Author’s note: People, before starting, I’d like to make things clear here for this fic; that the story starts with Zel as a young boy (10 years old) and Amelia, a 7 year old. Okay?
Zelgadiss sat down on his bed, the manservant combing his hair for him. "You don’t have to comb my hair! I can live with the shaggy and messy look!" Zel complained. "Don’t complain. You are taken care by Rezo so that you won’t be a spoiled brat! You are his one and only grand son and you must act like a decent man, okay?"
"But I don’t wanna go out and wear this stupid formal attire!" Zel pointed out. The manservant didn’t answer the little master’s question anymore.
"Your grandfather told you to dress up that way so that you will look like a cute little boy. Now you can go out and play now, little Zel."
"I don’t wanna be cute!" Zel answered, feeling very humiliated. Then, when he got out and away from the big home of his grandfather, he untied his necktie and messed up his hair again. "I don’t like these clothes…" he said to himself, searching for the secret place where he kept extra clothes. He is already in the forest, looking for the tree where he hid his spare normal clothes in case he is dressed like that.
When he found it, he changed into those and went off into the city.
Zelgadiss finally reached the town and saw that there is a welcoming crowd by the gate. He passed by the back entrance of the town so he knew that the townspeople aren’t welcoming him. (obviously)
Then, he decided to check it out and saw royal guards from a foreign land, surrounding an open carriage, a fat(^^) man and a cute little girl as its passengers. The Fat man was waving at the crowd and the crowd was cheering for him. Zel thought that it was silly. "What’s so special about that man and the crowd is cheering for him?" he asked aloud. A man heard him and said, "Hey, you shouldn’t talk that way! He is the Crown Prince of Saillune but he’s a single man. You see, his wife died 3 years ago. And that tragedy was followed by the running away of his eldest daughter, Gracia, leaving him with his youngest. Isn’t she pretty?"
Zel turned to the little girl beside the crown prince. "Ugh… Pretty they say… I…" he was interrupted when the girl turned to his direction. She was frowning and there was sadness in her eyes.
That struck Zelgadiss. "Why is she unhappy?" he asked, feeling pity for the princess. The blue eyes of the princess turned away from him and she seems so uninterested with the crowd.
Zel followed her with his eyes and by doing so, he was blushing. Then, a young girl with black hair approached him. "Hey, Zel!"
And he turned around. "Ellis!" he said, surprised.
"Rezo-san sent me here to follow you to ask if you are going to eat lunch with him." Ellis told him. "Who needs lunch when I’m gonna eat with him! I don’t even wanna wear the things he’s recommending me to wear!" Zel answered, feeling annoyed. Then, he looked around and leaned forward to Ellis’ ear. "Now don’t ever report to him that I changed my clothes, okay?" Zel whispered. Ellis smiled. "Don’t worry, I won’t." and she turned to the princess in the carriage. "Are you blushing because of her?" she asked. "No." He answered immediately. "As you said… gotta go!" and she ran off.
"I still don’t trust that student of Rezo…" Zel thought suspiciously. Then, he decided to go to another place that is far away from the crowd. So he did.
Amelia entered her hotel room with her maidservant. She stomped her way to the window and slouched as she looked out the window. "I don’t get it! Why don’t you let me go!? I don’t even want to take over the throne when the time comes! It’s my sister’s job!" she remarked angrily. "Now, now, your majesty. Your mother decided when she was still alive that you take the crown and not your older sister because Princess Gracia didn’t even want it." The maid answered.
"Then give it to Cousin Alfred! I don’t need it!" Amelia cried, trying not to cry because of too much anger.
"What’s the problem here? Amelia, don’t you raise your voice to your maid!" Filionel said as he entered the room of his daughter.
"Daddy! I don’t want to come here in the first place, why did you make me?" Amelia asked, ignoring his scolding awhile ago.
"You need to get used to crowds and meetings so that your royal tutor won’t have a hard time teaching you how to behave in front of other royalty." Fil answered.
"Then go find Gracia so you’ll have an heiress." Amelia answered stubbornly.
"Your sister ran away a year after your mother died. And I tried to look for her but I cannot find her. Some are saying that she changed her name…"
"Dad! I hate you! I don’t care about the throne and here you are making excuses that I should sit on that stupid throne of Saillune…"
"Watch your language, young lady!" Fil screamed angrily.
Amelia began to cry. "I hate you!!!" she yelled. And with that, she ran out of the room.
"Your highness, aren’t you going to go after her?" the maid asked. "Let her be. She needs to cool off." Filionel answered.
The rain began to pour down heavily as Amelia was running down the road, though she didn’t know where it will lead her. "How could daddy do this to me!?" she thought angrily. Then, she tripped on a stone and fell face first, feeling some hurt all over her face. She began to sob and hid her face in her hands; then pounding on the hard ground. Then to her surprise, she heard a concerned voice. "Are you okay?"
She raised her head to the one speaking and faced him, standing up. "Who are you?" she asked as she was wiping her tears away.
The little boy looked at her. "Hey, you’re the princess awhile ago, right?"
Amelia blinked. "You saw me…" she muttered.
"Anyway, why are you out here in the rain? Where are your servants? Aren’t they supposed to be around you? Did they leave you like this that’s why you’re crying and all alone here?" the boy asked her.
"No. I ran away by myself. I don’t want to go back. I hate my family. My mom died, my sister ran away, what’s worse, my daddy is forcing me to take over someday. I am sick of royalty! I don’t wanna rule Saillune when I grow up!" she explained.
The little boy offered his hand to her. "My name is Zelgadiss Graywords. What’s yours?" he asked.
Amelia stared at his hand. She thought for awhile and then took it, shaking it. "Amelia. Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune." She said shyly with a shy smile.
Zel smiled at her. "Nice to meet you, Amelia. You have a pretty name." He told her cheerfully. He looked up and the cold rain hit his face. "Why don’t we get into some place where we can have shelter while the rain is going on? You don’t wanna get sick, do you?" he asked. "Sure. Where are you taking me?" she asked. "Follow me! I know a place! I am always playing there by myself!" Zelgadiss pulled her with him and they ran all the way to that place that Zel was talking about.
Finally, they reached the place that Zel was talking about. It was just an old cottage by the forest but it’s still complete with a fireplace and some important things needed in a home.
"Why did you leave your father? You shouldn’t have done it." Zel told her as he lit up the fireplace using a little fireball. Amelia looked at the warm flame. "I don’t want to rule Saillune." She answered. "Why? You are a princess!" he answered.
Amelia rolled her eyes. "I don’t care if I am a princess. By the way, you live here all by yourself?" she asked, trying to change the subject. "No, I don’t actually live here. This is only a place that I use if I get tired of staying with Rezo or studying in his presence." He answered. "You know Rezo?" she asked. "He is my grandpa." He answered glumly. "Oh. And I thought that you are just a peasant boy. Well, I know that Rezo owns a lot of good property. Why are you wearing those kind of clothes?" Amelia asked. "I hate the necktie, I hate the formal polo shirts, I hate putting on some goo on my hair just to look fully elegant." Zel answered. He turned to her. "And by the way, don’t you ever judge people by their appearance." He continued, minding her calling her "peasant" awhile ago.
"My sister also used to say that…" Amelia whispered, remembering her older sister. Zel looked at her and he blushed. Amelia caught his eye and turned to look at him too. "Why are you staring at me?" she asked. "Nothing. You’re just pretty, that’s all." He answered. "Why thank you!" she answered, flattered, but not taking him seriously.
The rain continued to pour down for some more hours. During that time, they began to play some little childish game like hide and seek, jumprope and some other games. The 2 kids enjoyed their time together and after a while, the rain stopped and the sun came out from the once dark clouds.
"Oh, it’s already sunny outside." Amelia declared, looking out at the window.
"You’re right…" he said. Amelia smiled. "Well, I guess I’d better be going back to the hotel! I cannot escape this destiny after all." She told him. "That’s good!" Zel answered. "G’bye!" Amelia opened the door stepped out. "Wait!" Zel called to her.
She stopped and turned to face him again. "Yes?" she asked. Zel reached for his pocket and brought out an adult-sized ring with a beautiful ruby embedded on top of it. "I’d like to give this to you, Amelia. It’s just a little gift because you are a good girl to me. When I play with Ellis, another student of Rezo, she keeps kicking me down to the floor and pushing me down the stairs. She’s a bit cruel but I can handle it." Zel answered.
Amelia ran to him and got the ring. "It’s big for my finger just now… maybe it will fit when I reach 13." She answered. "Take care of it. It came from my grandpa." Zel told her. Amelia placed it inside the pocket of her skirt. "It will remain with me forever." She told her. And she gave him a flying kiss and with that, ran off. "Bye, Amelia!" Zel called after her. "Bye, Zelgadiss!!!" she yelled, not bothering to look back anymore.
Zel sighed and watched as she disappeared down the road. He smiled and got out of the house, deciding to go back to his grandpa and have his snack there.
Amelia entered her hotel room and no one was there. She gently closed the door and ran to her baggage, opened it and got her small jewel box. She brought out the ring which Zel gave to her moments ago and placed it inside the jewel box. Then, she closed it again and hid it inside the baggage again. Then, the door opened and there was her father. "Daddy!" she stood up and ran to her father. Filionel embraced his daughter. "Well, made up your mind, young lady?" he asked with a smile. Amelia looked at her father with a cheerful smile. "Yes, daddy! I am going to be the ruler of Saillune someday!" she told him.
Rezo entered the dining room and found Ellis and Zelgadiss eating their snacks. "So, you’re back. It’s good that you’re still wearing those clothes which you were wearing when you left this morning." He told his grandson.
Zel turned to Ellis. "You didn’t tell?" he whispered. "Nope. I told ya!" she answered with a wink.<> Zel smiled and returned his attention back to his food.
Rezo sat down with them. "By the way, Zelgadiss… the ring I gave you one day, is it still with you?" he asked.
Zel stopped and looked at his grandfather. "Why do you ask?" he asked, trying to play innocent.
"Because you are supposed to keep it until you grow up and you are going to give that ring to the girl you want to marry." Rezo told him.
"It’s an engagement ring, Rezo-san?" Ellis asked. Rezo nodded.
Zel almost choked. "Mmmm…mmm…mar…marry?" he asked. "That’s right." Rezo answered.
Zel tried not to mind it. "Uh… it’s still with me." he lied. And he returned his attention to his food.
"And if you already gave it away, you cannot take it back. You must remain faithful to your promise." Rezo continued.
"Don’t worry, grandpa." Zel said.
And as the years rolled by, Amelia and Zelgadiss forgot that they even knew each other one day. And as for the ring, Amelia forgot where it came from and she didn’t even bothered to know.
And so they met, had their adventures, but they still didn’t remember that they met once when they were still innocent little kids.
Many years later…
Zelgadiss entered the masters’ bedroom at the palace of Saillune. Before he got in, a servant greeted him. "Good morning, your highness."
He smiled and nodded his head. Then he got in. "Amelia," he began.
Amelia turned around to face her king and she was seated by her dressing table. "You had your breakfast already? You didn’t even wait for me to get down." She said. "I came up here again to call you. Your father is waiting and our kids are looking for their mother." Zel answered with a smile. (*by the way, his skin is normal again.)
Amelia smiled at him and she opened one of the drawers. "Look, I found one of my old jewel boxes! I haven’t seen this for several years since I turned 10!" she told him. Zel approached her. "And what’s inside?" he asked. "I don’t know, but I hope that there are no dead spiders and some cobwebs inside. I hate those things." Amelia told him as she carefully opened it. Zel joined her and they looked inside the old jewel box. "Whoa…" Amelia said. She saw small bracelets, small rings, small necklaces and a ring seemingly not familiar to her. She picked it up and stared at it. Zel blinked as he also studied the ring. "Where did you get that?" he asked, memories of Rezo coming back to him. "I don’t know. I didn’t even know that this existed inside this jewel box. Maybe it’s a gift from someone that I cannot remember." Amelia decided. "No…" Zel shook his head as he stared at it. He can remember now. "But it doesn’t matter if I was supposed to give it to her. It was with her for several years since we were children. The important thing for me now is that, I didn’t need it to make it seem that she’s mine." He thought.
"Is something wrong?" Amelia asked. "Oh, nothing!" Zel answered, snapping out of it. Amelia stood up and wore the ring on her right ring finger, minding her wedding ring that’s on her left ring finger. "But I’m gonna wear this too." She said. Then, a little girl, about the age of 17 entered. "Mom, it’s time for breakfast!" she told Amelia. "You didn’t have to come up here to tell me, Denise." Amelia told her daughter. "I was afraid that dad might’ve gone to the bathroom before telling you to come down." Denise answered. Zelgadiss smiled at their daughter. She’s about as tall as Amelia was when she was younger. Her hair is the same as Amelia, only longer and her eyes are as blue as her mother’s. "Let’s go." He said as he was minding his crown that’s already slipping down from his head. Amelia giggled as she, her husband and her daughter got out of the room, down to the dining room to have their breakfast…
another author’s note: Look, if you’re asking who Denise is, it’s a long story. But I assure you, she’s not a real person that is known to me. If you’re still curious, e-mail me and I am willing to explain. You may reach me in this address: valgarv_gourry@linainverse.com