A Face that launched a thousand ships

Part 10

  part 10

The carriage had arrived at the town, but it did not seem like a publicized party. People had been walking casually by the streets; no hurrying, no preparations, and no music. It was just a very normal day, one might say. From inside the carriage, they looked around the streets as they passed by. Reino de España was indeed a wealthy country. There were not much beggars on the street; the people dressed finely. One certain girl's hazel orbs wandered the streets, her black hair tied up in a neat bun with some loose curly strands decorating her face. "How come he did not tell me anything about his country?" she asked herself in a whisper. The man beside her, who was looking outside, turned his head to the side to look at her, "I think I have heard that he has problems with his position." Her lips formed a small frown, "I wonder why..."

Soon, they had arrived at the Reino de España Palace—Antonio's house and palace. The chauffeur opened the carriage door and the blond man slipped his foot out and stepped down the carriage. He wore a black tailcoat matched with black leather shoes and a black tie. On the right side of his tailcoat was a blue rose. The man turned around and reached out a hand to his wife inside the carriage. She took the hand and stepped down the carriage with her other hand lifting her simple yet elegant gown. The dress was a blue balloon ball gown with a red ribbon around its waist. The laces which decorated the gown's ends made it look even more elegant despite its simplicity. Her face decorated by her gentle smile looked warm and attractive as always.

The couple climbed the stairs elegantly; Arthur wearing his infamous proud face and his wife, Maria, her sweet smile. They continued inside the lobby and into where all the guests were going. Arthur was pretty familiar with the place since he used to go there when they were small.

They reached a grand door with which the music from the inside reached the outside of the door. The man standing beside the door asked, "May I see your invitation?" Arthur reached inside the pocket of his tailcoat and handed the man over a letter with the Reino de España's royal seal. The man opened the letter then made the palace guards open the door. As soon as the doors opened, the most noticeable thing was the stairs leading downstairs to where the party was held. "Mister and Missus Kirkland!" the man announced as the couple just stood on top of the stairs and smiled.


"I have to agree to that." He laughed in a carefree manner holding a glass of red wine in his hand. "Mister and Missus Kirkland!" they all heard a man announce with a loud voice. The guests, including him, turned to the voice and saw a couple standing on top of the stairs. His eyes widened and joy filled him, the ends of his lips tugged up into a huge smile when his green eyes lay on a girl with blue balloon ball gown. Just as fast as this happened, his lips slowly formed a small 'o 'when he saw the blond beside the girl. His lips sealed in a line as he saw this.

The said couple descended the stairs gracefully. In the party, they were the most eye-catching couple among all which resulted to tons of murmurings as they glided their way gracefully across the room. They had gone to the party's host—Antonio Carriedo. When they had been standing in front of the said man, Maria curtsied, "Good evening, Antonio." Arthur nodded in curtsy. Antonio—despite the hateful scene before him—forced a smile on his face, "Good evening to the both of you too. I am glad that the both of you made it here safely." Arthur smiled back, "Thank you also for inviting me and my wife." Antonio was ticked off as he heard Arthur spout 'my wife' in front of him. Despite him being ticked off, he tried his best to put on a smile, "I see. Well, I hope you do enjoy the party. We will be having an activity later, so please do not tire yourselves out." The couple smiled, "We'll keep that in mind." Arthur replied. "Shall we?" he asked the girl beside him, the girl answered, "Yes." They turned around from the brunet and walked away.

Antonio was enraged by this sight—them walking away from him arm in arm. His brows furrowed in anger.

Suddenly, the girl remembered something. "Ah!" she said as she remembered. "What is it?" her husband raised an eyebrow at her. "You can go on first, I forgot to ask Antonio something." She hurriedly replied then turned around again to walk towards the brunet. Arthur, who was left alone, shrugged and continued walking in the midst of the crowd looking for a drink.

Antonio noticed that the girl was coming back, this time without Arthur. His lips once again formed a smile on his face. "Antonio," she called out, "I forgot to ask you something." Antonio smiled at her, "Yes?" Actually, deep inside him, he wanted to say 'What is it, my dear?' but he could not, knowing the consequences of doing so in public. Finally, the girl reached him, "Why did you not tell me before that you were a king?" she asked directly to the point without hesitation. He scratched the back of his head, "Well... that is because..." he laughed nervously.

The girl tilted her head to the side in confusion, "Because?"

"W-Well... because I was scared." He answered hesitantly. "I thought that if someone found out my true identity they would only use me to gain wealth." The girl looked down, "Oh, I see. Well, I do understand your reasoning." She smiled at him, "Do not worry; I will not say anything about this."


"Good evening everyone, I do hope that you are having a fine time tonight." He spoke loudly on top of the grand staircase. Everyone's attention was at the brunet who was the host of that party. Standing beside the brunet was a blond man with navy blue eyes and hair that reached his shoulders wearing a white tailcoat and holding a red rose. On the brunet's other side was an albino who wore a black tailcoat and had a proud smirk on his face.

"I and my friends here have prepared an activity for tonight. The activity is called, hide and seek." As soon as he said this, the room was filled with murmurs. Antonio cleared his throat, "In this game, we request that the girls go with the maids over there to hide." He pointed over to the left side of the room where the female maids lined up neatly awaiting orders. "For the males, after the lights are turned off, that is the only time we are allowed to find our female partners." He smirked, "The female you find first will also be the partner you will have later during the dance."

"Now, I request for the girls to leave their male escorts and go with the maids." The girls left their partners just as they were told and went with the maids of the palace. Maria kissed Arthur by the cheek, "Don't keep me waiting." She winked then left along with the other females in the room.


She found herself walking along with the other females who had left their partners. Beside her was a brunette who had her wavy hair tied up in a ponytail and wore a green dress. The female had a pink flower on the left side of her head. Maria smiled at the girl, "Hello." The said girl glanced at her and smiled back, "Why, hello there."

"I find this game weird yet exciting." Maria started. The brunette nodded, "Yes, I agree. I was left by my partner way before this game started." She sighed. Maria's head snapped up, "Why is that? That's rude." She pouted cutely. The brunette laughed finding the other girl's childishness cute, "Well, he went with his friends. He's that albino beside King Antonio; the one who looks like a big mistake." She sighed in defeat, "Now I feel like I made a huge mistake. Why did I ever choose him anyway?" she joked. Maria giggled, "Well, I do believe that despite his actions, he still loves you." The brunette smiled, "Thank you, my name's Elizabeta by the way. Elizabeta Hedervary." Elizabeta reached out a hand to her whom Maria gladly shook, "Mine is Maria Katalina dela Cruz- Kirkland. But Maria is fine."

The girl's surname caught Elizabeta's attention, "Kirkland? Then you are the wife of Arthur Kirkland, the King of Britannia?" Maria nodded, "Yes, yes that is me."

"Then you are the Queen of Britannia?" she asked excitedly. "Well, yes, but I am also a normal person no matter how you look at it." Maria was humble enough to say this even though she was already the Queen of Britannia—and everyone knew that. Elizabeta all of a sudden hugged her, "Aww... You are so adorable I could just eat you up!" Maria laughed nervously.


An old man whispered to the host's ear. All the males left in that room waited for his announcement. "Okay, the activity starts in 3... 2... 1!" the lights was turned off and the room was filled with darkness and murmurs. The only light available was the light provided by the moon which entered through the huge windows. As soon as Antonio started counting, Arthur had already prepared himself and positioned himself near the door where the girls went out. Hurriedly, he opened the door and went out in search of Maria.

"Wherefore art thou Maria?"


She walked aimlessly in the middle of the long corridor, careful not to trip on anything.

"Wherefore art thou Arthur?"

Out of nowhere, a hand from behind covered her mouth and dragged her inside a room. The last thing that was heard from that certain corridor were her muffled screams.

"If love be rough with you, be rough with love;

Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down."