Chapter Text
When I first saw this place, I thought every town would look a bit gloomy at night, but now in the soft light of morning, it seemed just as depressing. Maybe it was the weather, but I just felt unwelcome here. The woods we arrived from were the same way they were at night – scary. I passed by an old windmill that looked abandoned. I stopped and looked at it. It felt as if I was being watched. Sensing chills running down my spine, I quickly continued my path. I also passed an old blacksmith’s that looked dusty, but the guy inside seemed to be doing normal things, even if he was surrounded by cobwebs. Maybe he just wasn’t good at cleaning?
Not long after, I arrived at the palace and walked right in. Lewis was waiting for me in the throne room. I noticed his face was worried.
“Hey, Lewis. Is something wrong?” I asked, approaching him.
“Ah, Milady! It’s King Joseph… he… he’s gone!” he exclaimed.
“Gone? So... is he... dead?” I said, maybe a little hopefully.
“Noooo! Don’t tell me that you were secretly hoping for that to happen!” Lewis exclaimed. Well, to be honest, no. Even if he was a douche, I wouldn’t wish for anyone’s death. Although, that would solve all my problems, but I didn’t say it to Lewis. “Here, I found this on his throne…” he said, handing me a piece of paper.
It said: ‘I went to take care of some business. I’ll be back before the wedding. Joseph Knight’.
I looked back at Lewis, and saw he still seemed worried. “So what?” I said. “He’ll be back. It’s not like he’s gone forever.” Unfortunately, I added to myself.
“B-but... now you can’t get to know him!” said Lewis. He sighed. “I guess now the only thing we can do is wait for him to come back.”
“Whatever,” I said, again irritated by his behaviour. He just sold me to the guy like I was... like I was... just some property! “I’ve had enough of this. I’m going for a walk.”
“A-ah! Please be careful, Milady!” Lewis called after me, but I just continued walking.
***
Mind clouded with a mess of irritating thoughts, I wasn’t looking where I was going and my foot caught on something. I fell to the ground with an oomph. Eve more irritated now, I dusted myself up and rose to my feet, only to realise that the heel on my shoe had broken off. I looked around for a cobbler or something, but instead my eyes fixed on a blacksmith’s. It was that dusty place I passed on my way to the castle. I wasn't entirely sure if a blacksmith could help me right now, but the place didn't seem closed and the guy working inside looked cute.
Marching over as best I could, I knocked a couple of times on the door and just let myself in.
“Hello?” I greeted the guy I saw trough the window. I don’t know a lot about blacksmiths, but are they supposed to work all alone? There was no sign of family or any other people. On top of that, the blacksmith didn’t even respond and just kept slamming his hammer. “Not much of a talker, are you?” I said, coming closer. “When a customer says ‘hello’, you’re supposed to greet them back. No wonder your business is so slow.”
He stopped his work--finally--and after taking a good look around, his eyes fixed on me. “… Are you talking to me?” he spoke at last.
I raised my eyebrow. “Who else would I be talking to?”
“Um…. no one, I guess,” he replied, glancing over at the piece of metal he was working on.
“So… do you run this place all by yourself?” I asked, trying to spark a conversation.
“Yes,” he replied shortly and gripped the hammer again. “Just who are you, anyway?” he asked before starting to forge again.
“It doesn’t seem like you care,” I said, a bit insulted that he ignored me.
“Well you're the one coming in and sneaking around. Can’t I at least know your name?” he said, still not looking up from his work.
Irritation sparked in me again. “You can, when you look me in the eye when you’re talking to me.”
He got the hint and put the hammer down. “Alright, I’m sorry. Will you tell me your name now?”
I considered it for a moment. “Rose.”
“Nice to meet you. My name is Daniel. So... what do you want?”
Rude, much? This blacksmith is really starting to get on my nerves.
I did want something, but the way he said it had me denying it. “Nothing. Do I have to need something to be here?” I said, crossing my arms.
“But what’s the point of coming here if you don’t need anything?” he said, more confused than annoyed.
“Maybe I’m just… looking around. This place seems… interesting,” I said, eyeing the cobweb-covered walls.
“Whatever.” He sighed. “You’re weird. You’ll get bored soon, just watch.” Turning, he picked up the hammer again.
There was something about the way he spoke to me that really rustled my feathers. “You are the rudest blacksmith I’ve ever met!” I retorted.
He didn't reply, but my exclamation startled him, and the hammer hit the metal in the wrong angle, bending it. The blacksmith scowled. "I'm trying to work here. Stop bothering me, will you? It’s getting kind of annoying."
"Hmph." With my nose in the air, I very pointedly turned my back to him and walked out of the forge. "Fine, then. Gooday, sir!"
This guy drives me insane! Why is he so mean to people he hardly knows? Well, who needs him anyway, I can find someone else to fix my shoe.
I went to the fountain that was just a few meters away and sat on the edge. “Excuse me!” I called after a random person. “Can you tell me where I can find a shoemaker or something around here?”
“Sorry, old man Al is sick. He won’t be working for at least a week, and he’s the only cobbler in town,” the guy said and continued on his way.
A whole week? But… I only have one single pair of shoes! I frowned. Looks like the impolite blacksmith is my only hope. I sighed, than took a deep breath and limped over to the forge again.
He didn’t even look up when I came in. “You again? Just go away, will you?”
“No,” I said firmly.
“Geez, don’t make me kick you out. Why are you so stubborn?”
“And why are you so cranky?”
“Because you keep bugging me!” he snapped.
I blinked at him, surprised at his sudden raise of voice. “What's your problem? Are you mad at me for just entering your shop?”
“No, I’m not. I’m just…” He sighed and didn’t finish the sentence. Instead he put the hammer down and leaned on the working table, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He looked like he’d had a pretty rough day. Maybe I shouldn’t judge him so much. "Sorry. I don't talk to people a lot."
My eyes scanned the cobwebs adorning the forge. That... was becoming more and more evident.
“Doesn’t it being alone in here all day make you lonely?” I asked, going and leaning on the table beside him.
“N-no." His eyes swerved away from mine. "Why do you keep coming in here? Don’t you have something better to do?”
“Actually… I need some help with my shoe,” I said and showed him my thorn off heel.
He raised an eyebrow at me. “Do I look like a cobbler?”
“You don’t look like a grouchy old man either, but that doesn’t stop you from acting like one,” I snarked back.
That seemed to give him pause. “…I’ll see what I can do,” he said, taking the heel in his hand.
Just then it occurred to me that I didn't have any money. “About the payment though… I’m a little short on cash right now, but I’m thinking about getting a job, so… can I pay by instalments?” I proposed.
Without a word, Daniel went to his tools hanging on the wall and picked out a tack hammer and some small nails. “Don’t you have any money on you at all?” he asked after a small pause.
“Um… just 10$,” I replied, getting the money out.
To my surprise though, he didn’t take them, but scribbled down something on a piece of paper and gave it to me. “Go to the Bazaar and buy this. Then we’ll be even.”
“Um, broken heel here? Can’t I do it after you fix it?”
“No. Go now, or no deal.”
I angrily swiped the paper and left.
The nerve of that guy! Just when I started to think better of him, he goes and makes me do something like that! The Bazaar was close at least, but it would’ve been ten times faster and easier for him to go and buy his stupid… whatever that was. I glanced at the note. He just wrote down the name of some product, so I have no idea what I’m buying. I swear, if it’s something humiliating and he thinks it’ll be funny to embarrass me in public, I’m gonna tear his head off! I can’t believe I thought he was cute at first.
“Good morning,” I greeted, stepping inside the first shop I saw. “Do you sell… this here?” I asked, handing the note to the girl behind the counter.
“Oh, sure. Just wait one second,” she said with a smile and disappeared in the back door. She came back soon and handed me (for my great surprise) a tube of glue. “Strongest glue you’ll find. That’ll be 8.95&,” the girl said cheerfully.
I took out my money and thanked her, but as I was about to leave, she commented on my shoes. “Are you okay? why are you limping? Oh, I see, a broken heel. You should check Old man Al’s, he’s the local cobbler.”
“Ah, thanks, but a person told me he’s sick. The blacksmith thinks he can fix it, so it’s okay,” I replied, but the girl’s face instantly turned pale.
“The blacksmith’s? I would stay away from there if I was you. It’s haunted, I’m serious! My friend told me that she once saw a hammer floating inside when she peeked into the window!”
“Really? It looked perfectly normal to me,” I said a bit sceptically.
“I really mean it! We shouldn’t mess with things we don’t understand! Besides, aren’t ghosts just so scary?”
“Sure,” I said, already inching towards the door. "Anyway, I gotta go. Have a nice day!"
Clearly that girl’s friend had been making up ghost stories just to scare her. Sure the place was dusty and Daniel isn’t exactly Mr. Sunshine, but I wouldn’t go as far as to call him scary. And aren’t ghosts supposed to be invisible?
When I got back, he was working on that piece of metal again.
“Here,” I said, tossing him the glue. “I still don’t see why this couldn’t wait, but keep in mind I have only 1,50$ left, so if you want anything else, make it cheep.”
He didn’t answer (not even a thank you) and just extended his hand to me.
“What? You want the rest of it?” I supposed, reaching for the cash.
“No, the shoe. Give me the shoe.”
I was baffled by how sudden this was, but did as he said. He opened the glue and covered the heel with it. Then he carefully aligned it back onto the sole of the shoe and pressed it together. After wiping off some excess glue, he coated the nails with the tube and then reinserted them into their respective holes. Then tapped a few more nails into the heel, making the shoe look brand new. He left it on a shelf to dry off and washed his hands on the sink in the corner.
“You… why didn’t you just hammer the heel on the shoe?” I asked.
“If you try to replace the broken heel by merely nailing it back, the original nails will slide back out of their holes,” said Daniel, wiping his hands.
“So, the glue… you only needed it for this?”
“Why else would I need glue? I’m a blacksmith, not a dryer.”
“Then you’re not getting paid!”
“I thought you said you didn’t have money.”
“But I have a sense of justice!”
“Not everything in life is just,” he said, his face suddenly frowning. “The glue needs to dry, so you can hang around until then,” he added, picking up some sandpaper and starting to smooth the edges of his metal piece.
I went over to the working table, and since there was plenty of room, pulled myself on top of it and sat there, watching Daniel work.
“I’ve never seen you in the village before. Are you from around here?” he asked.
“No. Actually, I’m a princess from the Lunar Kingdom.”
He looked up at me, surprised. “R-really? Sorry… I didn’t know. I guess you do look kind of like a princess.” I blushed a little at that comment. He wasn’t as bad as I first thought. “So you’re the princess everybody’s talking about. I overheard you’re actually going to marry the king. Must be pretty nice for you…”
“There’s nothing nice about that!” I snapped suddenly.
Daniel looked up. “Huh? Isn’t finding somebody that you can love and spend the rest of your life with a good thing?”
“Not really." I looked away. "I hardly know the guy.”
“What?" Daniel frowned, straightening up. "Then why are you marrying him? Don’t tell me you were forced to.”
“Even if I don’t tell you that, it won’t change the facts.”
For a while none of us said anything.
“… I’m sorry,” he said at last.
“What for? It’s not up to you, is it? I blame Lewis.”
“Who is Lewis?”
“He’s the one that sold me to your King. Some friend. But I guess he had no choice…”
Another silence stretched between us.
“Maybe it won’t be so bad,” Daniel said.
“… Maybe. I personally think the King is a royal jerk, but then again… maybe I’m wrong.”
“Really? What makes you say that?”
I shot him a small smile. “Well, I thought you were a jerk until a minute ago. First impressions aren’t always true, right?”
“Huh? Oh, I guess so…” he said, blowing the shavings off his creation.
“And it does reinforce inter-country relations…” I continued, more to myself.
“There. Finally finished,” Daniel said and drew my attention to that stupid metal he was working on all day, as I saw for the first time what it really was. A small figurine of a bird. Well, it wasn’t the finest craftsmanship I ever saw, but it was still pretty decent.
“This is what you’ve been working on all thins time? Is it a dove? I really like it.”
“You do? It’s yours, if you want it.”
“Really?” I asked, surprised as he went over and took my shoe off the shelf.
“I think it’s ready,” he said, handing it to me.
I slipped it on and walked around a bit. “It’s perfect. Thanks.”
“It was supposed to be an angel,” Daniel said out of the blue.
“What?” I asked, puzzled.
“That figurine. It was supposed to be an angel. I guess I’m not a very good craftsman, am I?” he said, looking out the window.
I glanced over to his creation again. “I think doves are better,” I said, making him turn my way. “They represent peace, don’t they? And with that war going on, I think it’s just the thing to have. Can I still keep it?” I asked, taking it in my hand.
“S-sure. I have no use for it, anyway,” he said.
“Really? Then why were you making it?”
“Just… because I felt like it,” he answered quickly.
“I feel bad for taking it, though. You fixed my shoe free of charge, and now you’re giving me this-”
“It’s okay,” he cut me off. “I want you to have it.”
“Thank you,” I said with a smile.
First impressions really aren’t everything. In fact, I was starting to like this rude blacksmith.