RUSTLE. RUSTLE
Gray's eyes opened slowly. He lay beneath a wide tree, its branches stretching wide like a canopy over a small building. The wind whispered through the leaves, cool against his bruised skin, soothing like a balm. He watched as the leaves fell around him — one by one — shedding from the tree as the breeze passed by.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"These leaves... they fall, and in time, they turn to soil. Just like us humans. Each of them serves a purpose, and yet... the tree makes it look like they're just for show."
He sighed softly, his eyes distant.
"How strange, how a leaf can be so important to the world, and yet no one cares. After all... it's ordinary to love the beautiful, but beautiful to love the ordinary."
A gentle voice pulled him from his thoughts.
"You slept for quite a while. You must've been really tired, huh?"
Gray turned to his left. A girl sat beside him, so close their arms were barely apart. Her voice was soft, almost like the breeze itself.
He chuckled lightly. "Yeah... I guess I was."
But his smile slowly faded. His mind drifted, pulling him back — back to earlier that day…
Earlier that day, when he was walking at his pace in the main street, going back home he had bumped into a few kids who were the same age as him and had to deal with quite a hassle because of that.
This is how it went—
As he walked down the road, thoughts ran wild as he looked up at the sky. A subtle, almost mournful smile on his face. The day at the academy has been quite exhausting and he just wanted to go home and collapse on his bed. The road he walked on was spacious and clean— actually it wasn't the road he walked on, but rather the footpath. There was a barrier between the footpath and the road.
As Gray walked down the path he looked down at hands and sighed. 'I wonder what Miss. Rebbeca will prepare for dinner today.' Gray thought.
The sky was covered with clouds, not dense enough, but not that scattered either. A ray of sunlight shone on his face, illuminating his wheat blonde hair and pale golden eyes that looked like two golden nuggets that has lost its luster. His skin was pale yet it gave him an ethereal look. Combined with his black coat and black pants, a red white sash ran across his chest.
While walking, Gray gazed around his surroundings — noticing the shops and houses on either side of the footpath. His gaze fell on a bakery shop as he passed by, the smell of the freshly baked cakes didn't go unnoticed by him. He gazed at the cakes and pastries on the display for a moment and then shook his head and looked at the sky. He was indeed hungry but rather stubborn to admit, because he had no money left on him of course.
'I wonder if it will rain today…' lost in his thoughts, Gray suddenly felt his head hitting something, his body tensing for a moment and he fell a step back, yet not falling on the ground.
"Ugh…hey, look where you're goi—" Before Gray could finish his sentence or look up, he felt the collar of his coat being grabbed in a firm hold. He looked up and saw a group of three boys standing in front of him. The one who had grabbed his collar had a disdainful look on his face, black hair and black eyes, he was anything but good-looking, and so were the other two.
"You seem to have a pretty big mouth, huh, you commoner?" The black haired guy spoke, his tone rather discourteous. Gray stayed silent, his expression went into panic mode at first but then he calmed down as he saw the sash on their chest. As his was red and white coloured, theirs was fully white, and only kids from noble families had a full white sash.
In his academy, there was too much criticism between commoners and nobles. He knew very well the situation he would end up in if engaged in this bullshit. Commoners nobles, it sounded rather pathetic to him. But it's not like had any power to change it all by himself? How could he? With just thoughts and a big mouth he'd rather end up being suspended and getting beat by these nobles.
"Sigh. You can let go of me, it's not something to fight over…." Gray looked at the boy in front of him and said with a grim expression. The boy stared daggers at Gray and then let out a scoff, his grip on Gray's collar tightened.
"Oh, so the pretty boy wants to be released, huh? Well, I will…but there's a certain condition…"
Gray sighed, knowing it was the best decision to just play along with his game to get out of this situation as fast as possible. "Alright, what is this condition of yours?"
"Beg."
'Oh, this guy wants me to beg, doesn't he?' Gray looked up at him and gave him a subtle glare before letting out an amused chuckle and gave him a sarcastic smile.
"And if I don't want to, your majesty?"
"Thud."
The boy had punched Gray in the face, his head rolled back and he groaned. "Then pay the price for hitting me with your pathetic body." The two boys beside him gave a dark smirk to Gray.
"Yeah, we should have a little fun with him since he had the audacity to even be around us." The one on the left spoke.
Then the one on right nodded, agreeing with him.
Gray spat and looked at them, blood flowing down from his nose, soon dripping onto the ground— his eyes narrowed in annoyance and disgust. He lifted his hand and gripped the boy's wrist, it made him wince, his grip on Gray suddenly grew weak and the next thing all three of them knew that Gray was out of their grasp.
"You are a little piece of shit, aren't you?" Gray glared at all three of them, his hold on the boy's wrist firm and painful which made the boy moan.
"Y…you got a lot of nerve talking that, you fucker!" Mark! Godin! Now!" The other two boys lunged at Gray, only to be thrown the black haired boy on them. All three boys fell down with grumbles. Gray smirked and knelt down to the pile of boys trying to get up.
"Oh, no— you're not getting up." Before they could get on their feet, Gray punched the black haired boy, hard enough that he lay down on the ground with a loud moan. He did the same with the other two.
"I admit that it was my fault bumping into you, but there was no need for you assholes to be so disrespectful towards me."
Gray looked down and saw that the black haired guy wasn't on the ground, Gray flinched and looked back but he was already in hold of the black haired guy. Due to his arms being restrained he couldn't do much.
"You…ugh.." Gray felt a sharp pain in his stomach and coughed and looked up…seeing that he had gotten kicked by one of the two boys, they looked at him with a dark expression. Everyone around them looked at them without saying anything or making a move to stop them.
"You unfaithful piece of rotten meat! Who did you think you were when you had the guts to punch us? No one's here gonna save you, pretty boy, better buckle up for what's coming next." The black haired guy whispered in Gray's ear, yet Gray didn't flinch and gave them an annoyed look.
Still in pain from the last kick, Gray tensed his stomach as the boy lifted his feet to kick him again. One, two, three, four, five…a total of six kicks and eight punches were lunged at Gray. He endured them, he had to. Coughing and bleeding with a bruised face, Gray fell on his knees, clutching his stomach and looking up at the three guys with disgust and anger in his eyes.
"That's what you get when you try to mess with those above you, you piece of shit." All three of them laughed at Gray and looked around, taking pride in what they did in front of the public.
'It's better if I don't do anything here, I don't want to get in more trouble for beating up these morons.' Swallowing his pride, Gray looked up and tried to speak, but his voice didn't come out for a moment as his throat felt heavy and a sharp pain went through his stomach again, making him clutch his stomach harder.
Gray gritted his teeth and endured the pain and spoke. " I didn't mean to bump into you guys, I'm sorr—"
"What a pathetic sight." Before Gray could apologise, he was interrupted by a sudden voice. He looked up and his eyes widened, his breathing catching in his throat. For a moment he stood frozen on his knees. This was the princess of the Cifer country!
A slender figure, a height perfect for a teenager— Golden brown hair reaching her waist, and golden brownish eyes, wearing the same academy dress as them but her sash was pure gold coloured. Something only a royal family member could wear. She stood in front of Gray, hands on her waist, looking at the three boys with a poker face. The boys stood frozen, petrified. A wave of trepidation washing over them.
"Be gone." That was all she said, and the boys had run while holding their breaths.
After a moment when she couldn't see the boys in her sight – she turned around and looked at Gray with the same expression. Standing on his knees, still clutching his stomach he gulped down hard and looked up at her— somewhat relieved and somewhat wary of her.
Her lips then curled into a gentle smile and held out her hand towards him as a gesture of help. Gray's breath caught in her throat for a moment, stunned. He was lucky enough to be saved by those morons, but this? It was far from what he could have ever imagined.
He was just another guy who got lucky and enrolled into Cifer academy. Gray stared at her for a good moment, unsure if he should take her hand. Everyone around them watched the scene unfold, stunned — they murmured but it didn't quite reach Gray's ears.
"It's rude to not accept help from a lady, you know?" She spoke, her voice was gentle, soft, soothing even, and it pulled Gray out his thoughts. He took a deep breath and lifted one hand, slowly — he reached out for hers and got up, a smug grin seemed to appear on the princesses face.
"Morons like those are pretty easy to find around here, huh? Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh, y–yeah, it's better than before. The pain seemed to be growing fainter with each passing moment….thank you for helping me…" With a slight quiver in his voice, he managed to breathe out those words, yet his expression soon turned calm and collected. Despite his age, Gray was good at controlling his emotions based on the situation.
"Mhm. Gray, right? I've heard about you quite a lot in the academy…blonde hair, golden eyes, good looking, good at studies? Quite the charmer, aren't you?" She said, letting out a chuckle.
"Hehe. I suppose I am, huh?"
She grinned and gave his hand a subtle squeeze before withdrawing it and looked at him, nodding her head. "Totally. You have quite the name between the ladies, you know?"
"Rose, we should be heading back now." A calm, deep and authoritative voice pulled both their attention. Looking over his shoulder, Gray's eyes widened, 'Now what the hecks the King doing here? Having the princess save me was enough, but…huh?'
"Aww, but father…I don't want to go back yet. And you have to do something about those brats."
Gray turned around, looking at the king he felt a shiver run down his spine— after all, it was his first time seeing the king in person. Long gray hair combed perfectly, a bun tied around the back of his head with a few strands falling in front of his forehead, wearing an elegant black and white attire with a dark cloak trailing down close to his ankles, only one guard beside him with his hands folded back and a diamond coloured sword around his waist, everything about him was screaming nobility.
'Princess Rose Myre…I had heard about her many times, but it's the first time seeing her in person, and now…the king…Keith Myre. I've never been surrounded by royalty like this before. I wonder why she helped me anyway.' Gray thought to himself, his gaze flickering between King and then Princess.
"Hmm, well I did see what happened between them…don't worry, I will look into it. But—"
"Hah, Great! Please do, those guys need some good scolding." Rose said enthusiastically.
Seeing his daughter's reaction and expression, Keith shook his head, his lips curling up slightly. A king was still a king, the murmur around seemed to just grow more and more. Seeing this, he knew he had to leave the place, because why would a king be out here without any reason? No, he was here for a reason…but he had already taken care of that and was now headed back to the palace.
"Sigh. Yes, I will…" He then turned his attention to Gray, his expression went serious in an instant as he stared at the young boy who stood silently. Gray felt a pang of nervousness yet he maintained his grim expression.
"Gray, is that the correct name, young man?" Keith asked calmly.
Bowing in respect, Gray spoke politely. "Yes, your highness. My name is Gray…" Keith raised an eyebrow, for a young man he was rather good mannered and well behaved. But something else seemed to have piqued his interest more.
"Gray…full name?"
"I don't have a full name, your highness." Gray was a kid without parents, yet he had someone without a person to take care of him, in fact that person loved him more than his own parents ever would have.
"I see. You handled the situation well, Gray. You did not do anything reckless that might have made the situation worse"
'oh, I definitely didn't throw some good punches at their faces. Better to keep my mouth shut' Gray thought, trying to suppress a grin.
"Oh, yes, your highness." The king nodded his head and then looked back at his daughter who listened to them intently, her expression seemed to be contemplative.
"Well, Rose…should we go back now?
"Father…may I ask for a request?" Rose asked calmly.
Raising an eyebrow he nodded. "Go ahead."
"I'm borrowing Gray for sometime, I have something to discuss with him." Both Gray and the knight who stood beside the king, their eyes widened — both out of utter shock. But on the other hand, the king remained calm, and silent for a moment, looking at his daughter.
"I see. But I expect you to be back before dinner." Rose's eyes lit up, her hands clasped together.
"Of course father, I'll be back before dinner…thank you so much..hehe." She immediately grabbed Gray's wrist and started dragging the poor boy with her, first the rough treatment and now this. 'Hey, ask for the person's permission before doing anything, you dumb-ass.' Gray thought as he fell a step behind her.
The knight seemed to be displeased with the king's judgement and spoke. "But your highness…" the king lifted his hand while the knight was still mid sentence, telling him that it was okay, she'd be fine. After all, the Knight was Rose's personal knight.
"She'll be fine. Do not worry Void, my daughter knows what she's doing, and if she gets late…you can come and take her back to the palace, am I clear?" Keith said matter-of-factly. The knight still looked reluctant but nodded, "Of course, your highness…"
~
After a while of silent dragging, Gray and Rose were sitting beside a big lake underneath a willow tree, its branches scattered around and falling down, covering a large area.
The silence stretched on and no one spoke for sometime, and for some reason — it felt comfortable between them. With no one around, sitting under a magnificent tree beside a lake…it was a place far from the kingdom, close to the forest.
"Feeling better now." Rose broke the silence and looked at Gray who sat calmly, gazing at the lake.
"Hmm…yes, a lot better if I may say. Thank you for saving me back there, I was about to apologise to them when you came…" Gray spoke while his focus remained towards the lake, no, it was on a fish who kept jumping out of the water.
Rose's gaze drifted to where he was looking before looking back at him. "It's fine. You were handling a pretty rough treatment there so I had to come."
The princess really was noble indeed, it was just as the rumours said…that princess would not let any injustice swept away under her gaze. Gray lightly laughed and spoke. "Haha…I didn't know that the princess of the Cifer kingdom herself would've come to save me."
"But what did you want to discuss with me?"
"Hmm…nothing that I wanted to discuss with you, but rather I wanted to return something that you once gave me." Gray looked at Rose, confused…
"You want to give something back to me? But I never—" Rose pulled out a navy blue handkerchief from her pocket, a symbol of red rose at the corner. "I lost the one you gave me before, so I thought I could give you mine."
Gray's eyes widened in both confusion and shock. When had he ever given something to someone, let alone the princess? It was shocking at first but then amusing. He didn't pry into the matter further asking when he had ever given her his handkerchief. It could offend her.
But accepting the handkerchief for the princess meant certain things, it could be for wanting kinship, friendship or worse…a romantic relationship. Gray's mind races with various thoughts.
"Don't worry, we can be friends. Now take it." She said enthusiastically, a smug smirk plastered on her face.
"Oh…I…I see. I'll…take it then, I guess.?" Gray slowly, hesitantly lifted his hand and took the handkerchief in his hand, their fingers brushing against each other which made Gray tense up a bit.
"Hehe. Relax, relax. I hope you don't lose it…take good care of it, okay? Rose said with a soft smile.
"Says the one who lost mine." Gray chuckled and looked at the cloth he held in his hand for a moment before putting it in his pocket.
"Hey, don't say that. I'm a princess, so it's fine but you can't lose it." Pouting, she said.
"Haha. Okay, okay, princess… I won't lose it, rest assured."
"Good." She smiled.
~
Well that was what had happened.
"You look deep in thought there." Gray opened his eyes and as he saw Rose hovering right above her, his cheeks warming up a bit but he remained calm. "Oh, yeah…I was just thinking about earlier day…"
"Hmm…you were, huh? You got pretty roughed up there." Gray felt soft and delicate fingers tracing a few bruises on his face, he lay still, his face heating up. "Sigh. Yes, I suppose I did, huh? Heh…"