Pretending To Be Gilead's Prince and Master Wizard

For the past few months that I have stayed in the castle, Alex strikes me as the guy who never cries… or at least not in front of other people. But after seeing him in his most vulnerable state, my perspective of him changes in a matter of seconds.

"My grandmother… passed away just now." 

Hearing it from Alex also crashed my heart, as his grandmother has also earned a place in it. She would always treat me nicely whenever I am in their house, and is always gentle whenever we had our small chitchats and before her servant Rica tells her to return to her room and drink her medicine.

"W-what happened?" I asked, my voice is starting to crack as well. 

"Rica said she wasn't able to wake up this afternoon. Grandma was having her usual afternoon naps, and soon… she didn't wake up after that."

I could tell that Alex is trying his very best not to cry again, but he couldn't help. He was still sobbing as he replied to my question.

Not long after that, he added, "I guess my grandfather had finally decided to pick her up from here."

At that moment, there was still sadness in his voice, yes. But you could also hear a hint of happiness from it if you would hear it up this close.

"She must be very happy by now then, seeing that she would go to some paradise along with the love of her life," I said, a smile forms across my lips.

Saturday came the next day. Alex decides to visit the funeral of his grandmother in which I insisted on going with him. Knowing him, his first reaction to it was to let me stay in the castle.

"I will still go, even if you tell me not to. So what is it going to be? Should we go there together or in separate?" I insisted, eyeing him with all seriousness.

After that, I heard him sigh and told me to change quickly. The last thing we want is to startle everyone in there with the fake prince's arrival at the funeral parlor. So I did as he said, returning to him wearing a black casual dress and a pair of black ankle boots. Afterward, we teleported our way towards the parlor.

There weren't many people visiting in grandma Lucy's wake by the time we arrived at the venue. Among those few people that visited her, I could only recognize Rica since she was grandma's servant all this time until her final breath. We immediately walked towards her.

"Hey," I greeted, knowing Alex wouldn't even care about greeting her first. She lifted her head and I immediately noticed how puffy her eyes were from all that crying she probably made the night before.

"Hey," she responded. No one has spoken a word after that.

I watched as more people entered the venue, all wearing black at the same time and most of them looking quite as old as grandma Lucy. I couldn't recognize either of them, but I bet they are good friends with her.

I looked at Alex and said, "Grandma Lucy sure made a lot of friends when she was still here with us, don't you think?" 

By that time, he already returned to my side after seeing his grandma's face for the last time. He also sneaks a glance at the newly-arrived guests before looking at me.

"Yeah, I'm sure she did, considering how friendly she is to lots of people she meets." Alex was smiling as he was saying those words, probably remembering some good memories that he had with her.

"She is the only family I had, after my parents abandoned me and built new families on their own. I felt I didn't belong to either of those families, so I ran away. But grandma Lucy found me loitering in the streets and raised me as her own child from then on."

A teardrop suddenly escaped his right eye and rolled all the way down to his right cheek while he narrated his past life to me. I didn't know Alex has a rough childhood, and it didn't occur to ask about it as well. But seeing that he has opened it up himself makes me happy, knowing that he must have trusted me that much for him to tell me a part of his childhood.

"That must be tough for you to endure all of that at such a young age," I said, holding his right hand and giving it a light squeeze. "But I'm thankful that your grandmother was there to support you all the way,"

His face softens, "Yes, I am lucky indeed."

We stayed there for a few more minutes until Alex was the one to tell me that we should return to the castle immediately for my daily training sessions. He said that even at times like this, we should always keep in mind the affairs of the state and not take it for granted. I nodded and soon, we left off without saying goodbye to Rica at least.

Yet in our training sessions, it was kind of obvious to see that Alex is still distracted from the death of his beloved grandmother seeing that he gets the spells all wrong himself… and he was never wrong to any spell before!

"I say we should stop this training for today and give yourself a rest," I said as a matter of fact. But then I added, "I am not trying to be lazy here, for your information. I am just trying to be a concerned friend for you."

Friend… that's what I will always be to you. A friend that you will need in times like this, a friend that would comfort you if you need it.

I was expecting him to oppose the idea, but to my surprise, he just agreed to it without thinking much about it.

"Alright. I will do that," he says, his voice and energy a bit down.

I shook my head. What should I do to at least let him return to his usual senses? As much as I hate his old, jerk self, I also hate to see him being sad like this. I would much prefer for him to return to his arrogant ways than this.

He comforted me once, now's my chance to return the favor.

Ah! I have a nice idea. But that idea would involve my baking skills and my presence in the royal kitchen.

"Can we meet up at the castle tower in less than an hour? I will be making you something." 

As expected, he eyes me with a hint of confusion and curiosity at the same time. 

"What is it?"

"Don't ask! Just please go! I promise it wouldn't take that long," Or at least I hoped not. I raised my right hand to indicate that promise like a child. I heard him chuckle at that.

"Okay then. But you know I hate waiting," 

"Do you honestly think I didn't know about that?" I scoffed but immediately made a run to the kitchen to start my plan.

All appointed cooks from the kitchen were terribly surprised upon seeing me setting foot in the place. It took me more than a minute to explain to them I will be baking something and was glad I was able to convince them to leave me alone after all that explanation I made. Luckily, no one asked for the reason and just left the place.

---

-ALEX-

That girl! She better not make me wait here for that long or else I will be leaving!

And what was I thinking earlier? The people in the kitchen must be really surprised by now to see their prince setting foot in the kitchen. But knowing that Prince Arthur knows all things, including the kitchen work taught by his mother, the late queen, then I guess they wouldn't really find it suspicious at all.

Still feeling aghast from the sudden death of my grandmother, I was a bit feeling happy to know that I have that girl by my side as I am now facing difficult times in my life. It would really be sad to know that she would be leaving us someday, so what I can do is to cherish every moment that I got to spend with her.

"Ta-da!"

I was a bit astonished after seeing Krisella in just a blink of an eye. Truly, she is already improving when it comes to teleporting. But what surprised me the most was the plate of newly-baked butter cookies that is on her hand right now.

"I know you like sweets since I saw you eating almost all the cookies I brought from school the other day. Also, you enjoy your grandma's pastries every time you come home…" she trails off, scratching the back of her neck. 

"So, I decided to make you some as well to somehow make you feel better,"

A sincere smile appeared across my face, it was the most genuine smile that I could give to a person. This girl indeed knows how to make me feel much better.

Please… don't you ever change.

Instead of thanking her, I took the plate of cookies from her and made a swift grab on her right hand using the other one.

And just like that, our lips… after many days of longing for her… had finally met once more.