• Be My Princess 2: Sleeping Mirror •

[Chapter VIII] Confession

Few days have passed since the last time Ivan and Sophielle met each other. Ivan is in the battlefield front line now, Fighting for his beloved kingdom. Even though he is a prince, he is not a typical one. He's different from what people describe as a prince. Today's temperature is quite cold. Things have calmed down a bit and he can rest more than before now.

"Pardon my interruption!" A man who seemed to be one of the soldiers entered Ivan's barrack, making Ivan curious about what the soldier wanted to say.

"Everything is under control now Your Highness. His Majesty said you may return to the castle tomorrow morning." The soldier gave Ivan a firm salute and Ivan nodded at the good news.

"I understand. You may leave now." Ivan muttered and the soldier gave him another salute before leaving him alone.

Ivan went back to his chair and sit on it before closing his eyes.

He's been fighting and persuading people for the past days. He would be lying if he said he's not tired. But he's still doing it because he loves his kingdom and its people. He wanted to give his people his best.

Ivan softly opened his eyes again as he heard footsteps coming closer by each passing seconds. Another man came into the room and succeed in making the prince questioning what he might say.

"Prince Ivan! There is a letter for you from Prince Kuon!" The person is the messenger, the mailman. He gave Ivan a white envelope with an Orien emblem printed on its surface.

"Thank you." Ivan took the letter from the messenger's hand and soon after that, the messenger left the room, leaving Ivan with the small piece of envelope alone.

Ivan slowly tore the envelope and took the paper folded inside it. He unfolded it in curiosity and began to read it. It took him around twenty-five seconds to finish reading all of it and once he finished, his eyes are widened in surprise.

The letter told him how Kuon wanted to meet him again when he's back. He wanted to discuss Sophielle.

He is right. Ivan is right all along. Kuon was hiding something from him and the rest. But now, he's going to find out about it. With that, Ivan folds the envelope back and took some rest.

Time went by as quick as they can be to Kuon but to Ivan time went very slow as slow as the snail. He couldn't wait to be back in his beloved castle to report back to his father then go to Orien to hear Kuon's story.

He wanted to see Sophielle first but after thinking about the thing for several times, he decided to see Sophielle after he meets Kuon so he can have more things to tell to Sophielle.

Finally, the time for him to be able to step his feet back into his home came. Yes, He's back to his castle. To Sanct Sybil's castle. And he didn't waste any single minute he has. He rushed to his father, tell him about everything he got from the war.

"You've done well my son. Now.. for your engagement with lady Eada. When will you do it? You're not seeing anyone else are you?" King Nikolai, Ivan's father, asked his son with a gentle smile and teasing tone. Ivan simply only gave him a forced smile.

"I'll think about that later. Now if you excuse me... I have an important meeting with Prince Kuon after this."

With that, Ivan exited his home and head towards Orien's castle with his faithful butler.

~*~

"I'll.. tell you."

The two prince meets each other again. They're standing in front of each other and staring at each other's orbs. Kuon eyes showed him how much pain he is in now while Ivan's only staring at him in a questioning way.

"Sophielle was... Sophielle was my classmate. My childhood friend.. She's my grandmother's friends' granddaughter who happened to be from one of the Orien's nobles houses. She was the most cheerful and annoying lady I've ever met." Kuon started telling his story at Ivan. Ivan found himself standing with mixed emotions. He's shocked but there's also a little jealousy burning within him.

"We were having a school trip. It was winter and we went to a ski resort on a mountain. But she was acting strangely. She's not being herself. We had an argument because of it at that time. I was shouting and throwing something at her just because she didn't answer me. She left the room while holding back her tears. Then I saw a group of girls gathering around her and I sensed that something was strange. She never had that many female friends.. yet I didn't do anything and just watch her being taken by the girls." Kuon stopped to take a breath then continues.

"I was a fool. I broke my promise with her brother. I told his brother that I'll keep her safe... I don't know what happened to Sophielle when she was with the girls but.. when I found her.. she was drowning in a lake. It seems that the lake wasn't THAT frozen so it..it cracked. The girls were screaming but they ran away not long after that. I.. didn't know what I should do.. so I let my bodyguards help her..and I.. ran away too... I was frightened! I tried to forget everything about her and tried to hides it from everyone and now she's still in comatose and her brother won't let me go and see her.." Kuon finished telling Ivan his story and that's when Ivan gave Kuon the taste of his hard fist. Ivan made Kuon fall to the floor with his mouth bleeding.

"..How.. do you know her..?" Kuon ignored the pain and asked Ivan with sad eyes.

"That's none of your concern and I'm not going to apologize for that. You deserve the punch."

"I deserve worse. I... I wanted to meet her and... Say I'm sorry. I wanted to see her again.. I miss her. It's been years. If she wakes up now it would be a miracle." Kuon didn't stand back up and lied on the floor.

"... Do you have any special feelings for her..?" Ivan asked.

".. I do. But it's too late now."