III: Meet the Princess

They say that drowning can be a surprisingly peaceful way to die. At first, you thrash and flail about, panicking as the water floods your lungs. But, as your oxygen depletes, a feeling of euphoria sets in, transporting you to the promised land on a cloud of pure ecstasy. In other words, the act of drowning could be thought of as being in the eye of a hurricane—the intersection of heaven and hell.

I wondered if that sensation was what I was feeling at that moment. I had endured an evening that had come stomping straight out of my worst nightmares. Yet, lying in that big, fluffy bed felt like the answer to all my life's problems. My eyes had closed, and I found that the darkness that had enveloped me was a seductress, a succubus who stole my heart and sent me sinking to the bottom of an abyss I never wanted to return from. I wanted to remain in her arms for eternity—there was something so familiar about her embrace. But the moment I was prepared to completely devote myself to my mistress of nothingness, a shrill sound pierced the silence from a distance.

The sound was far away, yet it reached me anyway. The first few times I heard it, I couldn't make it out. But eventually, structure began to form, and its volume became much more grating.

S...ke

Shin...

SHINSUKE!

My eyes shot open, and my heart bounced off the ceiling in my chest rapidly like a dribbling basketball. Sunlight now filled the large room that I had spent the night in, illuminating three figures huddled around my bedside. Time quickly revealed what at first looked like blurred blobs to be my mother, father, and Mizuki, all standing over me with expressions that ranged from blistering rage to intense distress.

"Shinsuke Watanabe!" mom roared. "What were you thinking?!"

"Your mother and I were texting and calling you nonstop, why did you ignore us?!" dad added.

Mizuki yanked the loop on my choker, lifting me up from the pillow and briefly strangling me. "We were worried about you!"

"M-Mom," I coughed. "Are you going to let her choke me like this?"

"Yes, and you're lucky I don't do it myself! We all saw what happened on the news. How could you do something like that and not tell us?!"

"They wouldn't let me use my phone!"

"We were going nuts in front of the TV! My son is a hero!" dad declared, ruffling my hair.

"I can't believe you risked your life for the princess..." Mizuki muttered.

"Could you please let me go now?" I begged through broken speech, Mizuki obliged. "Thank you. Geez! Anyway, what's going on? How did you three even get here?"

Mom slapped the back of my head. "That's no way to greet your family! Besides, did you think we wouldn't come to get you?"

"Ow! I was just saying I can't believe they let you in, damn..."

"They said the royal family was deeply indebted to you and that we were welcome anytime. Can you believe that?" dad said, practically squealing in the process.

"They also said there would be some kind of announcement they wanted us here for. Are they planning on celebrating you?" mom asked.

Mizuki lifted my hand and took note of the silver ring on my finger. She stroked it with her thumb and asked, "hey, what's this?"

"I—"

I was interrupted by the room's doors swinging open. Helena and two suit and sunglasses clad individuals entered and approached us.

"Good morning, everyone. Shinsuke is needed in the garden, the rest of you will be taken to the dining hall for breakfast."

"Ooh, a royal breakfast, honey!" dad said, squeezing mom's arm. She patted his hand and smiled at him.

"Will we get to see Shinsuke again?" Mizuki asked. Helena nodded.

"Yes, Shinsuke will return to you after his breakfast with the princess."

My parents gasped and their pupils morphed into stars, while Mizuki raised a brow and crossed her arms. Helena allowed them to say their goodbyes before the suits exited with them and left me alone with the busy woman herself.

"We retrieved your clothes while you were asleep and washed them for you. Here's your phone, no social media. Take a shower and get changed, then come outside. I'll be outside the door waiting to take you to the garden." With that, she stepped out of the room.

I considered crawling back under the covers in the hopes the giant bed would swallow me whole, never to be seen again. But I stopped short of doing so when a memory of the prior night flashed before my eyes. I recalled how the Princess, Cynthia Rose von Eisenhardt, had attempted to rebel against her parents' demands. She didn't seem to want this stupid engagement to happen anymore than I did. If there was anyone who could potentially get me out of this situation, it was her. Thus, my disappearance would have to take a rain check. I needed to meet with Cynthia immediately.

***

I wish I could have enjoyed the needlessly large bathroom a bit longer, particularly that massive, jeweled tub that was equipped with about a billion jets. But there was something else that was a much bigger priority. So, after a brief, hot shower, I let Helena lead me through the grand halls of the castle. It didn't take all that long to reach the entrance to the garden—and what a garden it was.

"Here we are," my guide said, presenting the sight before us.

The unmistakable scent of pure, undisturbed nature hit my nose immediately. Living in Valport my whole life, I didn't recognize the smell of the outdoors much. Even the parks in the city carried the odor of vehicle exhaust, for example. But there was no way one wouldn't have identified the smell emanating from the lush green haven instantly. And if the scent wasn't enough to get it, the choir of chirping birds, symphony of the breeze, and whistle of the ponds was more than enough to understand that this was quite literally a slice of life—life without the scourge of humanity.

"The princess is waiting for you over that way, don't keep her waiting any longer."

I nodded and proceeded through the garden. Moving past beds of fully bloomed, colorful flowers and walls of glowing green hedges, I found the princess sitting at a round, ornate, glass table. In the center of the table was a tiered, silver platter of fruits, pastries, and syrups. A plate of freshly made biscuits sat in front of her on a placemat and an identical plate sat similarly on my side.

"Sit," the blonde royal commanded. Irritated with her tone, I did as she requested.

Neither of us said a word or touched our food as the sounds of nature set a deceptively serene scene. I tried my best not to look at her, and I could tell from the corner of my eye that she was doing the same. Things were awkward enough as it was, the last thing I wanted was to engage in a painfully uncomfortable staring contest. I figured I'd just space out until she spoke first, but there was a palpable sense of frustration building in the air. The events of last night were playing out in my mind, and the more the visions replayed, the angrier I became. At last, I couldn't take it anymore. Apparently, neither could she, because we erupted at the same time.

"This is all your fault!" we yelled at each other.

"My fault?! I saved your life you ungrateful brat!"

"Yeah, and that's the problem! I didn't ask you to do that for me, now I'm in this mess because of you!"

"Sure, pin it all on me. Didn't the queen say that you took a detour you weren't supposed to? What the hell were you doing out that late in Valport of all places?"

Her cheeks suddenly flushed and her back erected. "I was...getting a cheesecake."

"Let me get this straight, this is all happening because you snuck off to stuff your piehole with a stupid cheesecake you could have asked any one of your millions of minions to make?!"

"You don't understand, the cheesecake at that place is unlike anywhere in the world!"

"Oh, I see. At least I know what to get you for our anniversary."

She gagged and crossed her arms, glaring and quite literally turning her nose up at me. "Forget it, I'm not marrying you."

"What part of anything I've said gives you the impression I want to marry you?"

Her expression softened a bit but took on a more cautious demeanor. "You mean you don't want this either?"

"Did you just forget everything that happened last night?"

"No, I just thought maybe you were putting on some kind of show to make yourself look better in front of me or something."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Because getting dressed down by the queen and ordered to silence by the king accomplishes that, right? All I want is to go home and go back to my quiet life, not be punished for doing a good thing by being forced to marry you."

"Excuse me?" she sneered at me. "What is that supposed to mean? You should feel lucky to marry me. Marrying you would be a cruel and unusual punishment for any reason, never mind almost dying in a freak accident!"

"I see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Like mother, like daughter."

She seemed to cringe at that statement and released a sigh of her own. "I'm frustrated, okay? I will at least say that I respect you for not trying to take advantage of the situation. Honestly, you're a bit weird for that."

"Are you saying you'd prefer that I was sleazy?"

"Of course not. I'm just saying, I don't get you. Who in their right mind refuses a chance to marry a princess? Even if you were only in it for the life of luxury."

"Someone who doesn't kiss the ground your family walks on and values his peace and quiet."

"I see. Well, okay," she said in a seemingly disarmed fashion. "Either way, I just can't understand why father and mother are enforcing this law. That contract is the definition of outdated. It hasn't been utilized since the days of extreme instability in Steylia."

"You mean back before it became the largest kingdom in the world?" I asked. "I know back in those days there were tons of attempts on the lives of the royal family, especially the princess."

She raised her golden brows in surprise and said, "wow, someone paid attention in history class. Yes, that was hundreds of years ago. The White Knight Contract was a desperate law implemented to entice others to protect the princess and curb attempts on her life during that period of instability when the kingdom was still expanding its reach and acquiring territory. It was a seemingly endless time of war. Steylian culture has always placed an importance on the life of the princess, which made her an attractive target."

"Right," I said. "But, Steylia has been the largest kingdom in the world for one hundred and fifty years already. The kingdom hasn't been in a war for sixty-seven years. So, this whole situation is unnecessary and stupid."

"It is, but I'm not surprised. Father and mother never listen to me, this is just another in a long line of problems that have been building for a long time. And you know what? This is the final straw." Cynthia stared into her palm, then clenched her fist with a look of determination upon her regal features. "When I rise to power, I'm going to change everything in this kingdom."

There was an air about her that made me believe every word she said. It was clear she felt quite strongly about enacting change, but I was clueless to whatever else was motivating her frustration. I didn't think she would deem a full reimagining of the kingdom as a necessity for our freakshow of a situation, but I didn't care much about her reasoning, I just wanted out.

"That's great that you're motivated, but you aren't queen yet. So, what do we do about our situation right now?"

"Hmm," she pondered. "There must be something I'm missing here. Listen, I think there might be some kind of opt out clause, I need to research it. But there's something you need to know about first."

I don't like that.

"What?"

"There's going to be a live, televised press conference held soon to announce our engagement to the world. I heard father mention it earlier."

"Are you kidding me? He's going to announce it to the whole world? What the hell are we supposed to do?!" I whined, shooting up out of my chair.

Cynthia motioned for me to sit and said, "don't make a scene, moron. Sit down and eat breakfast. After we eat, come with me to my room. If I'm correct, there might be one thing we can do about this."

"...All right, fine."

I don't care what I have to do, just get us out of this.