Thorns of Roses

Chapter 45 - Another part of me

It was late afternoon.

People started gathering their things and returning from work to their homes, returning to their loved ones. The bustle of the city slowly lowered with each passing hour, the crowd slowly vanished from the streets.
The doors of the stores started to close, waiting for the last customer to leave the building so they could hang the 'closed' board in front of the entrance.

The sun started to settle down as well, reaching the horizon with dignity after hours of hard work to serve every living creature a bright day. Its last rays, however, couldn't stop their job yet. As the Sun made its way toward the skyline, its colors started to change into something intense - painting every little thing with vivid orange and red tones.

The sun rays on their way to the city reached the Palace and penetrated through the arch windows - brightening every corridor, every painting on the wall with its oranges, including a certain blonde prince who was walking across the hallways.

He took his steps with authority, even though he was tired after this long day. His hair seemed a bit messy in the sunlight, just like his coat that was hanging on one of his arms, while the other one hold some books he had brought from the library.

Despite the tiredness - due to the hours of ceaselessly searching -, his greenish eyes were shining brighter than ever, the corner of his lips curling into a subtle smile as he recalled his day with the Princess.

It was a long day, and yet the afternoon seemed to be just a brief moment for him. After discovering the poem he had never thought he would see again in his life, they wanted to learn more about this so-called "soul" by looking through as many books as they just could find.

Although their research was pointless so far, the Prince didn't mind spending his whole day with the Princess. On the contrary, - he hated to admit it -, but ever since the Autumn Ball, he had been enjoying her company.

Ever since they'd known each other, he didn't use to see any virtue in her besides her appearance. But that slowly changed with their wedding and they being forced to live together. In time, Félix had started to notice more and more attributes of her he had never known she had, that captured his attention. Maybe it was thanks to the years of being apart or thanks to other circumstances but that immatureness and frivolity were nowhere to be found in her anymore. He started to realize how diligent and responsible she was towards her kingdom, how earnestly she took her obligations and tried to fulfill her duties to the best of her knowledge.

But this wasn't the only attribute of hers that caught his eye in the past few weeks but her personality. She was not only caring and kind to her people but could talk about her ambitions as a future queen so passionately that no one could take off of their eyes off her. Despite having many insecurities inside her, she was confident and wasn't afraid to speak from her heart.

Unlike other ladies Félix had met throughout the years - those who eagerly yearned to have all of the gentlemen's eyes on themselves by giggling charmingly and acting perfectly -, Marinette had never faked her personality just to gain others' attention. Instead of redundant small talks with those snobbish people, she talked about the things that interested her, be it such serious subjects like internal and external politics or something jaunty like a great novel she had recently read.

Moreover, the Princess had her opinion on everything and wasn't afraid to argue with not just Félix, but even with the King himself if she didn't agree on something. She was feisty and even fierce. Someone who didn't get flustered and shy when got questioned or even teased by the Prince or any other man but was ready to make a witty remark right away.