Peaceful Garden Walk = Ruined Plans

Val rises with the sun, as he tends to. As much as I would prefer to slumber, I have a mission! To set my Prince up with a cute library maid! I stretch my little cat body out before trotting up for Val, mewing as he walks towards the bathroom.

“Oh, good morning Princess!” He smiles, reaching down to scratch my head.

I trot over to the door, meowing at him hoping to give him a clue. Val chuckles.

“Pfft, what, have you been feeling tired of being cooped up lately? Well, I suppose I would be too. What do you say we go for a walk this morning?”

A walk? Well, if we go by the study, I can dart away and make him chase me inside. I meow, as if I have any choice in this matter.

“Wait there, then.” He turns and disappears to prepare himself.

Usually, when Val asks if I want to go for a walk, it consists of me perched on his shoulder while he walks around outside in the gardens. It’s a bit tough, since the study isn’t exactly on the way out to the gardens, but if I’m fast enough, I can dart into the study and hopefully get him and that cutie to bump into each other this morning!

“Oh, Princess!” Val says, walking out of the bathroom while buttoning the final button of his shirt. “Look at what Mrs. June gave to me earlier this week.”

Val reaches into a bag and pulls out… a collar and leash?!

“She also has a pet cat who likes taking walks, so she gifted you a leash so you can wander around without straying too far. Wasn’t that kind of her?”

N-NO! MY PERFECT PLAN!

The collar is fastened around my neck comfortably and I get picked up. This is the worst! I can’t dart away if he’s going to leash me! I thought leashes were only for dogs! Why do they make them for cats?! I never leave Val’s side anyways, this was supposed to be the one time I do! Curse you, Mrs. June! You always call me fat! I’m not fat, I'm fluffy!! It’s all fur!!

Val places me on the sidewalk outside and begins the morning walk, sun barely peeking out in the sky. I follow behind him, defeated. Well, it’s not the end of the world, I suppose. He’ll want to go back to the study at some point this week, anyway. He won’t be able to strike while the iron is hot, though. What a shame!

We walk slowly through the garden, admiring the flowers for a bit, when I hear something over to our right. I flick my ears and turn my head, the motion also attracting Val’s attention.

“Princess? What’s the matter?” He asks, following my gaze to the source of the noise.

A young man, couldn’t be much older than Val himself, working diligently to plant new flower bushes along a path that looked relatively new compared to the others we typically walk. He doesn’t seem to have noticed us at all, turned away from us and focused hard on his work. Val casually strolls over to view what flowers he’s planting.

“Those are gorgeous.” He says and the young man nearly jumps five feet off the ground, completely startled. He whips around to look at Val and…

I sense Val tense a bit next to me as he makes eye contact with the boy. Strange…

The boy looks up at him with bright green eyes, his dark hair pulled back—clearly so it doesn’t get dirty while planting. His face is a lot softer than I was expecting, round without any visible blemishes… though to be fair, it was pretty dirty from his hard work this morning already, I doubt I would be able to tell much regardless.

He was cute. But I was not expecting to look up and recognize the look on Val’s face.

“Y-your highness!” He says, scrambling to stand up and bow to greet Val. “I’m terribly sorry! I was so focused on my work and— oh, am I in the way? I can move if you wish, I’m sorry to inconvenience—“

“Oh, uhm, no. No you’re not in the way.” Val raises a hand and gives him a small smile. “I was just… y’know… on a morning walk and noticed— noticed new flowers being planted. I was curious, that’s all.”

“I-I see! Then, feel free to look all you want!” The young man smiles, turning back to the plant he was tending to. “It was requested to have Hydrangeas be planted in this section since it’s nearly time for them to be in season. Give it a week or two and come back to see them blossom! They’re beautiful flowers.”

“Is that so? Then, I shall keep that in mind.” Val hums, not quite looking at the flowers. “…are you a new gardener? I know they’ve been hiring.”

The young man turns around, surprised to have been spoken to.

“Oh, well, yes! I started last week.” He smiles. “My parents run a greenhouse in a village not far from the capital here— Riverside Village. I learned everything from them! So when we heard a job in the royal garden opened up, I decided to apply since we needed the money. I’m very excited to work here, though it’s not quite what I was expecting.”

“What were you expecting?”

“I guess I was expecting less physical labor? I-I mean of course I knew that would be a part of the job, but I get told more to just ‘plant this here’ or ‘transport this plant there’. I don’t really get to give input on what should be planted or where, just to do it.”

“I see…”

“O-oh, but I’m not complaining!” He quickly raises both hands. “It’s different is all it is! I am still enjoying the work. If I stick to it, maybe I’ll get to call the shots one day as well.” He laughs to himself. “S-sorry, am I rambling too much? Let me stop wasting your time and—“

“No, you’re not wasting my time.” Val interrupts, but quickly backpedals. “O-or rather, it was nice to hear your story. Thank you, it was a pleasant addition to my morning.”

Even under the dirt on the guy’s face, it was clear to see the blush forming across his cheeks. “I-I’m glad, then…” He smiles. “If… if you ever want to hear more stories to change up your morning walks… or even evenings! I try to work the most when the sun isn’t at its peak. Doesn’t change how much they want done by the end of the day, but still…”

“Then, I shall keep that in mind for next time.”

Val nods and tugs on my leash to lead me away, his movements stiff, though I doubt the gardener noticed if the way he’s watching is any indication. I hear Val sigh to himself once the gardener is out of sight, running a hand through his hair.

“Gosh...” He says. “I-it’s just because of all the marriage talks lately. It’s just what’s on my mind, that’s all.”

That confirms it for me.

The way he reacted towards this gardener boy… is the same way he reacted to the library maid yesterday!

I wasn’t expecting my beautiful Prince to swing both ways, but now that I know, we have another problem at hand! My Prince… falls in love WAY TOO EASILY!