They say drowning can be a surprisingly peaceful way to die. At first, you thrash and flail about, panicking as water floods your lungs. But, as your oxygen depletes, a feeling of euphoria sets in, transporting you to the promised land on a cloud of pure ecstasy. In other words, drowning could be compared to being in the eye of a hurricane—the intersection of heaven and hell.
I wondered if that sensation was what I was feeling at that moment. I had endured an evening that had come stomping straight out of my worst nightmares. Yet, lying in that big, fluffy bed felt like the answer to all my life’s problems.
My eyes had closed, and I found that the darkness that enveloped me was a seductress, a succubus who stole my heart and sent me sinking to the bottom of an abyss I never wanted to return from. There was something so familiar about her embrace—I wanted to remain in her arms for eternity. But the moment I was prepared to devote myself to my mistress of nothingness, a mysterious, shrill sound pierced the silence.
Whatever it was seemed far away and nonsensical. But the more I heard it, the closer to my ears it came. Eventually, structure began to form in the unidentified sound, and I was beginning to make out parts of words. Someone was talking, and the volume of their voice became much more grating with each repetition.
S…ke
Shin…
SHINSUKE!
My eyes shot open, and my heart rapidly bounced off the ceiling in my chest like a dribbling basketball. Sunlight now filled the large room that I had spent the night in, illuminating three figures huddled around my bedside. What at first looked like three blurred blobs was revealed through cleared vision to be my mother, father, and Mizuki, all standing over me with expressions that ranged from blistering rage to intense distress.
“Shinsuke Watanabe!” mom roared. “What were you thinking?!”
“Your mother and I were texting and calling you nonstop, why did you ignore us?!” dad added.
Mizuki took things a step further and yanked the loop on my choker, lifting me up from the pillow and causing the accessory to strangle me. “We were worried about you!”
“M-Mom,” I coughed. “Are you going to let her choke me like this?”
“Yes. You’re lucky I don’t do it myself! We all saw what happened on the news. How could you do something like that and not tell us?!”
“They wouldn’t let me use my phone!”
“We were going nuts in front of the TV! My son is a hero!” dad declared, ruffling my hair.
“I can’t believe you risked your life for the princess…” Mizuki grumbled.
Through broken speech, I begged, “Could you please let me go now?” Mizuki obliged. “Thank you. Geez! Anyway, what’s going on? How did you three even get here?”
Mom slapped the back of my head.
“That’s no way to greet your family! Besides, did you think we wouldn’t come to get you?”
“Ow! I was just saying I can’t believe they let you in, damn…”
“They said the royal family was deeply indebted to you and that we were welcome here anytime. Can you believe that?” dad squealed.
“They told us there would be some kind of announcement they wanted your father and I to be here for. Are they planning on celebrating you?” mom asked.
Mizuki lifted my hand and examined the silver ring on my finger. She stroked it with her thumb and inquired, “hey, what’s this?”
“I—”
The room’s doors swung open before I could say much of anything. Helena and two suit and sunglasses clad individuals entered and approached us.
“Good morning, everyone. Shinsuke is needed in the gardens, the rest of you will be taken to the dining hall for breakfast.”
“Ooh, a royal breakfast, honey!” dad said, squeezing mom’s arm. She patted his hand and smiled at him.
“Will we get to see Shinsuke again?” Mizuki asked.
Helena nodded.
“Yes, Shinsuke will return to you after his breakfast with the princess.”
My parents gasped and I’d swear their pupils morphed into stars, while Mizuki raised a brow and crossed her arms. Helena allowed them to say their goodbyes before the suits led them out and left me alone with the busy woman.
“We retrieved your clothes while you were asleep and washed them for you. Here’s your phone—no social media. Take a shower and get changed. When you’re done, I’ll escort you to the gardens.” With that, she stepped out of the room.
I considered crawling back under the covers in the hopes the giant bed would swallow me whole, never to be seen again. But I stopped short of doing so when a flashback to the prior night struck me. I recalled how the Princess, Cynthia Rose von Eisenhardt, had attempted to rebel against her parents’ demands. She didn’t seem to want our ridiculous engagement to happen anymore than I did. If there was anyone who could potentially put a stop to it all, it was her.
Thus, my disappearance would have to take a rain check. I needed to meet with Cynthia immediately.
***
I wish I could have enjoyed the absurdly large bathroom a bit longer, particularly the massive, jeweled tub that was equipped with about a billion jets. But priorities take precedence. So, after an all too brief shower, I put my clothes on, and Helena led me through the grand halls of the castle. It didn’t take long to reach the entrance to the gardens.
“Here we are.”
Wow…
Living in Valport my whole life, I only ever had brief experiences outside of the concrete jungle. The parks in the city offered the illusion of greenery, but still carried the odor of vehicle exhaust and the sound of unstoppable hustle and bustle. But despite having never spent any time in the country, the scent of pure, undisturbed nature that graced my nose when Helena opened those doors was unmistakable. In fact, if one told me the phrase “breath of fresh air” had been invented just for the lush, green haven before me, I’d have believed it instantly.
A breeze that blew through the gardens ushered in a symphony led by a choir of chirping birds, accompanied by the whistle of a grand fountain, and the splashing of fish in nearby ponds. Simply existing there for a mere second was enough to realize that this was quite literally a slice of life—a life without the scourge of humanity.
“The princess is waiting for you over that way, don’t keep her waiting any longer.”
I nodded and proceeded on a path through the gardens. Moving past beds of fully bloomed, colorful flowers and walls of glowing green hedges, I found the princess sitting at a round, ornate, glass table. In the center of the table stood a tiered, silver platter, stocked with fruits, pastries, and syrups. A plate of freshly made biscuits sat in front of her on a placemat and an identical plate sat similarly on my side.
“Sit,” the blonde royal commanded. Irritated with her tone, I did as she requested.
Neither of us said a word or touched our food as the sights and sounds of nature set a deceptively serene scene. I tried my best not to look at her, and I could tell from the corner of my eye that she was doing the same. Things were awkward enough as it was, the last thing I wanted was to engage in a painfully uncomfortable staring contest. I figured I’d just space out until she spoke first, but there was a palpable sense of frustration building in the air. The events of last night were playing out in my mind, and the more the visions replayed, the angrier I became.
At last, I couldn’t take it anymore. Apparently, neither could she, because we erupted at the same time.
“This is all your fault!” we yelled at each other.
“My fault?! I saved your life you ungrateful brat!”
“Yeah, that’s the problem! I didn’t ask you to do that. Now I’m in this mess because of you!”
“Sure, pin it all on me. Didn’t the queen say that you took a detour you weren’t supposed to? What the hell were you doing out that late in Valport of all places?”
Her cheeks flushed and her back erected. “I was…getting a cheesecake.”
…
“Let me get this straight, this is all happening because you snuck off to stuff your piehole with a stupid cheesecake you could have asked any of your millions of minions to make?!”
“You don’t understand, the cheesecake at that place is unlike anywhere in the world!”
“Oh, I see. Well, at least I know what to get you for our anniversary.”
She gagged and crossed her arms, glaring and quite literally turning her nose up at me. “Forget it, I’m not marrying you.”
“What part of anything I’ve said gives you the impression I want to marry you?”
Her expression softened a bit but took on a more cautious demeanor. “You mean you don’t want this either?”
“Did you forget everything that happened last night?"
“No, I just thought maybe you were putting on some kind of show to make yourself look noble in front of me or something.”
I rolled my eyes and sighed.
“Because getting dressed down by the queen and ordered to silence by the king accomplishes that, right? All I want is to go home and go back to my quiet life, not be punished for doing a good thing by being forced to marry you.”
“Excuse me?” she sneered. “What is that supposed to mean? You should feel lucky to marry me. Marrying you would be a cruel and unusual punishment for any reason, never mind for almost dying in a freak accident!”
“I see the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Like mother, like daughter.”
She seemed to cringe at that statement and released a sigh of her own.
“I’m frustrated, okay? I will at least say that I respect you for not trying to take advantage of the situation. Honestly, you’re a bit weird for that.”
“Are you saying you’d prefer that I was sleazy?”
“Of course not. I’m just saying, I don’t get you. Who in their right mind refuses a chance to marry a princess? Even if you were only in it for the life of luxury.”
“Someone who doesn’t kiss the ground your family walks on and values his peace and quiet.”
“I see. Well, okay,” she said, not quite hiding how disarmed she remained. “Either way, I just can’t understand why father and mother are enforcing this law. That contract is the definition of outdated. It hasn’t been utilized since the days of extreme instability in Steylia.”
“You mean back before it became the largest kingdom in the world? I know back in those days there were tons of attempts on the lives of the royal family, especially the princess.”
Her golden brows raised in surprise.
“Wow, someone paid attention in history class. Yes, that was hundreds of years ago. The White Knight Contract was a desperate law implemented to entice subjects of Steylia to protect the princess and curb attempts on her life. It was established during a period of instability when the kingdom was still expanding its reach and acquiring territory. It was a seemingly endless time of war, and since Steylian culture has always placed special importance upon the life of the princess, it made her an attractive target for our enemies.”
“Right, but Steylia has been the largest kingdom in the world for one hundred and fifty years already. The kingdom hasn’t been in a war for sixty-seven years. So, this whole situation is unnecessary and stupid.”
“It is, but I’m not surprised. Father and mother never listen to me, this is just another in a long line of problems that have been building for a long time. And you know what? This is the final straw.” Cynthia stared into her palm, then clenched her fist, determination upon her regal features. “When I rise to power, I’m going to change everything in this kingdom.”
There was an air about her that made me believe every word she said. It was clear she felt quite strongly about enacting some kind of change, but I was clueless to whatever else was motivating her frustration. A full reimagining of the kingdom because of our freakshow of a situation seemed excessive, but I didn’t care much about her reasoning, I just wanted out.
“That’s great that you’re motivated about…something. But you aren’t a queen yet. So, what do we do about our situation right now?”
“Hmm,” she pondered. “There must be something I’m missing here. Listen, I think there might be some kind of opt out clause, I need to research it. But there’s something you need to know about first.”
I don’t like this.
“What?”
“There’s going to be a live, televised press conference held soon to announce our engagement to the world. I heard father mention it earlier.”
I shot up out of my chair.
“Are you kidding me? He’s going to announce it to the whole world? What the hell are we supposed to do?!”
Cynthia motioned me back down and said, “don’t make a scene, moron. Sit down and eat breakfast. After we eat, come with me to my room. If I’m correct, there might be one thing we can do about this.”
“…All right, fine.”
I don’t care what I have to do, just get us out of this.
