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Gerald Stuart, Third Prince of the Kingdom of Sorcie, was beloved by many. Unbeknownst to a heavy amount of those admirers, if not all, they had no idea what he was really like. Which may or may not have been a good thing. He was cruel and unrelenting when it came to what he wanted. He could easily read people, and what he read was usually unoriginal and boring, and therefore he had little interest in others. He was also quite intimidating and often times manipulative.
However, he behaved as his station indicated, an act he had well perfected since he was a child, which lead to the idealization of his fans. It was annoying and a heavy burden, Gerald had to admit. He occasionally briefly wondered what he would’ve been like had he not been born royalty and ignored for a good portion of his childhood.
Would he have been more interested in others? Would he have not been so bored by everything around him? Well, what was done is done. There was no real point in pondering “what ifs.” That is, those what ifs.
There were plenty what ifs he wondered about that actually held his attention, and they all revolved around his fiancée, the daughter of Duke Luigi Claes, Katarina Claes.
When he had first met the girl, she had been a selfish, arrogant, spoiled brat, much like all the other suitors being thrust into his face. Actually, she may have been worse than the others to an extent. She didn’t even try to use noble-like manners when chasing after him. The others had a least the decency to try to be subtle. Katarina hadn’t even bothered.
That aspect – not bothering with manners – still remained the same after the accident, now that Gerald thought about it. Regardless, after she bumped into him and hit her head on a rock in the garden and suffered a fever for five days afterward, her behavior had changed. Not that he knew this until she was well enough to receive visitors.
At the time, Gerald had thought Katarina had gotten what she deserved – a scar on her forehead because of her own stupid clumsiness – but from one comment from a servant, he had formulated a plan. He would get engaged to this utterly selfish, boring girl to ward off the other equally annoying suitors until he found someone more suitable. There was also the reason that Duke Claes was neutral to the fight for the throne between his two older brothers. That would save him from getting involved in any of those utterly irritating and boring politics.
With that goal in mind, he had approached Katarina Claes, who was still recovering in bed.
Gerald had put on his perfected princely act and apologized to Katarina, while secretly condemning her. However, what he was met in response with, startled him.
Katarina had relieved him of fault and instead apologized. She seemed sweet and caring. What happened? Did that blow to the head cause her to do a one hundred eighty degree turn in personality? There had been cases like that, though the injuries had been more severe…
Gerald recovered quickly and tried to apologize again. Katarina then dismissed her scar entirely! That was completely strange. Noble girls were taught to maintain their beauty at all costs, because, when they were old enough, men of nobility looked for that kind of thing in a wife. From what Gerald had previously scene of Katarina, he would have surely expected her to make a fuss about her scar. Instead, she just said she could hide it with her bangs and that everything would be fine!
Even though he didn’t particularly care about her chances of getting married, he felt the need to get her to comprehend, that she wouldn’t be able to because of that scar. While it did appear that she spaced out as he continued talking, Gerald went forward with his plans. When she absent-mindedly agreed to the proposal, Gerald made his way to leave. There were things to consider about her change in behavior, but his plan had succeeded and right then he would focus on that.
What if Katarina never hit her head? What if she remained the same?
Gerald shuddered at the idea. He supposed he had to be grateful for the garden rock and the blow to her head. If she had stayed the same way, he would’ve been bound to a stupid, boring, selfish brat just to ward off suitors. To say the least, it would’ve been torture. It was hard to imagine it, to be honest, because Katarina had hit her head and had a change in behavior. Behavior that was both erratic and endearing.
Katarina had become quite eccentric after the blow to her head and did things out of the norm for noble girls. Possibly even regular girls. In fact, with his second visit to her home, and his third meeting with her, Gerald had found Katarina in commoner garb, hoe in hand, making what looked like to be a farm in her family’s garden. Katarina’s mother, Duchess Claes, had fainted behind him. However, Gerald was more intrigued by what Katarina was doing. A rare, rare event for him. He hardly remembered the last time he was interested in something.
“Katarina-sama, what is it that you’re doing?” he asked politely, his faux smile in place.
Katarina’s face looked panicked, scared of being caught making a farm in her garden. Just as any girl would be, not that many girls would even consider making a farm. Katarina recovered after a moment and told him that she was making a farm for training her magic abilities. There was something fundamentally wrong with that plan, but it was so outrageous and so out-of-the-box that Gerald couldn’t help but hold back laughter.
This girl was much sillier than she had been. This was what triggered his interest in her. He hadn’t expected her to have that line of ridiculous reasoning, that, of all things, farming was her conclusion, and that she was doing it in commoner work clothes. This whole scene was so hilarious and out of the blue, Gerald, for the first time in a long time, was genuinely amused.
Okay, that was it. He would propose to her and see where this would go. He…was actually interested. Well, no time like the present, he had thought as he went down on bended knee. As he proposed, he could see her mind turning absently again. When she turned her attention back to him, she placed her hand in his and said, “Yes.”
He kissed her hand, and they became officially engaged. The look on her face spoke of panic yet again, and he couldn’t help but swallow another laugh. Yes, he was actually looking forward to this engagement now.
Looking back on it, it almost seemed as if Katarina had regretted her decision to saying yes to the proposal. He would’ve respected her no, at that point in time. He would’ve kept an eye on her, of course, because he was finally interested in someone.
Still, what if she had said no? What if they didn’t get engaged?
Well, he would’ve tried to visit her all the same, with his interest piqued. They would’ve been friends and as they grew closer, Gerald had no doubt he would have fallen for her all the same. However, his desire to monopolize her would’ve been much more difficult without his position as her fiancé. He would’ve had to fight his other rivals that appeared in due course much harder without that advantage. Well, he probably would’ve found a way to get engaged to her anyway.
All these “what ifs” that were intriguing to think about ultimately meant nothing, because the past was the past and the present was what it was. He would be eternally grateful to that rock in the garden – which he now regrets not asking to keep before they replaced it – and Katarina’s absentmindedness. For he now had a fiancée he loved and would marry as soon as he was able, suitors or no suitors. His days were no longer gray and boring and dull, but vibrant, colorful, and entertaining.
Katarina saw him for who he was and always lifted the burden of his fans idealizing him. She was quirky, unconventional, and unpredictable. Her smile was warm and kind. This version of her would always be the version he liked best. The what ifs were interesting to consider, but…
He wouldn’t change any of what he had now for the world.