Marriage Of Convenience: Part 5

Why was he thinking this was such a big deal? He shook his head rapidly. He didn't need anyone to tell him that; he knew it well enough by himself.

Then he shook his head, snapping out of his trance. He had no idea why he was thinking this. It was a lot more complicated than that. He didn't need anyone to tell him this; he knew it just as well as he knew that he needed to be honest with himself.

He opened his mouth to reply and started to say something, but then he paused. What was the point of lying? If she already knew that he was leaving, then surely she wouldn’t care too much anyway.

So, with a deep breath, he replied, “I’m sorry, Your Highness. I didn’t come here to run away, I just… I couldn’t sleep and I thought I’d come to see if the garden was open. And I guess I got lost in the maze and ended up here instead.” His cheeks reddened slightly as he glanced down at the ground.

She tilted her head curiously. “The maze?”

“Yes,” he chuckled nervously, trying to ignore how nervous he felt. “I guess I did wander around a little. It gets pretty confusing around here at night.”

“You know,” she said softly and she placed a hand on his arm. “If you keep walking along the pathway, you’ll eventually reach the exit. Do you have an escort with you today?” She asked, glancing around and checking her surroundings, making sure nobody was around.

“No, I’m just... alone.” He said truthfully.

Her smile widened, seemingly satisfied. “Alright then.” With that, she walked past him without saying anything else.

As soon as he saw her disappear behind a corner, he released a sigh of relief and turned around, heading back toward the garden path that led to the palace. When he reached it, he glanced around, looking for something to hide behind. He settled for a large tree and quickly climbed up its trunk, hiding behind the leaves.

It was dark now. So many people had gone into the palace that the area outside was empty and silent. He sat quietly for a moment, listening to the sounds around him. It was peaceful here, he thought. It was hard to believe that the palace was filled with people every day.

But now he had to leave. He had to leave before anyone spotted him. He was starting to lose hope of ever seeing his parents again. If he had stayed here just a little longer, then maybe he could have explained everything to them. Maybe they could help him figure out how he managed to slip through the guards' detection so easily, or why he wasn't caught earlier, or how he managed to get away without being detected, and maybe they could find a solution to whatever the problem was so that he could still marry the princess.

Kirby clenched his teeth together, clenching his fists. There wasn't anything they could do. And no matter how many times they tried to talk about it, his parents wouldn't listen. They were still angry with him and didn't understand why he kept avoiding his responsibilities. And that was completely unfair to them. After all, he'd done nothing wrong. Nothing they could do was going to change their decision. Even if he did manage to escape, that still left him in a position where he was forced to marry some random girl, which meant that he would either have to marry her after the wedding or after he was dead.

And now it was getting harder and harder to breathe. All he wanted was for it to end. Everything that he'd worked so hard for, everything that he'd sacrificed… it all meant absolutely nothing. Now it was over and all he wanted was to go home. To escape this horrible fate.

To be continued…