The King's Beloved

Elliot, Ducis, Luna, accompanied by the sprites who were still trying to make a bouquet from all the flowers they got, returned to the Forbidden Chamber. When they arrived, they didn't see Rania anywhere in the drawing room so they all thought she probably went to the library. Upon opening the doors of the library, Rania welcomed them with reddened eyes and a warm smile.

"She cried," Elliot thought as soon as he saw Rania's eyes.

Luna and the sprites came rushing towards Rania and gave her a big hug.

"Rania! We missed you!," the sprites shouted one after another.

Rania laughed at them. "I missed you all,too! I was supposed to visit you".

"Rania look! Look!" another sprite shouted and then they presented the bouquet of flowers to her.

Rania's eyes widened in surprise. Then she smiled gleefully and said, "Thank you very much!"

"We're glad you like it!"

"Oh, it was all Elliot's idea".

"And Rania! Did you know Elliot can summon us now?"

"Yes, yes! He's like 'Come here, o sprites! And then, and then -"

"- What? That's not what he said".

"Yeah, he only said 'sprites, gather!' - something like that".

On and on they went telling her their own versions of the story. Rania was amused by their liveliness.

"Oh, come on! That's not how it happened," Luna interrupted them all. "You see -"

"Not because you're big now, you can just dismiss us all!"

"What did you say? Want me to pinch you?"

"But man, we never knew you were a fairy, hahaha!"

Luna pouted, "I never knew either, hmf!"

"Wahahaha! Who would have thought when you're as small as us?"

"Did you just say I'm small?" Luna's eyes lit up in anger.

The sprites began to scatter around and Luna followed them and tried to catch them.

"They probably missed each other," Rania thought. Then, she looked pleasingly at the bouquet she received. She carefully examined each one and smelled them. Every turn she did, a new flower awaited her. The sprites really did give her a wide variety flower bouquet.

"Ah," Rania gaped towards the bouquet when she turned it for the last time. A certain flower caught her attention. She plucked it out of the bouquet to see it better. "This flower ...".

It was a very beautiful white flower that stood out among the rest. It had soft but crystal-like white petals with golden dots scattered on it that made it look like it was in eternal glitter. The petals were arranged like that of a rose in full bloom and the very center was blushed pink - a very light pink.

Looking at the flower, Rania recalled a memory from her high school days - when she was still 16 and people her age started talking about love and got interested in romance.

"Rania, so tell me, what type of guy do you like?"

"Hmm?" Rania, who still had short hair that extended to her shoulders, stopped writing on her notebook and faced her friend. "Ahm, I haven't really thought about it much".

"Eeh? Must be nice being so beautiful. All the men are after you, so you can just make your pick".

"I … I'm not interested in fake love - no, actually there is no such thing as fake love. It's just love - or not. And … I don't know, somehow I get the feeling that I have someone - like, someone destined for me. And when I meet him, I'll know for sure".

Rania's friend giggled. "Was it because of that dream again?"

Rania's innocent face turned guilty, "Haha! You got me!"

"But for real, your dreams are weird. It's like you have super powers or something. Tell me, are you actually a psychic?"

"Hahaha! No, I don't think so".

"But girl, out of all your dreams, the one I like most is when you dreamed you were dressed in white and holding a bouquet of weird flowers".

"Yes, that's my favorite so far, too. I kept on seeing bad things in my dreams, but that seemed - okay".

"Do you think its a wedding?"

"Hmm … I'm not so sure. I didn't see a priest, or a church, you know, the things at a wedding. But I saw myself, holding a bouquet of weird flowers. I looked it up online for years but I never found one like it".

"Well, if the flower doesn't exist, then does that mean your destined lover does not exist too?" Her friend snickered.

"Hey! Don't jinx it. I still want to find him someday!"

"Hahahaha! Well, your dreams are never wrong, but then you dreamt of a non-existing flower and a man giving it to you. What do you want me to think about it?"

Rania pouted. "Hmf! Or maaaybe ~ the flower wasn't discovered yet".

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say".

And the two of them kept on laughing at each other.

Rania chuckled to herself upon remembering a sweet memory. "So, it does exist," she whispered to herself. "And the man giving it to me is …," then she looked towards Elliot with a mixture of a hesitant, confused, and a happy face, " … Elliot".

Then, Rania lowered her eyes. She kept thinking over and over - the things she just found out from God, then this, she finally found the man who gave her the weird flower in her dream years back. She was confused. She didn't understand it fully.

"I know what I must do now … and that is to make sure Elliot fulfills his destiny," Rania told herself. "But these flowers … and that dream … maybe it wasn't a wedding? Maybe it meant … I don't know. What does this flower even mean?"

Elliot noticed Rania's expression was becoming dark again. So he approached her.

"Rania," he called her gently.

Rania's deep thinking got disrupted when Elliot called her.

"Ah, Elliot".

Elliot's eyes spelled worry for her. Rania understood that she's thinking too hard on things and kept on making the people around her worry.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Then, Elliot grabbed her and embraced her.

Rania was surprised. Even Luna and the sprites stopped their game of tag when they noticed what was happening.

Then Elliot gently patted Rania's head. "There, there," copying what she did to him before.

Rania's eyes widened once more. A mixture of feelings overcame her - feelings she couldn't explain. She gave off a bitter smile.

"Elliot, you're a really kind person," she thought to herself. "Don't worry, I promise … I will do anything in my power to make sure you fulfill your destiny.

For Earth … for humanity …

For Gaia … and for Magi …

I will make sure it comes to pass!"

Ducis felt Rania's determination and stared at the two of them with a bitter smile on his face as well. "Is this how it's supposed to be?"

Luna turned to the sprites, "That … flower … who managed to get it?"

"Huh? Which -" one of the sprites began looking, "Aah!" he shouted when he saw the crystal-like flower in Rania's hands.

"That one? It was Elliot. It's amazing how he got it, really".

"Isn't that the legendary flower?"

"Yeah, the one that can't be planted, and doesn't pollinate to reproduce".

"And the one that grows in random places you can never guess where it will spring?"

"What was it called again?"

"I think it was … ver -us, I forgot".

Luna clenched her chest for reasons unknown. "It's called …

Verus Amor ...

the flower of true love and destiny".

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Hi Beloved Readers!

As part of "Authors & Readers Win-Win Event", I've decided to do a mass release if we reach the below numbers of privilege readers for September! XD

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