The Tale of the Two Princes : Esmeralda's Pain and Grief │ Part 15
"Please allow me to explain everything, Your Majesty," Esmeralda begins. "I had a lover before, he is a tall, bald, strong, and quiet handsome man, his name is Lando, and he is a bandit. I met him when I was walking home and I ran into foreign hunters chasing down lions in the forest. They harassed me and wanted me to go with them, but Lando saved me. We became friends, and eventually turned to lovers."
"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for so long, Esmeralda, but I have a surprise for you," Lando said excitedly as she saw Esmeralda sitting in their rendezvous spot on the outskirt of Alveria.
"Look, I tattooed your name with an arrow heart on my chest as a symbol of my eternal love for you." He added.
"Lando, I have something to tell you—" Esmeralda came to a halt as he noticed a familiar figure approaching them. "F-Father?"
"So this is where you're going. With this bandit, really? You're just 16!" Esmeralda's father yelled. "That person will do you no good. What will he feed you, grenade? They are terrible people! You will never see that man again because I'll lock you up!"
Esmeralda's father drags her, but Lando still holds her hand. Esmeralda seemed to be in pain since her father will not let her go, so Lando let go of her hand.
"You can't keep Esmeralda away from me because we love each other, and you don't own her," Lando remarked.
"Of course I can! I'm her father; I know what's best for her, and it's not you, you peasant! You're a plague in the kingdom!"
"How about you? You're even worse than a plague; you're literally turning Esmeralda into a cash cow so you can booze and gamble all you want without having to work your ass off!" Lando blurt out.
Because of what Lando said, Esmeralda's father went insane and hit Lando in the face, causing him to collapse to the ground. He continues to pound him despite the fact that blood is dripping down the young man's face.
"Father, I'm pregnant!" cried Esmeralda.
He paused pounding Lando's nearly shattered face and turned to her daughter.
"What did you say? You let this pathetic loser to get you pregnant? I can't believe you. You know what, don't come home. I don't want to see your face again. From now on, I don't have a daughter. You're just a useless stranger to me." Esmeralda's father stated and left.
Lando and Esmeralda made the decision to live together. They were first overjoyed. Lando works throughout the day, while Esmeralda stays at home to keep their small cottage clean and to cook meals for them to eat.
Esmeralda gave birth to a handsome baby boy after 9 months of living together. Everything seems to be normal and happy until...
"What's this? We don't have food for dinner yet?!" Lando yelled inebriated.
"Y-you don't give me any money to go to the market, Lando," Esmeralda said, terrified as she carried her wailing newborn.
"You're useless! You never do things your way; you constantly have your hands out, asking money from me... And get that loud brat to quiet down!"
Lando stepped out of that door that night, and Esmeralda never saw him again. Days became weeks, and weeks became months, but Lando never came back home. She asked their neighbors and others in their kingdom if they had seen him, but they had not.
Esmeralda decided to work as a waitress in a tavern with his baby swaddled in her body since she had no one to look after her child.
One day, her baby got sick and she couldn't take time off work, so she brought her child to the tavern and swaddled him to her body. However, because the baby was sick and was wailing all over the place, the customers became annoyed, and as a result, she was sacked from her job.
Her thoughts were muddled as she went back to their house. She had no idea why her feet had suddenly led her to the opulent palace displayed ostentatiously.
"Hey! What are you doing?" yelled the gatekeepers as they saw Esmeralda lay her child on the ground in front of the gate.
The guards took the baby and abruptly gave to her, pushing her away from the huge gate. The queen happened to be there and witnessed how the guards mistreated Esmeralda.
"Let her go!" The queen ordered.
The queen approached them and looked at the baby wailing in his mother's arms. The queen slid her index finger from the baby's brow to his nose and down to her cheeks. The baby stopped crying and began giggling.
"Can I hold him?" the queen asked. Esmeralda delicately laid the baby in the queen's arms.
"I hope that one day I will be able to be a mother like you. I've wished for it for a long time, but it seems that heavens didn't hear my plea."
"I know you'll be a great mother, Your Majesty; please take care of him..." Esmeralda whispered as she ran as fast as she could. The guards tried to follow her, but she lost them.
A year after, Esmeralda met George, a struggling shoemaker. They fall in love and marry. They had Percy months later. They lived happily together ever since, but Esmeralda still yearned for her first child. She was about to take her son from the queen when she saw that his life was good and that he was treated as the true son of the king and queen, a life she couldn't offer to her son, so she just stepped back and watched him from afar.
Another obstacle entered Esmeralda's life. His husband got sick and died as a result. They struggled in life once again, which is why Percy is unable to attend a school like hers, and they don't even know how to read and write.
"Lando... He assaulted me with his gang in the forest when I was on my way to Oizys' Mountain. He's my father?"
"Now I see why Nathan is the king's favorite son; I'm not his own blood," Prince William sighed.
"Don't say that, William. Your father, the king, loves you as much as he loves Nathan, and he raised you as if you were his firstborn child," the queen remarked.
"Did Nathan know about this?" Prince William queried.
"He knew," the queen responded.
"All this time, he knew? But he didn't show me any disrespect. I feel ashamed. He is the true son and I'm just a freeloader here at the palace, but I'm always causing a ruckus only because he is receiving what he truly deserves..." Prince William remorse.
"Because you're his brother, the son of the king and queen, and one of the princes who will soon be king of Alveria, nothing and no one will ever change that," the queen stated.
Yellow! 💛
Can't wait to publish the finale tomorrow!
I cordially invite you to the royal wedding and coronation of the new king of Alveria. Prepare your best formal attire, and I'll fetch you up in the golden carriage tomorrow.
See you there. Santé!
What to read next?
Sometimes we just have to listen to the advice of our parents