It was unanimously agreed upon that Shinja would provide water for them to wash their hands. Shimpi would play the violin as the other three sisters brought in the different meals to be laid out on the tables for the Silver family to eat.

The guests were shifted indoors so they could have lunch and proceed to other important activities. A huge oak table had been placed in the largest hall of the castle. The intricate carvings on the four walls of the hall could make a jaw drop. The guests could not stop whispering about the performance of the king's daughters. Others were running their eyes around the hall immersed in its beauty.

Kingdoms all over the world were envious of the Green Kingdom. Most of them hated their guts. They were envious of the fact that it is from them that the Elixir of Life was to be gotten. Some came for the elixir and not necessarily because they loved Pink-White and his family. They sat each as they pleased, with Pink-White at the head of the table. He proposed a toast to life and was joined by all the rest as they drank the Elixir of Life.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you all know why we are gathered here. As you all know the Elixir of Life has been a huge part of our lives. I mean that in every good way. All thanks go to our healers, the Silver family." He said these words standing up with a glass in his hands. The glass contained a greenish liquid that steamed with grayish strands of smoke. He pointed the glass in the Silver prince's direction and continued.

"That said, I would like all of us to stand up, glasses in hand that we may make a toast to life."

Each guest pushed back the heavy oak chairs and raised their glass in the air then Pink-White voiced, "To life?!"

"To life!" They all said in unison and downed their drinks in one gulp.

Having had their first meal, everyone was let to enjoy the elephantine nature of the Green castle. This was to be their place of residence for the next how many days that Pink-White had chosen for the banquet to take place. They were given a detour and shown each to their room. Some of the guests chose to stay around taking a detour of the palace as its beauty was outstanding.

At night, the clouds on which it sat swayed a bit giving a lulling sensation that brought sleep and beautiful thoughts as one drifted into the arms of Morpheus.

~*~

The day's events had turned out well. The princesses reminisced and reflected on each one of the events, never forgetting to mention the curious case of the Silver family. They could not keep the family out of their mouths. It seemed as though the prince had not come with his parents; the princesses did not venture further into that. Their focus remained on the Silver prince. The previous night had been filled with imaginations of how he would look like and finally they had been fed beyond their wildest dreams. They had no idea what his name was but at least they knew that he was a prince not just any prince but THE Silver Prince.

Unlike the princesses' unfocused thought process, the Silver prince as he lay in his room facing the ceiling, his mind track was on no one else, but the shy princess. He had determined in his mind that he would get her name. He would find out who she was before they left this kingdom. He wanted to know her. She was not like any of her sisters. He could tell by how her brown eyes captured his and darted away almost immediately with her blushing toned skin as it glimmered in the sunshine from sweating while she danced. She was a shy little creature that made him curious.

Shinja's sisters made it their mission to hound him. They made all sorts of excuses to come to his room. If one of them took water for his feet, the other would come almost immediately with a towel for his face. The prince's servants laughed at the princesses' efforts. But the prince was agitated by all of them because every other sister came to his room but not the one, he really wanted. He almost requested of the sisters that she be brought to him but how would that sound? He was a guest, making such demands would seem foolish and egoistic of him—considering his importance to the Green kingdom—keeping a low profile was high on his priority list. His sneaky mind would come up with something. He was assured of that.

Shinja stayed as far away as she could from the prince and his family. Her nerves could not let her do anything other than that. She overheard Shimpi and her sisters discuss the grumpy Silver prince that had not as little as flinched when they confessed to him that they had fallen in love with him at first sight.

"He just stood there!" Shimi said shrugging her shoulders in utter annoyance. "He did not react or anything. He did not even say a word back. Instead he picked the towels from my hands as though he had not heard me, turned and shut the door in my face." She narrated her disappointment evident in her voice.

"No way, if he reacted like that to you, then that only means he will not like the ideas I have in mind." Shimpi voiced her plan.

Out of curiosity, Shinka asked, "And what would those plans be Shimpi?" She bit back the laughter that threatened to pour out of her mouth.

"Well, I was planning on showering him with flowers." That did it, the sisters burst out laughing at Shimpi's plan. She always had the wildest ideas.

Now if her bold sisters were feeling that way, what would a timid Shinja do? She did not know how all of it had happened. Her heart was drawn to the prince the moment his gray eyes pierced her brown ones.

It was a sure thing that she could not confess to him how she felt because she thought to herself that those feelings were flimsy. Her presence before him had been the least from all the sisters there is no way she would make the same impact in his heart. He did not love her back. Love? Where did that come from? Was it love she felt? He was going back to his kingdom and all of this will be far behind them.

Oh, so she thought!

The following morning while in his room, the Silver prince attended to by his most trusted footman inquired of him.

"Quad, remind me the name of the chief maiden of this palace."

"Her name is Jen, milord," Quad replied continuing with the task at hand, folding his master's clothes.

"Yes, now I recall. Could you have her come to my door right now?" Actually, he did not know the name initially but he pretended that it had slipped his mind to disguise his intentions.

"Why milord, is there something that you need? I could get it for you."

"No Quad, do as I ask, no questions." He was trying to hide his intentions by sounding stern and impervious.

"I am sorry milord. Right away sir." Quad put down the garments that he had been folding and walked out of the room to attend to what his master had summoned him to do. He did it so fast and was back shortly.

"Maiden Jen, milord," he announced curtsying as he turned to leave. He left as his master got up to meet the chief maiden whose eyes were downcast as she stood by the door not taking many steps into his room. He knew the kind of power his family held over the Green kingdom beyond all doubt better than the other kingdoms.

He had figured out a way to get the youngest princess come to him. He would call for her, he would use his power as it had come to that.

"Jen is it?" He asked acting as if he had forgotten her name in the short time period that had passed.

"Yes, milord!" Jen replied shivering out of fear or respect, the prince did not care that much.

"Have the youngest princess bring me a fruit basket. I will be in the park." He did not take time to listen to her reply. He wanted this to look like any other common command that he would give. Jen hesitated but went away from the prince. If she had anything to say, she did not.

A tap on the door roused Shinja out of her siesta. "Who is there?" she plopped off her bed dropping a book as she proceeded to open the door. She bent down to pick up the book. As she did, she spotted Jen from her side view as she came in through the door.

"Oh, Jen it's you. You woke me. What is the matter?" She asked before her eyes dropped down to the fruit basket in Jen's hands.

"What are those for? I did not send for any fruits."

"They are for the prince, princess." Jen replied offering up the fruit basket as if to answer Shinja's question.

"Then why bring them to me?" Jen could tell the princess's confusion but she did not have any answers that could clarify what she was said next.

"The prince says that he wants you to take this fruit basket to him in the park."

"And he asked for me in particular?" Shinja's eyebrows shot up her hairline in wonder.

"Yes, my princess."

"You are sure about this?"

"Yes, my princess." The maiden's voice sounded strained; irritation evident in how she spoke.

"But he does not know my name. Are you sure it is me he asked for? He could have meant any of my sisters." Shinja was starting to sweat and she saw that her questions were making Jen uncomfortable.

"Which prince did you say it was?" She had quickly assumed that it was the prince from the Silver Kingdom that had summoned for her presence but it could be any of the other princes.

"It's the prince from the Silver kingdom. The one occupying one of the rooms down the hall." The Silver prince had been given the most lavish guest rooms in the Green palace. Jen, the poor thing looked like she would combust from all the rage she was holding back.

It was her fault, Shinja thought. The maiden did not know anything. She had been simply given orders and she was following them. What Shinja did next startled both her and Jen. She grabbed the fruit basket from Jen's hands and walked out of her room past Jen into the hallway without saying another word to her.

She left the palace following the route that led to the park. The prince would explain why he had asked for her and not her sisters. Shinja was never one to defy orders from anyone, not even her sisters. That is why her father found it easy to give directives to her sisters through her. Even her sisters found her the easiest route to reaching their father. Whenever they had a next to impossible request, Shinja would be the one to pass it on to their father. They loved her for her good heart.

A/N: There's nothing like being 'too old for love'. I think these two bring it out so well. What do y'all think?

Bingy-White is such a gorgeous grown flirt ☺️😅.

Tell me your thoughts about these two. What do you think she's going to tell him? Will he grant her request?