prologue: a separate introductory section of a literary work / an event or action that leads to another event or situation.

❧

For as long as Jean could remember, he had known the ins and outs of this castle.

Not because he lived in it, sadly. As much as he wished that was the reason. No, instead it was because since he was a child, his mother dragged him to work with her.

His mother worked in the castle as a nurse. She took care of the 3 princes and the princess straight out the womb.

Jean always found it weird that the queen didn't take care of them since she was quiteliterally the mother but figured it's because she was busy doing well... whatever the hell queens do.

She did such a good job as the babies's nurse that they kept her around as the nanny when they got older and she practically raised the four children all on her own.

It was a lot of work but they paid her well enough for it. She also loved them dearly so she didn't complain although they were a handful.

She continued to work there for about 15 years. Every morning, she dragged Jean to work with her. They lived in a small village just outside the castle walls.

Eldia was beautiful but it wasn't anything too crazy. The houses were small and humble. The people weren't necessary poor but they definitely weren't rich.

Jean hated it. He had a lust for a more luxurious lifestyle. Maybe it was because he would spend his days running around a gorgeous, massive castle and then go home to his plain, little cottage home. It was like he had a taste of royalty and didn't want to downgrade from it.

He was always an ambitious person. Always had a lot of goals and dreams. He planned to make it big one day and live lavish with money to spare to give to his equally as hardworking mom.

He had dreams of joining the royal guard at the age of 18 and work his way up to the top. He knew he could too. He was naturally a good leader.

Until then, he was just a visitor. An outsider granted temporary access to the life he dreamed of. The life he yearned for.

Jean hated waking up at the crack of dawn every morning to follow his mom to work but it was mainly just the waking up early part. He loved going to the castle.

Because his mother could never find a babysitter for him, he was forced to go with her for as long as he could remember. He was practically raised with the princes.

He got to grow up with them. And even though they were royalty, they never treated him less than but he always knew he was never going to be on their level. It was just fun to pretend sometimes.

The kingdom was blessed with three princes. The oldest, Elijah, was naturally first in line for the throne. Because of this, he usually had way more pressure thrown on him. He was already a pretty quiet and to himself person but all the eyes glued on him made him much more introverted.

The middle son, Ambrose, was much, much different. He was a lot more eccentric compared to his older brother. He was one of those people who was naturally charismatic and charming. He definitely behaved like how Jean imagined a prince would be.

Except the more he got to know him, he realized Ambrose was a taunting, mischievous troublemaker. The charming act was just a front he put on around adults and girls.

The youngest was Malakai, or like Jean would call him, Kai. Jean and Kai were the same age so Jean naturally got along better with him than the other two.

Kai was cool. That's the word that comes to mind when Jean thought of Kai. Cool.

Jean and Kai were best friends growing up, regardless of the major and painfully obvious difference in economic status. Kai was a prince and Jean was just a citizen of the kingdom but Kai never treated him that way. He always saw him as an equal.

Then, there was the princess.

Jean didn't know how to feel about you. You were two years younger than him and followed him and Kai around like a lost puppy when you were a kid.

Every time Jean would play outside with the boys, you were right behind them begging to be included.

He always found it annoying but he also sorta felt bad for you. You were the only girl with a bunch of brothers. There was no other young girls in the castle for you to play with so you had to find a way to fit in with your siblings.

Considering they were young, growing boys, it was only natural that they liked to play rough. Climb trees, roll around in mud, dig and bury stuff, play football, etc. And there you were, asking if you could join.

Your oldest brother, Elijah, would always try to convince you to do something else so you wouldn't get hurt. Ambrose would push you and tell you to go away. Kai would always feel bad and give you some small role just so you could feel included.

Jean understood how easy it must seem to for people to feel bad for you but little did they know you weren't an innocent, sweet angel. Oh no, on the contrary.

Where a normal 7 year old girl would cry and beg to be included, you would get mad and threaten to put worms in their bed and food if they didn't let you play.

Jean found you particularly odd. You didn't behave like a princess at all or at least not how he always imagined one would.

Visually, you looked like a princess. Always dressed in pretty, expensive, hand-made dresses. You were beautiful, Jean couldn't deny that. He thought so since day one.

Jean can recall his first memory of you. Jean had been going to the castle since he was one year old but of course, he can't remember that far back. Instead, his earliest memory is around the age of 5.

He was holding on to his mom's hand walking into the massive castle. The second they were past the gates, Kai and Ambrose ran up to him. "Jean! Let's go play!"

At the time, both him and Kai were five and Ambrose was six. The three were kids brand new to the world and filled with excitement and imagination.

Elijah was under a tree, reading in the shade. He was around 7 at the time but had always been really mature for his age. The boys liked to joke that he was an old man trapped in a child's body.

He remembers running around in the hallways after his mother released his hand and told him to behave while she went to go take care of the princess.

Jean had always been curious as a child. He was the type of person who wanted to know everything. So the fact that he had never seen the princess or didn't even have the slightest idea of how you looked like  drove him insane.

So one day, during a game of hide and seek, Jean snuck away to the princess's room and through the small open sliver of the door, he saw his mom swaying in a rocking chair reading to the girl who sat on her lap.

Since birth, you were locked away in your room. He would hear the boys and his mother talk about you but since you had been born three years ago, this was the first time ever that he saw you.

At this age, Jean didn't care too much about girls. That was the last thing on his mind. He was five so he still thought girls were annoying and had cooties.

But he couldn't deny you were the prettiest girl he had ever seen.

Every day after that, for some reason, Jean found himself always sneaking away from the boys to catch just a small glimpse of the princess but you were always locked away in that room.

He always wondered why. Why they never let you come out. Why you were always behind that closed door.

He eventually got tired of seeing you through a small crack of an open door and gave up. More years passed and he had never actually saw you come out that damn room.

Although he had stopped trying to see you, every time the boys ran past your room, he felt his heart skip a beat. Every time he heard a door open, he would hope it was yours.

Even more time passed and he was now ten years old. He hadn't seen the princess in five years and had no idea what you looked like now. All he knew was you were eight now which was crazy considering the last time he saw you, she was merely three years old.

"Why doesn't the princess ever come out of her room?" Ten year old Jean asked. He laid underneath the shade of one of the many trees that grew out from the rich, lush green grass. His chest was heaving up and down as he tried to catch his breath after a game of freeze tag.

[I just wanted to add this picture because this how I imagine him looking like at the time look how cute 🥺 leave his shoes alone hush]

Ambrose and Kai laid beside him, equally as out of breath. Elijah sat nearby, reading with his back against the bark of the tree. All three of the boys exchange looks and then remain silent.

"She was sick for a while." 12 year old Elijah spoke up. Jean sat up and wiped sweat that dripped down from his forehead. "Sick?"

He felt like it was a lie by the way the other two boys shifted awkwardly in their positions. "Yeah. Sick." Elijah answers. Jean awaits for more details or an explanation of some sort but there's nothing. Just a straight forward answer.

Jean understood being stuck in your room while you were sick. He had gotten sick plenty of times and his mom would make him stay in bed until he got better.

But he had never been sick to the point where he had to be locked in a room for eight years.

He may have been a child at the time but he was smart enough to know there was more to the story. He had known the boys well enough to know when they were lying or hiding something.

He didn't wanna be nosey and pry but he knew it was gonna eat at his mind. It already had for years. He never understood why you were stuck inside a room all day and all night while your brothers roamed free and enjoyed the sunshine. It didn't seem fair.

"I'm not gonna tell any-" He began but he gets interrupted by a small voice behind him.

"Can I play?"

The two resting boys jolted up and Elijah finally looked up from his book. Jean spun around and saw a girl he's never seen before.

Actually, he has. Just many years ago.

It was the same face he saw from the small crack of the door. Just five years older.

"Y/n. Aren't you supposed to be in your room?" Elijah asked, standing up and walking up to you. You took several steps back. "No. They said I could play outside today."

Ambrose laughed. "You're such a liar. You're gonna get in so much trouble."

"I'm not lying!" You defended. "They really did say that!"

"No they didn't! Go back inside!" Ambrose argued.

Your small fists balled up and you stomped your foot. "Just let me play with you!"

"Nobody wants to play with you! You're gonna get us in trouble!" Ambrose said, his voice growing angry.

Jean couldn't take his eyes away. You were even more beautiful now. He was in awe, speechless. He felt his heart ache for you as your eyes watered and your balled up fists tighten with all your strength.

He wanted to help somehow not only for you to finally have some fun and actually get out in the sun for once but also because he wanted to finally get to know the girl he had always wondered about.

"Just let her jo-" He started to spill out but before he could finish his sentence, you ran straight at Ambrose and tackled him. You sat on top of him and began to hit and scratch him everywhere.

And just like that, from being the beautiful, mysterious princess locked away, Jean's perspective changed completely. From being mesmerized to being honestly kind of terrified.

Elijah and Kai finally pulled you off while Jean sat there in shock, completely caught off guard by what he witnessed. He never would've imagined the princess was the type to attack someone out of anger.

Ambrose sat up and winced as he touched at his face. "You're crazy! You made me bleed!"

"I wouldn't have to if you would just let me play." You debate.

"You shouldn't hit someone just because you're mad, y/n." Elijah lectured.

Jean could tell you felt bad. That you regretted it but he didn't blame you. If he was locked away ina room behind permanently closed doors for eight years, he would be hostile too.

"I'm sorry, Ambrose. Here, let me heal-" You start to approach the wounded boy with your hands out.

Heal?

Kai instinctively pushes you to the ground. "Y/n, shut up!"

As soon as you fall onto the ground and tears welled up in your eyes, Kai immediately recognized his mistake. He kneeled down beside you. "Y/n, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to push you but you know you can't sa-"

You push him away causing him to fall back. "Shut up! I know already!" You wipe tears away from your eyes and sniffle. "You guys are so mean. I hate all of you."

For a second Jean knows he's not included in that since he didn't nothing wrong but your eyes met his and they don't cease away from the hurt, angry expression meaning he is indeed included.

He didn't understand what he did wrong though. Were you angry he didn't defend you? Should he have spoken up? Pushed them back for you?

Before any of the boys could say anything further, you ran back into the castle. Jean returned his eyes to the three boys and they all looked down at the ground, disappointed in themselves.

Jean went home that night, laid in bed and stared up at his ceiling. He couldn't get it out of his head. What was different about today that they actually let you come outside? Or was it a lie like your brothers had said it was?

And why were they so mean about it? Was it like Ambrose said? Would they get in trouble for playing with you?

And what did you mean by heal? Were you secretly good at first aid or something?

Suddenly, his door opens and his mom appears. "Jean boy? Why are you still awake?"

Jean sits up. "I saw the princess today."

His mother smiled a warm smile and sat on the edge of his bed. "Ah. She's beautiful, isn't she? She's just as lovely on the inside too."

Is she? I literally saw her jump on someone and make them bleed.

"That was your first time seeing her, wasn't it?" She asks.

It wasn't. But of course he wasn't gonna admit to his mom he used to sneak peeks at the princess out of curiosity when he was five.

Jean nods and his mom pinches his cheek. "You're lying, Jean boy."

Crap.

Jean pulls his face away and rubs at his aching cheek. "Those times don't count. I actually really saw her this time. I heard her voice too."

She smiles and scoots closer to him. "And now you can't sleep because you're thinking about her."

Jean immediately felt his face burn with embarrassment. "What! NO! Ew, mom. No, I just-"

She lets out a small laugh. "I'm just teasing you. What's on your mind then?"

Jean sighs and looks down at his hands that rested idly on his lap. He nervously twiddled with his fingers. "Well, it is about the princess but not like that."

"Okay. What about her?" She asks.

"Well.." He had been wanting to ask this question for years now but now that the time came to ask it, he couldn't quite seem to put the words together.

"How come she's always locked in her room?" He finally asks once he works up the courage. His mother pauses for a bit like she has to think her answer throughly.

"Well." She scoots closer and places a hand on his nervous, fidgety one. "The princess is a very special girl. Not just because she's a princess but in general. There's something about her that needs to be kept hidden away."

Jean frowns. "Like a disease? The boys said she is sick. Or well was."

She presses her lips together, thinking of her next response carefully. "I'm not sure sick is the right word."

"How come they let her go outside today then?" He asks.

She laughs again. "Well, she wasn't supposed to. She snuck out."

Jean pauses for a moment. He found himself getting more and more surprised by the princess. He began to realize you was nothing like he thought you were.

"So the boys were right. She was gonna get them in trouble. That's why they were so mean to her." He realizes.

She sighs. "I don't think they mean to be mean to her. They're just protective of her and want her to be safe."

Jean felt even more confused than he initially already had been. "But what are they protecting her from?"

She stares blankly at him. He could see the wheels turning in her mind and knew she was struggling to come up with an answer.

"I'm not sure if you'll understand but one day when you're older, you will. Trust me, the less you know the better." She says standing up. "Now, go to sleep, Jean."

"But-" He says but the lights turn off and he's surrounded by darkness again in his small room.

The next day he played with the boys as usual as if nothing happened. He didn't bother getting his hopes up on seeing you again because he knew you probably got in a lot of trouble for sneaking out.

But he was wrong. During a game of Who Can Climb Higher Up The Tree, you appeared again.

"Can I play?"

Everyday was the same thing. The boys ran around and played a mix of new games and old ones and randomly at some point, you would show up, begging them to let you join.

Each time, they would yell at you to go back inside and each time you refused. You would cry, scream, and even threaten them.

Jean was just glad you wasn't beating anyone anymore.

Everyday his mom had to run outside to grab you and take you back to your room. It was the same routine every single day for months on end.

Eventually, everyone realized no matter how many doors they locked, now matter how rules they enforced, no matter how many guards they added, you always managed to find your way outside somehow. One way or another.

So, they gave up and just let you stay outside. Of course, you were never, ever allowed to leave the castle's walls which didn't surprise Jean because neither were your brothers. He wasn't even sure if any of you even knew what it looked like out there.

The begging got worse after that. This time they couldn't call on a guard to take you back inside since you were no longer on castle arrest.

They couldn't get rid of you no matter how fast they tried to out run you. Jean had found himself starting to go from feeling bad to understanding why your brothers were so annoyed of you.

This had gone on for years now. Jean had watched the princess grow as well as the princes. It was the same thing for years regardless of how many years they lived and the changes their bodies went through during.

The only thing that strayed from the usual was the games they played. Jean was now 14 and so was Kai. Ambrose was 15 and Elijah was 16.

They were all going through that awkward puberty stage as well as the "I'm too cool to play kid games" phase.

So they played different things. More "manly" type stuff. Regardless of that, you still wanted to play with them.

You were twelve now and just as awkward as them if not more. It annoyed Jean that you was still just as pretty.

Even though you were older now, the boys still never gave in and let you play. They would find excuses not to let you or in Ambrose's case, just straight up admit they didn't wanna play with you.

Eventually, you stopped trying. Jean had noticed it too. He had already gotten used to you interrupting them at some point to ask the same question each time.

"Can I play?"

But several days had passed now that he hadn't heard nor seen you. He began to wonder if maybe you got sick again.

He wanted to go look for you. Yes, he found you annoying and bothersome but he also didn't mind it. It was annoying in a cute way, if that made any sense.

He knew he couldn't go looking for you without the boys noticing so he had to go without making it look noticeable or obvious.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." He announced. The boys nod and continued what they were doing and Jean speed walks into the castle.

Once he's inside, it dawns on him he has no idea where to even go. The castle was huge. No, huge was an understatement. It was enormous. It seemed endless.

If he hadn't spent his whole life here, he would be scared of getting lost somehow. There was so many different doors and hallways. Not to mention it was four stories tall.

Ever since he could walk, he and the princes would run around these halls. Playing tag or just racing to see who was the fastest.

The multiple rounds of hide and seek also helped. He knew almost every inch of the castle because of it. He knew all the tight spaces and all the hidden spots.

And he knew exactly where the princess's room was by heart. But for some reason, it scared him more than usual to go in that direction.

He had ran past it all the time for years now. From a toddler to now. But now that he was older, it felt like an invasion of privacy. You both were no longer kids anymore.

He ended up chickening out and walking back. He had no idea what kind of excuse he'd make up if someone were to catch him hanging around there. He was no longer a child who could get away with that kind of stuff.

He headed down the stairs to go back outside when he passes by one of the many balconies and hears a bird chirping frantically.

He steps closer to take a look and sees you kneeling down on the ground in a pretty, pale yellow dress. He realizes you were watching them play when he sees the boys below running around in the distance.

His eyes avert to where you kneel and he connects where the chirping was coming from. There was a wounded bird twitching helplessly on the floor.

Jean winced when he notices the horribly broken wing. It was painful just to look at and made his right arm and shoulder hurt.

"It's okay. It's okay." You say quietly to the wounded blue bird. "I can help."

It dawned on him that you didn't see him standing there and he knew he should move but for some reason he couldn't. His legs refused and his eyes stayed glued to your hands that slowly approached the suffering animal.

Your hand gently hovers over the bird as it waits patiently for the wounded creature to calm down and gain trust.

Jean wants to laugh because he knows there's no way the bird is gonna stay still especially since it's scared and in pain but he immediately gets proven wrong.

He's in shock when he sees the bird finally stay still and you start to inch your hand slowly toward it.

"It's not gonna hurt. I promise." You say softly. You rest your hand as gently as possible on the wing, careful not to cause anymore pain.

What the hell is this girl doing?

He wasn't sure what he was expecting. He thought maybe you were going to pick up the bird and ask someone for help. Ask to take it to a doctor or something.

But instead your hand just rested there.

It was quiet. Way too quiet. He felt awkward just standing there. Especially since absolutely nothing was happening.

He turns away to leave you be when he hears chirping again. He turns back around and his mouth instantly drops open.

The bird was bouncing around, singing with happiness and new found health. It stretched out its wings exposing that they were now perfectly fine.

Jean rubbed his eyes and did a double take. Did he imagine the broken wing? No, it was definitely, definitely broken.

You smile the biggest smile he had ever seen. He had never seen you smile once ever. It made him feel warm and gushy inside but he still couldn't shake the fact he saw what he saw.

You hold out your hands and the bird hops into your palms willingly. You slowly stand up and holds up the bird to get a closer look. "I did it! I really did it!" You cheer.

Jean was speechless. He felt like he just witnessed a miracle.

And he did witness one. You somehow, someway...

No. There's no way. All you did was touch it. There's no way the bird's terribly twisted wing magically got fixed like nothing happened just by your touch.

It wasn't possible.

Right?

"How..How did you do that?" He slips out.

You jump up, completely caught off guard and clearly startled. The bird also gets scared and takes off flying. You look at the drifting bird and then back at him. "How long have you been standing there?"

"How did you do that? The wing was broken and you just- It flew. Like nothing." He babbles, astonished.

You push him away hard and he trips backwards and falls on his ass. "Get out!"

Before he can even put together anything that just happened in the past five minutes, the doors slams shut in front of him.

He sat there, shell shocked. "What just happened?"

"You okay?" A voice asks.

Jean looks up and sees Elijah approaching him. He quickly gets up and dusts himself off. "Yeah. I'm fine. I just slipped trying to run back."

Elijah looks down at the ground and kicks it with his heel. "Yeah, these floors get pretty slippery when they clean them. They wax them and everything."

Jean looks down at the shiny, expensive floors. "Yeah."

He looks to the side at the now closed balcony doors and Elijah follows his eye line. "Oh." The prince says.

Oh?

Jean began to internally panic. What did he mean by oh? Elijah was smart, way too smart and that made Jean nervous in a moment where he was trying to hide what he was doing and what he just saw.

"We should go back outside." Jean suggests, his thumb pointing backwards and his voice noticeably shaky.

"You go on ahead. I'll catch up with you." Elijah smiles softly. Even though he was smiling, his tone was serious.

Jean felt like throwing up. He had a bad feeling in his stomach like made him feel like something bad was about to happen. "Oh. Okay."

Elijah stood there, a smile pressed forcefully on his face until Jean turned to walk away.

Jean walked as slow as possible and from a few feet behind him, he hears the balcony doors open and sees Elijah walk through them and then close them behind him.

As soon as the doors close, Jean takes off running back outside. He remembers the balcony watched over the lawn so that means if he goes back to where he was, he can see what's going on on the balcony.

He runs outside and sees the two boys waiting for him at the same exact spot. "Took you long enough. You shit everywhere or something?" Ambrose teases.

"No. I got lost." Jean lies.

Kai frowns. "Lost?"

"Yeah." Jean repeats. He knew it was a terrible lie that they would see right through but his mind was racing with what just happened that it was too preoccupied to come up with a more proper, convincing lie.

He sits down on the soft grass and rests his face in his clamy palms. Kai squats down beside him. "Are you alright? You look like you're gonna pass out. Are you sick?"

"Maybe." Jean mutters. Kai places his hand on Jean's forehead. "You're kinda warm."

"I'm telling you." Ambrose speaks up. "He totally had the shits in the bathroom."

The two boys laugh and so does Jean a little bit but he can't shake away the anxious feeling that was eating him up.

He looked up at the balcony as nonchalantly as possible and his heart drops to his stomach when he sees neither the you or Eli there.

I'm screwed.

He didn't know why he'd be in trouble. It's not like he did anything wrong, right? So why did he feel like he did and was about to get in so much trouble for it?

"Jean." A voice calls.

Jean quickly turns his head and sees his mom there. She smiles at the boys. "Excuse me boys but Jean and I need to go home for the day."

Shit!

Jean stands up fast, stumbling a little. "What? Why?"

Her smile fades a little and she looks nervous and jittery but she does her best to keep her composure. "They let me go home early today."

"Oh. Well can I stay and go home later?" Jean asks.

"No, I don't want you staying too late without me." She says.

Kai stands up. "He's always welcome to sleep here if that's the case. There's plenty of rooms and my parents wouldn't mind at all. They probably wouldn't even notice since he's always here anyway." He offers.

Jean's mom places a hand on Kai's cheek. "Oh sweet boy. You and your family have always been so kind to us and we're so grateful and appreciative of that. Right Jean?"

Why is she talking like that?

Shit, shit, shit!

"Right." Jean answers.

She grabs Jean and pulls him closer to her. "Thank you for your hospitality but we have to go home. There's so many things I have to do and Jean needs to help with them."

"Oh. Okay. Bye Jean. See you tomorrow." Kai waves. Ambrose waves too. "Bye Jean. Don't destroy the toilet at home."

Before Jean can say anything, she's already pulling him away, leaving the two boys in the distance.

The whole trip back home, she doesn't say a single word. She doesn't even look at him.

This is bad. This is so bad.

Even when they get inside the house, there's no communication at all.

So he goes straight into the shower and after he's done, he goes to his room. Once he's dressed, he lays in bed and tries to make sense of the evening he just had.

Mid thought process, his mom knocks on his door and creeps into his room.

He sits up and looks at her. "Am I in trouble?"

She closes the door behind her and takes a seat on the edge of his bed. "Jean. I'm going to ask you something and you need to be honest with me. Alright?"

This is going exactly where I know it's going.

"Okay."

She takes a deep breath before continuing. "Did you see anything unusual today? Specifically with the princess?"

Jean's first instinct is to lie. "No, I-"

"Jean. I said you need to be honest." She says in a serious tone.

He freezes for a moment. There really was no point in lying. Not only because she always knew when he was but because he knows she already knows the truth.

"Yes." He admits.

She closes her eyes and lets out a shaky breath. "Jean.."

Jean scoots closer to her. "Mom, you should've seen it. It was amazing. I mean something straight out of a book or a movie. The bird was suffering, it had a broken wing and she literally just-"

"Enough Jean." She demands. He shuts up.

She covers her eyes with her palm and stays quiet for a moment. For some reason, he felt like crying because he had a feeling he knew what she was gonna say next.

She breathes in and grabs his hands. "Jean. Whatever you saw, you can not and I mean can not ever tell anyone. Do you understand? Not a single soul."

"But-"

"Jean!" She shouts. Her voice cracks and the pain in his chest tightens. "Please listen to me. Do not tell anyone what you saw. If you do, I could lose my job. Or even worse."

Jean didn't know what worse meant but he really didn't wanna find out because his mind immediately started going to dark places.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone." She says. "Please promise me."

"I promise." He replies back.

She sighs and looks down at the blanket that rested across his legs. "I'm so sorry Jean but you can't go back there anymore."

"What?! No, no, no. I promise I won't tell anyone! I'll act like I never saw anything! Please!" He begs.

She shakes her head. "You can't. It's the king's orders. It's the only way I can keep my job. You'll go to school here in the village and you'll wait for me to come home. You're 14 now so you're old enough to handle it for a couple hours right?"

"I don't understand." Jean cries. "What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing! You didn't do anything wrong, my love." She says reaching for his cheek. "You'll understand when you're-"

He moves her hand away. "Stop saying that! I'm old enough to understand right now, just tell me now!"

She doesn't say anything.

"She can heal people, can't she? It's not just animals. That's why you said she was special. That's why they keep her hidden away. That's why they're so protective of her. That's why she said he'd heal Ambrose after she made him bleed. That's why the bird was able to fly again." He rants.

She shushes him and covers his mouth as if they were in a public place and not just in his room. "You do not speak about it!"

He moves her hand away again. "No one else is here! And even if they were, who cares? She's blessed with a gift. She can save lives! Everyone needs to know! They shouldn't keep her locked away. That's selfish. She could be helping people who need it!"

"JEAN." She yells. "ENOUGH."

He stares at her, fuming internally. He wanted to scream and yell at the top of his lungs. He wanted to tell the world about this incredible discovery.

But he couldn't. Or else his mom would pay for it.

"Sorry." He says quietly.

She sighs and covers her face. He could tell she was beyond stressed. He had no idea what they told her back there but he knew it had a overwhelming effect on her.

"We'll enroll you in school here tomorrow. It won't be the same curriculum you were learning there at the castle but at least you'll be ahead of the kids here." She says standing up and wiping her sweaty palms on her clothes.

"Okay." Jean says. He didn't have it in him to argue anymore. He felt sad and defeated. Disappointed and heartbroken.

He was never gonna see his friends again. Never to play dumb games with them or run around the extensive castle.

He felt sad but he felt mostly angry. Angry at himself for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. If he hadn't been curious to see where the princess was, he would've never saw what he saw and everything would be fine.

He ruined it for himself. He had no one to blame but himself. But yet for some reason, he found himself angry with you too.

It wasn't your fault, of course. You had no idea he was there.

But it was easier to put the blame on someone else.

His mom notices his weary expression. "I know you'll miss the boys but once you're 18, you can join the royal guard and see them again."

"It won't be same." Jean grunts. "I'll be busy working. Working for them. They won't see me the same."

"That's not true. They'll never look at you differently. They have always treated you the same as them." She tries to reassure him.

He felt himself grow angrier. "That's four years from now! Everything will change. They're not gonna be the same people and neither will I. It won't be the same."

"If they're true friends, they'll get along with you no matter how many years pass by." She says. "You have been together since birth. That's not the kind of stuff you just forget."

He knew she was just trying to make him feel better and it was honestly working just a little. "I guess you're right."

She smiles and walks over to the door. "Goodnight Jean."

"Goodnight."

The light switches off as she exits, leaving him alone in his cold, dark room.

He pulled his blanket up over his body and twisted so that he rested on his side. He kept his eyes out his window and watched the moonlight shine past his thin curtains and illuminate his bedroom.

He didn't wanna go to sleep. Mainly because he knew that if he did, he'd wake up and his life was going to be completely different.

Different from waking up everyday and walking along side his mom in the direction of the stunning castle. From going to class with his friends and getting taught by a teacher that gets paid way too much probably.

From running around the castle like he owned it and playing outside for hours and feeling the sun kiss his skin.

All that was gonna change. He was never gonna set foot there again until he was 18. All because of one mistake.

He loved his life and now it was all gonna change. Your face appeared in his mind and he can hear you scream at him to get out. He can feel your tiny hands push up on his chest causing him to tumble backward.

This is all her fault.

He crumbled up the pillow with his fist and gritted his teeth. He knew it wasn't your fault. It was all his for being nosy.

But again, it was easier to blame someone else. So he didn't have to admit he was the one who ruined everything.

Easier to hate you than to admit how he actually felt.

He realizes that he didn't even get to say goodbye to his friends either. He had no idea it was going to be his last time playing with them or even speaking to them.

He wanted to be optimistic but it was so hard when he felt so angry. He refused to close his eyes because when he opened them up the next morning, his life would be different.

But it was like his mom said. He'd be able to go back one day. His dream was still to train and take his test at 18 to join the royal guard. That hadn't changed.

If anything, he felt more determined now. More motivated to join. He didn't wanna miss out on anything.

The castle felt like his second home and he was going to do anything possible to return to it. No matter how hard he had to work. Even if he had to live a normal life in a normal school with a bunch of normal kids for four more years.

It's just four more years.

He felt a surge of adrenaline flow through him. He started to grow excited. He could return a different person. He could return stronger and tougher.

He could just picture the boy's faces when he returns older and taller. He planned on beating them in everything.

Maybe this was a good thing. Some distance. He needed to work on himself and grow alone. He depended on them too much. Leaned on them too much.

When I wake up, I'll be 18. I'll be taller, stronger, and smarter.

And just like that. He fell fast asleep.