Chapter 2

Saralegui woke up that morning and sat on his bed. The gentle ray of the sun peeps into his room. He took his violet spectacles and wore it when Berias knocked the door. Berias entered and stood beside Saralegui's bed.

"Heika, Lady Alazon came to meet you." He reported.

Saralegui was a bit surprised upon knowing that his mother came to his castle. He got out of the bed and prepared himself. When he was seated on his throne, his mother, Lady Alazon entered and bowed in front of Saralegui, but he stopped her.

"Hahaue, no need to bow in front of your son." He sighed later.

Lady Alazon was touched by his words. She had been abandoning her little son and never got the chance to hear him calling her 'mama' even once. But now… just now, he had just called her 'mother'. She was truly happy.

"Saralegui, I… I want to tell you something." Lady Alazon stated.

"What is it?"

"Seisakoku is doing very well now. All thanks to you, Saralegui." She said.

"Oh, that's good to hear." Saralegui answered.

"I found something today. It belongs to me and your late father, but we didn't get the chance to use it. I guess, you are ready enough to use this." She had a small smile on her lips.

Saralegui stared at the small olive green box. He stood up and approached his mother. Lady Alazon gave the box to Saralegui.

"Open it, Saralegui." She asked.

"Just call me Sara, hahaue." He rolled his eyes upwards.

Lady Alazon chuckled. "It's okay. I like 'Saralegui' better. I gave you this name."

Saralegui shrugged. "Up to you." He opened the small box and was surprised by the content inside.

"A pair of ring?" he asked in disbelief.

Lady Alazon nodded.

"I think you may fit the ring. It seems your finger has grown large enough to fit with the ring, like your father's hand." A nostalgic memory of her and her lover, King Gilbert came into her mind. She just smiled at her son.

"Really…? I can't remember about it at all…" he said and stared at his fingers.

"Those are Shinzoku's rings. Any Shinzoku who wears this ring will be able to have greater power. However, if the person who wears this ring is not a Shinzoku, nothing will happen." She explained briefly.

Saralegui stared at the rings for a long time. The golden metals were simple but the carvings on the rings were magnificent. He wondered for a while, to whom will he give the smaller ring?

"So, do you have any particular princess that you're interested in right now?" lady Alazon asked with motherly tone.

Saralegui blushed in all of sudden. Lady Alazon was surprised, and then she smiled gladly.

"W-Well… um…" the young king stammered.

Lady Alazon chuckled again. "That's great. It would be much better if she is a Shinzoku too. But, I don't mind, really." She was really, really happy.

"Aa." he blushed deeper red.

Berias smiled as Lady Alazon smiled at her. He was also glad and happy that the mother and son are getting along much better now.

FLASHBACK

'Toki ni mukou

Kaze no machi he

Nee, tsurette itte

Shiroi hana no yume kanaete

Amai yubi de kono te wo tori

Nee, tooi michi wo

Micibiite hoshi no

Anata no soba he'

Saralegui tried to follow where the voice came from. He was walking alone in Blood Pledge Castle. He excused himself from Greta's birthday party to take some fresh air. She heard the singing voice somewhere from the garden. Curiously, he sneaked into the garden where a lot of flowers planted by Lady Cecillie, the ex-maoh and keeps searching for the beautiful, yet soothing voice.

He stopped and hid behind the wall of the building when he saw a slender figure standing under a tree. He never noticed the girl before this. She was really beautiful, and he just can't take his eyes off of her. Her pink hair reached her waist perfectly. Her fair skin shimmering under the moon light, her slim figure wrapped in a beautiful lilac-coloured ball gown. Her eyes were closed as she continued singing without noticing his presence there.

'Sono utagoe taenai hiru sagari

Mezametefutari wa hitotsu ni nari

Shiawase no imi wo hajimete

Shiruno no deshou

Tsurete itte…'

When she opened her eyes looked at her right, nobody was there. She tilted her head to the side a bit. She swore she heard someone's footstep before. She shook the thought away from her head and stared at the full moon. A smile curved on her lips.

"When will my true love come and take me to the paradise, full moon? I want to meet him someday." She murmured alone.

Saralegui heard her, but didn't dare to come out and destroy the beautiful view. He took another glance at her. Her golden eyes were glistening in the night, as bright as the stars. His eyes widened when he saw her hair turned into golden colour, just the same as his hair. When he blinked his eyes once, he found her hair was pink again. What was that? Is it because of the moonlight?

When he heard her giggling at the colourful flowers, he had forgotten about that. He smirked and left the place, returning to the party before Berias and Yuuri worried about him.

END OF FLASHBACK

"Marianne, I've fallen in love with him."

Surprised, Marianne turned around from the princess's closet and looked at her. "With who?"

"Sara." She answered shortly.

"Sara?" she repeated weirdly.

"Saralegui." She sighed. Marianne must be shocked because she heard a girl's name.

Marianne understood. "Oh! Saralegui heika of Small Shimaron!"

Lady Adelinne's eyes widened. "You know him?"

"Well, of course, my Lady. He is popular among the ladies. He's quiet, but charming. "Marianne chuckled.

"Why didn't I notice him before?" She muttered to herself.

Marianne chuckled again. "It's because you were so busy playing with Lady Greta and Lady Beatrice. Supposedly, you had met him in Lady Greta's birthday party in Shin Makoku."

Lady Adelinne turned quiet for a while. No she remembered. She didn't meet him because she went outside and singing at the garden after she saw the full moon outside.

It was all started by her mother, Queen Evilynn. She used to sing her the lullaby every time it was full moon. Her mother was often busy with helping her king husband to overcome the problems of the people in the country. Even though she was ill, she still gave her best for her kingdom. That was why the only real free time she had for her little princess, Adelinne was only at full moon night because usually those nights were calm and soothing.

Lady Adelinne sighed. "I want to meet him again, Marianne. I miss him."

Marianne felt guilty. "My, my… what can I do? We can't go to Small Shimaron without any particular reasons. Besides, we need to ask your father's permission first."

Lady Adelinne sulked. "Mou…"

Marianne smiled and sighed. 'The little princess has grown into a beautiful lady, and now she has fallen in love. What should I do, Lady Evilynn?' her heart whispered.

"Lady Adelinne, Everard heika asked you to come and see him." A soldier said after knocking and entered the room.

"Eh? For what?" Lady Adelinne nearly shouted.

"He has something important to tell you, Lady Adelinne."

"Mou… otou-sama really like to disturb me when I'm not in the mood." Lady Adelinne grunted.

Marianne gave a warning glare at the young lady. "Lady Adelinne, his majesty's orders are absolute. You cannot disobey them."

"I know… I know…" she pouted, reluctantly stood up from her bed and followed the soldier.

"My dear princess, Adelinne…!" King Everard called when his pink-haired heiress entered the hall.

"Otou-sama…!" Lady Adelinne exclaimed happily when she saw her father. Actually, she missed him because he went for some meetings at Big Shimaron's Capital a week ago. Seeing him with his usual white beard and big smile made her happy somehow.

She ran towards him and tackled the old-but-still-tough-looking-man into a hug. He didn't lose his balance at all as his princess is actually very light.

"Otou-sama, what do you have for me this time?" she gave him a sheepish smile; her hands were still wrapped around his neck.

"Let's see… I brought you a prince charming!" he answered happily, amused with his princess's childish acts.

"You're lying, right? You said that too last year." She sulked.

King Everard laughed loudly. Lady Adelinne was his only source of joy after the death of Queen Evilynn. Only Adelinne can make him smiled and laughed. But he knows, soon, he has to let her go. She needs to get married and become a wife to a fine gentleman who will take care of her nicely. Even though it would make him feels lonely, he didn't mind it at all if it was the only way to make his princess smile.

"I'm not, Adelinne. Now, now… behave yourself because I'll call him in now."

"That fast?"

"Yeah. You said you wanted a prince charming, right?" King Everard raised a brow.

"Then, you're going to get me in a marriage meeting?" she almost shouted.

"Yes… Adelinne. Don't you like it?"

"Uh…" she can't tell him that she has already fall in love with someone else.

"What's wrong, my beautiful one? Is something the matter?" King Everard started to become worried.

She sighed. "No… it's just that I have fallen in love with someone al-" Lady Adelinne froze. 'My uncontrolled mouth again!' she felt like kicking herself. Her father must be hurt!

"Oh, really? Anyway, you should meet this person first. He's not a prince, but a king, actually. A young and wise king!" he promoted excitedly, already imagining his kingdom being ruled by a great son-in-law.

"Hmph. Okay. I'll meet him. Just this once, okay, otou-sama?" she warned playfully.

King Everard laughed. "All right." He turned to face a soldier at his right. "Call him in."

"Yes, your majesty!"

A while later, Saralegui entered the hall followed by Berias tailing behind him. Adelinne's eyes widened and she gawked. It's him!

"Sara!" she cried.

King Everard blinked and stared at his princess. "You know him already?"

"Um… we met at my coming of age party." Then, suddenly the incident of him kissing her that night came into her mind and made her blushed madly.

"Good evening, Lady Adelinne." Saralegui greeted with a soft smile.

"Well, I suggest both of you take a walk together at the garden and try to know each other better. Then, we'll have dinner together, shall we?" King Everard looked at Saralegui and Adelinne. They just nodded. He thought it maybe because he was there. Maybe they were too shy to talk in front of him. He just laughed at their awkwardness.

They walked side by side without any words. The situation was really awkward. Neither of them knows what to say.

"You see…" Saralegui said suddenly.

Lady Adelinne turned to look at him. She was amazed at how a slight blush adorning his fair cheeks. His eyes were not looking at her; instead he was looking the other way, trying to hide his blush.

"I'm sorry for…k-kissing… you that night." He continued.

Now it was Lady Adelinne's turn to blush. "Err… well, it-it's okay…" she replied.

Saralegui gathered enough courage to look at her face. He was fascinated for a few moments. She is indeed a beautiful woman. Staring at her was like looking at an angel. He smiled.

"You looked beautiful today." He said.

Lady Adelinne blushed darker red. "Thank you. You too."

"You mean, I'm beautiful too today?" he teased.

"N-no! It's not like that! I mean… you look-"

She got cut off when she heard Saralegui's chuckles beside her. She sighed.

"Mou… stop teasing me." She pouted.

Saralegui stopped chuckling and smiled. "You know my purpose of coming here, right?"

Lady Adelinne flinched at the question. "Yeah. A marriage meeting, right?"

Saralegui nodded. "Emm. So, will you?" he blushed.

"What?" she asked back.

Saralegui fought the urge to smack her on the head. Is she pretending to not understand or she is really that slow?

"About the marriage." Saralegui muttered.

Lady Adelinne stopped walking and stared at the blonde king. Saralegui stopped too later, both of them standing at the centre of the white rose garden. She sighed and rolled her eyes before facing her back at him. Saralegui flinched at this.

'Is she rejecting me?' he thought sadly. Did he fail this time? He lowered his head with a frown. 'I thought it would be a yes!' his heart screamed.

"Is that the way to propose a lady for a marriage?" Lady Adelinne said suddenly.

Saralegui was surprised. He tilted his head to see her back facing him. Her pink hair wafted slowly along with the gentle breeze. He could faintly smell her sweet perfume. She smells like camellias. A confident smile made its way to his lips. He kneeled on one knee and took out the olive green velvet box. He presented it towards her.

"Lady Adelinne von Valentinia. Will you marry me?"

Lady Adelinne turned around towards him with a bright smile on her face. Her golden eyes stared into his. She giggled.

"Of course, Sara! I will!" she answered happily.

Saralegui was relieved with her answer. He took out the small ring and slipped in into her ring finger. He kissed her fingers. Lady Adelinne was really happy. She tackled Saralegui into a hug, making the young king a bit startled. He was still not used to have such a close contact with girls because she never had any girl friends before except her babysitter when he was still a child.

Lady Adelinne realized at how Saralegui froze when she hugged him. She loosened her hug and took a look at his face. He seemed awkward and she could see his cheeks reddened. She gave him a smile which made Saralegui blinked in return.

"May I call you Sara-kun from now on?" she asked.

Saralegui nodded slowly. It felt weird to have his name with 'kun' attached at it. But somehow, it has nice rings on it. He may actually like it.

"Sara-kun, from now on, we're engaged. I'll be a good fiancée for you." She exclaimed happily.

Saralegui was finally smiling again. He shrugged. "Great. But, the wedding would be in two weeks from now."

Lady Adeline's eyes widened in disbelief. "That was quick!"

Saralegui smirked. "The quicker the better." He murmured. His mind was thinking of his plan on taking over the kingdom.

On the other side, Lady Adelinne blushed when some random things came into her mind. "Mou… I never knew you were that impatient."

Saralegui blinked a few times when he noticed her blushing. Why is she blushing like that? He shrugged.