Loving The Mad King

Rion, What Is Your Favorite Color?

Odette waited for Rion at the entrance of the rose garden. Actually, she really wanted to go in but she had been told by Anwen and the servants that the king did not allow anyone to enter the garden except on cleaning days, and even then, only the servants who had been assigned were allowed to enter.

After Odette waited for about three hours, Rion finally came out, and he was quite surprised to find Odette standing in front of the entrance.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he stood in front of Odette.

"I was waiting for you," said Odette, frankly. "Before you get busy with work, I thought we could have a casual chat for a bit."

"Is this part of the treatment?" Rion asked. They started walking side by side and left the garden area.

"So, what do you want to talk to me about?" Rion led the way then sat down on a bench. His facial expression looked serious even though Odette wanted to talk to him casually.

It was still early. The dew had not even evaporated from the leaves and flowers. The air that blew pierced the skin. Odette didn't answer Rion's question, instead she looked up at the cloudy blue sky and said, "That sky is very beautiful, isn't it?"

Rion's gaze went straight to Odette.

"And?" His tone was very flat.

"I really like the sky," Odette smiled and Rion saw that. The girl had a sweet smile. Rion glanced at the blue sky that the girl was looking at with a smile.

In Rion's eyes, the sky looked normal. "I don't have time to talk about trivial things like this."

"What's your favorite color?"

"I said I don't have time to—"

"Just answer it," concluded Odette quickly.

Rion was silent, he looked thoughtful. He had no idea that such a simple question would be so difficult for him to answer. He didn’t know what his favorite color was. Meanwhile, Odette patiently waited for Rion's answer.

The reason she asked that was because she wanted to know how much Rion recognized himself, and she didn't expect that Rion would have such a hard time in the first question.

“Red,” Rion replied after a while.

"Why red?"

"Because Rose likes red."

"So, you like red because Rose likes red?" Odette frowned, and Rion was silent.

"Rion, I mean, your favorite color. The color you love from the bottom of your heart isn't because other people like it."

"Is a person not having a favorite color abnormal?"

"No."

For five seconds, they stood there in silence before finally Odette let out a low sigh. "Then let's forget about color. How about you tell me the things you like and don't like?"

Again, the question was difficult for Rion to answer. He didn't know exactly when he had lost himself. Since the death of his mother, he was trained to become a king. What he liked and didn't like, didn’t really matter.

The cheerful little Rion was forced to become a robot programmed only to perform state duties. He was not allowed to do anything else that was outside the program. He had found his lost self again, but for the second time he had to lose himself again.

The only thing that Rion knew for sure about him was that he was a king. Every day he was just carrying out his responsibilities as a king and lived such a monotonous life. 

Seeing Rion confused, Odette decided to tell him about herself first. She hoped that in the middle of the story, Rion would respond and tell her what he liked. With an excited tone, she told Rion that liked eating, but didn’t like cooking. She really liked tasting different kinds of food, and besides that, she also liked traveling and meeting people, and she also really liked children.

Odette had talked a lot, but Rion didn't say anything, even though he seemed to be listening well. His pair of hazel eyes watched every expression the girl showed.

Odette's face consistently had a cheerful expression until suddenly a drastic change occurred when she started mentioning things she didn't like. Especially when she said “I really don't like people who like to make fun of other people.”

"Were you often teased?" Rion asked.

Odette didn't answer but the look in her eyes that were cast down made Rion understand. Odette remembered when she was teased by the other children as an illegitimate child and the adults mocked her mother as a crazy woman.

"Are you okay?" Rion asked which moved Odette from her reverie.

"Y-yes, I'm fine." Odette smiled, but her eyes showed something different.

"So, it's true that you are often teased?" Rion asked, which made Odette a little surprised.

"You once said that telling stories could make you feel better. If you don't want to talk, it's up to you. At least, you know that sharing sad stories with other people isn't easy."

The sun was shining and its warmth touched every life on earth.

Odette knew that Rion was currently trying to test her. If she couldn't open-up, then Rion would likely do the same.

"Well, when I was little, other kids used to call me an illegitimate child. That's because I didn't have a father. My father died when I was still in the womb."

Rion was quite surprised to hear what had happened to Odette. It turned out that the girl's life was not easy either.

"Why would they say that?"

“Because my mother has absolutely no proof of marriage with my father. She didn’t even have a photo of my father, but whatever it was, to me, mom is a very great woman. She raised me alone in the middle of a cruel city."

"I believe your mother is a good woman," said Rion, which made Odette a little surprised. She didn't expect that Rion would say something like that. 

"Why do you think like that?"

"Because if she was bad, she would have left you." Rion's answer wasn't wrong, but for some reason Odette felt disappointed.

By the way, Odette just realized something. Rion should have told Odette his problems and burdens, and why Rion did things.

After feeling that there was nothing more to say, Rion got up from his seat, planning to have breakfast, but before leaving he looked closely at Odette.

"What is it?" Odette looked up and put on a confused face.

"Your mother managed to raise you to be a good woman, because of that I believe she was a good woman. You are lucky to be able to live with your mother for such a long time, unlike me. My mother died when I was five years old. She was tragically killed before my very eyes."

"Rion..."

Rion closed his eyes for a moment, then turned around. "About color, I'll think about it," he said and then walked away.