The King's Beloved

~ [Music Recommendation: "Dreamspell" by Gary Stadler - available in Youtube and Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter 0_0 ~

"Luna, are you ok?" Rania asked when she noticed Luna wiping her face. She, too, sat beside her, on the opposite side of Ducis. "What happened?" Her face furrowed in worry for her fairy friend.

"I'm fine," Luna tried to hide her worries. "I-It's just … touching! Imagine them being sweet and all, then … I don't know - they say it's a bittersweet story so maybe …"

But she won't fool Rania. 

Despite knowing that she was hiding something, Rania just smiled at Luna and helped her wipe her tears. In her mind, she thought, "If she's not ready to tell yet, it's fine. It must be something sensitive, or she's unaccustomed of. But I'll be here. I'll continue to support her".

Elliot observed Rania, Luna and Ducis, but his eyes focused on the latter. He knew that look on Ducis' face … those sad eyes … hiding something heavy and bitter. He sighed upon seeing it, and in his mind, he thought, "Why bother keeping it to yourself? You have us. We're friends, right? You can share the burden with us … don't handle it alone. We're here".

The orchestra began playing a song again, gathering the attention of everyone back to the play. This time, it was a fun and playful song called "The Flowers" by Howard Baer. The actress playing Flora, and the actor playing Ducis, came back on stage and began to dance. It was an expressive dance style that told a story of how they got along. There were dancers in the background as well, making the scene more beautiful.

The dance started with Ducis sitting at the middle of the stage, and Flora, peeking from the back of a tree. She sneakily glided towards him and tapped his shoulders from the back. Ducis turned around and showed a disgusted expression when he saw her. He took a step back but Flora jumped to him, twirled, and embraced him. Ducis froze up again and the back-up dancers entered the stage, jumping and scattering sparkles everywhere, in an organized manner.

Flora and Ducis continued to dance, with Flora chasing him nonstop, but Ducis kept on ignoring her. They travelled the whole stage like a cat chasing a mouse. Little by little, Ducis softened up and got used to her tricks and persistence. When they were back to the middle of the stage, Ducis sat on the ground again, and Flora tapped his back once more, but this time, he didn't run away. Smiling, Flora sat beside him, and read the book he was holding, as she leaned her head on his shoulders. Then, the song slowly turned sweet and blended to the tune of "Soffia la Notte" by Fabrizio Paterlini. Along with the song changing, the stage setting changed into a clear meadow, with an enchanting view of the night sky.

Flora and Ducis stood up and danced together in a sweet "Viennese Waltz". Holding each other, they glided, and turned, and twirled, into the rhythm of the music. At times, Ducis would lift her up, carry her in his arms, and put her back down. Then, they would part, only to welcome each other in a warm embrace. On and on their feet walked, glided, and jumped, as their bodies stood close to each other. Each raising of the arms, each movement of the feet, each bending of the body, were so beautiful and flawless that the crowd couldn't help but gasped and be in awe of their performance.

Happiness could be seen from their faces … 

Happiness and love …

And by the end of the song, the lights slowly faded as they shared their very first, sweet, and memorable kiss.

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

The audience cheered by clapping their hands. Soft murmurs could be heard again while the stage prepared for the next act. They seemed to like discussing amongst themselves and sharing feedback with one another. 

Luna's heart continued to sting inside her. "I must watch until the end," she thought, "I want to know what happened. And maybe … I'll find some answers as to why I'm having this weird aching in my chest. I want to know who Flora is".

The orchestra signalled the start of the next act once more by playing "Dreamspell" by Gary Stadler. The melody was mysterious but foreboding. The stage setting changed into a view of the Grand Palace from the outside. It was night time and the palace was covered by dark clouds, with thunder roaring in the background. Then, it zoomed into one of the rooms inside. It was the office of someone.

Upon zooming in, a man with green hair could be seen sitting in his office, with his arms resting on the table. Rania and the others looked at the play script, but the man had no name. It just had his silhouette and a "???" under it. Another man came in, with long, golden hair and bright aquamarine eyes.

"Argh," Elliot's head started to ache when he saw the man with golden hair. He pressed on his head, trying to ease the pain.

"Elliot? Are you alright? What's happening?" Rania asked as she held his hands, worried.

"I-I'm fine. My head just suddenly started aching a bit".

"A headache? Do you feel sick somewhere?"

Elliot shook his head and smiled at her. "It's okay. It's subsiding now. It was just brief and sudden. No need to worry".

"... Okay, if you say so".

Still holding onto each other's hands, they continued watching the show.

The two men acted without words, in a pantomime. The man with green hair welcomed the other when he came in. They sat on the sofa, at the receiving area of his office and started discussing while drinking tea. At first, they were rather friendly with each other until the green-haired man uttered something that displeased the golden-haired man. His eyes widened in surprise and his eyebrows furrowed in anger. Not long after, their friendly discussion turned into a heated argument.

The green-haired man tried to calm the other but he didn't relent. Losing hope, he just pulled something out of his pocket - a black octagonal box that was as big as his hand. There were ominous markings on the body of the box and it was sealed tightly with magic. A dark aura could be seen from it and the golden-haired man shivered upon seeing it. The green-haired man offered it to him but he slapped his hands that the box fell on the ground, and fled the room. The green-haired man sighed and picked it up afterwards.

The lights dimmed on the office of the green-haired man, and followed the golden-haired man to the center of the stage. The stage setting changed into a hallway where a beautiful garden could be seen at the sides, along with three little kids playing with each other happily. The golden-haired man stopped when he saw the children. He sighed deeply and the anger from his face went away in an instant, replaced by a warm and endearing expression as he stared at them.

Three little boys were practicing their magic on the water fountain. One of them had golden hair and bright aquamarine eyes just like the golden-haired man - it seemed like he was his son since he smiled dearly upon seeing him. He was with two other boys, who looked younger than him by a year. One had light blue hair and light blue eyes. He was very cute but had a listless expression. And the last one had pure white hair and bright aquamarine eyes like the first boy. He was the most adorable and had the most beautiful smile out of the three. His cute little face spelled kindness all over.

Elliot's eyes widened upon seeing the three kids in the fountain. His body shook and trembled. He tried to suppress it but Rania felt it the moment he jolted. His head started aching again but he didn't want to blink and miss out anything that he was seeing. Instead, he unconsciously gripped Rania's hands.

"This … why does it seem so … familiar?" Elliot asked himself.

At the same time, Ducis jolted from his seat. "This stupid - Ventus!" he called out to him through his mind, trying to communicate via telepathy. "What are you doing?! It's not time yet!" He clenched his fist into a tight ball and bit his lips. "Stop this immediately!"

"Ducis, my friend," Ventus replied to him. He was also watching the show as an audience, from a seat right across them. "I'm sorry but I will not stop this. He needs to know! The next gate will be very difficult for him if -"

"No! Stop it! It's not time yet!"

"Why don't you listen to me first?"

"I know what the next gate is about! And I know it will be dangerous but he will overcome it! This … is not yet the time!"

"Why do you treat him as a kid? He's not a child! He can -"

"No, you don't understand," Ducis' voice was now desperate. "If you won't listen to me, I will stop this on my own".

Ventus trembled on his seat.

Whooooosh!

Suddenly, time stopped in the whole realm - including Rania, Elliot and Luna. 

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