Intoxicated
AU/ET Pairing
Sorry for the delay of this chapter. It seems that the author of this fiction became lenient towards writing and probably enjoying the remaining days of her Christmas break by playing Neopets and Ragnarok, bonding with her beau, and probably chilling out and shopping at the mall. This is not going to be a long fiction, really. Probably, She assumes (rough calculation) that there are three or four parts remaining for this fiction. By the way, some of you may be asking why Syaoran acted like that. Well, he's not a bad guy in this fiction (why would I do that to our dear Syaoran-kun?) but if you're going to think of the situation, among the three judges who shall be the one to react like that? Eriol's attitude is more relax when dealing with a situation. Same goes with Yue and you know, Syaoran. His control over emotions is pretty much weaker than the two guys. Don't worry, I'll put a little S/S pairing in this part as a compensation for the last chapter. Peace out y'all and a late Happy Christmas! Here's my late Christmas gift for all the ExT shippers out there:
Part III
……………………………………
"From two and two hundred to fifty three?" Sakura was astounded to what Ruby Moon informed them about the number of participants after the first task. "In just a matter of days, we're diminished to less than a half."
Ruby Moon nodded.
The private bathhouse was built near the edifice of the ladies' quarters. It was specially made by the royal palace for the convenience of their lady guests. It consists of three chambers: the tepidarium, where the bathers undressed in a lukewarm surrounding, the frigidarium, where the bathers would experience cold temperature of water, and the caldarium, where the bathers would experience water in a high temperature. The bathhouse has a high dome-shaped ceiling supported by beautifully-carved pilasters. The room is lit by torches of fire attached evenly on the wall. The marble floor of the room has an eccentric pattern of different colors – white, gold, and emerald green.
Tomoyo and Sakura are spending their morning in the caldarium. It has a large pool of steaming water – hot enough too soothe the bathers.
"I assume, the next task would be more difficult." Sakura pouted. Her body is submerged under the water. Both she and Tomoyo were at the side of the pool. The pool was filled with mixtures of aroma from lavender, honey, and essential oils.
"Well, you should do your best Sakura." Ruby Moon replied optimistically. She was standing near the side of the pool. Her back relaxed on one of the pillars of the room. She gave a jovial smile. Her gaze lifted from Sakura and shifted to the other lady – Tomoyo.
Tomoyo's slender body is submerged under the water too, revealing her beautiful face and the stunning contour of her neck and shoulder blades. Under the subtle yet pristine lights of the room, her shoulders glistened with fragrant oil and water. Her amethyst eyes were concentrating on the beautiful mural on the ceiling of the room as strands of her hair partly drift on the water. Her mind seemed to wander off somewhere.
"Tomoyo, you seemed to be in trouble?" Ruby Moon noticed her blankness.
"I'm fine." She answered mellifluously. Her eyes fixed on the ceiling. The mural was colorful. In the mural, a figure with seraphic wings was flying off with a half naked woman on his arms. Tomoyo smiled as she looked at the mural. It reminded her of a poem she has read. Ruby Moon and Sakura noticed Tomoyo's concentration on the ceiling and both raised their heads to look.
The high guardian of the royal family smiled faintly and said, "The late king loves painting and literature. That one is called The Abduction of Psyche(1)."
"It's astonishingly beautiful." Sakura remarked.
"It should be. I believe it was made by the greatest painter in the academe of arts." Ruby Moon replied to Sakura. "William Adolph of Bordeaux(2)."
"That mural must be a fortune." Sakura's eyes widened in excitement. She clasped both her hands, splashing water around her. "This bath house too, I think."
"Everything here in the palace cost a fortune." Ruby Moon laughed, reiterating the words 'cost a fortune'. "Wait till you see the bath house of the royal family."
"What's inside the bath house of the prince, Ruby Moon?" Sakura asked, interested on the topic.
"Everything seemed to be made of gold and precious stones."
Sakura sighed, picturing what the royal family's bath house looks like. Tomoyo stood up and grabbed her green robe made out of terrycloth, which matches the emerald floor tiles. Her pale back glistened with oil and water under the gentle rays of torch lights.
Ruby Moon continued. She reminisce her one-time trip to the royal bath house. "You should see the side of his pool. It's made out of pure white gold."
Tomoyo wrapped the robe around her body. The other two looked at her with bewilderment. Sakura asked, "Where are you going, Tomoyo?"
"I'm going for a walk." She answered gently. "This is getting tedious."
Ruby Moon asked, "What is getting tedious?"
"These things." She smiled sweetly as she looked around her. "They're a little bit extravagant."
"Don't you love indulgence, Tomoyo?" Ruby Moon asked in confusion. Never in her life, has she met a woman not fond of pampered lifestyle. It was a puzzle to her. "Everybody loves things like this."
"Well, not Tomoyo." Sakura chuckled. "She prefers other things, quite not normal for a woman of our age."
"It's quite not normal for a woman with a title too." Ruby Moon added.
Tomoyo chuckled too. Ruby Moon smiled as she watched her. Her laughter lifted the aura of the two young ladies.
"Ruby Moon." Tomoyo called. The lady leaning on a pillar looked at her, waiting for the Tomoyo's remaining words to be uttered. "I would love to go out of the palace."
"That is out of the line, Tomoyo." Ruby Moon's eyes widened with disbelief. "You can't go out of the palace. It's one of the rules. The participant shall not-"
"We're doing nothing here." Tomoyo sighed. "I would love to go out and see the nature."
"We have plenty of gardens here in the palace." Ruby Moon offered, trying to sway her out of the context of leaving the palace.
"I want to see a real garden, Ruby Moon." Tomoyo laughed. "A real forest – filled with wild berries, animals, and wonderful trees."
"If you want berries, I can get you a basketful from the kitchen." Ruby Moon continued. "Animals? Don't we have Cerberus and Spinel Sun? How about trees? We have plenty of trees here."
Sakura chortled at Ruby Moon's humor about Cerberus and Spinel Sun. Tomoyo smiled and said, "Yes, I know that this palace has much to offer but believe it or not, a garden built by nature is far more beautiful and exquisite compared to a man-made."
"I know." Ruby Moon sighed. Sakura watched the two ladies with amusement.
"Do you want me to just go out of the main door of the palace and get caught, or do you want to help me sneak out?" Tomoyo asked, giving an ultimatum to the royal guardian. A sly smile was crafted on her lips.
"Of course, I don't want you to get caught." Ruby Moon answered promptly and then sighed, "I'll hand over to you my knowledge of the secret passages that will lead you out of the palace."
"Thank you, Ruby Moon." Tomoyo mouthed. The royal guardian smiled weakly, probably lamenting over her regretful action of allowing Tomoyo to spend a day outside the palace. The raven-haired lady shifted her gaze to her best friend and asked, "Sakura, would you like to join me pick up some wild berries and frolic at the stream?"
Tomoyo laughed after saying the last word. Sakura laughed too but said, "Probably not this time, Tomoyo. I'm enjoying this little indulgence that the palace is offering to us. Ruby Moon might give me a tour around the palace, if she's fine with it."
Sakura looked at Ruby Moon. The royal guardian nodded with a smile on her face.
………………………………………………..
Syaoran strode tensely across the hall with a rolled parchment on his hand. It was the list of the things to be accomplished by the prince. He stopped on the door of the royal prince's room. The guards of the door bowed their heads as they immediately saw the lord coming. Syaoran gave them a glance and knocked the door expeditiously.
"Eriol, you can't just lag behind. You've got tons of things to do." He said impatiently as he continued knocking. "Duke Embry of Serithoria is waiting on the tea room."
There was no response. He looked at one of the guards and asked, "Is he here?"
"He left a while ago, my lord." The guard answered courteously.
Lord Syaoran dropped his jaw. The guard continued, "But the prince ordered me to give this letter to you in case you've been wondering where he went, my lord."
The guard took out a folded parchment from his back and gave it to the lord. Syaoran accepted it. It was a folded parchment sealed with the signature of the prince – the royal emblem of the kingdom stamped on a red candle wax. The lord unsealed the letter and read it thoroughly. The penmanship of the prince was beautiful – each letter is symmetrical to each other with dangling loops of f's, p's and j's:
Syaoran,
I know you'll be choleric after knowing my disappearance. I just went outside the palace for a walk. I need some fresh air. Please postpone my agenda for today. I promise I'll get back to those things first thing in the morning. I'll be back before it gets dark so please don't send anyone to find me. It will be our little secret – just like the first time I escaped this tedious life I have.
Syaoran shook his head in disappointment. The other guard noticed and asked politely, "Is there any problem, our lord?"
"It's nothing." Syaoran looked at him and answered, "He just went somewhere to fix an urgent matter."
"How long am I going to do this, Eriol?" He thought as he left the guards, looking at the parchment of today's agenda of the prince. He sighed.
………………………………………………..
Ruby Moon led Tomoyo to the back of the palace. It was a very melancholic part of the castle, a path hardly passed by people working inside the palace. The colossal wall of the royal palace was hidden within the thick vines of ivy and wisteria. Tomoyo was wearing a white dress with green skirt topped with a blue bodice that shows her slender figure. She has a book on her left hand and an empty basket on the other. Her ebony hair was freely untied, showing the luster of each strand.
"Where are we going?" Tomoyo asked.
"I've been serving the royal family as a royal guardian for almost five years." Ruby Moon laughed. "I know every little secret of this palace."
"You're still young when you've started serving them." Tomoyo wondered. She looked at her earnestly. Ruby Moon looked at her and nodded.
"Yes, I'm that young." She said proudly. "But I've always wanted to be a royal guardian."
The royal guardian walked in front of the castle wall and looked within the thick vines. The raven-haired lady followed behind her, watching the royal guardian in puzzlement.
"I know it is somewhere here." Ruby Moon whispered as she checked behind every vine. She stopped for a while and smiled, "Found it."
"What is it?" Tomoyo asked as she watched the royal guardian shove the vines.
A small gate appeared behind the thick vines of ivy and wisteria. Behind the small gate is another batch of thick vines of the same plants. The royal guardian unlocked the latch of the gate and opened it carefully. She shoved the batch of thick vines afterwards.
"This is the one of the two secret passages to get out of the palace. There is also another one, same as the one here, at the eastern end." Ruby Moon explained. "Enjoy your little jaunt."
"I really want to thank you, Ruby Moon." Tomoyo said as she took the guardian's hand and squeezed it gently. Ruby Moon was caught off-guard by what the raven-haired lady has done. After recovering from the surprise, she smiled.
"Just be back before it gets dark." Ruby Moon instructed. "Yue will be checking on each and every one of you before dinner."
Tomoyo nodded excitedly.
………………………………………………..
Syaoran lounged on a table at the main garden of the palace. The tranquility of the place gives him an unruffled mind as he rearranged the postponed agenda of the prince to a new date. He scribbled the entire new program of the prince for tomorrow, putting some of the postponed itineraries on the prince's free time.
The whole garden has a green well-kept lawn with trimmed bushes of cassiope and magnolia scattered across the area. Syaoran's table is situated under the big shady tree of cherry blossoms. A petal of cherry blossom dropped on the table. The lord noticed it and picked it up with his idle left hand. He intently looked at it and smiled. His attention was caught by a soft rustling of grass behind him. He looked back and saw a lady looking at the cherry blossoms above her. She was a refined young lady wearing a pink tea gown with white ruffles which started around the neckline going down to the skirt of the dress which matches the cherry blossoms beautifully. Her jade green pair of eyes watched each petals fall under the tree with such enthusiasm. She suddenly twirled around; both arms spread and fell, back first, on the soft grass. Syaoran stopped scribbling on the parchment and watched the young lady's naiveté from his seat. He got up from his seat and approached the resting lady. The lady's eyes were closed, pretty much unaware that a stranger has already approached her.
Syaoran looked at her face with wonder. He cleared his throat which made the lady opened her eyes immediately and got up from lying over the grass. She saw the stern face of the gentleman.
"Are you lost?"
She bowed her head to Syaoran and said, "Please forgive me, my lord."
"I'm asking if you're lost." Syaoran restated his question in a declarative form.
The lady shook her head gently. Fear wrapped around her body like a snake, making her breathing difficult. She avoided his deep brown eyes by staring at the trimmed grass. Both of her hands are behind her back – trembling with terror of what might strike her. Syaoran smelled her fear. He paused for a moment and gave a weak smile, trying to break the fear of the lady.
"Are you one of the participants?" It was an obvious question of the lord and the lady fell for that inquiry.
"Yes." She nodded timidly. "Do you work here?"
"Quite like." He answered with an air of uncertainty. "May I know thy name?"
"Sakura." She answered innocently. Her eyes were still on the grass, not meeting the lord's deep brown eyes but her trembling stopped, as if she has found comfort.
"Ah!" Syaoran recalled her name and said, "The daughter of Baron Fujitaka of Rosacea."
"Yes." She affirmed with a sweet smile on her lips.
………………………………………………..
Tomoyo arrived on the shallow stream at the edge of a small forest near the town square. It was her second favorite next to the fountain by the plaza, her most favorite place. It was a tranquil place surrounded by various trees, plants, and shrubs. The water from the stream is crystal clear, where one could not only see the pebbles beneath the water but also a clear reflection of a person's façade. The soft meadow of quamash makes the place more inviting not only to the artists who wants to paint a beautiful canvas but also the people who wants a peace of mind, away from the busy and raucous sound of the town market.
Tomoyo sat near the brook and placed her empty basket near. She opened her book and her eyes fixed on every word of the novel. She mouthed every sentence of the book with pure eloquence and elegance. From the corner of her eyes, she saw the bush nearby moved, its leaves ruffled. She shifted her gaze from the book to the bush with fear reflecting from her eyes.
A man stumbled out of the bushes and made the lady close her eyes with fear and surprise. As the man continuously brush off the small twigs and leaves on his clothes, Tomoyo shouted.
"Please don't hurt me!"
Eriol looked at her with puzzlement surprise. He muttered, "It's you."
Tomoyo opened her eyes and saw Eriol in the same outfit she first saw him - knee breeches complimented with a knee-length brown boots plain and white tunic covered with a nut-brown sleeveless vest. Eriol bowed his upper torso gracefully as a sign of respect.
"Oh, it's you." She gave a sigh of relief as she relaxed her stiff body and curtsied promptly. "Eli, if I'm not mistaken?"
He nodded as he was amazed not only by the outstanding beauty of the lady but also the power of her memory to recall his name – or rather pseudo name.
"May I intrude?" He asked politely. "You seemed to be alone and you might want some company."
"Yes, you may." She answered absent-mindedly as she stared at his serene face for a moment. His eyes were azure as they reflect the sunlight that passed through the shady parts of the trees.
"It's nice to know that you still remember my name."
Tomoyo giggled and said in her soprano voice, "I think I'm pretty good in name-recall."
"Yet you haven't confided to me your own name." Eriol responded as he approached the lady. His eyes passed on the book she was reading – a familiar title and cover for the prince. It was Utopia by Thomas Moore – another favorite of him. He smiled weakly as he shifted his gaze to the flowing water of the stream and then back to her.
Tomoyo gave him no answer but a weak yet enchanting mischievous smile.
"So what made you come here?" Eriol asked. "It was unusual for a lady like you to amble around here."
"I just need some fresh air." The raven-haired lady answered softly. "The royal palace is a little bit suffocating place."
"You are a participant in the palace?" He inquired as he watched her reading the hardbound book.
Tomoyo pursed her light coral lips nervously as she watched the gentleman from the peripheral vision of her pair of amethyst eyes.
"You sneaked out." He smiled mischievously as he watched the lady froze. "Am I right?"
"Yes." Tomoyo trembled as she uttered the words from her lips. She immediately closed her book, stood up, and took her empty basket.
"Wait!" The gentleman also stood up. "I swear, I won't tell anyone."
She stopped and looked at his azure eyes.
"I swear." He repeated. There's a pregnant pause before Tomoyo's worried face morphed.
Tomoyo gave a weak smile and said, "Thank you very much."
"It is an honor to have your trust in me." He bowed and gave a compliment smile. The empty basket caught his attention and curiosity. "And the basket?"
"I'm planning to pick up some wild berries before I go back inside the palace." She answered cheerfully as she held out her empty weaved basket.
"Wild berries?" He asked curiously. "Aren't those unsafe to consume?"
"Unsafe?" She chuckled. "I've been eating wild berries since childhood. Nothing bad happened to me. You speak as if you're not aware of these common things."
He looked at her with an apologetic smile on his face. The lady gracefully walked toward the depth of the forest with a book on the right hand and an empty bask on the other. She started looking around the bushes.
"You've got handful out there." He remarked as he noticed her two hands occupied with the hardbound book and the empty basket. "Mind if I help you bring your basket?"
"Thank you but I think you should bring the book instead." She gave a picturesque smile, flashing her set of pristine white teeth and a pair of adorable dimples on her rosy cheeks as she hand out her book to the prince.
The prince took the hardbound book of Utopia and watched her look for wild berries around the bushes. Her mere presence made him weak.
"Tell me something interesting about you, Eli." She requested as she continued searching for berries on the bushes.
"Well, I work for the palace." He lied. "As a kitchen boy."
"Yet, you don't know a thing about wild berries." She said, pointing out her keen observation.
"I'm just new." He defended himself.
Tomoyo gasped as she discovered a bunch of red wild berries. She merrily picked them up one by one.
The prince smiled weakly as he shoved his hair backwards in a sophisticated way. "What on Hernnguard am I saying to her? Lying? It's out of your character, Eriol."
"That explains how you came up with an argument that I am a participant from the palace."
"I thought you're not going to join." He said as he shook his head. "You told me the first time we met that you don't want to marry the prince because you believe that the two of you do not compliment each other. Why the sudden change of mind?"
"I joined to show my support for a friend of mine." She answered promptly.
"And how do you find the prince?" Eriol asked as he picked out a berry and tossed it in the basket of the lady.
"I think he's a very open-minded gentleman but a futile leader."
"Futile. Such a strong word to use." The prince was shocked. "And my lady, what are your supporting arguments for such judgment?"
"Excuse my rudeness." Tomoyo pursed her lips. "I should not have said that. I know your loyalty to the highness and I should not have said that horrible thing about him."
"It's fine to me. You don't need to worry." He lied again. "How can she say that? Have I done something wrong to receive such judgment from her?"
"He doesn't know what this kingdom needs." She explained. "I doubt that he knows a single thing about his people. He doesn't even mingle with us."
The prince remained silent, contemplating on what he had heard from the lady. "It's not the first time I heard a criticism with a similar argument."
"Eli, try this." Tomoyo picked out the last berry from the bush and wiped it with the cloth of her dress. She held out the small fruit to the gentleman, "You'll tremendously love this."
Eriol looked at her, took the small fruit, and stared at it for a moment.
"Why are you just staring at the berry?" Tomoyo laughed at his weirdness.
"Aren't we going to wash it first?"
"Wash it?" She laughed even more. "It's clean. Trust me."
He hesitated then popped the berry into his mouth.
"So?" Tomoyo asked, waiting for his response.
"Sweet yet tangy."
Tomoyo smiled. "The best time to eat that is when it is newly-picked."
"Where did you learn all of these things?" He asked with full of curiosity and amazement. "You seemed to be from a reputable family."
"What if I tell you that I'm not?" Tomoyo answered his question with a question as she looked at her weaved basket filled with bright red wild berries.
"You're not?"
"I won't answer that question." She said as she walked to the path towards the royal palace. The gentleman continued to follow him. When they approached the colossal wall of the palace, Tomoyo shoved the vines and tried to open the small gate.
"There's another gate here?" Eriol asked as he helped the lady open the gate. "I went outside using the one at the eastern part of the palace."
Tomoyo smiled weakly. Both of them went inside the gate and Eriol locked the latch of the gate and hid the small entrance behind the thick vines.
"Thank you for accompanying me today, Eli." Tomoyo said as she bowed down. She took a handful of wild berries and gave it to the gentleman. "This is my gift of appreciation."
Eriol accepted the handful of wild berries and gave the hardbound book to the lady. "Will I see you again?"
"Yes, I think we will." Tomoyo answered with a smile.
"Well then, till we meet again my lady." Eriol bowed down genteelly and kissed her soft hand. "I should be going. I'm not suppose to – anyway, we'll see each other again."
………………………………………………..
"I wonder where Tomoyo is." Ruby Moon sighed as she sat on the staircase that would lead to the second floor of the ladies' quarter with Cerberus. "Even Sakura is missing."
Cerberus whimpered.
"I know." Ruby Moon replied, as if she could understand the golden lion. Suddenly, they heard chuckles nearby, making their heads follow the direction of the noise.
The sounds came from Sakura and Syaoran, both walking towards the staircase.
"You did not!" Sakura mentioned, giggling. Syaoran laughed with her. Both of them stopped.
"Well, I should be going, Honourable Sakura." Syaoran bowed his head, took Sakura's hand and kissed it gently and politely.
"Drop the title." Sakura said plainly with a smile. "Call me Sakura."
"Then you should also drop the title in my name." Syaoran said.
"I will." Sakura answered. "Syaoran."
"I shall see you tomorrow." Syaoran said before leaving. He greeted the two guardians before leaving the vicinity of the ladies' quarter. The two guardians politely bowed their heads.
"Am I missing something?" Ruby Moon probed as she approached Sakura. Cerberus followed the lady with amaranth-colored hair. "Since when did you and Lord Syaoran become acquainted with each other?"
"I met him at the garden a while ago." Sakura answered truthfully as tint of rose appeared on her cheeks. "He's a very polite and agreeable man."
"Good afternoon young ladies," Tomoyo greeted as she marched towards the two ladies and the golden lion. "And Cerberus."
The two noticed the basketful of wild berries that Tomoyo is carrying.
"You seemed to have picked out a lot of berries." Sakura pointed out as Cerberus helped Tomoyo by taking the basket with his mouth. "Did you find enjoyment in your little jaunt?"
"I did." Tomoyo said cheerfully. "Thank you, Ruby Moon."
"I am pretty terrified the whole time you're out there." Ruby Moon sighed.
"I'm fine Ruby Moon so don't worry." The raven-haired lady smiled. "I also met this gentleman named Eli."
"And who is this Eli?" Sakura interrogated as the three of them walked towards the quarter's kitchen with Cerberus following behind.
Before Tomoyo could answer they stopped in front of an enormous brass door. Ruby Moon opened the door and took the basket of berries from Cerberus before she went with the ladies inside. It was the same room where they had their first task, except that instead of hundreds of kitchen tables made for individual participants, there are marbled kitchen counter with silver sinks. The royal cooks were busy preparing the early dinner for the ladies. Some were chopping vegetables, meats, and fish, while others were busy stirring liquids from pots.
"They're responsible for the meals of the participants, my ladies." Ruby Moon pointed out the ten or fifteen cooks cooking different viands helped by several kitchen maids and boys. The kitchen boys were peeling potatoes and other vegetables while the girls were washing the dishes. "The kitchen, where the courses of the royal family are being prepared, is a whole lot bigger than this."
"And probably more grandiose." Sakura muttered in awe.
"Precisely, Sakura!" Ruby Moon exclaimed. "So, Tomoyo, who is this Eli by the way?"
"He's a kitchen boy here in the palace." Tomoyo answered as the three of them occupied the one of the kitchen counter near the sink. Ruby Moon placed the basket of berries under running water from the faucet.
"A kitchen boy?" Ruby Moon asked again.
"Yes." Tomoyo affirmed.
Ruby Moon closed the faucet and stopped for a while before looking intently at Tomoyo. "That's nonsense, Tomoyo. I've been working with the royal family in my entire life. I know every single one here in the palace and I can assure you that we don't have a kitchen boy that works here with a name Eli. In fact, we don't have anyone here working with the name Eli."
"How can it be?" Tomoyo was shocked with the revelation she has received from the royal high guardian. "He knows about the second passage at the eastern part of the palace."
"Oh!" Sakura yelped. "He's an impostor."
"And you let him inside the palace?" Ruby Moon inquired more.
"Well, yes." Tomoyo stuttered.
"I should go." Ruby Moon said as she walked towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Sakura asked.
"Do some precautions." She answered before leaving the room. The two ladies looked at each other with worry and fear. "We can't just let someone enter the palace."
………………………………………………..
"Good heavens, you're back!" Syaoran exclaimed.
Eriol was inside his room, sitting comfortably at a chair near the large glassed window. Near his chair was a bowl of wild berries placed on the side table.
"You forgot to knock, Syaoran." He remarked calmly.
"Accept my apology, your Highness." Syaoran said repentantly as he walked in front of the prince. "I would like to inform you that your agenda for tomorrow piled up."
"I'll deal with those tomorrow." Eriol smiled as he popped a berry inside his mouth. "I assure you."
"You should be." Syaoran said firmly. "We will be visiting the Duke of Serithoria and his family tomorrow morning. You will be having your brunch at his manor and probably hunt with him at a nearby forest."
"Duke Embry?" Eriol asked. "Is he the one who owns a big plantation of grapes?"
"Yes." Syaoran asked promptly as he checked his list of the prince's agenda.
"Cancel the hunting spree, Syaoran." Eriol said decisively. "Instead, I want to visit his vineyard and meet his laborers."
Syaoran looked at him, baffled by what he had heard from the prince. The prince took a mouthful of wild berries. "And why the sudden interest in mingling with commoners?"
"Just for a change." The prince answered as he munched the berries on his mouth.
"When will you return the clothes you'd borrow?" Syaoran asked as he looked at berries. "You should stop going out of the castle alone."
"I'll return it to you when I'm finished with it." Eriol declared.
"Just to let you know, your Highness." Syaoran announced. "Ruby Moon heightened the precautions inside the castle. Apparently, a man posing as a kitchen boy got inside the parameters of the royal palace."
"A kitchen boy?" Eriol watched him, amused. "Really?"
"That's the reason why I'm prohibiting you to go out alone, Eriol."
"That explains the four guards outside my door." The prince laughed.
"Is there something funny with what I said, your Highness?" Syaoran asked, puzzled with the reaction of the prince.
"It's just one man." Eriol ridiculed. "What could a one man do against the entire royal guards?"
"We're not going to take chances, my lord." Syaoran answered seriously as he looked into the azure eyes of the royal prince of Hernnguard. "Your safety is in jeopardy if we shall take any of these chances."
"I assure you that he probably fled out of the palace." Eriol continued to laugh. "You won't find him."
………………………………………………..
Tomoyo sat on the foot the bed while combing her lustrous coal black hair. The light from her candle flickers as soft, soothing cool breeze from outside her room passes through the translucent ivory curtain.
A soft knock from her door echoed the entire room. She gracefully stood up from her bed and opened it slowly. Ruby Moon peered through the small slit of the door and smiled.
"What makes you decide to have a little trip here?" Tomoyo greeted her warmly as she opened the door and invited the guest to enter her room.
"I'm just assuring Cerberus that you and Sakura are unharmed." She answered jovially as she entered the ebony-haired lady's room. Tomoyo motioned her to sit down next to her on the foot of the bed. The royal guardian sat down willingly beside the lady.
"Then, I assume that you haven't caught the impostor." Tomoyo sighed softly as she continued to brush her hair. Ruby Moon nodded, quite disappointed with the fruitless outcome of their interminable search for the gentleman.
"We started to search on the direction you told us he went to." Ruby Moon said wearily. "We checked every room and every nook of the palace's parameters. He's nowhere to be found."
"Probably, he left the palace." Tomoyo assumed.
"That's a possibility." Ruby Moon agreed. "But we will still heighten the defense of the royal palace for a few more months."
"I want to apologize, Ruby Moon." Tomoyo muffled apologetically. "I've caused you a lot of trouble lately. I should have known that he's feigning."
"You did nothing, Tomoyo." Ruby Moon shook her head. "With or without you, he could easily just go inside the palace. He is well-informed about the secret passages."
Suddenly, a faint sound of piano lingers throughout the palace. It was a melodious composition. Each sound of the key produces a heart-warming response to the two ladies. Tomoyo closed her eyes slowly as her breathing pace slowed down as well, making her more relaxed.
"Ah." Ruby Moon said with ease. "I assume that's Prince Eriol. He's a virtuoso in grand piano."
"I've been hearing that same composition every night." Tomoyo said as she ran down her fingers on the mattress of her bed, imagining that she's playing a piano. "I've never heard such composition in my entire life. It's enthralling. Intoxicating, but at the same time, there is a longing."
"He composes his own songs, Tomoyo." Ruby Moon answered proudly. "He can also play any classical music with ease."
"He is very good in piano." Tomoyo remarked softly with her dulcet voice.
"Yes, he is." Ruby Moon said. "I should be going. I'll check on Sakura too."
The royal guardian stood up from the foot of the bed. She drew near the window and closed the windowpanes slowly. "You better go to sleep. The second task will start tomorrow."
Tomoyo nodded as she accompanied the royal guardian out of her room. "Good night, Ruby Moon."
"Have a good sleep, Tomoyo."
"I will." Tomoyo answered and closed the door. She gracefully went back to the bed and lay on the mattress covered with layers of soft silk sheets. She gently flop her head on a pillow. The music created from a piano still lingers. She listened to the music and fell asleep soundly.
End of Part III
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Ooh. I have fewer endnotes this time.
Endnotes:
(1) The real painting called The Abduction of Psyche is made by William Bouguereau
(2) William Adolph of Bordeaux – William Adolph is the real name of William Bouguereau and Bordeaux is where Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the school where he mastered his painting techniques, is located.