[FLASHBACK: 15 YEARS AGO]
Zordan’s POV:
This unbearable longing, the flashbacks of her pretty smile, and the consistent thoughts about her occupied my mind for the past month…if they are known as love, then yes, I was already in love! But, maybe I was too young to realize that myself!
I confusedly lowered my gaze upon Maxim and frowned at him, “Is that so? Do you think it’s love?”
“Of course, I wondered why did you look pale and dazed all this time but now I realize, you are going through your first love, Prince Zordan!” Maxim looked pretty excited as he flashed a smile at me, tapping my shoulder.
“Is that so?” Hearing such presumptions from another kid similar to my age didn’t assure me at all. I scratched the back of my head and argued back, “But how are these emotions can be called love? I met her for the first time on that day!”
“Exactly, and this is known as love at first sight!” Maxim cleared his throat with a cough and continued explaining to me, looking a bit excited. “You can rest easy on my assumptions. Since I have already experienced first love before, I can understand your symptoms.”
“You had your first love too? When?” I was startled at his remark as I blatantly asked, gazing deep into his wadded eyes.
But, Maxim put off an awkward smile at my question as he responded, “It was for a short while, Your Grace. I fell for a noble daughter and she already had someone else in her heart. Usually, it’s a jinx that our first love never comes true.”
“W-What!?”
Immediately I sprang up from the ground, letting out a nervous shriek at him. His sudden remark confused and fretted me, but even the slightest thought of never being able to see Gabriel again shuddered my core.
However, watching me get impulsive, Maxim quickly stood up and comforted me, with a nervous gaze towards me. “P-Pardon me, Your Grace. It was just a silly jinx and you don’t have to worry about it. I am certain that nothing such as that would ever happen to you…I am really certain!”
His nervous low murmur didn’t comfort me much as I was put into a sour mood. My head felt heavy and the uneasiness squirmed in my heart. First love never comes true…who made this ridiculous theory in the first place?
I clenched my fist and lifted my strict gaze blankly ahead of me as I uttered, “That’s it, the next time I meet her, I will propose to her to marry me.”
“H-Huh?” As expected, my ardent declaration confused him to the brink that he forgot to breathe for a second. He held his shocked gaze upon me while he muttered, “M-Marry you? B-But…aren’t you too young for this…C-Crown Prince?”
“I don’t care about that, I will get betrothed to her.” I was affirmed in my decision.
“But…you didn’t even confess your love to her, what if your sudden decision scares her away?” Maxim looked seriously concerned about my reckless attitude as he continued fidgeting his toes, which he often does whenever he becomes nervous.
“She won’t be scared.” This time, a small glimmer of a smile curved on my lips as I exhaled a deep sigh. She called me her first friend, and…there’s no way she would get scared of me.”
“Well…if it’s so…” Holding his perplexed look, Maxim emitted another sigh as he realized I was strictly affirmed with my decision. He frowned at me as he spoke, “But first of all, you need to meet her again and confess your love for her. I don’t want you to regret it later like me, Your Grace.”
“Of course, I will. I am dying to meet her anyway!” A blushed hue formed on my cheeks as I brazenly expressed my emotions before him. Indeed I was too eager to meet her, and my impatience was exceeding every limit.
Maxim blankly gazed at my face and slowly, a smile appeared on his lips. He was the only person left before whom I was able to profess my emotions and it made me feel a bit relieved. I was glad to have him as a support and by patting my shoulder, he affirmed it.
“Well, then I guess we should head back to the castle today. Your Highness is about to declare a royal decision, something related to Prince Marcus’s betrothed partner. So, we should hurry over there now.”
“What? Marcus is getting engaged already?” This decision was even surprising for me as I repeated after him, heading back to the castle slowly.
Even though I hardly met him a few times and didn’t even have a proper brotherly conversation until now, I was quite surprised to hear such a fact about him. I couldn’t understand, why did his mother is making him engaged when he is even younger than me.
Soon, we reached the grand ceremony hall inside the main castle and found it decorated with cape jasmine and beautiful floral arches. There was a big crowd of aristocrats and nobles gathered in the ceremony hall and soon enough, our new Luna and queen Lorelia entered the hall with my father and the alpha of our pack, King Aldrick.
Somehow, watching them coming together squirmed a bitter feeling inside me, but I kept silent. Watching that woman standing with my father, I was reminded once again that the position should have always belonged to my mother…
After them, Chief Advisor Luther also entered the hall room with a wide smile on his face. The moment I caught a glimpse of him, my impatience took a toll on my rational self as my eyes hurriedly started searching for the little girl who stole my heart at the first sight. But as expected, there was no sign of her, even though there were quite a number of noble children gathered around in the hall.
“I am really glad to have all of your blessings as I want to wish something very important today.”
Standing at the center of the giant hall, our queen commenced a declaration with a proud smug on her face. Before beginning her speech, she took a sharp glance at me and I didn’t fail to see a dark glint in her eyes towards me.
“I know it must be very soon, but I have found a suitable partner for my little Marcus who will be his life-long partner as well. The decision must be sudden, but I am proudly declaring that my son, Prince Marcus, the youngest prince of Shadow Pack will be engaged to our Chief Advisor Luther’s daughter, Gabriel Onetti from today onwards!!”
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