26 Isolation

I just sat there, pondering. It wasn't even like I was thinking of anything, more just mulling over what I heard.

"Where did you go in that carriage....what happened?" I asked.

"You are sitting on that ground...I was sent here. To the edge of the empire, but at least I had a choice. The princess, however, was forced to, she was abandoned...thrown away from her home, from her family, from her people and from her childhood. She has lived here since she was five and so have I" she replied.

"Why? What would that ever accomplish...how could anyone just throw away their child like that?" I asked, my tone getting a bit louder.

"What I will say next is treason but nobody else is here to complain is there...The King feared a revolt from the people of the empire. In the court of public opinion, all that mattered to them was the last line they saw, destruction of the world and whatnot, and of course panic set in. Instead of calming the public however, all the king saw in front of himself was the fear of losing his position and power, so what did he choose to do...throw away the source of the problem. Away from him, away from his family, away from the people. In the king's eyes, it was an easy decision I suppose, he already had an heir in the form of his son, and yes, while the princess was a prodigy what could be worse than the destruction of the world? What still bothers me however was why not just banish her, why not just excommunicate her...why keep her leashed like this" she said with resentment in her tone.

"You would think that would be the end of her problems wouldn't it, but it was just the beginning. Since she was sent away on the pretext of re-education and discipline, she still had to perform her royal duties. That included public processions, balls, ceremonies...she was forced to attend all of those. What she received in return was nothing but hate and anger at her very existence. From the public and the other nobles, it was expected. But even her own family started looking at her like an outcast, especially her brother. I can't count the times when I have heard her sobbing in her room after she came back from one of these events" she continued.

My teeth were grinding against each other at this point and my fist was bound in rage but I kept silent. At least for now, I continued to listen quietly.

"You know what breaks my heart the most...that she never blamed anyone else but herself for what she was going through. Thinking that it was her own fault or shortcoming that was causing all these things to happen to her. I can't even comprehend what that does to a five-year-old child. Every single day, believing that there was something so fundamentally wrong with you that everyone despises you...All she wanted was to be loved again"

"The day she came here, the same day I did, the first thing she did was go to the training grounds and trained till she collapsed in exhaustion. The next day when I asked her why, that child said she knows why everybody hates her now and if she became strong and proved to everyone that she won't hurt anyone, nobody will hate her again...saying all of that with a smile on her face. I couldn't look her in the eyes after that, I couldn't bring myself to shatter her hopes. Every single day she trained till she couldn't move anymore and then headed to the library where she read till she passed out" she said.

I looked at my hands again and noticed small cuts of my own fingernails digging into my skin as the frustration boiled over in me.

"Day after day, month after month, year after year...all she did was prepare for the fleeting moments where she could go back home and prove to everyone that she was not a monster and that she would never harm her people. And every time she would come back with her hopes shattered, no amount of strength, knowledge or ideas was enough. She tried harder every time she came back, but how long before the weight of everyone's hate destroys you from the inside out? She never showed it though, not once...It was during this time that the color in her eyes started to fade, being replaced with the dark void you see now"

"She keeps a copy of the full prophecy in her room, forbidding anyone from touching or reading it. Over time when I attended to her in the dead silence of countless nights, she would stare at it from a distance, sometimes for hours together. Her eyes were emotionless and dark but from the outside, she looked just as elegant as she always had been. I have rambled on for so long now and I haven't even told you a fraction of what the Princess has gone through" she said looking at me straight in the eye.

"I am sorry Master Haruto but I lied to you, while I was instructed to pass the Princess's letter on to you, I was not instructed to do anything further. My true intentions of staying here today were something else...Please listen to my request" she pleaded.

"Every single person that the Princess has ever trusted or cared for has betrayed her, so much so that over the years she has stopped making connections entirely. Not once has she ever cared about anything else other than training and research, not even herself, so much so that she has almost died a few times...but then seemingly out of nowhere she finds you. Do you know how long it's been since I saw her smile, saw her laugh, but in a single day you make her do all of that!? Master Haruto, I don't know why or how you are here but what I can say is that you are an anomaly...and only you can help the Princess" she said while bowing down, I tried to stop her but she refused.

"Master Haruto, I don't know why but you are an irreplaceable existence to the Princess. I beg of you with all my heart, please don't betray her, please don't hate her, please be by her side. She needs you...." she looked up with tears in her eyes.

"But one thing I ask of you is please do it out of your own choice and not because you are bound by an oath, please be someone she can trust...I beg of you"

I just stood there for a few seconds, placing my hands on my eyes and closing them. Getting lost in my thoughts...trying to understand the feelings raging inside of me.