Chapter 1
Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom, there lays a young prince who has been sleeping for hundreds of years because of a curse by a cruel witch. The curse which was given to him when he was a baby took effect just after his 18th birthday when he accidentally pricked his finger by a needle. The whole kingdom led by the king and queen succumbed to a great loneliness that caused all of the bright colors inside and that surrounded the kingdom turned gray and thorny. Meanwhile, even the servants in the palace started to fail to do their duties upon the loss of the sole heir to the throne but most importantly, the loss of their lively, kind, and considerate prince.
In order to prevent their loneliness from creating more darkness and misery around the kingdom, a fairy decided to let them sleep along with the prince and only when a person who portrays admirable determination, courage, commitment, and kindness, and gives him a kiss of genuine love shall the prince opens his eyes again.
It has been hundreds of years since the curse took effect.
There have been some attempts yes, to wake up the sleeping prince. From princesses of neighboring kingdoms who only wanted the title of the queen, an amazon who unfortunately lost her way in the forest and stumbled upon the withering castle, physicians who used science to explain the prince's situation, to ordinary maidens who won the annual search for the "Prince's Lily" of their town. But none of them had met the qualifications and succeeded to wake him up.
Now marks the 505th year of his slumber and Milly, his fairy godmother, is busily decorating his room into the theme of spring with her magic wand when her attention is called.
"I'm busy painting the daisies, Lelouch. Make sure that this is something interesting," she exasperatedly says.
"Someone's coming."
The fairy turns around and finds the prince, yes the prince, for his physical body might be immovable now but the essence of his soul is very much awake and lively to create a projection only the fairy could see, gazing out the window of his room.
Milly stands beside him and narrows her eyes upon seeing the visitor. "I know that green hair."
The prince turns to him. "You know her?"
"Hmmm. I'm not sure but only one family possesses hair as green as hers."
"Who?"
"The Corabelle Family."
Lelouch stares at her worriedly. She could feel the fear and then the anger build up inside him. "You mean the family of witches that put the curse on me?"
Milly nods. "Yes. She might be a descendant of them."
"Then we've got to stop her from entering the palace. They might have sent her to bring more havoc."
In a twirl of her wand, Milly makes them disappear and reappear at the foyer - infront of the green-haired girl whom in closer look is truly, tremenduously, very much pretty. Milly catches the prince blush a bit when he accidentally lands inches away from the girl's face. Oh, the prince and his inexperience with girls. Well, who can blame him when he has been asleep more than he was awake. Milly tries to hold her laugh.
Meanwhile, the girl gasps in surprise and stumbles a step back when a strange woman dressed in all purple with tiny wings on her back suddenly appears out of nowhere. Clutching her chest, she asks, "Who are you?"
"Well, hello there, too, lovely one," greets Milly. "I'm the one who should be asking you. My name's Milly, daughter of the fairy prince and princess of the Ashford family and the caretaker of the palace. Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Standing proud, the girl answers her, "I am Cecaniah Corabelle, only daughter of Elizabeth Corabelle, The Gray Witch. I am here because I want to see the sleeping prince."
"Me?"
"And why do you want to see him? Did your mother ask you to check if her curse is still effective? Well, unfortunately yes. Now that I told you, please leave."
"My mother didn't send me, neither knew that I am here. I am just curious, that's all."
"Curiosity killed the cat."
"Good thing I am not a cat, then."
Milly hears a snort beside her and she throws a glare at the prince. The young witch follows her line of sight and stares directly at Lelouch.
"S-She couldn't see me, right?" the prince asks warily while staring back at the girl.
"I'm right here. Where are you looking?" Milly waves her hand infront of Cecaniah's face.
"I thought I heard something. Anyway, I mean no harm. I'll immediately leave once I saw him. I just need to confirm something important."
Lelouch whispers to Milly. "Don't let her in, Milly. She might be lying and have other plans to ruin the palace. She might even hurt the people here."
But the fairy godmother is not listening, instead she is thinking of how this maiden witch is also a possible key to end the prince's curse. Her mother might be the cause of all this devastation but she can sense through her 'fairy feels' that Cecaniah is telling the truth. Her striking golden eyes are impassive but they look straight at her without fear and hesitation.
And honestly, Milly is getting bored. It's been a while since the last visitor came and failed, she needs some entertainment aside from redecorating the palace. If Cecaniah does end up as a villain, well, she's a powerful fairy after all, she is certain she can counter the witch's tricks if she ever uses her power. She's not the 'Golden Fairy' for nothing.
"Fine..."
"What?! Are you insane, Milly?"
"... but if I ever see the slightest sign that you'll just hurt him, I'll not think twice in using my powers against you."
"Got it."
And with another twirl of her wand, the three of them disappear into thin air.
Lelouch is sulking.
He is mad at Milly for letting the witch near his body but he is also annoyed at himself for he can't stop staring at the green-haired maiden. She is too pretty to be a witch. It's not like he had seen other witches except for a vague memory of Elizabeth. But he had read and saw illustrations of them and they were all nothing alike Cecaniah. Cecaniah. Even her name is beautiful. Lelouch shakes his head. What is he thinking, admiring a witch whom, for all he knows might also be using her physical appearance to lure and deceive people. A witch who is a direct descendant of the one who cursed him and brought tragedy to the kingdom. Mischief, evilness and deceit run in her blood, she couldn't be trusted. So why does Milly, the fairy who had witnessed all the cruelty and had been with him through all these years, allowed Cecaniah to see his body? Sometimes this fairy is out of her mind.
"If she turns me into a frog, I'll never forgive you, Milly. I'll never stop croaking to annoy you. I'll even pee - "
Milly waves her wand at him and he can't suddenly open his mouth. What? This is not the right time to play! Why is she doing this?
When he finally notices that there is no way to break the fairy's spell, he gives up and grudgingly watches as the witch inspects his sleeping form.
Oddly, when she opens his eyes with her hands, he feels an itch on his eyelids. When she sweeps away his long raven bangs from his face, a soft wind blows away his, too. And when Cecaniah rubs his ears, a ticklish sensation envelopes his projection ears, too.
Strange, how can he feel this if he couldn't sense a thing when the other maidens had kissed his physical lips?
"What are you exactly looking for?" Milly asks her.
"Sorry, but I can't tell you."
Without any warning, the witch hops on the bed and straddles the prince. Lelouch, with his mouth sewn shut, runs and tries to push her away but he just passes through the girl. Yet, the girl turns to where he lands and stares at him for a while.
"What do you think you are doing?" interrogates Milly. She had moved closer to the witch – both intrigued and wary of her intentions.
"I just want to confirm something."
"You've already said that. But you are straddling the prince! Child, are you aware of what you are doing?! Oh, OH! Hey, that is too much!" With her wand, she throws the witch away when the latter unceremoniously unbuttons the prince's clothes revealing his chest.
Meanwhile, Lelouch finally escapes from the spell, or perhaps Milly accidentally removed it when she stopped Cecaniah.
"My body! My body was harassed!" Lelouch cries hysterically.
"That is unacceptable, young witch! You've seen the prince, now you must leave at once just like what we have agreed upon."
"But I haven't – "
"Hush! You're lucky that I still allowed you in here given that your lineage is the one responsible for all of this. Now, leave! Don't ever set foot in this place again."
The witch glares at Milly and Lelouch is amazed by how he cannot see a trace of fear on her eyes. A silent, tensed battle passes between them but after a few moments, the green-haired girl finally relents and leaves the room, but not without glancing at Lelouch – at the projection Lelouch and also glares at him. The prince shivers. She cannot see him, right?