"You're annoying. You're a nuisance. How could I ever be obsessed with you?" I asked.
Philip's hand began to run up my thigh. "It seems like you're hiding your true feelings, your highness." He whispered in my ear.
"Fuck off, you peasant!" I should...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
PHILIP
King Alaric and the former Queen Anais have been gone for two weeks. They're off at someone's coronations. Anais entrusted me to keep the gardens in pristine condition. Easy enough job to do. And since they aren't here, I can easily return home and make sure the black market roses are up to good condition.
Ever since the king kissed me, I haven't been able to get him out of my head. Most of my thoughts all revolve around him and everything about him. For example, I've found myself entranced by his eyebrows. Eyebrows! I've never thought of someone's eyebrows as sexy. But his, for some reason, are!
Had you asked me a month ago what I thought of the king, I probably would've said a few unfavorable words. But now, if you ask me, I'd probably not even be able to speak a cohesive sentence.
My thoughts are confusing. And I don't want to know what happens if I figure them out.
The blazing sun was burning on my back as I labored away at the patch of poppies that needed tending. I honestly love my job. Being a florist was nice, but here, I have more freedom. If I want to experiment with something new, all I need to do is ask the queen. Who, at this point, is sort of like my best friend.
There's so much space here. Acres upon acres of land that is all to my disposal. There's things I can do here that will make this place even better. Once the poppies were fixed, I grabbed my bag of tools and began walking.
As I looked around the gardens, I came across a place that I normally ignore. A place that's infamous for the wrong reasons. The burnt roses. Ground zero for the war of roses.
Since no one was around, I decided to look at the burnt flowers. I crouched down and gently tried to pick up a burnt leaf. However, the weak remains fell into my hand. I squished it as the once verdant leaf crumbled into nothing but ashes in my palm.
The whole place was burnt. No sign of a rose petal or stem or thorn was anywhere to be spotted. I could still remember when the pictures came out of King Alaric welding a blowtorch and burning everything down. It was truly a heartbreaking day.
I walked into the scorched soil and wandered around, looking at the charred plants. I reached the end of the patch and looked around.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something... green. Seeing as most of this place is burnt, this green quickly caught my eye. I walked over and crouched down.
There, among the piles of ashes, was a growing rose stem growing from the ground. It looked like it had been growing for some time. It most likely was able to thrive off of rain water and the nutrients from the burnt plants around it. I removed some of the ashes and cleared the place for the newborn.
Despite all his attempts, King Alaric failed to eradicate roses. Even in his own backyard, roses managed to thrive.
From now on, I'll make it my mission to make sure this rose is able to grow fully. Its safety is my top priority.
