Chapter 12: Blossoming Love (Part 3)

“S-S-Sierra?!”

I thought I was talking to Captain Rizzou but little did I know that he kept quiet for quite some time after noticing who our guest was. Because he noticed them earlier than I did, he did not utter a single word. How long has she stood there listening to me and him talking?

I looked at Captain Rizzou. I immediately whispered to him,

“You could have warned me, you know.”

Captain Rizzou smiled at me sheepishly.

“Sorry about that Claude. I was about too, but the Princess signalled me not to stop you.”

I return my gaze at Sierra. Beside her was the red-haired guy and suddenly from behind the shadows came another imposing figure.

It was Ser Godfrey. Our big boss.

“Sierra, you sure know how to pick them, don’t you?” Ser Godfrey mentioned as he walked forward to us.

“Uncle!”

He smiled at Sierra and patted her head. Did that just happen? How could a Princess be patted like a kitten in front of us?

“Uncle, please. Don’t pat me while we are outside! I’m still a Princess you know!”

Sierra pouted.

“Hahaha. Sure, sure. And I’ll still be your Uncle Siegmund. Hahaha.” His loud voice boomed throughout the entire courtyard.

“So, Ky. Will you be back at your family’s manor later on?” Ser Godfrey resumed his serious demeanour and asked of the red-haired guy.

Ky? Ky… The name seemed familiar.

Oh!!! Now I get it.

That Ky.

The snobbish hooded figure who dissed me off in my own room the other night when Sierra visited me. I immediately glared at him. But Ky paid no heed to my glare. Instead, he nodded at Ser Godfrey.

“Good. Tell your father I want to speak to him tonight at the usual place. Got that?”

“Yes, Ser Godfrey!” Ky nodded yet again.

Feeling out of place, I nudged at Captain Rizzou. He looked at me, and knowing what was happening, whispered to me.

“I’ll tell you next time we have the chance. But for now, let’s see what our two guests would want from us.”

I nodded and gives thumbs up. Understood.

After speaking to Ky, Godfrey turned his attention to us.

“Rizzou, come with me. I need to speak with you for a while. And Sierra, don’t you have something to talk to Claude? And Ky, you are dismissed for now. Sierra wanted to talk to Claude alone. You understand?!”

Ky was taken aback, but seeing that this was THE Godfrey, Ky has no choice but to reluctantly abide. After bowing to Sierra and excusing himself, he walked away, past me. But not before he tried to give a death stare.

What? You have something against me, red-haired punk?

I wish I could say that out loud, but I think he got the meaning when I glared back at him. Ser Godfrey looked at Captain Rizzou and beckoned him with just his eyes. They walked down past us and into a hidden aisle not too far away.

Now, just left me and Sierra, at the Goddess Statue Courtyard. The air around us suddenly become a little heavier. I was feeling nervous. I’m now alone with Sierra. Hey, being alone with a beautiful princess would make any man, even the tough one, to feel a little nervous. If they were not nervous, something must be wrong with them.

“Claude…?”

Sierra wondered what happened to me as I start to fidget around and broke into a little sweat on my forehead.

“Y-Y-Yeah??”

Sierra giggled with her hand covering her mouth.

“Ohh, Claude. You don’t have to be so nervous you know. It’s unlike you at all.”

I smiled at Sierra while rubbing the back of my head.

“Yeah, you are right. It’s unlike me at all, to be nervous around a girl. Especially to a cute one, like you.” I paced myself towards Sierra, stopping directly just a few feet away from her.

Now, it’s Sierra’s turn to blush. Heh. Guess no one ever called her cute before. Perhaps not by any man at all since no men were allowed to be close, what’s more being alone with the Princess of the Kingdom like this. This was a good chance for me to ehem… flirt with her. But being a princess, I need to tone down a little bit, having the feeling that she might not use to it, yet.

“Well, to what reasons I owed you the pleasure of your personal attention, my fair princess? “

I bowed down my head and looked at Sierra. She continued to let out that small giggle of hers. A childish giggle for sure.

“Rest easy, Claude. You don’t have to be so formal when there are only two of us.”

The sudden realization that there were only two of us made Sierra blushed. She was looking down as she played with her own fingers. However, despite that, she continued to speak to me.

“You know, Claude. It’s not easy for me to be alone with anyone at all. I have to persuade Uncle to let me have some time alone with you.”

“Persuade the big boss to be alone with me? My, my. Aren’t you a little daring, Princess? Being alone with a man like me?”

I teased Sierra.

“Ohh… Claude” Sierra blushed further.

“Y-Y-You are alright, it seems. I feel safe around you. And even Uncle, after seeing you personally himself, agreed to my request.”

I see. She got permission from the big boss, ehh? I looked at the way where Ser Godfrey and Captain Rizzou disappeared to and smile. Good job, old man. I’ll thank you one day. There’s a lot of people that I need to thank, but Ser Godfrey just elevated himself to the first name on the list.

“I’m humbled by your presence, Sierra. In fact, I too am looking forward to being alone with you.”

“Y-You do?”

I smiled at her and nodded. Who wouldn’t be if a princess wanted to be alone with you? Only a madman without libido wouldn’t want this chance.

“Claude. I have a few things to say to you. Would you like to sit on that bench over there?”

“Sure!” I answered enthusiastically.

As we walked towards the bench not far from Goddess Athenea’s Statue, I looked at Sierra more closely. Normally I wouldn’t have this chance at all because Sierra was always surrounded by her maids or her bodyguards, or that red-haired snobbish kid, Ky. Now, since she was alone with me, I could observe her more intimately. Best way to view a girl, according to that old geezer of mine, was from her back. I could see her shape better, he said. And he was not wrong, though.

Sierra was indeed a very, very, very beautiful girl. Regal, charming and extremely beautiful. Her height was around mine, perhaps a little taller. Although I hated the fact, I have to admit that I’m shorter than average guy my age.

Her long flowing blue hair accentuates her beautiful facial figure. And her snow white skin seemed so pure and delicate. And t-t-that swaying honey-peached ass… oh-la la. I could say that Sierra ranked among the most beautiful and perfect looking girls I have ever seen and I have seen many beautiful girls in their full glory.

And her fragrance was both mesmerizing, hypnotizing and I felt like I was in a deep trance. And because of that, I had forgotten to even notice where I am heading too; an inch away from hitting the Goddess Statue.

“Uhhmm… Claude?”

Sierra snapped me out of my thoughts. She was already sitting while waiting for me.

“Something the matter, Claude? Do you have something to do with the Goddess Statue?”

I smiled sheepishly.

“The Goddess in front of me sure looks so mesmerizingly beautiful. I can’t believe that I can even lay my eyes on her.”

“I see. She sure is very beautiful. Goddess Athenea is Elsigardia’s patron goddess after all.”

I smiled at Sierra.

She sure was innocent too. I was complimenting her, but instead, she had mistaken me that I was complimenting the Goddess Athenea’s Statue. Ahh well, not that I mind that. The sculptor could make a statue out of Sierra and it would not have lost to the Goddess Statue in terms of how mesmerizing it would be.

I stand a little further from the bench where Sierra was sitting. Now, I’m not going to rush and suddenly sit beside her. I need to maintain my distance a little, so I don’t seem like a noob trying to pick up on girls or doesn’t seem to have the virtues of being patient. I just need a cue from Sierra and a little time, after all.

“Claude, why are you standing so far away? Please come and sit beside me.”

That’s the cue I have been waiting for.

Because Sierra was a princess and being trained in the manners of nobility and royalty no doubt, if I were to sit beside her without her permission, it would be very rude of me. Who knows whose eyes might be watching us or whose ears might be hearing upon our conversations, but the least I could do was to treat Sierra like a princess first, in an open place like this.

“You sure about that Sierra? Wouldn’t it turn people’s head around here?”

“Don’t worry. Uncle had already made sure that no one was to come within the vicinity of this area. And besides, the whole compound is off limit most of the time, so people rarely come here. We are safe without prying eyes and ears.”

“Good. I see you have planned this meeting quite well. You sure are cunning too when you need to be.”

With that, I sit next to Sierra with aplomb.

“Hihihi!”

Sierra chuckled. This was the first time I heard Sierra chuckle as loud as this.

“Well, you told me to be myself. So I be myself. I’m a dangerous man when I’m near women, Sierra. “

I winked at her.

“Dangerous? You Claude? Hihihi…” She continued to giggle. I wonder what was the thing she found so funny with what I had just said.

“You are the least dangerous people in the whole place. I know a dangerous person, what more of a man when I see one. You are the least dangerous one. I could compare you to a cute puppy.”

Now, did I heard her right? Am I comparable to a cute puppy now? Was I to laugh or to cry?

“You know Claude, seeing you like this makes me feel at ease. Not because you saved me, but because of the way you are.”

Hmm? I gave Sierra a perplexed look.

“Being the Princess of the Kingdom, what more as the Crown Princess, is no easy task for me. I-I…” Sierra looked down at the ground.

Suddenly, she seemed a little bit awkward. Was this a reason why she wanted to see me? Something had been bothering her and she wanted to tell me what it was about. Feeling that it might be that way, I kept quiet.

“I never wish to be anyone else other than who I am, Claude. I am truly blessed to be born a princess. But…”

“I’m sure anyone would do. I wouldn’t mind being a prince either. The nearest I come being a prince was in my dream.”

Ahh… there went me trying to keep quiet. I’m a lousy listener, after all. But nonetheless, it made both of us laughed out a little.

“But seeing the way you act according to your own beliefs on certain things, make me feel like I can be myself with you. Not as a Princess, but as my own person. As Sierra. Something that I never did before this. Before I met you.”

I pointed at myself.

“Me? But you just met me right… like today?”

She nodded.

“I-I don’t have many friends my age, Claude. The first time I knew that my saviour was someone around my age, I felt something in me. Something that I could not explain. Perhaps of my own perception of what is important and what’s not had change since that day. After the incident back in the forest, I had some thought about myself. Being a princess and being who I truly am.”

“Well, Sierra. If you have encounter death as near as I did, you would think twice about what’s important and what’s not.”

Sierra suddenly looked glum.

“I-I’m sorry about that.”

No, no, and no. I said something I shouldn’t have said. I did such a newbie mistake. I need to recover from this situation, fast.

“But I’ll gladly do this again, over and over. I mean encountering death, that is.”

I smiled at Sierra. She looked at me curiously and asked.

“What do you mean Claude?”

“It’s easy. My life changed for the better because of that incident back in the forest. I saved a princess, being called a hero, then invited to join the Elites and meet wonderful people. And I can have this conversation alone with you, the Crown Princess of the Kingdom. Ain’t it good? Many people I know would die to get this chance. Especially being alone with a very beautiful girl like you.”

Sierra blushed and covered her face.

“Stop teasing me, Claude.”

I stared at Sierra.

“Do I look like I’m teasing you?”

Upon catching the more serious version of my looks, Sierra blushed even more.

“But seriously, no dying alright.”

“Haha. Depends though. Sometimes, some things happened for a reason. Me being here have its own reasons, though I don’t know what it will be. Same as you too.”

I stood up, paced myself in front of Sierra and squat in front of her with my hand doodling something on the cobblestone pathway. My sudden movement made Sierra curious, though I just replied with a smile at her.

“You know something, Sierra?”

Sierra looked at me intently.

“I don’t want to say this but I used to be a self-depreciating loser who thinks the world owes him something. I worked hard yeah, but I think that if I work hard, the world must reward my hard works. But the world doesn’t work that way. Sure, hard works are all great and such. But what is hard work without a context? And that context would be, our ‘why’.”

“Our ‘why’?” Sierra rubbed her chin while pondering about what I just said.

“Why are we doing what we are doing? Why are we working hard? Why are we giving our best? And you know what’s my ‘why’ is?”

Sierra shook her head.

“One of my why is to make a difference, even though it’s a second. When I on my death’s door, I told myself if I was a second faster, I could save both you and my best friend, Sehanie without much injuries. And because of that, I now worked even harder and take things more seriously in my life. Because now I have a context. My ‘why’. That’s why I said I’m Claude before I’m anything else. And that’s how I looked at the world now.”

I stood up, looked at Sierra and asked her.

“What would be your ‘why’, Sierra?”

“M-My ‘why’?”

“Why are you doing what you’re doing? Because you were fated to be the princess and there’s no one else? Or is it because you are Sierra and you have the context of what you are doing and the position to do so. ”

“I-I… never thought of it that way.”

Sierra’s facial expression was deep. Her eyes were moist to the point of crying. And it did not take too long for tears to start flowing down her cheeks. It seems my words have struck a deep chord within her. Well, I guess my words struck her too deep, it seemed. I sat beside her yet again at the same seat as earlier. Just to reassure her that I’m always here for her. And to offer my shoulder if she wanted to.

“I thought that being myself would liberate me. That if I was just Sierra and being no one else would free me. But because I was born as the Princess, I need to do what a Princess need to do and more. And that means I can’t be myself.”

Tears continued to flow, but Sierra held on as she wiped her teary eyes with a handkerchief that she pulled from her sleeves.

“And then I get so much confused. On who do I need to become and why? I’m never at ease. One part of me wanted to be a Princess, to make my Father proud and be the symbols of my people’s hope. The other part of me wanted to be Sierra and just live a free life. Free from all those so-called advisors around me.”

“Sierra and the Princess are one and the same person, right?”

She nodded.

“So, what’s stopping you from being Sierra, because, without the Sierra, the princess wouldn’t exist either, right?”

Sierra looked at me, with her blushed face and nodded.

“So, from now onwards, don’t feel guilty of being the Sierra that you wanted. I know you have your ‘why’ of doing things and your context is way bigger than mine, so feel free to be the Sierra you always wanted. I know you will do the right thing. Always. Being born a Princess sure brings its benefits and perks, but you are Sierra first before being a princess. Remember that.”

I gave her a wink and a mischievous smile.

“Or you need my permission to be Sierra? I know to treat a Sierra, hehehe.”

Sierra chuckled and hit me in my arms.

“Ahhh! I think you just dislocated my shoulder. “

I feigned being hurt. My attempt at feigning injuries got both of us laughing together.

“Oh and one more thing. People change, most often for the better. I know the fact that today the Sierra I am with now, is the ‘better’ Sierra than a few minutes ago. At least I know I’m a better Claude now than I used to be, because of what happened.”

“Thank you, Claude.”

I winked at her.

“Anytime, babe. Anytime.”

I stood up and gave her my standard victory pose.

“And was that the reason you want to talk to me?”

“Do friends need a reason to talk to each other, Claude?”

She then stood up, patted herself and then gave me another hit on my arm.

Ehhh…?? Have I just been friend-zoned by Sierra? Ohh… there goes my hope and my dreams. Life is so cruel sometimes. Perhaps I should talk less. Listen more and talk way, way less.

“I thought I wanted to say how thankful I am for you to be here and such, but I did not know we talked about something else.”

“Really now? You wanted to meet me to say how thankful you are to be? No, no, no… That’s not that way how you say thanks to your saviour. If you want to know how to say thanks to a man that saved you, then let me tell you.”

Sierra waited for my next words.

“First, you must cook for him. He must eat the food that you cook from the bottom of your heart. A way to a man’s heart is through his guts, so if he eats the food that you cook, no matter how bad it is, for as long as its cook from the bottom of your heart, he will be very thankful to you.”

“Ohhh…”

“Second, you must give him a kiss. At least on the cheeks. You know, the standards stuff a woman would always give when a man risked his life to save hers. Anything more than a kiss on the cheeks is a bonus. Hehehehe…”

“Ohh… Claude. You are such a teaser.”

Sorry, Sierra. I can’t resist.

“Getting a medal ain’t that bad in fact. But you know, sometimes all a man want is a simpler stuff that what makes the stuff of dreams. Having saved a fair maiden, on his arms, she kissed his cheeks or something like that…”

“B-B-But… to kiss a man…on... his…cheeks.”

Sierra blushed like a boiled prawn.

“No worries. Save it for the next time I save you. I’m your hero, ain’t I? So, let me do my job and then I’ll wait for my rewards. Hahahaha.”

I broke into a laugh. She giggled in her usual way.

“The next time you save me, Claude, I’ll be sure to give you ‘that’.”

I puffed my chest and look at her.

“Fear not, Sierra. I’m yours to command.”

She continued to chuckle. Her face now beams with happiness and brightness, a feature that was absent before even though she was one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. Looking at her like this make my heart fluttered. No wonder men would die to protect their loved ones. Nothing beats the experience of having seen your loved one beamed with joy and happiness.

“My, my. Aren’t you two being lovebirds? Suddenly a voiced came from behind us.

“U-Uncle?!”

“Hahahaha, the power of youth. How I missed it back in my days. Ain’t that so, Rizzou?”

“Y-Yes, Ser”

I can see Captain Rizzou standing just behind Ser Godfrey. Seeing them both, I straightened myself as fast as I could.

“Uncle, how long have you been eavesdropping on us?”

Sierra demanded of her uncle, Ser Godfrey.

“Hahaha, long enough Sierra, to know that love is blossoming between you two.”Ser Godfrey laughed out loud and his voice boomed throughout the whole place.

“UNCLE!!” Sierra's face was blush beyond anything I have ever seen before.

My face was red too as I stood rigid. I dare not to make any move.

“Claude…” Ser Godfrey patted my back as he walked towards us.

“I have high hopes for you. So, you better take care of my niece well. Or else...”

Suddenly, Ser Godfrey gave me a cold death stare. His aura overwhelmed my whole existence. I understood its meaning very well.

“Y-Y-Yes, Ser Godfrey. I-I-I will”

I stammered to give my answers.

“Good kid. The future is bright for this country it seems, ehh Rizzou?”

Captain Rizzou nodded at Ser Godfrey.

“Rizzou and Claude. Would you leave Sierra with me now?”

Understanding that was our cue to leave, both of us bowed our heads to Sierra and Ser Godfrey.

“Claude… Will I…”

Sierra called out to me.

I gave out a smile and winked at her.

“We will… I mean, yes. Yes, Sierra.”

As I turned my back to them, I gave Sierra my victory pose; a thumbs up with my back facing them. I could hear her chuckled from behind.

With those words, I left both of them to their matters. As I walked out of the courtyard, Captain Rizzou nudged at my side.

“Not even the first day and you got yourself a big catch ehh, kid. Looks like you are not one to be underestimated after all?” Captain Rizzou teased me.

“It’s still early, Captain Rizzou, but I like my chances.”

I smiled at him as we walk towards the Strategic Headquarter main entrance.

As we walked past the entrance, my whole facial expression and demeanour have changed from the first time I entered this place. My eyes turned into a fierce and determined. Captain Rizzou noticed the sudden changes in my demeanour. He patted my back as we walked out.

“Good. We will have a long journey ahead of us. Especially you, Claude. So, be well prepared.”

I nodded. Time to strut my stuff and prove my worth. I’m not going to let my life golden ticket gone to waste. The power of love sure was strong in me.

“Muahahahaha!!”

I let out a loud laugh as Captain Rizzou looked me surprised with my sudden burst of laughter.