The Lion and The Rose

And the time manipulated.

Jacob, I am going on an errand. Please feed Sol and Selena for me.

Jacob looked at the note taped to the doors of Leo's bedchamber and sighed with a deep breath. "Does my Prince think I have the power to control a Lion and a Panther?" Jacob shook his head and turned away in defeat, "No, I don't."

—

Leyan sat in the carriage with chin to the palm of her hand. She thought long and hard about it. She was sure that she had made this trip before, but at a different time. During the Winter of one and a half year ago. How come nobody seem to remember but her? Or had she been dreaming all this time?

The trip this time was much more peaceful. Nobody in her small entourage of six were killed along the way.

"Lady Ning, tell us some stories about Galanthus." The maid, Siniang asked the nanny.

Leyan straightened her back and sat properly with a small treasure box in her arms.

"Galanthus? Much of what I know about this Kingdom is from what I heard from the scholars. So I am not sure if it's accurate."

"H-how about that Prince?" Leyan asked. "Have you heard anything about him? I am suppose to be vying for his attention among other ladies, so it would be better if I learn a bit about him."

Lady Ning paused her needle works to think back on the information that she obtained while running around the palace in the past years. "Well, from the scholars' words. This young prince from Galanthus is disfigured."

Leyan and Siniang grimaced, disappointed at the news. They were young, and they were thinking of perhaps a handsome and dashing young prince.

"He wore a mask–"

"Say no more. I'm going back to sleep." Leyan pouted, "Wake me up when it's supper."

Lady Ning smiled, resuming her embroidery of a snowdrop, the symbol of the Kingdom of Galanthus.

"The Kingdom is named after a small white flower, the first flower of Spring, growing in the frost. The symbolism of hopes and new beginnings. Resilient like none others. The Kingdom is guarded by six houses. The strongest and ruler is House of Leon. Which our Princess will be under the protection of. King Magnus has only one heir. That is Prince Leonardo V. This young prince, all the scholars believed that he is a weakling since young. There was a fire that killed his mother and disfigured him. He does not show up at court and kept hidden from public eyes. The King wished to find him a bride so he can quickly produce an heir of his own that if ever anything happen to both the King and the Prince, a young Prince can take over–"

"So they just want a breeding machine." Leyan murmured with closed eyes. "So is this now my fate?" She groaned with a pout before facing the wall of the carriage. "I was looking forward to Summer. Just sitting idle, fishing by the river while listening to the water wheel from my own little cottage. Tending to the flowers and vegetable fields, and then eat the sweet summer melons. I could live that life forever. I don't have to be married. I can take care of myself."

Siniang nodded with sympathetic smile. "Princess, they're just rumors. Maybe the Prince is a good and handsome man that will adore you and give you everything you want."

"No, people of royal status want a bride just to give them an heir. And I, was raised to become a collateral for political arrangements. They do not want their favorite daughters to live far from home, to go on a dangerous journey so they chose me. I was fed, taken care of, taught a foreign language, so I can take the place of their favorite daughters."

Lady Ning suddenly hummed a tune while continuing on the stem of the flower. Siniang looked down to her empty hands. It was not smooth nor perfect and had a few bumps here and there, she was a maid, after-all. Her burden was just to take care of this Princess, she was not raised in a cage to be someone's wife just to produce heirs.