30 Days As A Substitute Prince

Chapter 8

People say a friendship usually starts in the most unexpected ways. Sometimes it's an accidental crash into each other on a walk, or  simply a kind gesture of a helping hand after falling. 

Either way, most times it's the start of something beautiful. 

As for Chad, he couldn’t understand how he got so lucky, as he stared at their intertwined fingers. It caused his heart to skip a beat, especially when she tightened her grip on his hand. 

Aria felt just the same. Her mother had told her that they could do anything they want, as long as they comply with the rules of courtship. And once they stepped into the cool, September air, she knew exactly what she wanted to do on their first day of their courting. If she had thought about it before, she would've worn something smaller, but it was too late to change now. 

"I would like to show you something," Aria told him, catching his attention from their intertwined hands. He smiled sweetly at her, as if telling her that he would go anywhere with her, because he would. 

"What is it?" 

She giggled. "Come on." She pulled him along the path that led from the back of the castle, through some tall trees with small blooming wildflowers sitting on either side of the path. 

Chad's excitement grew when he noticed how happy the princess seemed to be showing him whatever she had to show him. The glint in her emerald eyes hinted  a familiar view of passion for whatever she wanted to show him, and the  smile that never fell from her face made the morning seem brighter. 

Soon, they were slowing down and Aria stopped suddenly in front of him, looking playful. Chad watched her in anticipation as he wondered why they stopped. 

"Close your eyes," she instructed with a giggle. 

"What?" Chad laughed nervously, but he wasn’t sure if he heard her correctly. 

"Close your eyes, " she repeated, looking a bit impatient with excitement. 

Doing as he's told, Chad closed his eyes and reached out to take her hand again so that he wouldn’t fall. The small patter of Aria's feet on the trail sounded again as she started moving, put at a slower pace so as to not throw off Chad. He followed her blindly the rest of the way until she stopped again. Still, he didn’t open his eyes. 

"Can I open my eyes now?" he asked, chuckling a  bit as he heard her giggle a little farther  than she was moments ago. 

"Not just yet," she shouted, confirming Chad's suspicions that she was a distance away. 

Curiosity ate away at him as he stood frozen in his place. After what felt like years later, the sound of her feet drawing closer filled his ears again, and then he suddenly felt a cold, hard thing nudging his nose. 

He yelped and flinched back, his eyes snapping open on impulse as he searched for the foreign thing. 

Aria was already in a mess of laughter in front of him as he peered around, seeing her clutching a duck to her chest as she continued her laughing fit. 

A duck? 

It was then when Chad took the moment to look around, and he was immediately pulled back to reality at the beauty of the place. In front of them sat a small, still pond that was clear as crystal. Inside was what seemed like a family of ducks--five to be exact, and the little fellow Aria had would make six. 

But what was even more shocking, was the building behind the pond. It wasn't a finished building, as it had no roof. But the antique beauty of the building was calling to Chad. He could already see himself making a painting of this very view. He couldn’t help himself. 

Aria's laughing died down a bit as she gazed up at him, still recovering from the hilarious look on his face when she tapped his nose with the duck's beak. 

She was aware that her behaviour in that moment wasn’t 'proper', but if he was going to be her groom, he needed to know all her sides, including her playful side. 

"I'm sorry," she said through laughs as she wiped a stray tear from her eye. " I didn't mean to scare you, but I cannot say I didn’t enjoy the look on your face."

The sound of her voice brought his attention back to her, but Chad didn’t feel annoyed by her trick. In fact,  her laughter brought peace to the entire opening as if it belonged there. 

"You need not apologise, Princess Aria. This place is marvellous." 

She nodded in agreement as she straightened to stand beside him. "Indeed it is. This is my favourite place in the whole wide world." 

"Oh is it?" Chad raised an amused brow at her. "Even more than your castle?" 

"The castle isn't even half as wonderful as this." She smiled in delight as the duck made a quack in her arms. He seemed so content to be with her. It was like he loved being with Aria. 

"And who is this little fellow?" 

"This is Arwen," she announced with a giggle as she placed the duck in Chad's hands. It was his time to laugh. 

"You gave the duck a name?" 

"Oh I granted all of them names," she said without hesitation as she went on to introduce each of the animals to him. 

"This is Aston, the papa duck, this is Cam, the momma duck. And these are Arwen's siblings, Lilly, Brett and Jordan." 

Chad shook his head in amusement as he watched her beam proudly at each of them. He saw a side to her today that he wouldn’t have seen coming, but he was glad that she was comfortable enough to show him more of her. 

She believes you're her husband, a thought nudged Chad annoyingly. Even though the voice was right and she believed she was sharing this place with her soon to be husband, he had come to terms that it was too late to do anything about it now. So, he simply had to play along with Zadkiel's game. 

"It's lovely to meet you all," Chad teased as he set little Arwen on his feet and watched him waddle away. 

He admired how Aria watched them lovingly, as if they were her family too. 

"So what do you do here other than name ducks?" he asked out of mere curiosity. She shrugged as she took his hand again. She'd gotten quite comfortable doing this, Chad noticed, but he wasn’t complaining. 

"Let me show you." She pulled him along again, this time towards the unfinished church. "This place has a beautiful story behind it," she added as she pulled him inside. 

If Chad thought the outside was beautiful, the inside was something else. 

Even with the lack of windows, roof and doors, the structure was firm and uniquely designed. Lush green grass sat on the ground with small wild flowers scattered all over.The view  of the pond and the family of ducks were still in sight, making the place a wonderful place to escape and relax.

Aria continued moving to the very end of the building where two large columns stood. He followed close behind, curious to see what else she had to show him. 

Chad's eyes widened when he saw the view from below. He knew they were on the same hill that the castle sat, but he didn’t expect such a spectacular vista. A portion of Oryn was visible from where they stood--the docks in particular which connected to the open seas. 

The thin fog that settled on the water made it difficult to see, but oddly gave it a more unique touch. Chad's fingers ached for a painting brush. Whenever he saw something so spectacular, he just simply had to capture the image forever. 

"Beautiful, isn’t it?" 

"Quite beautiful," he mumbled as he continued to ogle the view. 

"I can only imagine how beautiful it was decades ago when our ancestors used it as a point of hope."

"A point of hope?" Chad questioned when he noticed that there was a story she had been referring to. 

Aria nodded. "Nearly two hundred years ago, our people were always attacked by the kingdom of Astria. Some of our bravest soldiers would always risk their lives to go to war for our peace. They would leave for months, almost a year sometimes. The royal family at that time invited the families of the soldiers to stay at the castle, especially when they couldn't sustain themselves. They found this spot, and built this church so that they could pray for their safe return."

"But they didn’t finish it," Chad pointed out, at which Aria chuckled lightly. 

"No they didn’t. Instead, they would sit here against these columns, look out into the horizon and hope that their family would return home safely to them."

"A point of hope," Chad mumbled as his heart welled up for the sentiment of this place. 

"A point of hope," Aria echoed. "Those soldiers are the ones responsible for our peace today. Oryn has been the most peaceful kingdom in the Pacific since then. Some of the soldiers didn’t return, but their sacrifice wasn’t in vain."

The look of admiration and gratitude on her face affirmed Chad that she would be a great queen one day. She recognised what those soldiers and her ancestors did for this kingdom, and it was clear that she cherished and loved the place she inherited. She would do everything in her power to keep it that way. 

"That really is a beautiful story." 

She hummed in response as a session of silence fell over them again. They simply gazed at the horizon and relished in the feeling of peace. 

"What about you?" Aria asked after a while.

"Pardon?" 

"Is there any story about Imperial Kingdom?" 

He froze as panic rose in him. Chad knew nothing about Imperial Kingdom! What would he tell her? 

"Well I haven’t been out much..." he decided to say, remembering when Zadkiel explained how he grew up, never going out of the castle. 

Aria's face lit up in realisation, as she remembered when her parents told her about Zadkiel's upbringing, but they never went into detail. 

"Oh I did it again," she scolded herself before looking back at him with apology filled eyes. "Forgive me, Prince Zadkiel. I keep being inconsiderate."

"No need to be sorry, Aria," he quickly reassured. "Your curiosity is quite fascinating." 

"It is just that I do not wish to offend you in any way." 

"You haven’t," he told her truthfully before reaching for her hand. "Tell you what, why don’t you tell me more about yourself?" Chad hoped that his attempt to direct the attention away from himself would go unnoticed by her, and luckily, it did. 

She nodded as she began telling him about her strangest childhood experiences, which were hilarious. She even told him about how she stumbled across this place when she was fourteen, and shared it with her sisters. She was the one who loved it the most. 

Soon, lunch time drew near and the couple decided to head back. Everyone was already seated in the dining room by the time they arrived, and all they got were knowing and proud looks. 

Aria could hear Liziath's million questions already budding in her mind. 

It had been a good day for both of them. Despite the few slip ups, it was refreshing and great. Aria tried hard to suppress her grin as they sat across from each other once again for their meal. 

She simply couldn't wait to spend the rest of the day with him.