How Many Times I'd Live For You

Chapter One

Fiorello had always kept to himself. Even in his young years of carefree playing, the boy seldom played games with the other children. His caretakers even grew worried, spilling all their grievances to the Prince's parents.

The King and Queen of The Gem City were truly the "two gems of Padparadscha," pleasant to the eye and warming to the soul. They were the perfect couple, both beautiful in looks and words. They could smooth talk any opposing kingdom from violence with their well-versed and eloquent dialect.

To the stressed servants, they would simply brush off their worries for the Prince with smiles, claiming the boy was simply reserved. After a while, their worries were forgotten and everyone grew used to the Prince's cold shoulder.

Years passed and the Prince grew into a fine young man, winning the hearts of any who glanced in his direction. He was truly perfect; eyes a sunset pink like the gem the Kingdom was named after, hair a caramel brown that shined in the sunlight, skin as fair as the fairest maiden, and not to mention his sharp angular face that seemed carved out of gemstone itself.

"The Prince truly lives up to the legends!" People would whisper at first glance, while others responded with, "No! He exceeds them!"

It really didn't matter if the Prince had a foul attitude; the whole world fell in love with him at a mere glance! The man could walk over a person and still be called a beautiful angel! By the heavens, he could probably kill a man and get away with it with a face like his!

Anyone would eagerly do his bidding... Yet, the problem was that he had none to give. Servants waited anxiously for demands but received none. Rich merchants displayed rare and exquisite gifts for the Prince's favor but were accepted with the slightest nod and gruff thanks. Even the maidens of other Kingdoms who were sent to claim his hand in marriage were shrugged off like a bothersome gust of wind. The Prince was simply unbothered by anything.

Anything but the all feared Beast. The six-foot-tall man was a dark shadow that scared off many who glanced in his direction. He seemingly had the opposite effect of the Prince, sending people running for the hills while the Prince attracted them in flocks. That's probably why he was directly assigned to protect the Prince.

The Beast had been in the royal family for what seemed like forever. He never aged, not even a wrinkle ever etched into his admittedly handsome face. His skin was smooth, but in a different way than the Princes. It looked as if one could throw a spear into his face and have the metal bounce right off. He was truly a walking impenetrable fortress.

That fortress was in charge of protecting the royal family. One day, the Prince was training in the fields when an assassin attempted to send an arrow at his head! To the watching crowd's awe, the Beast ran fourth and caught the arrow from the air! The built man didn't even blink in surprise, dropping the arrow to the grassy ground before turning to apprehend the assassin.

The King and Queen soon began to worry about their son's safety and assigned the Beast to be the Prince's personal guard... much to the man's dissatisfaction. Prince Fiorello never liked help, and a personal guard made him feel completely handicapped!

Every time the Prince tried to slip away from the Beast's watch, he was soon to turn a corner and find the man standing in his way with an amused smirk, looking as if Fiore was the fool... Ridiculous!

The Prince had no choice to get used to the Beast's company, but that didn't mean he had to converse with the man. Having the Beast around did carry some perks though.. Starting with the fact people stayed as far away as they could form the sturdy man. The prince's usual giant crowd shrank to one. Privacy was nonexistent for a Royal, but one was better than fifty.