I'm Forbidden To Love You

Chapter 4

Ryan sighed for the umpteenth time, desperately wishing that today never came. He could have preferred yesterday's boring event to this. Or, maybe not.

Both situations are equally tiresome.

He wished he hadn't returned home if this was what he had to go through.

What all he thought about when he rushed here without even taking a break.

A war, tragic situations, illness.

He had thought all these things and worried over it that day when he reached the castle in a hurry.

What did he get for all that?

A courting session.

God!

He sounded like a whiny brat, but he doesn't care anymore. If anyone were in a situation similar to his, they would too.

He sat in a chair, the cushions comfortable enough to make him sleep, but not today it seemed as there were several chairs in front of him with his relatives.

There sat his mom, grandfather's brother, and wife along with their daughter and her husband, Ryan's grandmother's sister and her family.

They were all excited about yesterday's event and want to know, more like interrogate him about it. Worst of all, Nora and his other guard, Gary standing near the door, were suppressing their laughs, and he could hear it even if they didn't laugh out loud.

Why?

Why did he have to go through this?

"Did you interact with the princesses, Ryan?"

"You should consider choosing a princess rather than girls from noble families. It is better that way."

"It would be better to choose a beautiful woman rather than an intelligent one."

"Better select someone submissive."

"You should consider your position and choose accordingly."

"Maybe, you should consider our family history and pride before you get interested in someone."

"Don't look for beauty alone. Think about what she could offer to our country with her status."

"Choose someone who doesn't spend all her money on makeup and clothes as your aunt does. She would empty our treasure if she were anything like your aunt."

"Don't become too close to any of the girls. Some might accuse you of their pregnancy, claiming you as their husband. "

 "If you are interested to court someone, come to us first."

"You should be careful of what paper you use to send letters to her and her parents."

"Ask about what she likes and dislikes so that you could select your courting gift carefully."

"Don't spend too much on the courting gifts, or else she will get over her head that you could buy anything for her."

"For God's sake, Ryan, don't ever choose an arrogant woman. She will be the death of you."

"Even arrogance is fine compared to a cunning witch. She will ruin our family."

Ryan gritted his teeth and endured through it all, giving courteous answers to every one of their silly and stupidest questions.

The advice they gave and how they contradicted each other was irritating at first, and then it got tiring to hear them one-up each other even in this.

This was why he hated being in a royal family sometimes. Why are they competing even in this to show who is superior?

None of them cared about him or his life. They were busy showing off their pride and power.

It might be humorous for Nora and Gary but not for him. Maybe if he were in their situation, he would laugh along with them. But, sitting here in front of all these people, hearing them go on and on about his future wife, was getting on his nerves.

Seeing him ready to snap, his mother skillfully engaged them all in a different conversation and some other royal gossip. After all, his mother, Elvira Burton, was the Princess of Deraan country and well-versed in politics.

His mother's country was very far away, and it takes months to reach, but she had agreed to marry only his father, out of love.

Thank God his sister wasn't here. And, he didn't want to even think about how she would have to attend these awful gatherings. He hoped that his sister Joy didn't grow up. Nope, he didn't want to even think about males trying to capture her attention.

As they went on about the new fashion and jewelry, he tuned them out.

Maybe, he should have pretended that he had fallen in love with someone far away and that he was waiting for her letter or something. But it's too late, and it would have been hard to fool these many people anyway.

As they slowly drifted out of the room one by one thankfully, it has been only an hour or two, but it felt like ages sitting here, smiling politely and nodding along.

As soon as they left, his mother patted him on his shoulder in comfort. He sometimes wished that she forgot about the royal upbringing and just hugged him.

"I know you're irritated, Ryan. But, endure them. We cannot afford to be an enemy to anyone."

"I know, mother. But that doesn't mean I have to like them."

His mother chuckled at his apparent dislike.

"Come here." She offered him a seat next to her. He sullenly sat beside her.

"Leave them. Now, tell me, are you interested in anyone? Did any girl catch your eye?"

Inevitably, overwhelming turquoise eyes flashed in his mind.

Her eyes, her lips, the way her waist felt against his hand, the feel of her body, the way her eyes widened, looking at him, the slight tremble of her lips, the way her fingers gripped his arm tightly for support.

He clenched his fingers and gritted his teeth not to convey any emotion outwards; if he gave even an inch, his mother would probably find everything.

God! Those eyes hadn't left him since yesterday.

His mother took his silence as no and decided to gently advise him about his role and that he should choose someone quickly while his mind was elsewhere, not listening to a word his mother said.

How?

How can he explain to his mother that the one person who caught his eyes was the one he found beautiful?

He didn't know her name or her country yet; he was mesmerized by those eyes.

How could he tell his mother about his confused emotions and that too he felt all those emotions towards a maid of all people?

~~~~~~

Nora was confused.

He had been strung along with some irritating chores like delivering some letter from one end of the castle to the other end. It takes at least an hour to reach it, even with shortcuts. He was a knight; his duty was to guard his Prince, but he had been tasked with these stupid tasks for a week now, ordered by none other than his Prince.

He knew that Prince Ryan was angry with him. Maybe he shouldn't have laughed at his friend during that family meeting. But, he still could not help but chuckle even now, thinking about how all these relatives advised him and how his Prince looked like he would rather jump out of the window than listen to this nonsense anymore.

He felt bad too that Prince Ryan was going through all these. Norman Mirabel, belonging to the ancient house of Mirabel, had a duty to his house too. He also had formal meetings and such, but it was not this bad, and after becoming a Knight, it was a relief to visit home once in six months.

So, he was surprised that his sister attended this and was staying in the castle even after he sent a letter to his family not to let his sister participate. But, it was of no use.

It was his second time attending a courting event. He had been nineteen when he was forced to participate, and now he was forced to join again at twenty-four years old. No one will compel him to choose a bride anyway, as his brother, heir to the family was already married and no one pressured him. It was for formalities that he attended and to stop his mother's pleading letters for a year or two.

So, you might be wondering what was confusing him. Prince Ryan was the cause. He had been tasked with looking after the arrangements and such of the guests arrived, by Prince Ryan's mother in an attempt to make him interact with Princesses and Princes too in the hope of him making a connection with them, befriend some of them. A cunning political move.

Usually, Prince Ryan would have seen through it and given the tiring task to some skilled ministers to overlook it, but Prince Ryan accepted the task much to Norman's surprise.  

And Nora was suspicious too. Was Prince Ryan sending him off to silly tasks in the guise of anger by hiding something else?

Sometimes Prince Ryan, the open-minded and down-to-earth friend, he knew changed into someone else that not even Ryan's mother could find it. But Norman sees through Prince Ryan sometimes. Was that why he was being sent away?

Norman was confounded about what happened to Prince Ryan that he would conceal it from his best friend?

Was he overthinking it?

Or was there something really being hidden from him?

Meanwhile, said Prince was wallowing silently in a room that held meetings with various people.

It had been a week…

He had to go through seven days of this tedious work, and he volunteered for that was the highlight.

It was a task of meeting with every foreign guest, asking them about their stay here and if they felt dissatisfied with any of the arrangements.

It was also a way to meet and get friendly, making connections with royal peoples of different countries.

You might ask why Ryan Burton, the one who avoided the royal gatherings, willingly agreed to this task.

Well, of course, it was because his mother requested it and she was already disappointed that he had left that event earlier than he was ordered to by his mother.

Not that he had any ulterior motives.

Nope, definitely not.

It didn't have anything to do with how he had to meet maids and servants that belonged to every guest as they had to make a list of how many people they had amid them in total and how much food the Avera country had to provide them and what all they need to import from other countries for their comfort. It was all waste of money if you asked him, but what can he do?

He would avoid this sort of things because of spending too much on all these people while beggars still roamed around in their country and three villages were suffering from drought this summer.

Then why?

It was not as if he was enjoying this, then why?

Why had he agreed to this?

It was not as if he wanted to see her, nope, definitely not.

But how could he fool himself when he knew he spent a week going through meeting half the princesses and ladies of houses while Ivor was scheduled to meet the other half of important lords and princes, just to get a chance of glancing at her.

He could have finished these meetings, and his presence was not required to deal with servants and maids as the ministers appointed to assist him were more than enough, but he stayed and suffered through it all.

He still remembered the way her fingers gripped his arm to steady when he caught her.

But the moment he wanted to last longer wasn't meant to be, as she pushed him away gently, trying to leave from his hold. He had, unknowingly, pulled her close, trying to bring her closer, tightening the grip on her waist, startling her with his behavior.

He hadn't realized what he was doing for a minute; he just felt drawn to her at that time by some kind of magic. Yes, that must be it. If not, why did he try to pay attention to her of all people?

As soon as he realized it that time, he had released her, knowing that it was inappropriate to behave like this with any girl. As his mind was scrambling to find the correct words, trying not to be caught in the web of those turquoise eyes, she pulled away from him and ran away without even picking her clothes.

He was rooted there, blinking in shock at how he behaved with a girl.

Why did she run away?

Maybe, she was afraid of him with the way he behaved. He should apologize, at least. That was the reason he was looking for her. Yes, that was the only reason — nothing more, nothing less.

He tapped on the quill, waiting for the next batch.

"Next is the maids from mermaid land Prince Ryan."

He looked in interest as the maids entered the room he was conducting the meeting as he got a chance to interact with mermaids. He was surprised to find that only two mermen entered. How can they send the mermaid Princess to another country with just two mermen as guards for her?

Not much was known about their land anyways.

His breath hitched when he finally found the girl he was searching everywhere for over a week, going through tiresome tasks just to catch a glimpse of her.

Those eyes that haunted him day and night, even in dreams, were staring at him, widening slightly after recognizing him.

Why?

Why?

He had found her at last, and he could properly apologize to her, leaving the whole issue behind.

Then why was his heart sinking with sorrow and disappointment after knowing that she was a mermaid?

What was it he read about mermaids in the book?

A mermaid can only be with a merman and never a human as their body was only compatible with their species even if they looked and acted like humans.