"Who are you to make a decision?"
"I am Catina’s daughter. The girl you loved before,"
The King stopped writing on the paper on his table, seeming shocked by what I said. “How— did you know?”
"My father, Edward, used to be your best friend. While my mother is your first love, You can't accept the fact that the two of them built a family instead of you. So, you did all it took to make my family suffer with your power by accusing my father of something he didn't do. Took everything and didn't spare a single thing. Convincing their second child to work; in return, his father's name would be cleared. But your only motive was one, that was to get back to my mother which is by the way you destroyed.” The king put his hand in his mouth, not believing what he had heard. “You knows none of it, because after choosing the crown, you live as if the girl you used to love didn't exist. While the girl suffered a lot, she was even conditioned to have depression. As time went on, it got worse, and the dosage of her medicine increased. All because of the boy, who she didn't think would leave her.”
King Lucien sprung up from his chair, like he couldn’t take the truth any longer.
"Unlike you, Your Majesty. I’m not selfish. So, if you let the prince see Princess Damiera, I would let you see the girl you hurt for the last time. But remember, I'll never give her back to you.”
And that was the day the king considered my condition. The day he decided Prince Augustus to go with Princess Damiera abroad, was the day I’ll escort him in our house, to see the girl he always wanted to be with. I know that doing so will just hurt my papa more. But we both chose this. We both want Mama to be happy, even if it’s not with us but with the guy he used to love. For once, I don’t want to be selfish. And now it’s up to her to decide.