Rogue and Riveting

Chapter 19 Clarence's Revelation

Clarence Hould was Adelia's childhood best friend and only playmate. He is her age, and the only son of Madame Hould, her old court servant whose duties were to take care of her like a parent, especially when her father was out of the palace. Adelia would be alone in the palace whenever that happens, but Madame Hould and Clarence made sure that she would not be that lonely.

Because back then, Adelia was lonely. Her mother died when she was still too young, so she never felt what it was like to have a family member who was always by her side. Because it was obvious that her father was not able to be the parent that she needed, since he was also running the whole country. 

And as she grew up, Adelia had learned to cope with the melancholy, or rather the emptiness that was her palace. She had relatives, but they were not permitted to even visit her for fear that she might get in danger. As the only heir to the throne after her mother's death, Sanjolia had to make sure that Adelia was going to live long; that she had to continue the bloodline of her parents by becoming the queen after her father vacates the position in the near future. Her country is a very traditional country that still believes that the royal family is sent by the gods, so if their bloodline dies out the country will be cursed. 

Sanjolia's tradition about their royal family might be beneficial for Adelia, but it also meant that she had to be very heavily guarded all her life since it was not uncommon for scheming people to kill off royal family members for their own gain. Murders in the past had occurred between royal family members who were vying for the throne when the King or Queen dies without proper heirs, so Adelia's fate was already sealed. Because she no longer had a mother who could have given her siblings, it was her duty to be safe at all times until she becomes the queen.

It was a miserable life for a child, but everything changed when she met Mrs. Hould's son. He came to the palace when he started attending school and lived with his mother, Mrs. Hould. As the son of a palace employee, he was given benefits like attending the royal academy together with the kids of the other employees. It was when Adelia became friends with him, as he was the only one brave enough to talk to the princess.

It was almost like a cheesy puppy love story, except that they really don't like each other in that sense. Or at least to Adelia's understanding. Their feelings toward each other were purely platonic like they were siblings. Adelia would let Clarence in her room and they would play and study until they fell asleep. That's why it was so hard for Adelia when Clarence and her mother had to leave the palace after Mrs. Hould retired from her duty. It was like Adelia lost family members again.

It was not easy saying goodbye to a close friend, but the two of them promised each other that they would not lose contact, even though it would be a lot harder for Clarence to have communication with her after he leaves the palace. In the first few years that they have been apart, they managed to send letters to each other. But Clarence would later get a scholarship and study abroad, so they eventually lost connection with each other. And in the advent of technology like the Internet, Adelia thought that she would finally be able to talk to her childhood friend, but it was not the case. The only account that she found over the Internet with the name Clarence Hould would not even reply to her messages, so she thought that it was him. It was actually heartbreaking for her, especially when she had heard of his mother's passing just two years ago and Adelia did not even find out about it even if Clarence had come back to the country from his studies.

But despite all of that, Adelia had always wanted to reconnect with Clarence. She even tried to get out of the castle when she had learned from Martha that he was in the Capital. She wanted to meet her again. But she was later caught by her security guards and the chance of meeting him never presented itself again. Although Adelia did manage to get a hold of Clarence's personal number, she started having second thoughts of dialing him since she felt like Clarence was not too eager to reconnect with her. And it hurt her. Because if he really wanted to see her, why did he never contact her, especially when he was just blocks away from the palace?

He could even get into the palace himself and ask for her. Her father would have definitely allowed him to see her since he also know about Clarence. But he never did. It made Adelia feel that Clarence was not actually keen on meeting her again, and that affected her so much that she stopped bothering about his whereabouts anymore. And when she was about to get married, she tried to call him again because she wanted to invite him, so she gave him a call. This time he finally answered the phone, but he was not in the Capital so it was useless. They never met before she got married, and Adelia had to live with her new husband in Romeodel without even meeting him.

However, Clarence did promise her on that call that if ever she was able to go back to Sanjolia, he would meet her in any way possible, so Adelia had her hopes high again that their friendship will be restored. And that's when she thought of asking his help back in Romeodel. It was the real reason why she invited her cousin to visit her, to give Clarence the blood samples that she found on that abandoned greenhouse. Because Clarence had studied abroad to become an investigator of some sort, he would have been the perfect person to ask for help from.

And now, they were about to meet. Clarence had traveled all the way from his home in New Richelleton, south of the capital to deliver the results of the blood samples that Adelia wanted to be identified. But she forgot all of that when Clarence finally arrived. All Adelia could think was that she was so happy to finally see Clarence in person. She hugged him when he entered the social hall, and then she lead the way to the gazebo where the two of them will talk. Martha volunteered to be on the lookout for her security since they decided just not to tell her father and Enoch about Clarence's presence here in the palace since this has something to do with her husband.

"You look amazing, Your Highness. You're more beautiful in person," Clarence greeted her as they sat down on the benches inside the gazebo which has a lot of ornamental plants in steel pots so it felt refreshing staying here. 

"Why, did you see me somewhere? On television, perhaps?"

Clarence nodded. "Your wedding was everywhere on the news. On paper. And of course, on the Internet. I practically couldn't escape it."

Adelia gave him a shaky laugh. "Why did you make it sound like you would rather just have preferred to not see my wedding?"

"It's not like that, Your Highness. I was just saying that it was hard not knowing about your wedding when it was broadcasted everywhere."

"I see... So how are you then? What are you doing now?" Adelia asked him tentatively. "And if I may say it, you had also grown up to be a gorgeous man, Clarence. Surely, girls are lining up to be your girlfriend?"

He laughed at that, but Adelia noticed that he couldn't meet her gaze when she said that. "I have no girlfriend at the m-moment, Your Highness."

"Really? But why?" Adelia was surprised at the information. Not only because Clarence was good-looking, but by Sanjolian tradition, men his age should have married by now, or else they wouldn't be assigned to certain jobs. Adelia had always thought of those traditions as archaic, but her people strictly and religiously observe them, if not follow them. 

"I was just busy with... work."

"Oh... I see," said Adelia who did not know what to reply to that already. It seemed awkwardness had already eaten the two of them, and the suspect to that was Adelia's compliment about his looks. It was obvious that he got so shy when she told him that he was good-looking, even if it was true. But Clarence is really a handsome guy. He has the type of face which you would normally associate with fashion. He has a perfect, chiseled jaw and cheekbones, and his sleek, shiny blonde hair only made him more dreamy.

"I'm sorry if I made you shy---"

"Oh no, Your Highness, you don't have to worry about me. I'm fine... I am just not used to be this close again with you... Don't worry, I can adjust well... And since we don't have that much time, I would like to discuss about the samples you sent me through Martha."

Adelia nodded. "Oh, yeah, yeah... I almost forgot about it. So what was the result? Martha told me that you had a problem with it?"

"Yes. Your Highness."

"And what is that?"

Clarence took a deep breath. "First, let me say to you that the two different samples that you gave me came from the same person, Your Highness. So there's that. You said on your note that the two samples were on different locations, right?"

"Yes. One of them was from the leaves of the topiary in the garden, while the other was from my room." Adelia had also explained the context of the blood samples, so Clarence also got interested.

"I see... So whoever owns these blood samples might be the person you are looking for," said Clarence.

"Yes, that's right. If they are the same, then my theory is right."

Clarence nodded. "But Your Highness, these blood samples are not the typical blood type that you get from ordinary people."

"What do you mean?"

"Your Highness, whoever is the source of these blood samples, they are dangerous."

"What? Why?"

"The DNA I obtained from the sample is puzzling. It's abnormal. It is mutated."

Adelia's eyes widened at the revelation. "What does that mean?"

"The owner of the blood sample suffers a rare type of disorder, something that I don't even know existed before I looked into them," Clarence revealed.