I'm Forbidden To Love You

Chapter 5

The girl in front of him giggled, looking down with a blush, concealing her beautiful place that did nothing but highlight the makeup she had used lightly on her face.

The kohl made her black eyes darker, enchanting anyone who looked at them.

He could tell that she took her time dressing as her dress and jewelry should be reserved for a royal function, not a formal meeting.

She had dressed to impress him. He knew it with the way she looked at him and how she could not stop herself from glancing at him from time to time.

Her voice was pleasant and spoke only loud enough to be heard by him. It was as if her words and voice were reserved for him.

Her caramel brown tresses swirled around her shoulder and wreathed her oval face, hiding her swan-like neck.

The cream gown that she chose to wear today complimented her skin, giving her an appearance as if she was glowing in the room.

Long-sleeved, floor-length, custom-made, stunning, elegant, and fabulously expensive. The low scoop neck of her dress made it easy to see the necklace she wore with many rare gemstones, showcasing her country’s wealth and status.

He could tell that her dress was mulberry silk, the highest quality of silk, imported from foreign countries without having to inspect the dress closely.

And there was no mistake from her dress that she was a Princess, not just some lady of a noble house. There were dresses only allowed to be worn by royal people while the peasants and other people were not allowed these kinds of extravagant things. Not that any commoner could afford it.

She blushed again, noticing that he had been staring at her for some time. He averted his eyes away from her, stopping his observation, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

He turned his attention towards the other people in this room. There was a screen behind him where his mother and Nora were. While the maids of the woman in front of him were sitting in the chairs along with her two guards, separating her and them by a screen.

Ryan didn’t want to attend this in the first place, but he was forced to participate in this by his mother and father. It was the thing he dreaded the most, meetings with the Princesses who were all interested in him or him meeting the girls who interested him so that they get to know others and find one suitable to them.

Just four days had passed since he finished his responsibility given by his mother, playing a good host to all the foreign guests and asking about their stay here.

And just a day had passed since the starting of formal meetings; he was sent a letter with a date and time requesting his presence. He wished it hadn’t come when he was with his family. They had arranged for it immediately. If it had come when he was alone, he would have just hurled it away in the fireplace.

He was once again adorned in stuffy royal clothes and forced to attend this with chaperones. He was, in fact, thankful for their presence. If not, he would have to spend time with her alone.

She was shyly explaining about her country. He didn’t know what to say to her, so he asked her to speak about her country so that he sounded engaging instead of being bored out of mind. He also didn’t want to anger his mother, who was listening to their conversation from behind the screen.

Why?

Why wasn’t he interested in her when he had seen many people interested in her and that she was more beautiful than other girls, gaining the attention of everyone just like the mermaid Princess.

Then why?

The girl in front of him, Stella Preston, is the Princess of Cherryland, a country that was famous for cherry flowers. Although her country’s economy mainly depended on weapon-making, unlike their country’s name, they are a powerful country that had withstood many wars.

She was not only good-looking but intelligent with the way she spoke about her country and interests.

Then why?

Why doesn’t he feel anything towards the woman sitting in front of him?

Why were turquoise eyes overshadowing Stella’s black eyes?

Why was he not impressed with Stella’s expensive gowns and elegant look?

Stella’s beauty was nothing in front of hers.

Her black eyes were not enchanting as those turquoise eyes.

The narrow waist of Stella was not enticing him like hers did when he caught her.

Why he, a Prince who should be happy about the girl in front of him, a smart and beautiful girl, perfect for his status was not at all interested..?

Why?

The reason was…..

Zelda....

Zelda….

Zelda….

Zelda….

The one thing that has been going on in a loop over and over again for the past four days.

God, how he wished he hadn’t met her.

Four days felt like four years, wallowing in misery he couldn’t identify. He felt angry with himself that he was disappointed and sad about knowing that she is a mermaid.

He could still remember the pace his heartbeat picked when he finally saw her, only to know that she was a mermaid; he cannot explain how he felt that time and how his heart sank with sorrow was only known to him. He couldn’t show it to anyone at that time. He gritted his teeth to endure everything and questioned the head maid of the servants to answer his questions.

He couldn’t bring himself to speak with her. After spending a week of tedious tasks just to meet with her, all turned into waste the minute he knew her real identity.

How could he waste all his effort to meet and apologize to her?

He was lucky when the minister beside him asked her name to note it down.

“Zelda.”

Her dulcet tone made his senses tingle, and her voice, even though just a word only, he could still remember it. He knew the shape of her lips, the way it moved when she said her name, he had been watching her throughout everything, and he couldn’t take his eyes away from her.

He knew it was not appropriate to stare at a lady for a long time. But he cannot look away even if he wanted to.

He had noticed the way her full lips invited him to……

No…

Nope…

He was not going to that line of thought ever.

And soon, the meeting was over, and she disappeared after the meeting when he gathered his senses and went to speak to her, to apologize to her properly. But he couldn’t find her anywhere. Soon, he was busy with his relatives’ nagging and his mother’s pressure to meet the girls he was interested in and to send them a letter.

At that time only, Stella Preston’s letter came. Unfortunately, he was forced to attend as his mother won’t listen to any of his words.

And looking at her, he didn’t feel anything other than a mild irritation at her admiration of him. She probably heard about the rumors of him and decided to become his wife because of his status.

“It seems as if you’re distracted, my lord.”

And she was sharp enough to see through his stoic facial expression and find that he was not listening to her.

My Lord?

She decided by herself to call him informally without asking his permission. He didn’t want to correct her, knowing his mother was probably ecstatic, and he would hear a lecture later.

“No, just imagining how your country is from your description Princess Preston.”

He said, lightly pressing on the word Princess. Not that she would notice it, even if she did; it was likely that she would ignore it.

“I’m sorry if I said too much, my lord. I love my country that I tend to ramble a lot.”

Her fake blush didn’t distract him from noticing the way she pressed the word ‘my lord.’

He felt like killing himself.

Just a few minutes, Ryan told to console himself, knowing that the formal meetings had a time limit. It was a rule not to spend more than two hours in a formal meeting.

And, of course, he was fated to attend a formal meeting with a girl who wanted to prolong this till the last second of the two hours.

He nodded at her words, not wanting to extend this conversation, knowing he should have said ‘You didn’t’ at least for politeness’s sake. But he didn’t care anymore.

“I enjoyed our time together, my lord. I hope you did as well.”

He wanted to say ‘No way in hell’ but kept his words inside and instead just offered a polite smile, not wanting to nod at her words as she would mistake his nod as an agreement that he enjoyed her company.

Just leave me alone.

He glanced at the clock and found that there were five minutes left.

God… Five more minutes of this…

She gestured with her hands as she spoke, showing the bangle that glittered in the sunlight for the umpteenth time. Ryan almost rolled his eyes at that forced gesture of her but remained impassive.

She looked distressed as the time was almost over, and he could not be any happier with it.

She startled him by getting up abruptly as she approached him; he could feel disgust rose in him at her boldness towards him. He cannot believe her forwardness.

The time ended, and he got up from his chair, putting some distance between them. However, he was not going to give in to her pathetic pout.

He just gave a polite smile along with a nod, indicating that this meeting was over, and moved towards the door but was soon stopped by her words.

“I look forward to your letter, my lord.”

No way, he was going to send her one.

He continued walking, ignoring etiquettes as he was done with this.

After a month from now, it was scheduled to return letters, if the person was interested to know further about the people who sent letters this month.

And, no one can force him to write one to her.

He exited the door, not at all waiting for his mother or Nora.

He was done. So done with everything.

He knew it was rude to leave like this, but he didn’t f*****g care anymore.

~~~~~~~~

He put a leg over the stirrup and got seated on the saddle with an ease of breathing. He knew it was nothing to boast about, and the ten people around him did the same as they were all thought to do this from their childhood itself.

The horse took a few steps quickly and then relaxed in a steady walk as he was trying to get used to how the horse moved.

He knew his beloved horse, Willa was angry at him for choosing a new one right in front of her. The look she gave could almost be translated into a mixture of betrayal and how dare you.

He patted her apologetically, to which she huffed and turned away from him. He shook his head at her theatrics and chuckled at her possessiveness over him.

But for today’s event, he could not choose her.

A new herd of imported foreign horses had been set out to ride after being trained for months from the royal stables.

So, in order to entertain the foreign guests, a friendly competition of horse race was decided to be held with their own chosen horse among the herd.

He had already won two rounds with different horses for each round, and in this final one, he decided to choose the white stallion that seemed to have a little bit of temper. Of course, most of the Princes who reached to final round didn’t want to choose it for that reason. But he decided the moment he saw it that he would ride this one.

The horse was a stunning beauty with its wedge-shaped head and large eyes. It had an arched neck, laidback shoulder, and good hoof walls, making it perfect for racing.

But he calmed it down a little by caressing its neck and murmuring gentle words to it.

He felt exhilarated whenever he rode a horse; it almost felt like flying in the air. This gave him pleasure in his monotonous life.

The racing only seemed to lift his moods even more. The past two days had been terrible. He had been getting lectures from his dad about courting and his mother’s not-so-subtle push to choose Stella Preston.

He wanted to forget everything that happened for the past few days.

He just wanted to let go of everything and race forward in a horse, which was one of the reasons he was looking forward to this race.

He loved animals, especially horses. He liked to ride the new horses, train them, and to go on a ride outside the castle. But, of course, Willa was his favorite. He didn’t want to offend her.

How wrong he was!

He thought this was just a friendly race, but it was nothing friendly about it.

The Princes, lords, and earls were all prideful and wanted to not lose to anyone here.

And to top it all, a crowd has gathered to look over, including his majesty and Ryan’s father. Some princesses who were roaming around with the maids had also gathered here. Nothing made people here competitive than that. They didn’t want to lose pride in front of them.

Just as he guided his horse to the race line, he was met with Ivor.

“Are you ready to lose dear cousin?”

“Not at all, your highness.”

He could see Ivor’s smile turning into a grimace at the choice of his words. It would be like disrespecting him. But, Ryan cannot call him anything but that in front of all the guests.

Maybe, he should go easy on Nora when he called Ryan formally in front of people.

Ivor turned away from him, not wanting to continue the conversation with Ryan formally to keep the pretense.

What could he do in front of everyone?

“I will see you at the end, my friend.”

Ryan turned to look at his right and smiled at the person who spoke to him.

Prince Bram Hyrick of Musa country.

A friendly person who got along with Ryan very well. Despite being a crown Prince of Musa country, Prince Bram spoke with him casually. He was glad to make friends with people from other countries.

A good thing amid the miseries he had to go through during this entire courting, and it was nice to get along with people from different countries and learning about their culture and foreign cities.

“I will meet you there, Prince Hyrick.”

With a bow to Prince Hyrick, Ryan concentrated on the path ahead, waiting for the signal to start. He petted the horse, not wanting it to startle with all the noise going on.

The excitement among the crowd gathered was rising along with the racers. Everybody waited for the starting signal.

As soon as the signal was given, he kicked his horse just like others and urged his horse to run faster.

It was two miles race that he could not afford to slow down. The path wasn’t easier as it had trees on the sides, and you have to be mindful of the branches. However, Ryan, who spent months roaming around, didn’t feel any difficulty with the obstacles.

As he rode forward, everything faded away.

All his worries, tension, and thoughts faded away, leaving nothing but excitement in him.

The horse was wild, and it ran faster than any other horse here, surprising him with its speed and agility.

As he reached towards the point where he had to turn around and ride the way they had come till now to reach the destination to win, he saw Ivor just a few meters behind him with a grin.

He smirked at him in a superior way and pushed his horse forward. Ryan bounced along with the stallion’s movement, and he tightened his grip on the reins a little bit, not wanting to fall down.

Nothing excited him like riding a horse that ran as fast as this one.

He squeezed his legs tightly to stay with the horse as it picked up the pace, and he couldn’t help but laugh aloud when the wind whipped his hair back.

He could not be happier than this.