The King's Beloved

Devastated by what just happened, tears continued to flow from Selena's eyes. She couldn't believe that after all the hatred she gave her, she received kindness in return. Now, feeling guilty of what she had done, she wept.

She wasn't the only one devastated. Even the maids who grew fond of Rania, Rose, Lily and Iris who just arrived at the scene, and the soldiers, too.

"The National Treasure…'' murmured one of the soldiers.

"The king specifically ordered her protection and preservation…"

"Oh no, we are doomed! If he learns about this ..."

"You better have an explanation for this!" shouted the other soldier to the nobles who were trying to escape.

"No, we didn't do anything to her," one of the young nobles defended himself.

"It was her! We were only following her" said the other while pointing his fingers to Selena.

"It was your knife who hit my lady!" exclaimed one of the angry maids.

"Yeah, and my lady told us she's fetching her friend whom you two, were chasing for whatever reason you have!"

"Y-you! She's the one who ran to the Forbidden Chamber!" shouted the guilty man.

"Disrespectful maids!" the other followed.

"If only you two children were not such horny beasts! Our lady!" sobbed the other.

"What has gotten into you? She's human! You're siding with humans now?" confused, the man asked.

"You, who have never been with her, will never understand," with courage, Iris spoke up.

"What should we do now?"

"We can't hide this from the king forever," the soldiers discussed with each other

"We should report it to him."

"And you two, you'll definitely be punished for this."

With deep sighs, everyone moved out of the place. The trio carried Selena to Meracus for her to rest. The soldiers brought the two younglings to the king and reported everything that happened.

The king went ballistic after hearing the whole story. The Grand Palace shook in his anger. If it wasn't for Clavis who immediately went to calm the king, the whole Floating Kingdom would definitely be in shambles now. After calming down a bit, the king immediately ordered the soldiers to kill the younglings not caring for their noble descent. The family of the younglings went to beg the king to spare them, but he could not be persuaded. Even Clavis, the wise Judge, advised them otherwise.

"This is the king being lenient already. If not, your sons will be suffering a more gruesome death by torture. Be grateful that they will receive a swift and less painful one."

The terrified nobles did as they were told. They could only grieve for the death of their sons. For what can a mere noble do against the anger of their great king? They're like ants trying to negotiate with an angered lion...or a dragon for that matter.

Poor Rania. It seems that even the king could do nothing against the Forbidden Chamber. He could only let himself be angry about the situation but do nothing to resolve it ...for there was no solution. Once in, no one could ever get out unless they're dead. They could only wait for the door to spit out Rania's corpse.

A few days have passed but the king's anger has not subsided to the full. His rage was still inside him, though managed and controlled, but never ending, making him suffer and his emotions, very unstable.

The king was usually calm, without a care for the world, letting his subordinates manage everything except important decisions. But now, he felt irritated the whole time, not wanting to talk to anyone and wanting to be left alone.

Sometimes he would feel lonely and sad…..really sad….like his heart was somewhat breaking. Then at times, he would remember Rania, standing at her balcony, watching the sunrise every morning. Yes, the king would always watch her from his bedroom - their rooms, though separated by a great distance, faced each other. In this memory, he would feel happy and content…. But then again, he would feel remorse….melancholic…...hollow….. On and on his cycle of emotions ran in circles. And the worst part was that, he couldn't understand what was going on inside him.

In an attempt to humor the aggravated king, the house leaders arranged for his entertainment. Every day, they would send one of the candidates to perform different sorts of entertainment for the king. Some of them danced, some of them sang a song, some read him a book, some played an instrument, and a few others who even tried to sleep with him just to please him. But none worked. He was still upset and nothing could change him.

Until one afternoon, while walking in one of his palace's massive gardens, the king saw a familiar silhouette.

With the sun's rays blinding him, he could only see a girl dancing and singing in the garden while playing with the flowers. And the flowers, in turn, danced with her. You could see their pink petals floating in the wind, circling around her. It was a very pleasing sight. The girl's movements were simply divine and her voice was that of an angel. Thinking it was Rania, the king called out.

"Rania…," he gently whispered.

Then, he approached the woman. Noticing him, she stopped her dance and bowed in reverence.

"Your Highness," she greeted him while curtsying and bowing her head.

As the woman curtseyed, the king noticed that she had long and wavy pink hair instead of a straight, platinum blonde.

"You're…. Azalea, correct?" the king asked.

"Yes, your highness. I am deeply honored that you remember me."

The king nodded. With a deep sigh, his beautiful visage was now full of sadness. Noticing his disappointment, Azalea felt a sudden pain in her heart - not because of the king being disappointed in seeing her but because she knew…..she knew he was longing for Rania. Longing and grieving over her death...like she was. And hopeless, there was nothing they could do to avert the situation, nor escape the sad truth.

Reality does hurt….many times over.

Standing on the flowerbed, they stared at each other with longing eyes.

Breaking the silence, Azalea came nearer to the king and caressed his right cheek.

"Sadness is like the rain. No one has control over it.

Until it floods us over and drown us in our sorrows.

We can only but learn to bring an umbrella to protect ourselves against the rain,

or learn to swim against the floods."

Stopping her hands she continued.

"I understand how you feel…. about losing Rania …your highness. She was a dear friend of mine as well. Though we didn't converse much, and didn't spend that much time together, still… I liked her very much. There was this…hmmm... I don't know...something unexplainable about her, don't you think so?"

The king remembered Rania once more. With a smile that conflicts his eyes, he answered, ".....Yeah".

Azalea began pacing slowly around the garden. She spoke while touching the flowers with her hands as if greeting them. The king followed her pace.

"I can still remember the very first day that I met Rania. She was already so amazing…. In the sea of tens of thousands of scared women, she alone had fiery eyes. It was so beautiful and felt like they were burning. And as soon as I looked into them, somehow, it felt as if her courage passed unto me. That's actually the reason why I had the courage to speak up to you that day, your highness. And the idea of freeing the other candidates, that was her idea, too! I just spoke up on her behalf since….she was a bit disoriented that time. We...got separated from our families after all."

The king's eyes widened. "...I see". His brows furrowed afterwards.

Noticing this, Azalea chuckled.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked.

"Nothing. I'm just happy that the king of Magi cared for my friend… deeply." she answered playfully while smiling.

"Cared deeply?" the king got confused and angered at his own uncertainty. "I'm just sad because I lost a rare treasure that I haven't even touched yet. Why would you say that I…. I cared for her? Don't be arrogant and put meanings behind it." His tone got colder by the second.

"Yeah, you're sad for days for … simply losing a rare treasure," she answered him in a teasing tone again.

Getting annoyed, the king asked, "And what are you implying?"

"Hmmm…I wonder…."

Azalea stopped walking to face the king. She looked directly to his eyes and asked him a question he never would have imagined.

"Do you know what love is, your majesty?"

"What? L...love?" he was getting more disoriented.

"Yes, love," she continued as she placed her hands on her chest as if holding her heart dearly. "Love… it is an intense feeling of deep affection towards someone …

That feeling when your heart beats whenever you see the person you like....or even just by remembering him or her.

Or that uncontrollable joy you feel when you're around him or her.

And the feeling of longing when you're separated.

When she's happy, you're happy.

When she's sad, you become sad, too….

But who can really describe love?

There are no words invented which will give justice to its meaning but simply the word itself."

"I don't understand where you're going with this. You usually don't spout nonsense but today you have been talking like a fool."

Azalea chuckled again with her sweet voice. "People often regard others as fools when they themselves cannot comprehend their wisdom and argument."

"Are you saying I'm a fool?" The king was baffled.

"For now, your highness. Because you don't understand it fully yet. Because you haven't accepted the fact, thus the truth remains hidden in your heart. I suggest that you let it go and let the feeling embrace you."

"I don't understand what you're trying to say. Speak plainly!"

"Tell me, you highness. Why did you approach me just now? Normally, you would simply pass by your candidates. But today, you approached me specifically."

The king thought for a moment. "It's because…. I thought I saw...her."

"So you're longing for her, huh?... How about that night during the banquet when she performed? How did you feel?"

Again, he thought for a moment, then answered, "....Astounded."

"So you're captivated with her, huh?" Azalea continued with her playful questions. "And during the moments you glimpse at her in her balcony every morning during sunrise, how did you feel?"

The king was shocked."How did you know I -"

"Meracus is located eastward, placed a little lower than the Grand Palace," she said as she gestured her hands. "Your quarters are placed on the top of everything so you could see everything. And my current room happens to be just in front of the Grand Palace. Plus, I have very good eyesight! Hehehe. Every morning when I wake up, I would look at Rania's balcony to check on her if she's doing alright and everyone else's that my eyes can reach. Until... I noticed you, your highness. Every morning you would get up as well to see the scenery and to look at her."

A storm of memories rushed through the king's mind.

"I did that, huh?"

"Yes" she answered firmly. "Others have been wondering as well why did you hail her as your National Treasure and arranged for you to meet every end of the month or as you pleased ...but…. you never went to her."

"That's because I… I felt like I didn't want to taint her. I wanted to ...preserve her ...and protect her...."

Azalea smiled as she continued. "And lastly, How did you feel whenever you saw her during those mornings?"

"I was…..happy."

A moment of silence has passed.

"Hahahahahaha!" the king laughed hysterically. "I guess I was, huh?.... With this thing you call love. I ….

I love her.

But she's gone now.

And the worst part…..

I wasn't there when she needed me the most.

All the power in the world…...I have it...

Yet, I failed to protect her….."

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