Princess and the Pauper (Jackunzel)

Chapter 15: Alfred

-Jack-

"It can't be. Alfred?"

The entire ballroom was silent when King Pitch exclaimed that name. Alfred sounded a too familiar name, but I couldn't quite grasp who he was talking about. "Who the heck is Alfred?! You must be mistaken." I told him, keeping my held high. He regained his composure and slightly grinned. "I guess you are right. I must have mistaken you for someone else." He said and took Rapunzel's hand. Rapunzel looked unsettled, as if she's glancing at me to get her away from the man. I sense something odd about him as well.

"I was still dancing with the princess." I told him and he glanced at me.

"I believe the bride has to dance with her groom." He said and forced Rapunzel to dance with him.

I got really angry, since he forced her. Nobody can force someone for that sort of reason! I won't allow him to be Rapunzel's husband! It's atrocious on so many levels! But, who am I to even interfere between a betrothed couple-to-be. I'm just a peasant who's in disguise as a prince. The King can also see through me, it's scary enough. Someone just pat me from behind and I looked around to see who it was. 

"I hear you're Prince Nicholas?" 

"Yes, your Majesty."

It was Rapunzel's parents. "It's my first time to meet a royalty from an unknown land." The King said and I didn't know what to do. It was my first time to meet with the King and Queen! I bowed down and greeted accordingly. "Forgive me, I did not even greet you." I said. "It's fine. You are a prince of a foreign kingdom. You probably must be knew to all this. Will you tell us how your kingdom rose?" The Queen asked me. This is probably the hardest question I've come to face.

"It was a rough start. We were ruled by a colonial king, but a rebellion started and my family took over. We made a prosperous start and established a loving kingdom and helped our subjects." I made up the whole story that I wish they'd buy! "That is a really lovely start. We are so glad to have you here, Prince Nicholas." The King said and I nodded. It felt awkward that they weren't leaving my side, so I had to bring up a conversation that crossed my mind.

"Your majesty, by chance, do you know someone named Alfred?" I asked.

"Alfred? Oh." The King said.

I looked at the Queen, who seemed tensed and wants to avoid the topic. "My queen, do you know who Alfred is?" I asked her. "You really have no business knowing that. Alfred is a wanted man here." She told me. "Why is that?" I asked, probably being a little nosy. "Don't ask that silly question." She said. "Will it hurt to tell me the reason?" I asked both of them. "He is a traitor! God knows what he has done to this kingdom. King Pitch made us aware of his treason against the Mune Kingdom and ours. Thank God for his quick action!" The King told me.

It was hard to believe such things, especially when King Pitch is involved.

"Excuse us now, Prince Nicholas. We will see you later at dinner." The King said and hurriedly, they left. I was relieved the moment they did. But to my surprise, someone grabbed my arm. "Hey!" I exclaimed and it was Sir Pendleward. "You are in great trouble, young man!" He whispered. "Oh! Well..." I tried to make my way out of it. "Come with me!" He said, pulling me by my arm. "Hey, hey, hey! Sir, can't you be so rough? This suit costs me a lot!" I told him.

"Jack, what are you thinking, coming here, pretending to be a prince of some made-up kingdom?!" Sir Pendleward whispered.

"Isn't it obvious? I came to save Rapunzel from her miserable fate!" I whispered back.

He sighed and took a deep breath. "Listen, no one must know who you are. Especially the Mune King. He has a keen eye. Be careful since you look like his greatest nightmare." He said and I paused for a moment. "Sir Pendleward, what is his greatest nightmare?" I asked him. This maybe the perfect opportunity to know. "It's a who. His deceased brother, Alfred Mune." He said and I widened my eyes. The King had a brother?! Who knows how scary this guy might be, he's the nightmare of a frightening man! 

"Who's Alfred?" I asked him.

"I used to work for the Mune King and Queen, their parents. I just switched kingdoms because something terrified happened, in which the whole kingdom tried to conceal. You see, that place isn't so perfect as everyone think it is!" Sir Pendleward told me and I was in awe. I didn't know what else to believe because everything else might be a lie. "Is Alfred a traitor? He must have done something bad that's why the kingdom hid it." I said. 

"No, Alfred was as much every good as Pitch is bad. He vanished from the kingdom twenty years ago and settled somewhere." He told me.

"Then why is everyone saying he's bad? That he committed treason?" I asked him.

Sir Pendleward closed his eyes and sighed. He opened them and he scratched his head. "You wouldn't understand. No one knows where Alfred is after he disappeared from Mune. Only three people knew him. He sent me a letter because we were close when he was just a child. I took care of him. He lived somewhere safe, with a wife and two kids. But after his second child was born, he stopped writing me letters and he just disappeared." Sir Pendleward looked like he was about to cry. The topic may actually be a very sensitive one. "Sorry, I might have hit a bad one." I apologized. "It's okay. It's actually nice to reminisce whatever memories we both had. When I look at you, I really remember Alfred's mischief." He said, chuckling.

I wonder who might be the three people who knew who Alfred is after his banishment. I turned around to Sir Pendleward and asked that question. "Who were those three persons who knew Alfred?" I asked. "I couldn't remember. The one was Catherine, Cattle? I couldn't quite make it out. It was a Ca-syllable." He said scratching his scalp. "Perhaps, Cath or Caitlyn? Well I'm just guessing,Caitlyn's actually my mo-" He cut me off. "Caitlyn! That might be it! He used to talk about a person named Caitlyn in his letters. It had this glow around the letters. He was really in love!" Mr Pendleward said.

"W-what?" I asked. 

I couldn't believe it. There's only one assumption I can make out of that. Was Alfred part of my life? Am I one of those three people who knew his identity? 

Is Alfred my...father? 

I didn't want to believe it. Maybe that was the reason why Pitch looked so ghastly looking at me. Was my father really a traitor? Am I of royal blood? There are so many questions that linger my mind that I could not begin to decipher such mysteries. "What's wrong Jack?" Sir Pendleward asked. "This makes it so much clearer...I can save Rapunzel in any way!" I told him. "Oh, that's good, I guess?" He said. "Sir Pendleward do you know what this means? I'm--! I know who my father is! I know..." I exclaimed. "Why is your father a mysterious person?" He asked. "Kind of. He died when I was just 5 years old. I only got to remember fractals of him in my memory." I told him. "Oh, what's his name?" Sir Pendleward asked. I took a deep breath and exhaled. I smiled brightly. 

"Alfred."

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ya'll i'm tired