Cinderella After Midnight

Chapter 4

"Prince Kristian?" Amelia said in shock with widened eyes. She couldn't believe she was standing in front of Kris, her old friend. She had recognized the Prince from the very first second. Kris hadn't changed at all. He still looked like the same Prince that Amelia had kept in her memories.

The young Amelia flinched as a hand grabbed her wrist, dragging her out of the beautiful majestic garden.

"Kris, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Hurry up, Amy!" the Prince told his younger friend.

"What are we doing here?" Amelia asked as they arrived at the Queen's bedchamber and hid behind the couch.

"Mother will go out soon; I want to show you something." Kris placed his hand closer to Amelia's ear, leaned closer and whispered.

Amy looked at the Prince, confused, but her eyes wandered to the door as the Queen and her maid walked out.

As soon as his mom was gone, Kris took the younger girl's hand and lead her to the Queen's dressing room. Amelia's jaw dropped when she entered the huge room with thousands of colorful, beautiful dresses and shoes.

"Oh my god, do they all belong to your mom?" Amelia asked, running from the dresses to the shoes, then to the gloves like she was in her own world.

"Come on, Amy, it's right here," Kris's cute voice brought Amelia back to earth. She followed the Prince to the middle of the room and Kris stopped in front of a jewelry table, pointing at it.

"Look," said the little Prince, and Amelia gasped in surprise.

"Oh my god, Kris, isn't that ---?" She asked, but was cut off by Kris before she could finish her question.

"Yes, it is," answered Kris, taking it in his hand. Then, he turned to Amelia and placed it on the little girl's head carefully, smiling.

"When I grow up, I'll marry you and make you my Queen," he said with confidence.

"But what if you forget me when you grow up?" Amelia asked innocently, pouting.

"I won't."

Kris's answer met a doubting Amelia.

"Uhm... then," said the Prince thoughtfully.

Then, suddenly, he got on his knees and took Amelia's hand, saying,

"Amy Rosewall, will you marry me?"

A smile appeared on Amelia's lips as she bent down, hugging Kris tightly.

"Yes, I will," she said, and she kissed Kris's cheek.

"Then we are engaged now," said the young Prince cheerfully. "See? Now we can't be separated anymore and I'll never forget you."

"May I have this dance, my lady?" the Prince asked politely.Amelia blinked hard to make sure that she wasn't dreaming and that Kris was really standing in front of her, asking her for a dance.

She had missed the Prince so much that it hurt. A long time ago she had given up and had told herself that she would never see him again.

Yet, now the Prince was standing right before her with almost no distance. Right now, the only thing between them was the night air and nothing more, while a few hours ago it was still an indestructible wall around the unattainable castle.

After six years -since her mother's death- seeing Kris again was like a miracle. Amelia wanted to ask him so badly whether he remembered her. But what would she say? "Hi, Prince, remember me? We used to have a crush on each other?"
Kris would laugh at her for sure. After all, this man was the Prince of the Kingdom. Why should he remember a little girl that walked into his life for a few years and then suddenly disappeared? Besides, Kris was giving this party to look for a wife. Didn't it mean that he had completely forgotten about "Amy?"

"Excuse me. I'm not used to so much attention," answered Amelia bitterly after a second that seemed like forever. No matter how much she wanted to dance with him or how much she wanted to be next to him, she couldn't. Her stepmother might see her and she would kill her with bare hands.

"Oh, I understand. Dancing with the Prince does cause too much attention." Kris said understandingly. "But the music is loud enough to be heard on the balcony, outside. So may I have the honor of dancing with you?" With that the Prince offered Amelia his hand once again.

Amelia looked down at Kris' hands and a smile lit up her pretty face. All the memories suddenly came back to her mind. She remembered that day when Kris had proposed to her and hadn't let go of her hand the whole day. She remembered how the Queen and her mother had found them sitting under a big blooming tree with pink petals in their hair and Amelia still with the oversize crown on her head. She remembered how Kris had protected her and begged her mom not to put the blame on her. She remembered how it had felt to have him by her side and how it had felt to be lost in his eyes. With all those memories, how could she listen to her head instead of her heart?

"The honor is all mine," she answered, taking his hand and following him to the balcony.

As soon as they reached it, the music magically changed into a slow song.
While Amelia was still unsure what to do, the Prince had placed his hands on her waist, gently pulling her closer. To both their surprise, neither of them felt awkward or uncomfortable at all. It was even scary how right it felt, dancing in the silver moonlight together, enjoying the wonderful music, feeling other's warmth, and forgetting about everyone and everything for one second.
Slowly, Amelia rested her head on Kris's shoulder, closed her eyes, letting the Prince lead the steps. At that moment, she wished the time could stay still, so she wouldn't have to wake up from this beautiful dream, so she wouldn't have to go back to the bitter reality. She knew that nothing in this world lasted forever, especially not a good thing.

"I have a question," she heard the Prince said, pushing her a little bit away, so he could look at her face. Pointing at her medallion, he asked. "Where did you get that?"

"Excuse me? What do you mean?" Amelia questioned, confused.

"This kind of medallion is only given to nobles and you aren't a noble, are you? I saw that you sneaked in the ball by acting like a waitress. What are you doing here?" the Prince asked with serious expression, looking straight into her eyes, waiting for an answer that never came.

Amelia stepped back in fear. The midnight bell rang.

"I... I'm sorry I have to go." With that she ran away from the Prince who didn't waste any second to follow her.

Running down the stairways, tears flowed down her cheeks. She had known it. She had known that it was too good to be true. Yet, why did it still hurt her so much to run away from the only person she wanted to be with?

She wished she could stop running and tell him the truth about who she was and that she was looking for her mother's murderer, since it was too obvious that the murderer was protected by the King's family. All she wanted was to look at that monster in the eyes and asked him why? Why did he take away her mother?
However, what made it worse was the fact that it was Kris who made her mother's death a forgotten case. He persuaded the King to delay the execution of the killer and for years, no one had dared talk about it, since it was the Prince who protected the murderer.

Amelia just couldn't figure out why Kris had done that, but whatever the reason was, she knew that she could never have the Prince by her side anymore. They used to be the other's first love, but they had turned into enemies now.