Story of Season: Winter

Chapter 4's

Flashbacks

The Whittaker Kingdom was filled with fog as well as blizzards. A very strong snowstorm throughout the history of the kingdom. No one dared to leave the house even though they were looking for firewood to warm themselves.

But in the midst of the storm, happiness enveloped the entire kingdom. The future successor to the throne was finally born after ten years of the King's marriage to the Queen, even the three King's concubines already had offspring first.

"We have two Crown Princesses." The physician of the Palace reports to the King who waits beside the Queen faithfully.

The room was filled with the sound of baby crying. The first baby girl was carried first by the King. "She is the Crown Princess." Next the King carried his second daughter after letting her first daughter be in the Queen's arms, "and she would be the royal princess who faithfully accompanied her brother."

"Kings.... Baby." The queen was shocked when she saw the change in her first daughter.

The royal physician approached, making sure the baby was okay. But the palace physician was also surprised. The king himself could not hide his surprise, the thin black hair slowly turned white, not enough weirdness stopped there, the color of his eyes was different.

But the cry of the baby that stopped followed the calmness of his face made the hearts of anyone there soften. Although in the end one of the healers said, "is she a damned princess."

Almost the King immediately ordered the bodyguards to behead the healer until the King thought the same thing. The doctor who felt guilty immediately prostrated asking for forgiveness. The king said nothing. Granted the second princess to the Palace physician, his eyes stared wryly at his crown princess. His hope that had always been awaited for ten years simply vanished.

So too with the Queen. In his embrace was tighter the white-haired baby. They did not know what fate would befall the cursed baby, nor the kingdom if it let the baby hold the throne. Not once did they cross their minds.

With his head lowered, the royal adviser approached the King, "Sorry, your majesty if my words are wrong, but there is nothing we can do but hide the birth of this baby. Even worse we have to kill him."

"No!!! No one can kill this baby!!!" The king strongly refused. His face looked red withstanding anger.

Everyone in the room just fell silent not daring to face the King. The touch of the Queen's hand on the King's shoulder distracts the King.

"There's no other choice. We have to hide his birth."

The King was silent for a moment, staring fixedly at the Queen, hoping for another way out. But alas, the Queen who understood the meaning of the King's gaze shook her head slowly.

"Excuse me, your honor, but this baby must be announced immediately." The king's advisor replied with a heart.

With a heavy heart the King gave the names of the two babies. "This first princess will be named Delphy Frostine, but the truth will always be hidden and known only by the royal family and some of the workers in the palace, anyone who divulges this secret will be put to death."

"My second daughter will be Crown Princess, I'll name her Crystal Kimberley. The whole kingdom will only know Crystal as the King's only daughter."

Simultaneously, the snowstorm slowly began to stop. No more wind noise knocking on the window glass.

***

Her tears broke under the dark nabastala. His consciousness slowly disappeared. His body that was no longer balanced he rested on a tree. Her chest feels tight. The initial intention of not wanting to get drunk even he had to undo it.

His face was hidden between his legs. Today felt very heavy. How he faced each person he met, different reactions, meaning, praise, thanksgiving, everything felt to be one in his head.

I don't know how much beer he spent at the bar, but his consciousness still remains. A letter from Weaver. Of the many painful things he experienced today, the letter was more painful than anything. He misses her because he loves her. That one fact he's been damning all this time, even forever.

That night, for the first time he regretted all his actions. He regrets disguising himself as a man, regrets being born a cursed daughter, and his greatest regret is always hiding his feelings for Weaver.

****

His head hurt when he woke up. I don't think he wants to get out of his bed. It's just that the screams from his first brother constantly forced him to wake up until he could no longer stay in bed.

"Sister, there's nothing you can do more than disturb my sleep?" While trying to drink a glass of water, Delphy stared intently at Colden.

"There are many things you must explain, Mr. Guard." Colden folded both his hands on his chest giving Delphy a bullying effect. "Remove your soup, it'll ease your headache."

Without answering Delphy finished his soup slowly.

"Can you stop worrying me?" This time Colden said slowly. His sharp gaze softened.

"What do you need to worry about?"

"You. You're the one I should be worried about."

There was no answer from Delphy until he finished his breakfast. "I'm just a little drunk, there's nothing to worry about." He got out of his bed to clean himself up. "Because big brother left, there's still a lot to do, right?"

Colden shook his head weakly, "I won't leave until you want to talk to me."

"Whatever, just follow me all you want. Because there's nothing I want to talk about."

Colden again had to give up on his attitude. In any case, Colden never managed to persuade her. Colden's out of Delphy's room. His current destination, the soldier who accompanied Delphy yesterday.

It felt Colden wanted to finish off the two soldiers after leaving Delphy alone outside the Palace. Seeing how the two soldiers returned last night without Delphy, Colden thoughtlessly followed Delphy.

It's easy enough to find it. His snow white hair would look very striking wherever he was. With the smell of alcohol clearly smelled, Colden found him asleep under a tree in the moonlight, do not forget his puffy eyes are clearly visible.

If it had been Blaze or Bach, Colden would have complained to their mother. But if Delphy, there's no way he'd complain to the Queen who only paid attention to Crystal.

Just as he was thinking about the Queen, the highest-ranking woman in Whittaker kingdom instead appeared before him with Blaze who seemed overwhelmed talking to the Queen.

"Good morning, Your Majesty." Colden greeted as he bowed his body for a moment.

"For Colden." The queen replied elegantly despite the anger on her face. "I heard you saw Delphy this morning."

With a little confusion Colden asserted. It was rare for the Queen to offend the girl, he thought.

"I heard, too, he came home with you last night drunk."

Colden widened his eyes. Damn, the Queen knew it apparently, he thought.  "Actually, he's not that drunk." In the past, the Queen rarely spoke to Delphy, except when the girl made trouble, the Queen would punish him without hesitation. Colden didn't want to imagine what would happen to Delphy this morning.

The queen continued her journey. With Blaze behind him staring at Colden as if to say Brother, please do something.

Colden thoughtlessly followed them. Various ways the man tried to convince the Queen, but basically Colden sucked in convincing, until in Delphy's room the Queen did not pay attention to him. Opened the door to Delphy's room violently to cause a loud enough sound.

There, Delphy is seen freshly dressed and Lilian is surprised by the presence of the Queen and her two brothers. Delphy bowed respectfully, "What made Her Majesty the Queen far away here?"

plaques

"Rumors aren't bad at the Palace just because of a damned princess." The Queen said in a condescending tone, "You know, as a result of your actions, Prince Colden was rumored to be a same-sex enthusiast, liking the Crown Princess' personal bodyguards." This time the Queen spoke in a high tone.

Colden was surprised not to play, rumors spread so quickly that the Queen had eyed before herself, even when she woke Delphy this morning she had not heard any rumors.

Delphy raised next to his brows, "It's really my fault?"

Delphy's answer surprised everyone in the room. For the first time Delphy fought the Queen's words. All this time Delphy always obeyed the words of the Queen even though the Queen never considered her as her own daughter.

"You still dare to ask?!"

The queen almost threw her slap again, but Colden stopped her, "Your Majesty please calm yourself down, that's just a rumor that will subside on its own."

Delphy again said, "Just blame me, indeed since my childhood only a cursed daughter who is useless, no parents who educated me since childhood, so I don't know how to behave properly. Only the Palace's servants and Commander Claude raised me, so I only know how to wield a sword."

His face was hardened, his teeth were clenched, while his hands were as tightly clenched as possible. "What have I done?! I never asked for anything from you! I never cared if you didn't think of me as a child! Therefore, can you stop meddling in my life?! You may succeed as a queen, but you fail as a mother." After the patience that Delphy had kept all this time, everything seemed to flow from his mouth.

Blaze tries to calm Delphy down, while Colden freezes in his place, too shocked to do anything about it. The first time he saw how Delphy was angry.

The Queen pointed at Lilian, "It seems that your loyal servant made you like this. It's no big deal if I fire him right now."

"Don't dare touch it even if it's just your fingertips!"

"Mother, I'm looking for you where, I'm here." Crystal who had been in the doorway for some time said as if nothing had happened.

The wrathful face that the Queen had been showing was now replaced by a gentle smile, "Mother just greeted your sister briefly Crystal, is there anything you need?" The high tone that had been thrown since then was replaced with a voice full of affection.

Delphy picked up his sword then walked away without saying anything. He passed Crystal with a flat view. His feet stepped without knowing the purpose, the most important thing he could get away from the queen.

***

He stared at his reflection in the lake water. The slap from the Queen left a trace of redness and a slight swelling. It still feels sore and he swears over it. There was no remorse for him, because from the beginning his feelings for the Queen had been eliminated.

His gaze turned to Claude who was walking over to him. Commander Claude threw a parcel at Delphy, "Eat, breakfast soup alone will not make you full, let alone your energy must be drained from quarreling with His Majesty."

Delphy ate a piece of bread that was inside the parcel. "Thank you."

"It turns out you can say thank you, I thought it was just an apology I'd hear."

"The commander hopes I say, sorry to bother you?"

Claude shook his head, "Hurry to finish the bread, you still have a duty from the King don't you?"

With a single mouthful, Delphy finished his bread, "The commander never let me eat in peace." They walked together to the training ground.

Upon their arrival at the training ground, there were already twenty senior soldiers lined up in the field.  Each of them has often carried out a tough task to risk their lives. In fact, Delphy himself felt there was nothing more than them.

"The mission this time may not be as heavy as the mission you've been on, it's just that the King asked me specifically to choose the best soldier." Delphy handed out a plaque. "If the guards forbid you from doing anything related to this mission you can show this as a license."

"Richard will lead this mission."

The soldier standing on the right side said, "Okay, Captain."

"I'll be back to see your abilities firsthand, you can practice first."

***

Now, he is in the Crown Princess's private library. Sitting opposite the Crown Princess with a round table divider. Catherine rose tea and a slice of lemon cake. Delphy had no intention of opening the conversation, as Crystal had called him in the first place. If you can refuse, Delphy prefers to observe elite prajuri training. He doesn't want to talk to his family for now.

If Delphy had not remembered his role as Crystal's personal bodyguard, he would have rejected this meeting.

"It's been a long time since we've spoken to each other like this." Crystal spoke weakly. He looked at Delphy. "How are you?"

"As you can see, I'm fine."

"Thank God if you're really good." Crystal sipped her tea, "Because I'm not doing well."

Delphy sighed softly, "You can tell me your problem like you used to."

"Since my inauguration as crown princess, you've been looking away from me."

"It's not me who's staying away, it's just that our job is getting more and more."

"But you don't defend me anymore like you used to." Crystal turned her face away, "Do you know anything about my engagement to prince Erd of Ash Shaif tomorrow?"

Delphy replied, Crystal said, "You know me first, but you didn't tell me."

"Because I think you should have known me first. I was just assigned to prepare the soldiers." As much as possible Delphy replied calmly, trying to cover up his lies, it was true that he knew before Crystal since his meeting with the king yesterday. "Is there really a problem with that?"

"Can you help me persuade me to refuse this engagement?"

Delphy shook his head, "It's already at your risk as crown princess, don't dodge anymore."

"I don't want to get engaged to him. You know exactly how arrogant Prince Erd was when the agreement of the two kingdoms two years ago."

Delphy crossed his hands in front of his chest, "Then will you be willing to let go of your responsibilities? You used to hide at noble gatherings, cry when you couldn't hold a bow, complain your duty is very heavy, father's treatment is unfair. Then now you're asking me to defy father's orders again?"

There was no reply from Crystal, the girl just lowered her head holding back a cry. Her hands under the table were pinching her dress.

"It's as if your destiny is already very heavy. Stop thinking of yourself as special, we're not kids anymore. I'm sorry if you think I'm changing, the life I'm living is full of blood, there's no way I'm not changing." Delphy got up from his chair, "I'll excuse you, Your Majesty, there's still something I have to do."

Delphy comes out of the library leaving Crystal crying. The only hope he had was now gone. The king had already scolded her when she refused the engagement, as well as the Queen who had always been on her side. Crystal felt alone at this moment.

His twin brother became a different person from when. He doesn't even know it. Two years without seeing each other, Crystal feels Delphy is already a stranger to her. Though Crystal wants to be like the old days, she can complain of envy if Delphy is not required to study philosophy books, does not study manner as a royal princess, does not study political science, does not study philosophy, and now he again feels jealous of his twin sister who can choose his own life path.