Three months passed and I have fully recovered, at least in my perspective. For my family and the Medicine King, I still need to stay in bed for another month but I’m not doing that. Being in bed doesn’t help me heal, it makes me feel even sicker which is absolutely against the idea of recuperating.
After giving my body a few gentle stretches, I carefully removed myself from the sheets of my bed. I still have to be very careful with my actions. My wounds, partially healed, still, sting if I use my body to the extreme. I was in the middle of fixing my bed when a knock came upon my door.
“Enter,” I answered, taking a last look at the bed.
The door opened and as I turned, Gonzalo entered. “Good morning, Your Highness,” he bowed the moment he stepped foot inside my room.
“Good morning, Gonzalo,” I walked towards him. “How is everything today?”
“Everything is on schedule, Your Highness,” Gonzalo replied. “Your parents are currently in a meeting with a few merchants and Her Grace went on her first visit to the supported school.”
“Elizabeth went on her own today?” I said in disbelief. “Why did he go on her own? Why didn’t she wait for Their Majesties?”
“Their Majesties confirmed that they will be having a long meeting today with the merchants and instead of postponing the visit, Elizabeth proposed to go on her own, he explained.
I nodded in response. Elizabeth goes out of her way to please James but this task should be done by the whole family or the king and queen, mainly. Elizabeth and I don’t have anything much to prove that we’re worthy of handling such important matters.
“Would you like to have your breakfast brought up here, Your Highness?” Gonzalo asked.
“Oh, yes. Of course,” I smiled, returning to my conversation with Gonzalo. “Also, could you have my reports brought here to my room as I wait? I have a lot of catching up to do.”
“His Majesty has insisted that you don’t go back to handling reports until the following week, Your Highness,” Gonzalo explained. “He would allow you to get out of bed but not to work and Her Majesty agreed with that as well.”
“Then what am I supposed to do all day?” I asked as I gestured around my room.
“Their Majesties said you can do anything you want as long as it doesn’t involve the reports and too extreme activities,” Gonzalo added. “Also, you have a letter from Lady Loraine. It was delivered here a few days back but Her Majesty told me to only give it to you once you’re out of bed.”
As I was expecting: they would prefer for me not to move or do anything at all out of too much worry. I know I was gravely injured to the point that I almost lost my life but now, I’m fine. I don’t understand why they don’t believe me when I know to myself that I healed already
“Gonzalo, I know this will mean going against their orders but I implore you to bring a few reports here to my room. Also, bring Lady Loraine’s letter with my food,” I walked to my window, opening the curtains as I reached it, allowing the light to enter.
“Are you sure, Your Highness? What if Their Majesties punish us for that? Punish me?” Gonzalo began to worry.
I can understand Gonzalo’s fear of punishment. Everyone in this castle always feared the punishment implemented by this kingdom. Even I am afraid of it and I’m the heir to the throne
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I turned to him with a smile. “There are still undone reports in my study. You can bring those so James wouldn’t notice easily. Should they find me handling reports, I’ll tell them that I got them myself,” I reasoned. “You won’t have to worry about getting caught with me.”
Gonzalo nodded but there was still a look of uncertainty on his face.
I smirked and walked back to him, putting my hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry too much about it, Gonzalo. I’ll do the reasoning with them. Just bring the reports here because I need to get something done within the day.”
He bowed, “As you wish, Your Highness.”
After I gave him a nod, he headed out of my room. As for me, I sat by the window and enjoyed the beautiful view of the garden, resting my eyes before looking into reports again.
♔♔♔
As I ate my breakfast and read through reports, someone knocked on my door.
“Who is it?” I answered.
The door opened and my page peaked his head, sticking out from the other side of the door. “Your Highness?” he called out.
“Yes?” I read the last word from the report I was reading before looking at him, brows lifted.
“Her Majesty is here to see you. Should I let her in?” he inquired.
I quickly put my fork down, as well as the report I was holding. “Please, let her in,” I stood from my chair as carefully as I can.
As my page disappeared, Mother entered the room and closed the door behind her.
“Hello, Mother,” I greeted her, my arms wide open.
“Good morning, Robert,” she smiled, giving me a warm embrace as we met in the middle. “How are you feeling today?” she asked, scanning me from head to toe and back.
“I feel better, Mother. I was already feeling better last week but Gonzalo said you didn’t want me to get out of bed yet,” I replied with a playful smirk.
“I just wanted to make sure that you’re completely healed before going back to your royal obligations,” she explained. “You gave us quite a scare after what transpired in the Sea of Gliss. Your father has decided not to let you cross the sea unless every pirate is found and dealt with.”
“I find the both of you overreacting about this situation,” I let out a short laugh. “Just because I got hurt the first time, doesn’t mean it will happen always.”
“Robert, you should know that being your father’s heir is important. We can’t afford to lose you,” she added. “You’re very important to us, not just as monarchs but as parents, too.”
“Mother--” I was interrupted when another knock came upon my door.
“Your Highness?” Gonzalo’s voice echoed as the door opened. “Here are the other--” he entered the room, carrying another stack of reports for me. However, as he saw Mother, he stopped in his tracks, dropped to his knees, and put the reports beside him. “Your Majesty.”
Mother let out a deep sigh and turned to me with one brow up.
I bit my inner cheeks, avoiding her gaze. I know that look on her face right now and she’s not amused.
“Robert?” a stern voice came out from her lips.
I sighed in defeat, looking at her apologetically.
“Would you mind explaining to me why Gonzalo entered your room with a stack of reports?” she asked as she gestured at Gonzalo briefly.
“As I said, Mother, I’ve been feeling better since last week. And instead of staying in bed or doing nothing the whole day, I figured I could go back to my reports,” I explained.
“Robert, your father and I already gave out orders for you to be exempted from royal duties until we see fit,” she scolded. “Why do you keep defying our orders? Is that hard to follow?”
“Mother, it’s not that I want to disobey your orders,” I protested. “But what you want me to do will just keep me sick for a much longer time. If I continued doing nothing, I will never truly heal.”
“But do you have to do an immediate stack of reports on your first day out of bed?” she continued as she pointed at the reports. “In our eyes, you’re not completely healed and yet you think you can handle this much mental work?”
“Mother, it’s better to immerse myself in working instead of staring out the window the whole day,” I said, a bit annoyed. “I want to condition my body back to work as early as possible. Even James would want for me to do that.
“Why would you think that your father would want you to go back to work right away?” Mother responded. “If you must know, he’s the one who wanted you to keep resting until you fully recovered. He even went out of his way to do half of the piled reports on your desk. Your father isn’t as bad as you think he is.”
I chuckled, knowing where this conversation is heading and I don’t want to have this argument, especially when I just got back from being injured. “Mother, you’re reading my words wrong. I’m not saying he’s the villain in this. All I’m saying is as his heir, he will surely understand why I want to resume my responsibilities. As he would always say, the sooner--”