Poisonous Love

Chapter 11: Coming of Age P.2

Age: 8

The carriage ride was short, under and hour, due to our mansion in the capital being near the Palace which was important for security. The sight of the enormous and grand Castle took my breathe away, it was a million times more beautiful than in my dreams where the 'future' Rosalia only saw the grand spectacle as a nuisance in separating her from her beloved. The grand castle had an entire waterfall flowing underneath it it, as it sat on two mountains that looked as if they were used as the main foundation for its tall and unique structure. White marble and jade could be seen everywhere, while the pristine Capital rested even farther below it.
I prayed today would end up well enough, and Ricin lazily rested on my lap while I fidgeted.
He peaked one ocean blue eye at me, before letting out a heavy sigh. "Relax" he chastised, "I will be with you no matter what" he said, stretching out before looking up at me completely. Oddly, I took confidence in his words as I nodded with determination. I had Ricin, Vincent, and Ceil on my side... I could do this! Let's break my engagement! I silently cheered in my mind. My father, who still had not looked up from his paperwork, had no clue of the plan formed between me and Ceil. I proposed it would help if he looked shocked as well, while I played innocent and dumb. Father was not the type of man to lie, so he was unfortunately not included in the plan. Ricin had already agreed to give a slight scare to the Royal family while acting arrogant to show his displeasure in me not marrying for love. Ricin had gained favor from Royalty due to his aid (by my command) to go around the Kingdom and help farmers with struggling crops, and any placed suffering drought. This aided the Kingdom greatly in bringing in higher crop productions, as well as gaining popularity with my mother's business.

Ceil even praised me, which was shocking due to His normal attitude of making me look like a fool. Ricin only ignored him, calling him a shitty child which made me choke on my tea. Ceil had only raised an eyebrow but said nothing while I apologized in his stead. I must admit, I did have some enjoyable times with Ceil.

As we finally arrived at the Castle, I was helped down from the carriage by Vincent who eagerly lead me down the stairs. My heart could barely hold itself back from tossing his neatly combed hair into a mess. As we walked through the inner gates of the palace, many maids stared and blushed at sight of my father, and cooed in false lovingness towards me and my brother. Keeping a straight face, we went to father's personal office in the Castle, still having a few hours before the audience with the King.

While me and Vincent sat drinking tea in a rest area of his office, Father quickly went to work after patting us both on the head.

"This place is beautiful, huh Vin?" I said, sipping my still hot tea. Vincent nodded, still amazed at the grandeur of the Castle and its complexity. "Hey... wanna explore?" He asked cheekily. Admittedly I did want to see the Palace library and possibly the medical wing's garden. I would even like to speak with a few of the Palace physicians.
I nodded eagerly at Vincent, as we quickly slipped out of father's office. Without even picking his head up, his deep and commanding voice echoed throughout the room.
"Behave" was all he said, nearly giving me and Vincent a heart attack.
"Yes Papa" "Yes Father" me and Vincent said at the same time, before making our grand escape. Ricin following behind lazily, likely looking for a place to nap. I let him be as me and Vincent walked through the endless and huge hallways, finding guest rooms, a large bathhouse made entirely of marble, a few training rooms, knights and servants quarters, a weapons vault which caught Vincent's attention, and finally the Library for me!
"Vin, I'm gonna check out the Library next door" I said, while he happily explored and played with the thousands of different weapons. Truly, it looked like a torture chamber- and I did not want to spend another minute here. Vincent only hummed in response as he was so absorbed in... was that a fucking chain mace? What in the world are they using that for?! No one uses that in battle, as least not from all the war books and history books I had read. I left the creepily happy Vincent to his own devices as I headed towards the Library. A maid was stationed in the outside of the door, and she gave me a once over, probably seeing the high class clothes and cute child that looked exactly like Duke Vermillion and the Duchess, before panicking and opening the doors to the Library. I gave a soft thank you which earned me a happy smile and a bow, before entering a room so big it could put a modern day mall to shame from my past life. I couldn't even guess how many books were in here, big it was triple the size of the Library at home. I gasped in awe as I looked around like a kid and a candy shop.
With shining eyes, I went towards a random section, happy to find it was a medical section. Grabbing a few books which took my interest, I turned around without paying attention and ran into someone. All the books in my hands scattered, as I heard a low groan beneath me. I realized I had fallen on top of someone!
Opening my eyes in a panic, I quickly scrambled off what I realized was a young boy about my age.
"I'm so very sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" I asked worriedly, praying not to offend this child who may be from a powerful family which could rival my own. Technically, none could rival it, but my life could easily get a lot harder if I were to offend a high standing noble.
The young boy took my hand as I helped him up, dusting his clothes off before looking me in the eye as he was about my height. My first thought was 'A Fairy' and an odd sense of familiarity.
"I'm okay, you alright yourself?" He asked in a cute and gentle voice, an adorable smile forming on his perfect pink lips. He nearly looked like a girl with his short curly brown hair, almost bronze in the warm magical lights in the Library. His big blue eyes were so pale they nearly looked white with only a drop of blue dye, and his rosy cheeks were still slightly chubby due to youth. I nearly fawned at the adorable boy!
"I'm just fine, once more I apologize. My name is Rose, what's your name?" I asked softly, an angel had to have a befitting name right? I truly did love cute and fluffy things.
"I'm Gerald! It's nice to meet ya Rosie" he giggled, giving me a pet name! I was close to swooning at this cheeky child. He seemed oddly familiar, but I was blinded by his sweet smile.