As months passed, Melinda had to meet with her suitors more and more. Just as she had expected, many men wanted her hand in marriage, which warmed her heart. However, she did not care about the lives of any of them, thus remembering only one. It was George Maguire, the prince of Eade, who would inherit the land upon getting married. If it weren't for his country, she would not even blink in his presence, but being gifted an empire that would consist of all the territories that Obscuria used to have when it was called Xar was a pleasure she could never resist.
Their first and so far only meeting had occurred in his country, wherein the streets were bustling with life and the most lovely of landscapes could be found. They were walking through a park with cherry trees whose pink and white flowers blossomed in great quantities, radiant as pearls, with doves that rose from those trees and peacefully flew in the air, right above the passengers' heads, with grass that was long enough to reach the ankles of Melinda, who was a rather tall person, as was to be expected of someone like her, and whose scent crept into her nostrils at a snail's pace, soothing her and putting a smile of genuine happiness on her face, with rocks that were stained by the ground many people walked on for decades and would not cease walking on for a long time, with feeble remnants of the harsh winter's snow that Melinda equally hoped would leave at once so that spring could joyfully overtake her surroundings without any obstacles and was sorrowful about the fact that they would have to leave soon due to them decorating the ground like the carefully chosen lace of a dress she loved to wear, although nowhere near as much as it did in the beautiful winter, during which she would always feel as though she were transported into another, much more worthwhile world, having those conflicted thoughts thanks to her loving each season in a different way, although winter would forever remain her favourite. She could talk about the wonders of Eade for hours, unlike she ever could about Obscuria, even during its best days. Thus her heart was engulfed by a desire she couldn't have predicted, and in that trance, she knew that she could not miss the opportunity to claim that realm as hers to rule.
"Mrs- I mean Madam Bellerose... Why are you staring at the distance like that, if I may ask, as long as that question does not perturb you in any way, of course?" George spoke, waking her up from her ponderings.
She turned towards him with a lively gleam in her eyes. "I am in awe of how marvellous the kingdom you are going to inherit soon is. I have never seen anything like it before, and I have no clue as to how such a miracle could have happened even within the near-limitless duration of the universe's existence. Also, do not be deceived by the wedding ring, as my soul is at peace as much as it can be, stifling the sensitivities within me in anticipation of our rule as partners, a rule that will change everything for the better."
"That is quite lovely to hear, Mrs Bellerose," he remarked, starting to laugh.
"Oh, thank you, sir," she responded, joining him as he continued to laugh.
While they laughed, their laughter sounding like little bells, she restrained herself from smirking. The ground she walked on at that moment, the people looking at her and George with uttermost curiosity and admiration and those who did not, they would all become part of her most brilliant scheme. She observed her wedding ring unblinkingly, that lie, that piece of jewellery she wore as a reminder of how far she had come in such a short time and all the things she had yet to achieve, a firm confirmation of the power she had, which burned in her veins whenever it could. After about a minute, she returned her head to its former position, her neck tense for several seconds before she noticed that George did not find it suspicious at all. Then, at last, he too stopped laughing, well aware of the fact that they had no time to waste.
"And when shall I see the sea in all its glory, the sea I had not seen since the faraway days of my youth, the sea I remember to be enchanting and glistening enough to hypnotize anyone who goes near it, the sea that possesses memories which shall never fade?" she inquired after letting out a deep sigh.
He put her right hand in his left. "I must say that I am slightly surprised by how much passion you have when it comes to my country, but I am quite flattered by that as well. It shows that there is more to you than your rigidness, and I would have been displeased if I had found nothing more inside your heart, which I never should have expected from someone as revered as you. At the end of the day, we are all living beings, eerily conscious of our mortality and limitations, and words can allow us to express ourselves in a way nothing else can. I had several other locations to show you, but we shall visit the nearest seashore first if you so wish."
She bent her head, facing the grass with the bluest frown she could force. "I solemnly apologize if I have somehow inconvenienced you, my future king. Please do tell me if I have made a mistake, for I must know what not to do the following time."
He caressed her neck with his both hands, making her turn her gaze towards him. "Your humility is astounding, my dear lady, but I warn you not to fall to the dangers of dedicating yourself to it that much, or else you will forget your own needs, which will leave you in a state of helplessness."
She laughed merrily once more. "I assure you that, of all things, the overabundance of humility will not be the end of me. I try to look at everyone the same way the hardest I can, as we were all created from the same soil and within the same soil we will all decay someday. Fallacies and pretences, conscious or not, would give me yet another thing to worry about, and I surely do not need that."
"I am glad to hear that. Now that all concerning matters have been dealt with, shall we go to the Pearl's Sea like you said you wanted?"
"Yes, we shall, and I am glad to hear that the sea is the pride of the nation, as Eade means 'pearl' in the Eadean language, from what I remember. I consider my memory to work excellently, yet all of us make mistakes, so inform me if I am right."
"Yes, you are right, and thank you once again for your admiration. Now halt your stiffness, I beseech you, as there's nothing to worry about today, a day like no other."
Melinda nodded with a bright smile on her face. Afterwards, her left hand and his right hand conjoined while they were turning left, commencing their second walk. It lasted for hours, which caused them to pause several times, and this time Melinda was too busy daydreaming to pay attention to anything nature had to offer. She let out sighs filled with tranquillity and struggled not to close her eyes and utterly lose herself to the magnificent pictures inside her mind. They may have been what many people would regard as terrible, but they made her serene, which was all that was important to her, especially with Malcolm in them.
Those pictures had occupied her so much that she did not know she had reached the seashore when she first got there. It was only when George nudged her that she got that knowledge. She then nodded and took off the high-heels that had not yet damaged the feet that were constantly subjected to wearing them. She ran along the shore and across the rocks as though she were still a child of five and running towards the swinger, on which she could spend entire hours. As an adult, she wondered why she had loved it as much as she did, which she then promptly ignored, focusing again on the seashore.
The sand was a light shade of yellow that reminded her of all the pastel colours she had always admired, gentle as porcelain and as kind to her tired feet as a massage. The rocks were nowhere as uncomfortable and cold as she had expected them to be, and they came in a variety of colours, ranging from black to blue, much unlike the plain and uninteresting ones in the park, even though those pleased her as well. They also came in different shapes and sizes, and she swore that she saw one shaped like a heart that was almost as big as her palm, which she had to pick up. It felt pleasant against her skin, and she had no idea why, believing that perhaps it was due to her hand being familiar with firm things. After a minute had passed, she threw it on the ground, disturbing and spreading some of the sand in the air. The next thing she did was step into the sea and smell the water with all the force in her nostrils. The overpowering presence of it, mostly the salt, broadened her smile and made her close her eyes in yet another vivid and endearing daydream.
She then commenced undressing. Firstly, she rolled a sleeve on her dress in a manner that revealed her shoulder skin, which caused George, who was already watching, to begin staring at her without moving. The woman, he noted, was quite fair, her golden hair smoothly falling down her back, her brown eye and her grey eye shining like the brightest of stars, her pink lips as gentle and lush as raspberries, and he was certain that the touch of his hand against her bare skin could be nothing but satisfying.
As she danced in the sea, beginning to unravel the other sleeve, her eyes twinkled more than they did beforehand. She stared at him as well this time, although a lot less intense than he did, smiling at his discomfort. At that moment, the fact that he was a short man with small blue eyes who seemed to be grave all the time was intensified, and the tiny bush of red hair on his head fit perfectly. She stretched out her right hand from afar while he was frowning with furrowed eyebrows.
"I am not fully sure what message you intend to send to me, Mrs Bellerose, but I have certain assumptions, which I am not a fan of at all. Bathe by yourself if you yearn to bathe, but do not expect me to join you, or else it would be much harder for me to resist your temptations."
Melinda batted her eyebrows. "I apologise, but how was I supposed to know that there was a problem with what I was doing if you never told me there was?"
He let out a deep sigh. "Please, do not blame yourself. I am the one who should apologise, for I forgot to tell you that my feelings are uncertain. There is a woman named Hilde Irving, and although my heart tenses whenever I am near her, I do not know if I could love her properly, since I have only known her for a brief period of time."
"And who is Hilde?"
George went silent for a while before he managed to talk again. "She is a former slave I had barely managed to save, as well as some other people. I was lucky I succeeded, and if it weren't for that luck, I would not know what to do. But do not think of that. The responsibility is not yours to bear. Just bathe."
Before either of them could blink, the rain started to fall. Melinda rolled her sleeves up as they both scowled, hurrying to return from the beach, thinking about how much time could have passed. Seeing the castle on their left, they immediately decided to go there, as it was the place that was the closest to where they were.