I Promise

When I opened my eyes, everyone slept together with me in my room. Mother was sleeping on my left and Father on my right. My brothers slept by their sides. It was very awkward but it was fun. They didn’t really want to give me up to Eisen.

“Their eyes were swollen.” I said and covered them with a blanket.

When I got out of my room, the servants in the house were busy packing my things. I couldn’t even manage to talk to Dianne because she was so busy preparing everything.

I roamed around the house smilingly. It’s as if I was remembering Valkyrie’s past memories in every corner of the house. I was very happy. I reached the kitchen and saw our cook, Henry, preparing our breakfast.

“Good morning, my lady. What do you want to eat?” He asked.

“Could you cook all my favorites, Henry? I want to eat them before I leave the house.” I laughingly replied.

“As you wish, my lady.” He seemed like he was about to cry.

When I reached the garden, I saw the pretty red tulips blooming. It’s as if the flowers were made to bloom at that very moment. I touched its petals and was mesmerized by its beauty.

“You’re here, my lady?” Our gardener, Lily, asked. She immediately ran off somewhere and had gone back with a bouquet of red sparking tulips in her hand. She was sighing.

“My lady, these. Please accept them.” She gave them to me.

“Oh, you don’t really need to, Lily.” Although I said that, I accepted them. It’s such a waste.

“The tulips are blooming so well. Good job, Lily.” I praised her and she looked at me with sparks in her eyes.

As I moved around, I managed to reach the training grounds. I could see muscles everywhere and that was a delicacy to see. The knights were toned. I was just observing when Desmond, father’s knight and a bachelor, noticed me looking at them.

“My lady, good morning!” He greeted me so loudly as if he was announcing to the other knights that I was there, looking at them. When the other knights noticed me, they bowed as they greeted me.

“What brings you here, my lady?” Desmond asked.

“Oh, I was just looking around. You don’t have to be so formal.” I waved my hand so that they would stop bowing at me. Yeah, it’s awkward.

Desmond toured me around the place and all of a sudden, he mentioned this story about Valkyrie.

“When you were young, you would always follow your brother Vandrel here to the training grounds. Because you said that it looked like fun, you picked up a sword and tried to fight with your brother. After losing to him, you sulked and said you weren’t cut out to become a knight. The next day, you tried following your brother Vin into the library, but after reading one book, you started snoring.” Oh, I was really embarrassed about that. I felt like I wanted to crawl in a hole.

“Oh really? That was unnecessary.” I couldn’t look at him in the eye.

“When you met the crown prince, you wanted to be his crown princess so badly that you started picking up the sword again and tried to read more books. At first, you were a spoiled brat.” Well, you didn’t have to front stab me.

“Desmond, do you want to die?” I threatened him. I looked at him ferociously.

“I still have something to add, my lady.” He was flustered. “There, I realized that if you put your heart to it, you can achieve what you really want. When you said you wanted to become a witch and tried to cancel your engagement to the crown prince, I knew you were up to something.” His voice started to grow softer and softer. As if he’s so proud of me.

“My lady, I was a loyal knight of your father my whole life. I know I was just a knight, but I treat you and your brothers like my own children and I will always wish for your happiness.” When he said that, he looked at me with such warmth in his eyes. I could tell the genuine care he has for our family.

I grabbed his hands and said “Thank you so much for loving our family.” I started to tear a little.

“But you should really find a partner and have real kids soon. How come you’re still single? Don’t you know how to court? Or are you not capable? I’ll tell father to give you at least a month to look for a spouse, so don’t worry!” I boldly added.

“My lady, I’m capable!” He sounded so offended, but at the same time, we both laughed.

Thank you, everyone.

“Are you sure you don’t want to bring another luggage, my lady?” Dianne, my personal maid, asked. She sounded like she was about to cry.

“I wanted to come with you, my lady, but I don’t have what it takes to follow you.” She added. I gently tapped her shoulders and said, “Dianne, you’ve done enough!” I was really grateful that Dianne supported my every action.

“My lady!” She cried like a baby. Aww, my little baby. I hugged her and she was trembling.

“You’ve done so much for me. Please look after my family while I’m away. I’m not sure how long it will take for me to come back here, but I’ll try. Okay?” I smiled at her.

“Yes, my lady.” She managed to calm herself down.

All of our servants and knights have gathered in our garden to say goodbye.

“It’s a little embarrassing to let you all come and see me off.” Valkyrie was really loved by everyone.

“Dear, be careful out there. Be sure to eat well and not to get sick.” Mother was really worried. I could tell from her eyes that she spent a whole day crying.

“Mother, I will be okay.” I held her hands.

“You know you could always come back, my only daughter. This is your home.” Father insisted too.

I hugged both of them and said, “Thank you for raising me for all these years. I am truly grateful for the love and care I was given. I am your daughter, no matter what happens. This place is always my home.” I said to them.

Then I saw the melancholic faces of Vandrel and Vin. “Brother Vandrel and Brother Vin, I’m still your baby sister, right?” I tried to reach Brother Vandrel’s right hand and Brother Vin’s left hand.

“You, be careful out there. I heard there are monsters lurking around the enchanted forest.” Brother Vandrel reminded me of the danger.

“You can visit us when you try to control your powers,” Vin said.

“I will be back. I promise.” I said I wanted to become a witch, but I will never turn my back on them.

I was about to put a distance from them before I called Eisen’s name, but Mother gave me something.

“My dear, this is our family’s heirloom.” She just unlocked a necklace from her neck and put it on me. It was a beautiful emerald necklace. “I don’t know if this could be of help to you, but it is believed that the very first witch of the Evergreen family possessed this necklace and passed it to our female ancestors before she passed away. It was passed down to me by our mother and now, I have passed it to you. Good luck, my dear.” Then, my mother kissed my forehead.

“The necklace is very beautiful, Mother. I’ll take good care of it.” I pressed it in my right hand.

I grabbed my luggage using my left hand and there, I knew that I was ready to go. “Well then. See you soon, everyone. Take care!” I smiled at them from the bottom of my heart.