The Duke

'This is a confession that I have to make. Everything that was ruled over by fate, was something that I cannot fight against. I know it must be silly of me to write a letter like this, but I can feel it. The end is near, and even if I wished for more time to be with you, darling, I simply cannot. But please never forget me or your father, and may this tragic story be with you for all time. The story of love between two people, and the sincerity that cannot be delivered. The story of Smeraldo, the flower gallantly blooming with all the longing and sincere love that shall never be forgotten. A love that I wish will transcend even time and somewhere, someday, the two people that cannot be, will be together, in another life.'

"Your Majesty, congratulations!"

        The Duke looked up at his old friend who would always wear faded clothes, and a straw hat to shield him from the scorching sun.

He smiled at him.

"Likewise, I heard your daughter turned 9 today.",the genuine smile is evident on the lips of his old friend that have served under him and his father for so many years but just like any other man, youth slowly slips away from his face. The wrinkles on his face says so.

"I am grateful, your Majesty."

"Oh, please, skip the formalities."

"But as your humble servant, that I cannot do."

The Duke sigh in defeat, ever since he rose to the throne the people who he once called friends started going after his position, countless women were trying to catch his attention in hope that they will be his Duchess but the man before him was the only one who remained his true friend, and his heart remains hopeful for a genuine encounter with a woman he will love for all his life.

The man with a straw hat was well-known for his skill for gardening. He is in charge of the plants and flowers around the palace, and he is also the reason why the palace looks so beautiful, with flowers in full bloom, and trees with their emerald colored leaves. He is a master of his craft, and it is one of the reason the royal family trusts him so much when it comes to the landscaping of the palace.

"How I wish, I can turn back time. When I was just a little kid, running around—"

"Chasing your father.",the gardener finished for him.

The Duke look up above the painted sky, with it's beautiful pastel colors, the sun was about to set.

"He was a good man. He really was. He is a father, I adore so much. And, even now, he is someone I very much still look up to."

"But now, your Majesty, you are the one people will look up to."

The gardener look at the Duke with so much adoration but the Duke could only sadly smile at him.

"Indeed. But will I ever be good enough for the people of Emerald City?"

The gardener smiled, and crossed his arm to his chest. He then look up to the sky, breath taken by how beautiful and wide it was, that it felt like he was being surrounded by the wind and sky itself.

He thought to himself, how beautiful it will be if a flower bloomed like the colors of the sky. If there ever existed such a flower.

       Days, and eventually years passed, the Emerald City flourished under the Duke, and soon the City became one of the most visited place of foreign envoys, all wanting to have an audience with The Duke himself. The Duke was offered jewelry, power, and women to gain his alliance and trust but The Duke remains neutral, and only thanked the envoys for their visits.

It was his wise decisions, and sense of justice that made the people of Emerald City, respect him and revere him but news of him being a lady's man was known far and wide. But who is to blame? When the Duke is gifted with a face, challenging even that of Adonis?

It was his charm and wit that made women madly in-love with him but only one caught his attention entirely, and this was the noble woman who eventually married him not out of mere sense of duty but out of pure genuine love, and after a year, the beautiful young lady bear his first child, the very first prince of Emerald City.

The prince grew brimming with talent for music and dance, very much like his mother who was a maiden who loves music. But at the age of seven such happiness was cut short. The Prince lost his mother to an unknown illness, and the Duke was stricken with grief. He felt he lost a part of his heart that was buried along with the remains of his deceased wife.

She was his first love.

It was a sorrowful  day for the people of Emerald City, and even the sky turned gray as the ceremony commence for the burial of the beloved Duchess.

Even after the ceremony was over and the rain started to pour heavily, the Duke remained by the Duchess side, crying his heart out, and finally laying her favorite flowers on her grave.

The white roses adorn her grave and the more the Duke look at her name engraved on her tomb, the more his heart aches for her. Missing her touch, missing how wonderful she danced with him on the day they first met on a ball, that he will never, ever forget.

"My condolences, your Majesty."

He let his tears fall as the rain washes it away. He hides his face from his old friend as if ashamed of his own feebleness to save the Duchess from her illness.

"The roses are beautiful.", The gardener approached the Duke and looked at him straight in the eyes, and there he saw how broken and sad the Duke was. It made his heart ache for the person he treated as his little brother. Seeing him so lost, made him feel so pathetic, because he know he cannot do anything for him but give him the white roses he personally groomed for this particular day.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty.",it took all his strength to say words that he wasn't sure was right but for the Duke, nothing mattered right now.

He lost her forevermore. And, he have no choice but to move on from her, to continue living without her.

The Duke with tear-stained eyes and rain-drenched coat, looked up the sky once again, praying that his beloved Duchess will watch over him from heaven where such a beautiful soul should reside.

    The young prince still mourning over her mother who had passed away, would cry, and the Duke would stand in front of the Prince's room. He dare not enter. But he can hear his heart-wrenching cry every night.

The Duke was confused, not knowing how to be a proper father to his son, but he knows he love the Prince so much, that if he ask for the world he would give it to him. But his duty as Duke kept him from his duties as a father and thus the Prince would learn to stand on his own two feet, not relying on his father as he grow up.

Still, he would visit him often in his room, and talk to him for a while before leaving to take his lessons on proper etiquette, literature, swordsmanship and of course, on music and dance, he so adore. Not for long the Duke received an offer.

A unity between two cities by marriage.