"Tell me then..."

"Whaat...?"

"Tell me why are you sad...?" asked the princes as if it was the most obvious things to say. Elizabeth honestly wanted to know the reason behind Leon's sadness, as he was not someone who would feel remorse over some little things. Imposing on someone else's business or personal life was clearly a bad thing, but he never stop meddling in her affair so she was doing the same.

"I...I..." James had no words to reply to her question. What possibly, he could say that she would understand what was going on with him...? It was all because of those perpetual nightmares, but he couldn't tell her that.

"Let's sit there..." said Elizabeth, pointing towards a certain area where a round table and a couple of chairs were present under a gigantic tree.

The duo made their way in that direction and sat down facing each other & once again Elizabeth asked the same question.

"Tell me then...?"

"It's kind of... a long story..."

"So..."

"Won't you get bored...?" James was in no way going to tell about his story cause it won't make any sense but also needed someone to listen about his suffering.

'It always helps clear our mind when we tell our pain and suffering to someone else. That could be anyone, even a stranger. They just need to hear and you need to rant. It's that simple.'

"Nope... Just tell me..." She neither liked nor hated Leon, but after her last meeting, she could feel something was different about him. And now, seeing him sad, it pained her.

"I will... but before that, tell me about your story."

"Where did that come from...?"

"You tell me your story and I will tell you mine." James also wanted to know the reason behind Elizabeth's sadness as he had heard that in the palace and it was the perfect moment.

"You never change..." said Elizabeth with a smile. She was startled by his words that he remembered the things she had told him in the palace. But she didn't hate it as she also needed someone who would listen to her endless suffering without impeding. And Leon was someone who perfectly fitted the role, as he was always honest with his words and never cut off anyone mid sentence to express his feelings on the matter.

"Kind of..." James never felt comfortable around other girls, but with Elizabeth, he felt somewhat relaxed. She was not like others whom he had worked with or known. She was different and deep down, something was telling him that there were some similarities between them.

"Tell me Loen, what did you see in that picture of that bird inside that cage...?"

"It's trying to fly away but is confined by the cage..."

"Why did I tell you that my story and that bird's stories are similar?"

"I..." It was the same as before, and James had no answer. She was the only princess in the entire empire, born with a golden spoon, so why did she feel locked up?

"I have always wanted to live a normal life, away from all this royal treatment. Somewhere far away from this place, from that palace. I want to live a life where every decision will be mine. I want to love someone chosen by me."

James just kept looking at her, and Elizabeth kept talking, looking at the sky.

"You know I have a dream that someday I will find someone whom I truly love. We will live in a village far away from here, have beautiful kids. He will go to his job and I will take care of the house and the kids. He will return at evening and I will welcome him with a smile and then eat together. He will help me wash the dishes and then play with the kids like a normal family. Then we will sleep together, holding hands.

Eventually, kids will grow and set out on their own journey. We will grow old too, but still hold hands. He will help me do the dishes and we will dance and sing. There will be no one to play with, but still we will play with ourselves and sleep together, holding hands. We will always be together, like a normal family. Like how normal people live..."

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Elizabeth's words trailed off at the end, but she kept looking at the clear blue sky where birds were flying towards somewhere unknown. It was the one and only dream she had for as long as she could remember. A normal life, a normal family where everything would be normal. People won't treat her like some rare animal, but a normal person who breathes and eats just like them. They would talk with her, and she would also talk with them. They would laugh and smile and enjoy their time together.

James opened & his mouth couple of times but no words escaped his mouth. It was as if something was stuck in his throat. His brain was not processing what he just heard. Elizabeth was the one and only princess of the Espedor empire. She had everything what anyone could ever dream of but what she desired the most... A normal life. Where everything would be normal.

"It's the only dream I ever had and I don't think it will ever see the light..." said the princess, looking towards James with a smile. Her eyes were teary but were still pretty. Seeing the scenery, James's heart skipped a beat. She really was beautiful, like a fairy.

"What...?" asked Elizabeth to Leon, who was looking at her with a dumbstruck expression on his face.

"You... You are beautiful..." said James involuntarily. It was as if his heart was speaking.

"... Wha....?"

"Sorr-y... Sorry... I...I..." This time James realised what he had just spoken, but he said nothing bad. He genuinely was praising the beauty in front of him, but now his anxiety was taking over as he didn't know what to say.

"You Don't have to..."

"Brother..." shouted Adeline from a distance and soon came towards the duo. And the crown-prince named Wilhelm also arrived just behind her.

***

After her brother and the princess left the dining hall, Adeline was also ordered to show Wilhelm around the mansion as it had been too long since he visited. He last visited a year and between that time, nothing had changed inside the mansion or in duchy, so it was pointless for her to show this moron around the same thing. Still, she agreed, as it was useless to argue with her father because he would insist anyway.

So she and the boy with black eyes left the room for the unnecessary grand tour of the same mansion in which she grew up in. Throughout the tour, Adeline was not even a bit happy, as her brother had abandoned her just for talking with the princes. She had bestowed her hope upon him to do something about this guy who was just behind her, wondering about the most obvious things in the world, like why roses were red and sky was blue. But he left her with this idiot for some other girl.

"Hey Adel, you liked the horse... I sent you...?" asked Wilhelm with a proud smile.

"Yeah... I liked it very much and brother even told me to send you a pig in return."

"Why... a pig...?" asked the prince in confusion. He was way too optimistic for his own good.

"Cause you and pigs look very much a like."

"Oh... What..?"

"Yes... and now shut up..." replied Adeline with an irritated tone and kept walking towards a certain part of the garden, as her legs needed some rest from all this walking.

Wilhelm stayed silent, saying nothing as he knew it would anger the lady even more, but what he saw just in front of him shattered all his hopes of creating a relationship bridge. Before he could say anything, Adeline shouted, and he closed his eyes with a long sigh, as he was now sure that coming to this trip resulted in nothing.

He had hoped to fix his relationship with Adeline with the help from his sister. Leonhart was not present and Elizabeth was with her, so his confidence was at its highest. But luck was not having his day as that damned man appeared out of thin air during the breakfast. Still, he had some hopes left that something would work as that guy left with his sister, but his hopes utterly turned into ashes as he was now in front of him, the man whom he hated the most.

"Adel... Where were you...?" asked the princess, as she couldn't understand why she came out of nowhere to interrupt her meeting.

"I was just showing mo... I mean Lord Wilhem around the castle." replied Adel with a smile sitting on one of the chair beside Elizabeth. She had put the right pieces in the right place and now the only thing left was to watch the show.

"Oh... This is Wilhelm, my little brother. You remember him, right?" asked Elizabeth to Leon, pointing towards his brother. She knew they had a very positive relationship, as they were always trying to cut each other's throat whenever they met. So she was working to ease the atmosphere.

"Nice to meet you..." said James, extending his right hand towards Wilhelm, who was sitting to his right beside the princess. He had no recollection of the man before him, but had the basic idea about his characters and knew about their very positive relationship. But not to his surprise, the Prince declined his handshake with a not so friendly plastered on his face. He also didn't mind it that much, as he knew it was going to happen.

Seeing his reaction, Elizabeth just sighed, but Adeline seemed a little happy as she was expecting something to happen but to her hopes nothing happened. Leon just retracted his hand with a smile.

"So Wil... How..."

"I think that's Lord Wilhelm for you..." replied the prince.

"Oh... I am sorry Lord. So did you enjoy the tour...?" asked James. He had a vague idea that the duke had also sent Adeline for the same type of touring duty as him, so he asked. He was in no way interested in talking with the man before him but had to or otherwise, that man with blue eyes would kill him.

"Yes... Your sister always does a fantastic Job, but tell me one thing Leon why are you here...?"