-a prince's limerence

IV

" once the honeymoon phase is over / maybe our heads will be clear „

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Purple wandered through the royal gardens, a messily made flower–crown clutched in his hands as he searched for his someone.

"Mumma! Mumma!" The words fell out of his mouth, surprising him, and the woman raised her head.

"Aster! What are you doing out in the rain?" She reprimanded, though her tone was laced with concern. He paid no mind to her scolding, instead running over to her, pausing once he was under the leaves of the tree.

"Mumma, look what I made," Purple said breathlessly. He held up the flower crown, and his mother took it, smiling.

"Oh, purple, this is wonderful! Who taught you how to make these?" She asked.

He beamed up at her. "I figured it out all by myself, Mumma! You've gotta use your nails, make these little holes in the stem, and then um- then you stick the other stem in. I saw one of the gardeners doing it one time. Do you like it?" He finished his ramble, and she nodded happily, placing the flower crown on his head.

"I love it, and it looks especially pretty on you, sugarplum." Orchid said, giving the 7 year old 7 year old? a kiss on the head. "Why don't you show me how to do it?"

"Okay!" Purple agreed. He sat down and reached around to grab a few of the flowers, only to frown as he realised that none of them had stems. "Wait, how come none of these flowers have stems? Did someone rip them off?"

Orchid shook her head. "No, purple, they fell off on their own." As if to demonstrate, a small pink flower fell into his mother's hand, drifting as it did. "You see this tree? It's called a Royal Empress Tree. The flowers grow from the branches."

Purple's eyes were wide, only understanding half of what his mother was saying. "Ohhh... The tree is an Empress, like you!"

Orchid laughed. "No, silly, I'm a queen!"

"Wha's the difference?" Purple asked, eyebrows creasing. His mother flicked him lightly between the eyes. "Hey!" He whined, despite the fact that it barely hurt.

"Haven't you been paying attention in your classes? This is one of the first things you're supposed to learn." His mother scolded, although her smile didn't fall. Purple stuck his tongue out in return.

"No! That's boring. Studying and working is Mango-Bhaiya's job, not mine!" He suddenly jumped up, raising one arm as though it were a sword. "I'm gonna be a knight, like Papa wants me to!" He declared excitedly.

"That's sweet, but that doesn't mean you get an excuse to not study. Haven't you heard the phrase?" Orchid paused for a second, pursing her lips. "Um... something, something, thinking done by cowards and fighting by idiots."

Purple barked out a laugh, pointing. "HA! You haven't studied either!" His mother pushed his hand down, her face flushing with embarrassment.

"I have! ...Enough to pass, at least."

He cackled even louder, ignoring his mother's affronted cries. "Purple! At least don't make it such a big deal! And please don't tell your father."

"Too late, I'm telling him that you didn't study~!" He sang—

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And Purple opened his eyes with a start, the memory ending rather unceremoniously.

...Ah. It had been a dream. That made sense, he supposed. Rubbing his eyes, he decided to lay in the bed for a few more moments, pondering on his dream. He hadn't thought about that since he was a child. Actually, he hadn't really thought about any of his memories with her in years.