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Red eyes stared intently at the white rose like it was the most interesting thing to ever exist. Its petals were huge, looking like the silkiest of textures at the touch. Such a beautiful and delicate sight.
The little Princess can’t help but think about how it would look even better in her mother’s mauve curls. Mommy will love it! She thinks excitedly to herself, remembering how her dad always gifts her mom different flowers.
Wasting not a second more, she gets to work, plopping onto the ground covered by soft grass that tickles her knees.
With further observation, the little Princess notices the small spikes that cover the stem of the flower, and remembers how aunty Yvonne and aunty Thalia taught her how to carefully pick a rose without getting pricked by those unfriendly thorns that seemed to mock her every time she gave up on flower picking.
Slapping her rosy cheeks, Judith shakes her head, wild golden curls bouncing as she does so, and puffs out her chest in determination.
She glares at the thorn-covered stem. “I will give mom the prettiest flower! Thorns don’t scare me!” She points a tiny finger at one of the prickles. “I am not afraid of you!” Sometimes to make something come true, you have to say it out loud until you believe in it, or at least that’s what uncle Theo often says.
Kicking into gear her gardening ‘lessons’ with her aunts, Judy grabs one of the thorns, avoiding the pointy part, and carefully tries to break it off from the stem. In a child’s gaze, her work seems very meticulous, but in reality, her little chubby hand moved quite clumsily, causing her to get prickled at last.
The little Princess shrieks in surprise, bringing her pointy finger up to her face for inspection. Sure enough, a small droplet of crimson could be seen on her reddened finger tip.
She wiped the blood off on her pastel yellow dress, not paying attention to how the stain remained on the silky ruffled fabric.
Her lips came to form a grimace. Judy scowled indignantly at the flower. “Stupid thorns!” Aunty Yvee made it look so easy, it was not fair! Why was she so clumsy?
Sucking on her finger to alleviate the sting, Judy thinks that she looks like her youngest cousin Liam, that despite his parents’ continuous coaxing, the little pink-haired boy keeps on sucking on his thumb refusing to let go of the childish habit. ’He’s just a kid. He’ll grow out of it eventually‘ uncle Reynold would say, only for aunty Daphne to slap him upside the head afterwards for encouraging that habit, accompanying the act with scolding.
She giggles at the silly memory, momentarily forgetting about the evil spikes… maybe she could find a way to take the flower without breaking off the thorns?
If she can't take off the offending prickles, then she’ll just take the whole thing! With newly found perseverance, Judy decides that she’ll take this stubborn flower to her mother no matter what.
Placing her hands on the lower part of the stem near the ground, that is free of any thorns, the little blonde girl starts pulling towards herself with all her might, going as far as to start digging her fingers into the green-covered soil to help the eradication of the plant.
It proves to be harder than it looks, and the Princess finds herself struggling in a fight against the rose she set her eyes upon. If Judith wanted something, then Judith always got it in the end, and she was not about to be overpowered (a funny word she heard from her dad) by a dumb flower!
Her wings start flapping as she pulls even harder, and when the small portion of ground starts to lift, the little girl gives one final tug that finally frees the plant from its place. The sudden absence of stability, made her lose balance, and so, the dragon Princess found herself stumbling into a nearby bush as the world was flipped upside down.
Sitting up, she examines the flower to make sure its petals were still intact. Nodding approvingly, she wipes her forehead from fatigue with her hand, making little particles of soil stick to her skin and bangs. Dusting herself off as she rubs her hands on her light gown, now smeared with dirt, the little Princess takes off in a sprint, scurrying from the imperial gardens to the palace, as her short legs move rapidly.
Judy hastily smells the rose, burying her face in the center, as the pistil tickles her button-nose. Its scent was lovely, it reminded her of jolly summer days, when she’d play tag with her cousins in the enormous gardens of the palace, as sunlight kissed their skin… and she’s reminded again about how some of her cousins already have siblings.
This strengthens her resolve further. Judith finally knows what she wants as a present for her upcoming birthday, and this flower might just help her cause. Her face breaks into a toothy grin and her step speeds up.
The pitter patter of tiny feet echoes around the big hallways, accompanied by little puffs of breath. The muddy roots of the plants rub against the ruffles of the once clean and delicate skirt of the Crown Princess, as little specks of dirt and leaves sprinkle the carpets on the floor, to the horror and shock of different servants vacating the halls.
She’s a golden whirlwind in her haste, and many have to dash from her way last second to avoid any collision.
“Princess! Please wait a moment!” She hears a familiar voice behind, but does not turn around because this cannot wait any longer, and picks up her step yet again.
Emily paled as she saw the little heir speed up. “Her Majesty is going to lose it if she sees the Princess in this condition!” The maid told the other servants in agitation. They had to prevent the Little Lady from being seen by her Mother in such a disastrous state.
“Princess Judith— please slow down, you’re going to hurt yourself!” And she just might if she didn’t slow down.
Judy was having none of it, and continued on her way to her dad’s office, where her parents were sure to be, bolting up a flight of stairs as she flapped her wings to get the servants that were chasing her for whatever reason, off her trail.
The wild sprint halted in front of two large wooden doors that lead inside the Emperor’s office. Carefully putting her hands up against the wood, she neared her ear to eavesdrop on the people inside, making sure that her parents were in the room.
Sure enough, the voices of the people she was looking for could be heard from the other side, and just as the maids were rounding the corner, Judith burst through the thick doors with the grace of a raging boar, almost tripping on the carpet meticulously placed on the floor.
Three pairs of wide eyes, two green and one red like her own, stare at the intruder.
“Mom, dad! Look!” The Princess puffs in between words, as she holds up the present she spent the better half of the last hour trying to collect.
“Judith… wha—“ The reluctant query of her father is interrupted as the servants finally come to a stop in front of the office’s entrance, all gasping for air, sweat covering their foreheads. “Princess wait… don’t ” Emily takes short intakes of breath to steady her pounding heart, hands on her knees, the rest of her sentence incomprehensible thanks to the lack of breath.
“I am terribly sorry Your Majesty… we couldn’t stop her. The Princess was too fast…” Emily looks up apologetically, as other maids give agreeing hums with similar apologies.
“No need Emily… we’ll handle it from here. You may see yourselves out.” The Empress said, although her gaze was still fixated on her daughter.
Curtsying, the maids left, closing the doors behind them sparing one last glance at the rather peculiar situation.
“Judy what is going on… and what happened to you?” Penelope asked incredulously, walking in front of the little girl. Here was her daughter, her newest dress covered in dirt and green spots (presumably from grass), shoes coated in brown soil, golden curls looking something similar to a bird’s nest with little leaves and twigs caught in between strands of hair, chubby face smeared with mud. Her left eye was twitching already.
“Tsk— look at you. Where have you been little spitfire?” Callisto clucked his tongue, and lowered to the ground, observing the mess that was his daughter, patting her head. To him, the little girl looked like she came straight out of a fight with a group of raccoons.
Judith straightened and presented the white rose to her parents, pushing it towards her mom’s velvet skirt. The young Princess racked her brain for something to say, cheeks reddening in sheepishness at the lack of speech.
Looking around the room, Judy noticed the expectant gaze of her mother, the curious look of her father and the confusion uncle Cedrick stared at her with.
What if her mom didn’t like her present? The flowers she usually received were well cut, and kept in a good state… but the rose in her hands was nothing alike. The outer petals were slightly floppy, the stem was starting to sag, the evil spikes were still present and the roots of the plant were barely visible from all the soil that covered them, a few pieces detaching and scattering on the carpet.
It looked way more beautiful in the gardens.
Her lips quivered, and as a white petal fell slowly to the floor, she whispered. “I wanted to give mom a present…” Judith sniffled.
Her state was quite the sight, but her parents couldn’t stay angry at her for too long. Callisto gathered the little Princess into his arms, not caring about the dirt that was bound to stain his clothes, rising to his full height while Penelope gently took the shaggy flower from her daughter, and brought it to her nose, inhaling its scent.
“Aww thank you baby. It’s lovely” Penelope smiled and planted a kiss under Judy’s eye, rubbing the little girl’s cheek from the dust, earning a pout in return.
“It is pretty indeed, it also smells nice.” The blond man took the rose from its peduncle and brought it closer to his face. “I assume you picked this yourself, from your appearance.” Callisto quirked a brow, smirking amusedly. Judy nodded proudly.
Cedrick ruffled the Princess’ hair affectionately. “You sure are your father’s daughter. He was just like you when he was a kid, if not worse. I still remember how the Baroness scolded him whenever he spoiled his different uniforms.” The assistant snickered, as the Emperor glared at him. “Why do you keep bringing back old shi—“ he started. “That mouth of yours!” His Empress quickly cut him off, reminding him of the ‘no cussing rule’.
Callisto coughed awkwardly. “Ahem— don’t you have places to be, Cedrick?” The aide shook his head. “No, Your Majesty. I’m still not finished with the report you so kindly dished onto my desk first thing this morning, remember?” The black-haired man shot back snidely, not missing a beat, voice dripping in sarcasm.
Penelope rolled her eyes at the antics of the two men, and decided to shift her focus to her daughter. “I really appreciate the thought Judy, but how about bringing some help with you next time?” Maybe that way, she could avoid turning the palace into an indoor garden next time. The Princess nodded yet again, making a few leaves and twigs fly around. The Empress hummed appreciatively.
Now that she gave the rose to her mom, she could finally bring up her birthday. “Mom, dad.” She began, bringing their attention onto herself again. “I know what I want for my birthday.”
The three adults exchanged curious glances. “Oh? What is it? Perhaps a new toy? Jewels? Dresses?” Callisto began listing off items his daughter was usually interested in, but Judith merely shook her head. “No! Those are boring!” She frowned. “I want a baby brother!” Judy exclaimed excitedly, stretching her wings as she did so.
“Eh?!” Penelope made a sound similar to a squeak, Callisto seemed to choke on his own saliva and Cedrick stared wide-eyed, mouth hanging open.
“Uh… you know Your Majesty— you were right, I actually have some urgent matters to attend to. I will be back later to finish the report.” The aide rushed out the office doors without a second thought, trying to contain the laughter that threatened to bubble out, snickering to himself as he dashed down the hallway. He’s seen the scene before, having even experienced it himself at home with his oldest some time ago. Moral of the story, his sweet Marianne was now four months pregnant with their second child.
Back in the office, the married couple looked at each other. “Uh… are you sure you don’t want anything else—“ Penelope started. Judy scrunched up her nose in disapproval. “No! I want a baby brother! Just like Sylvia has Alexander!” Penelope blinked as Judy brought up Derrick and Thalia’s children. However the two were bound to get married when Penelope acquainted herself with Callisto for the first time.
“I want a brother! Nothing else! I would be really sad if I got something else…” Trailing off she gave her parents the infamous ‘puppy eyes’ that always worked on her dad, her mom however was a different story.
Callisto cleared his throat. “Erm— I suppose your mother and I could have a talk later tonight.” ’After all it’s been some time since we had that kind of talk.’ He thought to himself smugly, remembering how both of them had been unusually busy lately.
Penelope shot him a questioning look, quirking her brow. “Oh are we going to now?” She retorted mockingly.
He seemed unfazed, because he responded with determination. “Of course my darling Empress. Remember how we talked about having another addition to the family?” Smirking as he said so, Callisto snaked his free arm around Penelope’s waist, bringing her flush against him.
“You’re such a—“ she didn’t get very far as he gave her the same treatment he received before. “Eh, mouth. You don’t want to set a bad example, do you?” The blond man teased, which made his wife’s ears redden.
“So I’ll be getting a baby brother?!” Judith clapped her hands happily. “Precisely. But you’ll have to wait a little while, and there’s no guarantee it will be a boy… there’s also a possibility you’ll get a sister.” Callisto explained.
“A baby brother or sister… EEK! THANK YOU!” Judith shrieked joyfully, and threw her arms around her dad’s neck, planting a smooch on his cheek, to then jump in her mom’s embrace repeating the action.
The tiny hyperactive bundle, wriggled out of her parents’ embrace, snatching the rose out of her mother’s grasp, landing onto the ground on both feet.
“I’m going to have a baby brother or sister!” She chanted repeatedly as she twirled around the room, doing her trademark happy-dance, disregarding completely how the dirt from the roots of the plant scattered around. Giving one last pirouette, the little Princess burst out the room, zooming in the hallways as she announced loudly to the world that she was going to be an older sister, giving different servants yet another heart attack as they had to avoid bumping into her.
“Judy, wait— you should change first!” However the Empress’ concerns fell on deaf ears, as the Princess was long out of ear-shot.
Penelope shook her head as she sighed tiredly. “We’ll never hear the end of this…” Callisto squeezed her hip, as his other hand began drawing invisible patterns on her back. “Not until we give her the sibling we promised.”
Green eyes narrowed. “You mean the sibling that you promised.” He merely laughed. “No my muse… it takes the both of us for that. Didn’t we agree on another little terror?”
“Stop referring to kids as terrors!” She slapped his chest, which only made him laugh more. “But it’s true! Who set fire to my hair? And who caused the whole escape of the critters before the start of the last hunting competition?” He listed, although his voice was filled with mirth.
“Judy was only a few months old when that happened! And as for the last hunting tournament… listen— Liam can be quite restless, we’re talking about Reynold’s son, of course there’s going to be some trouble.” Penelope countered, defending the children from the incidents. “Don’t act like you were mad about it! You started laughing when you heard about how the critters caused a mess at that tea party!”
The silly memory brought a new wave of amusement. “Hah! The critter incident was hilarious, although I cannot say the same for the time my head was on fire. How would I be able to woo my pretty wife without my shiny hair, huh?” Callisto smirked, bringing his lover even closer, searing off any gap between them.
“Hmm, I don’t know. My lovely husband has many other great qualities besides his golden locks… like his charming persona, that likes to threaten people whenever they get on his nerves.” She playes along, teasing him back, fingers threading through his hair as she gently draggs her nails from his scalp down to his neck repeatedly, making pleasant goosebumps rise on his skin.
“Hm, what can I say? My wife has good taste, and even better eyes for these things.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, stealing a giggle from her pretty pink lips… lips that he kissed, because temptation was getting the better of him.
As the two broke apart after the loving kiss, she caressed his cheek. “Then we have an agreement?” Callisto hummed at her question. “Of course love. The sooner the better, she’s going to pester us for a while.” The two smiled at the thought.
“Yeah… another small bundle of joy running around… that would sure make life even more interesting. Boredom will be inexistent.” Penelope nuzzled her nose in the crook of his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. “Boredom? I never heard of that word in my life.” He jested.
Looking down at his wife with a smitten look, he sighed contently, noticing with the corner of his eye the familiar crimson glow of the red thread that bound them together. “Another would be perfect… perhaps the Duke will get lucky this time around, and our next child will take after you with genes.” The Emperor snorted.
Penelope covered her eyes, cringing silently. “Please don’t remind me. He cried for more than an hour when he saw that Judy was a spitting image of you. The same happened with Elijah… the boy is a carbon copy of Winter, Mother and Yvonne didn’t know how to calm Father down when he broke into hysterics.” Her Father was truly… something.
“Guess we’ll just have to wait and see then.” Callisto planted a kiss on top of Penelope’s head.
True to their word, after no more than a month later, it was announced that the Empress was expecting. The news took the Crown Princess on cloud nine, as she danced and zipped around the palace and its gardens excitedly. And eight months after that, the first Prince was born, bringing happy tears of joy… and even angry tears because his looks mirrored his father’s once again, with hair that seemingly shined brighter than the sun. However the Duke found solace in the fact that, this time, the eyes of the child were green like his mother’s… it was definitely a win for his poor heart.