After eating lunch, the princes, and the princess along with their attendants return to the Grand Library. Beyond the center from the entrance is a space that has chess tables. It is on the opposite corner of the round table and is said to be the most comfortable part of the library according to the librarians.
Upon arrival, they see Queen Sophia already waiting for them. She has her maids arrange all the chess tables with their pieces. The adviser and some scholars are also present.
“Your Majesty,” all bows to the queen as they approach.
“At ease,” she sits on the chess table nearest to them. “Camille, dear, let’s play, shall we?”
“Me?” she turns to her brothers, the adviser, and the scholars but all shifted their focus elsewhere. “Fine.”
The queen and the princess start their game. Meanwhile, Prince Louis approaches Prince Julien to ask him for one game. Julien agrees and the two play using the chess table beside the queen and the princess. The adviser and the scholars also engage in the intellectual game. Silence descends on the large corner until Princess Camille says, “Check.”
Everyone else except Gianni, who watches the entire match, fills with surprise. They look at how their game is going and see a murder, no, a massacre. The queen only lost a pawn and the princess already lost half of her officials and all her pawns. She makes a desperate attempt to check. Effective in garnering the room’s attention, but not great in impressing others surrounding her and her opponent. The queen smiles at her move and decides to capture all her pieces then go checkmate.
The princess suffers bitter defeat. She, of course, expected her defeat ever since the game started. Her mother, the queen, is just too much for her, because even the adviser, the greatest mind in the land never once defeated her.
“Camille,” the queen speaks as she rearranges the pieces back. “Do you know why you lost?”
“Because I am simply not good enough,” the princess replies as she also rearranges her pieces.
“No,” the queen sternly replies, “all my children are best at what they are. That is not the reason why you suffered defeat. The reason is that in your heart and mind you lacked the resolve to win. You are already thinking of defeat when it should not have been.”
“That’s easy for you to stay,” the princess finishes arranging. “You never lost a game.”
“Never lost?” she laughs. “I always kept losing when I was your age.”
When she releases that statement, everyone in the room, except Gianni, who never really knew a thing about the queen, imbues with aghast. They know that the queen is smart and highly educated but they just could not fathom her losing a game of chess.
“We all begin somewhere,” the queen holds the king’s pawn in front of the piece. “We lose, we cry, we fall, people doubt us, but we stand back up again and again.”
“I’m going to beat you this time,” Princess Camille replies as she moves her knight. “You better not hold back.”
Meanwhile, the adviser and the scholars are finishing up their game. The two princes have their chessboard heated up. Launching attacks one after another, the audience of attendants enters a trance of mesmerizing focus due to their moves and countermoves.
Gianni smiles as the battle rages on. The match is like performing an extremely complicated dance and the two princes are returning their steps. A waltz of swords and tactics. A tango of spears and feints. A minuet of bows and brains. Until finally, “Checkmate,” Prince Julien finishes the game.
“Excellent, Lord Brother,” Louis praises his opponent.
Gianni notices how Prince Julien sweats so much. He approaches and offers his silk handkerchief to wipe his face. The prince welcomes the gesture and uses the silk garment.
Moments later, the queen and the princess also finish their game, with the queen claiming victory. Prince Julien approaches the queen to challenge her to a match. Of course, the queen welcomes it as a sign of her children’s growth.
They commence the game and everybody in the room stops playing to watch the two plays. The prince uses the four knights’ position to counter the queen’s opening. Their battle burns and blazes not one letting up. Taking up strategic positions one after another. A moment comes when a decisive move comes to Prince Julien. It meant sacrificing her queen, but it is a good move. A move that will give him a tactical advantage. He thinks about it and after some time, he uses the move.
The queen laughs after his move. Prince Julien fears a misstep. That was a wrong move? But that gives me a great advantage in the long game. Everyone in the room knows what is going to unfold. Nobody won a match against the queen after she laughs. After plenty of successive moves, Prince Julien concedes defeat. How can this be? That sacrifice was meant to be my ace. The move would give me an advantage.
The queen’s skill is too much for them. He asks permission to retire, returning to his room afterward.
The prince lays down on his bed the moment he arrives. He tells Gianni he feels fatigued. Gianni immediately asks if he feels anything else, and the prince replies that he has a headache and asks for a head massage. Gianni bids Gabriel gets some water.
As the prince lays down on the bed, Gianni begins massaging his head. The prince eventually closes his eyes, breathing in and out calmly. Gianni thinks the prince fell asleep and stops massaging.
“Why did you stop?” the prince suddenly opens his eyes, which greatly surprises Gianni.
“I thought you were asleep, Your Highness,” Gianni goes back, approaching closer to massage him again. As Gianni positions himself to rub the prince’s forehead, Prince Julien suddenly stands up and strips his top. He lays down prone on the bed.
“My back is stiff because of the game,” the prince says turning to Gianni. “Massage my back.” Without hesitation, Gianni hops onto the right side of the bed and starts massaging the prince.
“Don’t do that,” the prince suddenly stops him. “You won’t be able to massage properly. Sit on my hips and massage my back from there.”
“Your Highness?” Gianni blushes redder than an apple.
“Sit on my hips and massage my back,” the prince repeats.
Gianni slowly kneels and places his left leg over the prince’s hips across the other side. He slowly lands his hips on the prince’s butt. He starts massaging the prince’s back. It is stiff and hard. Gianni continues until the lower back, where the prince giggles and laughs. Gianni feels that the prince’s back is stiff from the bottom to the top. So, he wastes no effort in his massage.
He doubles the force that he exerts and moves a bit faster. He then feels hot, both from blushing and massaging. He feels the prince’s warmth from his lips and his hands. His hips are warm that Gianni comfortably puts all his weight over the prince. Eventually, Gianni starts to sweat. He massages so hard that his sweat falls on the prince’s back.
“Are you sweating?” the prince asks.
“I am, Your Highness,” Gianni replies while wiping his forehead.
“Strip your top,” the prince suddenly says.
“Pardon?” Gianni thinks he mishears the prince.
“Strip your top,” the prince repeats. “It will cool you off.”
So, Gianni unbuttons his suit from the top. Unbuttoning though requires even more effort than massaging. When he finally, opens his long sleeves, the heat reaches his head, and his vision starts spinning. He collapses on top of the prince. He feels as the prince’s stiff hot muscular back touches his chest and his stomach. The prince, meanwhile, feels Gianni’s fast-beating heart from his back. A feeling of surprise permeates through their being when they hear the door open.
The door to the prince’s room suddenly opens. The two who are in a seemingly awkward position on the bed pervades with aghast. It is Gabriel who carries a tray with a pitcher full of water and glasses. When he enters, he fails to notice the two on the prince’s bed, as the curtains that hang from its pillar keep the two from being seen from the door. Gabriel places the tray on the prince’s study table.Quickly, Gianni jumps out of bed and closes the buttons of his shirt. The prince, meanwhile, just pretends to be asleep.Gabriel knows something is going on. The loud silence of the room is strange. He checks the right side of the bed and sees Gianni in the act of buttoning his garments.“What are you doing?” Gabriel says as he approaches Gianni.“G-G-Gabriel,” Gianni quickly finishes, “two of my buttons got loose.”“Oh,” Gabriel has his doubts and sees the prince sleeping on his bed, &
Early in the morning, Gabriel, and Gianni packs for a three-day trip. The prince orders them to do so, saying it is a special occasion for the royal family. Gianni does not have any bags so he asks Gabriel if he can borrow one from him. But Gabriel has only one bag, so, he proposes to share the bag between the two of them.During packing, Gabriel is a minimalist. He only puts what he needs inside the bag. Gianni, meanwhile, puts voluminous stuff inside which already makes the bag full even without his clothes. Gabriel is taken aback by what Gianni places inside. There are fruits and even pickles. When he tells Gianni to pack only what he needs, Gianni laughs at the thought. He used to have so much luggage back when he was young because he has people carry it for him.Of course, Gianni belonged to the prestigious Saint-Amour family, he was born with a silver spoon, Gabriel thinks. However, Gabriel insists that he put only his clothes and things for hygiene. Gab
Shocked at what Louis declared, Camille insists that he lied, and he did bump their table. Julien slams the wall with his fist, ordering his sister to look at the tables.Louis explains what Julien demonstrates. The direction of the spill from their table is similar to the spill from the third table, which has its force originating from under the table. While the setup, which has been purposely bumped shows a different spillage direction. Even after hearing Louis’ explanation, Camille still insists that it is Gianni’s fault. She brands him a liar and clumsy.Annoyed and angered by her irrational sister, Julien slaps Camille definitively shutting her up. The slap comes as a great surprise to the young princess that she instantly feels humiliated. Her Lord Brother only argues with her, not once harmed her. But this time, she knows she went too far. Aghast storms the emotions of everyone present in the auberge. Camille storms off grabbing Ethan’s hand.
The carriage comes back for them as soon as it got dark. The coachman arrives to escort them back to the chateau. Gianni is about to stand and leave when Louis bids him wait for a while.“Can I trust you?” the prince suddenly asks. “Can I trust you, Gianni?”“Yes, Your Highness. You can trust me.” Gianni obeys the prince, attentively listening to every detail that is about to come out of his mouth.“I’m in love with Princess Ariane,” Louis outrightly confesses. “All of the poems and songs that I made are all dedicated to her.”Gianni’s shock is unmeasurable. He does not know what his reaction should be to what the prince tells him. Should he be happy? Should he tell the prince that the marriage is already arranged? Should he support him? A lot of questions furiously fill his mind.Louis begs him to keep his confession a secret. Gianni finds it in his heart to keep Louis’
Gabriel wakes to the sound of a knock from the door. He feels Gianni’s hand on his back and his foot on his. He stands up and wants to answer the door but realizes he is naked, and his extra bone is standing. He grabs his clothes from his closet and finally gets to the door.As he opens it, Princess Ariana appears giving him an early morning surprise. The princess is direct and expresses her interest. She has a favor for Gabriel and Gianni. Since Prince Julien orders Gabriel and Gianni to follow Ariana’s orders, he must follow what she is going to say.Princess Ariana tells Gabriel that she lost something at the city park, and it is very dear to her. The item has great sentimental value to the princess. Gabriel immediately promises to the princess that he is going to find it and return what the princess lost as soon as possible.“I lost my hairpin,” Ariana says. “It has magnolia flower designs.” Gabriel accepts the princess&rs
A week after the Harvest Festival, everyone in the palace staff is busy. The wedding between Prince Julien and Princess Ariana is just around the corner. The king and queen are sending invitations to nobles and royals through the continent and across the seas. The wedding shall be at the cathedral in Rimes, three weeks from today’s date.The day marks the arrival of an envoy from Inglatera. They represent the Royal Treasury of Inglatera, which shall take care of half the wedding expenditures. They present themselves in the court, working together with Queen Sophia for the wedding.The queen takes all matters into her own hands. She sends invitations to the best tailors across the continent to present to her the perfect wedding formal for Julien and the wedding dress for Ariana. Queen Sophia keeps a tight hold on the information, making sure that everything remains a surprise on the wedding day. She forbids Julien’s butlers and Ariana’s attendants to d
A day after the matters with Princess Camille, the captain of the royal guard assigns knights to Prince Julien as his personal bodyguards. The royal army expects danger to come close because of the upcoming wedding. The wedding symbolizes a deeper and stronger relationship between Gallia and Inglatera. The neighboring hostile kingdoms would want to prevent the wedding from happening as much as possible.After they finish preparing for their duties, Gianni and Gabriel go to the prince’s room to help him. When they arrive by the door of the prince’s room, knights stand by it blocking their way with their spears. They demand to state their business.“We are the official butlers of the Crown Prince, Julien S. Montmirail,” Gabriel says. “We are here to check up on him as part of our daily duties.”“Understood,” the knight on the left replies, “we will let you through after a security check.”The knigh
The night is quiet. The busy hallways turn silent. Everyone in the palace slumbers, except for the patrolling knights and a prince deeply engaged in thought inside his room. Unable to think anymore, Prince Julien calls it a day. He still doesn’t know what to respond to Princess Ariana. The night silently passes as if a thief steals it. Time passes in a blink of an eye and morning comes like the wind of change.Before Gianni and Gabriel come to check on him, Julien leaves his chambers and goes for a morning walk in the palace gardens. The chirps of the birds, the fragrance of the flowers, the relaxing atmosphere, and the sound of flowing water are what the prince needed. He needs some time away from matters and things that remind him of his duty.In the middle of the garden, his ability to think returns to him. He is finally able to think about the big picture with what he wants. He thinks long while staring at a creek. He notices that no matter how many pebbles b