Helloooo~ Morgan-Kaze-Tsukai is back again to start another story that will likely never be finished. This idea all started with me doodling Meredy in a princess dress and the phrase "She had never cared much for formalities" popping into my head, as story lines tend to do at random. The first chapter isn't all that great, buuuuuut hey. I'll keep going with it. It's summer now, and I need some form of entertainment. Soo, let's see where this goes :)
She had never cared much for formalities. This, perhaps, could be considered the root of ninety percent of her problems. She found herself amidst one of said dilemmas almost daily, and was enduring one at the current point in time, as a matter of fact.
She had been staring off into space, emerald eyes slightly glazed over, when she was broken from her train of thought by a sharp jab in her ribs. "Ow!" She hissed, whipping her head over to glare at her mother beside her as she rested her hand tenderly on the injury.
"Smile, Meredy," she instructed through her teeth. "Remember, this is all for you."
"But Ultear," groaned Meredy, dragging out the last syllable, "this is so boring. I can think of a million things I'd rather be doing right now, at the very least."
"Well, you're not doing one of those million things. You're here, so try and make the best of it, alright?" Returned Ultear in a voice that signaled she intended to end the conversation there.
Meredy huffed, slouching over once again in her seat. She would love to make the best of it; to get up and dance and mingle with the guests. However, she was stuck here, as always, just sitting and observing. Perhaps her mother enjoyed such a lifestyle, but she found her confinement to this chair to be nearly unbearable. She squirmed around every thirty seconds just to ensure that she could still move and wasn't entirely stuck in her spot.
"Your highness," Spoke a man's voice, and Meredy looked down to find a blonde man kneeling with his head bowed at her feet. When he looked up, she recognized him as Zancrow, the prince of Grimoire, the kingdom beside her own. They were close partners in trade, though she was never particularly fond of the royal family. She found something about them unsettling, though she couldn't quite place her finger on what it was.
"What is it?" She inquired in a flat tone, earning another elbow to the ribs from her mother beside her, which caused her to emit a groan that she attempted to disguise as a cough.
"I would like to wish you a joyous birthday," he said, speaking so formally that Meredy felt vaguely uncomfortable. "…and to ask if I may perhaps dance with you."
Before she even had time to process his request fully, her mother answered for her. "She graciously accepts your offer."
She turned to Ultear to protest, but Zancrow had already stood and was holding out his hand to her. She took it cautiously, slowly rising from her seat and following after him.
"You're nineteen now, am I correct?" Asked Zancrow as they danced, attempting to make small talk.
"Yes, that would be why we're throwing a party," Meredy replied coolly, honestly wanting nothing to do with the creepy blonde man. Everything about him just rubbed her the wrong way.
"I see," He said as he spun her. "Then you'll need to pick a husband this year."
Meredy basically choked on her own saliva. "E-excuse me?" She sputtered, not believing how blunt he had been. Sure, wasn't exactly a stickler for manners, but there were some things that were just flat out uncomfortable to ask, especially seeing as the two weren't particularly close to one another.
"You need to find a husband," He repeated.
"I heard what you said," she all but spat, making a point of stepping on his toes with the next step of the dance. "Rather forward of you to say something as intrusive as that."
"I don't know that it was particularly intrusive," He returned, seemingly missing the venom laced within her words. "I was merely stating a fact, Lady Meredy."
"A fact that seems to have a not-so-hidden second meaning," she muttered under her breath.
"I suppose you've already guessed my motive to ask for dance," he said, making her wonder when and if he would ever stop talking and let her return to her seat. Perhaps sitting there felt like a strange form of torture at times, but she would have gladly taken that over dancing with this creep any day. "I'm not one for beating around the bush, so I'll just say it. I want you to be my wife."
She reared her head back, disgusted. True, she had known from the beginning what his intentions were, but to hear him come out and say them was an entirely different thing. He head was suddenly flooded with images of walking down the aisle to meet him, sitting in a throne beside him, holding a child with long, spiky pink hair… The last one was quite possibly more disturbing than anything she had ever imagined.
He continued on, unfazed by her reactions to his words and her own thoughts. "Certainly, it would be a logical choice. We rule two of the strongest kingdoms in the entire land. If we could merge them…"
She stepped away from him, holding up her hand to signal that she wanted him to stop. "I am flattered by your interest in me," she said, voice colder than ice, "but I refuse your offer. I would appreciate it if you would return to where you came from now. There is no need for you to remain in this place."
With that, she turned on her heel, marching straight back to her mother. She didn't dare to look back. She could practically feel the fury emanating from him; she had no desire to see it with her own eyes.
"That was a rather quick dance," Ultear noted suspiciously as her daughter reclaimed her spot.
Meredy responded with a vague, "Was it?"
Much to Meredy's relief, her decided against pressing any further into the matter, and the rest of the night continued without a hitch, just as uneventful as the first part of the so-called 'party' had been.
As soon as the last guest exited the room, Meredy sprang up from her chair, stretching her arms out as far above her head as they would go and letting out a colossal yawn. "I was beginning to think that would never end."
"Restless as ever, I see," Replied Ultear with a relaxed smile, far less uptight now that only she and her daughter remained. She was an entirely different person around others compared to how she acted with Meredy.
"To put it lightly," the rose-haired girl joked back. "Perhaps I should create a sense link next time so you can know my pain…?"
Ultear laughed. "I'm quite alright being ignorant of your suffering, but thank you for the kind offer."
"It's what I'm here for," Meredy grinned before wishing her mother a good night and ascending the stairs to her bedroom.
She felt all of the tension pent up inside of her flow out as she set foot into what she liked to think of her sanctuary. In her room, she didn't have to wear oversized dressed that restricted her movement. She didn't have to wear her hair up so tightly it hurt. She didn't have to sit up so straight that her back cracked and popped every time she moved. In her room, she could just be Meredy, not 'Lady' Meredy.
She immediately pulled her hair down from the confines of the bun it had previously been held in, pink locks tumbling all the way down her back. She gingerly plucked the tiara from her head, admiring the way it sparkled before setting it down on her desk.
Next to be lost were the excruciatingly painful high heels that had been suffocating her feet all night long. In taking them off, she instantly lost about half a foot of her height, leaving her even smaller than she had previously been (and that was pretty small).
After that was the obscenely massive dress, the suffocating corset, the gloves that made her feel like her hands were not her own… When nothing remained, she made her way over to the bath, running the water at a scalding hot temperature until the tub was filled and she slowly sank into it. This was another one of her favorite parts of being alone; taking baths so hot that all of her troubles seemed to melt away.
She let one issue remain for a while before melting, however. The issue of Zancrow. He was an absolute creep, and wanted to marry her to expand his land. What good would that do him? Were things not good enough now, with them trading their goods constantly? What was there to be gained from simply owning the land? The thought bothered her deeply, and she chose to forget about it for the time being. It may have been late at night, but it was still her birthday… she wasn't about to let it be ruined by such troubling thoughts.
There was one aspect of it, though, that she didn't mind pondering for a while… the need to find a husband.
In Meredy's kingdom, the prince or princess to be wed when theywere twenty. That was the law, and there was no disputing it. A member of the royal family who was not wed by that age could not inherit the throne. So, naturally, the nineteenth year was spent in search of a suitable spouse.
Not that Meredy would mind not inheriting the throne. Truth be told, she couldn't stand the thought of being Queen. The job was just far too serious for her. But she was her mother's only daughter, so she had no choice. If she didn't get the throne, some distant relative would, and she knew that Ultear would hate that.
Meredy racked her brain for the current eligible bachelors. Prince Gray… Princes Sting and Rogue… Prince Macbeth… and the prince of creeps.
She frowned slightly. The five weren't exactly her favorite people around… Though technically their kingdoms were on good terms now, she held a long standing grudge against Gray, and she suspected he wasn't too fond of her, either, as a result of their first meeting (she quickly pushed the memory to the back of her mind, not wanting to think of that dreadful encounter). Prince Sting was, to put it bluntly, a cocky asshole, and Rogue was no more than Sting's shadow (she smirked inwardly at the pun). Macbeth was… well, she wasn't quite sure how to say what Macbeth was. He was something else, that was certain. And Zancrow? Not a chance in heaven or hell.
She couldn't hold back the sigh that pushed past her lips. She had been excited to think up the possibilities, but now, she was utterly deflated. She had to pick one of five guys that she had not particular affinity towards to spend the rest of her life with and rule her country. Lovely.
Now low in spirits, she lifted herself from the water, pulling out the plug in the drain as she stood. She grabbed two towels, wrapping one tightly around her body and the other around her hair. After taking a minute to brush her teeth, she emerged from the bathroom and back into her room, making a beeline for her desk. She immediately sat down, removing a pink pen and a sheete piece of paper from the top drawer in the process, beginning to write the instant the paper hit her desk.
Dear Nobody-
It seems that another year has passed without my consent, and I now find myself sitting here as a nineteen year old. Odd, how time seems to fly only when you wish it not to. It's not as though I have a problem with being nineteen. Nineteen is a good age. I'm healthy and likely at the peak of my appearance. The issue here is that nineteen is almost twenty, and I have no desire to turn that wretched age.
It's not even that twenty is a particularly bad age. It's only that hell-hated law that fills my chest with the feeling known as anxiety. Why must I marry so young? I feel as though I'm still merely a newborn. The world is still so new to me, and there's so much I must see and do. Yet… I am about to be even more tied to this castle than I already am, and the thought scares me to my very core. Perhaps I'm old-fashioned in the views that I hold, and I'm romanticizing the entire situation, but I hold tight to the belief that marriage should be the result of love and love alone. Am I expected to find true love among five men that I detest by the time I turn twenty? Or am I just to pick one and hope I don't utterly despise him? The thought sickens me, though I fear that must be the case. I could beg and pray that the man I must be with dies, but I don't suppose a life of loneliness such as the one my mother has endured could be any better than life with someone I can't stand.
Other than that saga, I suppose I'm doing alright. I'm well in health and enough so in spirit. I intend to explore the town a bit this weekend, and perhaps stop in some shops. It sounds trivial, but I find that the most trivial things in life often turn out to be among the most enjoyable. Take a dandelion for example. Such a small, useless flower. Yet, a smile can be brought to the face of any child just by making a wish on one.
I ought to cease this diatribe before it gets out of hand. As always, thank you for listening to the issues of an immature princess.
Sincerely,
Meredy
She smiled softly as she sealed the letter, addressing it to 'nobody'. Such an odd habit, she knew, but it was one she found she didn't have the heart to break.
She left the letter on her desk, pulling silk pajamas out of one of her dressers and rather unceremoniously throwing them on herself before she crawled into bed, shutting out the light in the process.
As always, review, follow, favorite, blah blah blah. It makes writing this more fun for me when I know what you guys think of it, so please let me know! ^.^