Once you return...

Chapter 2

"Your father never told me he had such a beautiful daughter. What a shame! If i knew, I would've dressed appropriately. ", he said confidently, with a triumphant smirk, almost as if he knew she couldn't have said a word, even if she wanted to. He totally knew it. He was aware of the effect he had on women and he used it wisely. Adelaide looked to the ground and blushed, so he continued:

"How old are you, darling?"

Darling. Nobody, except her father in her early childhood, has ever called her darling, especially not a man, visibly older than her, who she had just met a couple of minutes ago. Altough she was still stunned by him - the way he looked, the way he talked, the way he walked - she made up her mind and tried not to be affected by his words. >>He probably said that to million others.<<

"I am sixteen currently. Will be seventeen in a few months. And what about you, sir?"

"You don't have to call me sir. William is fine. I've just turned twenty six."

She nodded awkwardly without knowing what to say. She was a bit confounded, but still very flattered by his compliments. She could still feel the heat in her head and the adrenaline rushing through her veins. Her palms were sweating and she could've sworn the temperature in the room had gone up by a hundred degrees. She had never felt that way before. It was a completely new sensation which, to be fair, she didn't mind at all. In fact, aside from being stumped and bewildered, she actually enjoyed the attention she was getting and hoped her father would stay upstairs a bit longer.

"So, sir-- Uhm, William, I noticed you were checking out our collection of porcelain swans."

"Yes, they're quite impressive. These are really hard to find. You are very lucky to have a father who loves collecting rarities." - he said. Right as she was about to add something, he continued:

"You know, there is an interesting story about these swans. See, swans actually represent love.", he said, then sighed, "There was once a young man, poor, came from a working class. He was my age, twenty-six and still living with his parents, due to the shortage of money. There was this one girl he met and he immidiately fell in love. Still, to this day, the girl's beauty is widely talked about. She was truly perfect, every woman's ideal: pale skin, blond hair, light blue eyes, full, red lips, red cheeks. Anyways, back to them. Just like most love stories out there, it turned out their love was not only unwanted, but also strictly prohibited as she was royalty. She was the daughter of the king and the queen, of course they wouldn't want them together! Still, they both were in love with each other and hoped their love would find a way. Ah, so silly! He would often sneak into very expensive shops, which were only available to the wealthiest, and he'd steal precious stones and jewelry made out of outrageously expensive materials. He would bring those to her as a surprise for when they met again after a long time being apart. One day she told him she won't be in town for a long time, for almost two months, and that they won't be able to see each other until then. This made them both very sad. She was told by her parents she was going to visit her cousins, who lived far away from her. What she didn't know was that her parents had arranged her a marriage with someone they found to be worthy of their daughter. When she left town, the young man was miserable. All he did was just roam the freezing cold streets - it was winter at the time - and think about his darling. Then, one of his friends who couldn't watch him ruin himself like that told him to find a hobby, something to kill time while she was gone. He thought about those words for a few days and then it hit him: he was going to get her a gift, worthy of the king's daughter that's going to prove her parents his love for her. It wasn't actually a hobby, but it would take his mind elsewhere. He went to every shop in town trying to find the perfect gift for his beloved damsel. He searched and searched, but he never seemed to be happy with what he saw. Then one day he overheard a conversation between two lads. They were talking about swans - swans, those beatiful elegant creatures that amaze people just by existing with their gracious long necks and true, life-lasting love for their partner. The miserable young man now knew what he had to do. He was very keen on buying - well, rather stealing - a swan necklace. Love makes you do crazy things, isn't that right? He travel--"