2.-๐๐๐ด
Five had gone for a walk with Allison, her other sister, in the castle courtyard. At one point she stooped down by the fountain they had to take a flower.
"Oh, Five, dear, is it true what has reached my ears?" she asked, trying to be as graceful as the princesses in fairy tales.
"Depends, what rumour has reached you now, Allison?" she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, then murmured:
"Rumour has it that a prince has come from a distant kingdom, he wants to woo you, is that true?"
"It is true, Allison, tell me, who told you?"
"It was our younger sister, Vanya, she is excited. She says this prince is different, that from what she could hear he has initiative, you sounded slightly interested."
"Oh, he's a different prince, of course, but he's not much different from the others... "Five looked down somewhat sadly, as far as Allison could tell, she could read people and even though her brother clearly didn't want to keep talking, she couldn't help but comment.
"You are sad... I must ask why, my dear, why do you think it's not so different?" he sighed.
"Everyone has a goal, he doesn't want to love me, he seeks to marry someone from a rich kingdom and who can give him children. If I reject him he will go from kingdom to kingdom, looking for prince-maidens or beautiful princesses. That's why I reject them all.
Allison looked at him and sighed sadly. As Five was a maiden, not a very common thing, his hand would deliver a greater dowry than hers. Vanya would join the kingdom's soldiers, just as Luther and Diego had done a year ago. Klaus used his gifts of contact with the afterlife, going to whichever realm he was called and attending to nobles and commoners alike. Ben accompanied him everywhere.
Klaus and Ben were at the palace once in between long periods of time, sometimes every three months, sometimes every six. However, they had seen them last weekend and would see them again next weekend, as they were in the kingdom of Ravenclaw, attending to the princess of that kingdom. Diego and Luther went once every six months, though they always went for her birthday, every October 1st.
"Darling, that's your duty in the world."
"Allison!"
"What?"
"You can't think my duty in the world is to marry."
"You're a maiden, Five, you're a man who can get pregnant, you're one of our best options for forging an alliance with a wealthy kingdom."
Five snorted.
"You know, I want some space, I'll go to the fountain, you can go to the palace."
Allison watched him walk away, she understood the annoyance, but she was looking out for her kingdom, even if it seemed cold.
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Gilbert had had a quiet breakfast with the king of Umbrella, Reginald Hargreeves, they had discussed the situation of both kingdoms and the man had told him of his wish that his son, Five, should choose him as a husband or else Reginald would have to speak to one of the previous suitors and force Five to marry the most suitable one.
This had made him frown. He had set his mind to woo the maiden, and he would succeed.
After breakfast, he went for a walk in the courtyard when Princess Allison found him. Portraits of this beautiful woman were circulating all over the world, so her beauty was well known.
"Oh, my, you must be the newly arrived prince!" She spoke like a fairy-tale princess and moved with a fairy-tale grace.
"Prince Gilbert of Avonlea. It is a pleasure to meet you, miss." she curtsied.
"Princess Allison of Umbrella" she bowed slightly herself. "Prince Five is by the fountain, just a little further from here, just follow the straight path".
"Thank you, sweet lady."
She smiled and walked away with a proud demeanour.
He continued on his way and couldn't help but smile as he saw the prince sitting by the edge of a large fountain as he plucked grass from the ground. He approached him, and when the distance was short, Gilbert said:
"If the question is not indiscreet, has the grass harmed your person enough for you to harm it?"
The prince looked at him in annoyance and growled:
"Does it matter to you?"
Gilbert came over and sat down beside him, taking his wrists and looking at his hands, which were green from the grass that had just been cut, but still beautiful and young.
The young man tugged them away and then hid them in his lap.
"Clearly I care. As you heard yesterday, I have an interest in courting you, I would like to know what triggers these actions and feelings."
"You are no different than the other princes who have come here. You have no interest in getting to know me, far from it, you are only looking for a person who can bear you children and whose marriage will bring you money. You don't care more about me than an ant. So please don't try to lie to me or get my heart excited about the idea of getting his love.
She looked at him for a moment and took his hands in her own. She looked at them for a moment and then brought them close to her face, kissing the back of her right hand and then the back of her left.
"I don't want you to have that impression of me. You are a man who arouses my interest, my curiosity, and certainly, your beauty captivates me. Please don't ever think otherwise." he whispered against his hands.
The maid looked at him and Gilbert could see the blush rising on his face, giving him a really tender look, he could see the big green eyes looking at him with attention and the half-open mouth.
The truth was that he had come to the Umbrella kingdom with the intention that the other prince had said, he hadn't changed at all, but he was starting to cause him to feel like he had an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach less than twenty-four hours after meeting him, were these feelings common when being around a maiden? He didn't really know, but he didn't much care, he wanted to keep feeling this, it was too sweet and addictive a feeling, so pure it was maddening.
"You confuse me, prince Gilbert, I can't explain why you take my hands, knowing that this is not the ethical procedure".
"Ethical procedure is of little interest to me, didn't I communicate to you my desire to be original?"
Five laughed slightly without taking his hands away, smiled at him and said:
"I like originality."