Chapter Text
There was so much noise. People talking, wine glasses clashing together, heels clicking on the marble floor, music from the live orchestra getting muffled under the constant laughter… It was too much. It was almost nauseating.
Not that Nattawat wasn’t used to this. This was his life, this was what he grew up with. Even his first clear memory was the ball that was organized for his fifth birthday; dozens of people in their overly shiny clothes smiling down at him, waving at him, trying to make him say something. He remembered the blinding camera flashes, and how the lines they left in his vision were so funny to watch. He remembered how the ballroom looked endless, almost like it could be home to a family of trolls if they were ever real.
Now he was in a bigger room, the biggest ballroom in the palace; yet it felt even smaller somehow, like there wasn’t enough space. Not to breathe. Not to run. Not even to hide. He had attended hundreds of balls growing up, but none had felt as overwhelming as this one.
It was gold everywhere. Enormous drapes around the windows were woven with gold. The chairs around the white-clothed tables were painted gold. The chandeliers hanging from the tall ceiling, the long vases around the room that held beautiful flowers, even the royal family emblem on the corner of the white napkins, all shone gold for everyone to see. It was simply glorious inside. All this flaunting meant just one thing: This was a big event. This was the biggest event of the year, if not the decade.
And Nattawat wanted nothing to do with it. He didn’t want to be there. He wanted to be in the farthest possible place he could reach by foot, actually. He felt lightheaded. For the first time in his life, he found himself not wanting to be a part of a royal event. He wanted out, a feeling very foreign to him.
“They are waiting for you.”
It was the queen. She had been nagging for the last five minutes now, trying to get Nattawat to move already. She was standing close, only speaking between her teeth and not letting the smile on her lips falter for a second. “This is your night. These people are here for you.”
Nattawat knew. He already knew what this ball was about! How could he forget? He knew he had to take down the very few steps in front of him, mix into the mass of people, give everyone his prince charming smile, which he had mastered all his life, and do what he was supposed to do. He had to just… pick a bride.
Yes, this was what tonight was about. It wasn’t a fairytale, not a bedtime story, not even fake news from the paparazzi. It was real and happening right at that moment. Nattawat’s parents, the beloved king, and the queen were holding a grand ball, where they had invited all the eligible daughters of the big families for a chance to marry the prince and become the crown princess of the country.
It made no sense, that was for sure. But when royals decided to do something, everybody had to make sense of it somehow. This was one of those days and was probably going to go down in history as the most ridiculous thing a royal family in modern times could ever do. Was this Cinderella? Was Nattawat supposed to turn into a pumpkin when the clock struck twelve? Oh, how he wished.
“I’m not sure about this,” he muttered. He didn’t mean to say it out loud, of course. It was already too loud in the room, so he didn’t think his mother would hear him.
Yet, she did. “Son,” she said, turning her smiling eyes to him. How her eyes could spew fire while smiling was a question for another day. “Go down the stairs before I start to get angry.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Nattawat answered, not breaking his composure and trying to keep his voice low just like his mother. “It feels so weird. I feel like a contestant on a dating show!”
“How could you say that? You are the future king!”
“That’s what I am saying! What future king goes on a dating show?”
His mother put a hand on his arm, posing like she was patting him lovingly, but actually pinching his skin through the expensive tuxedo he had on. “You are not on a dating show. You are just going to dance with a few girls, chat with a few others, and be done with it.”
“You are skipping the part where I have to pick the person I am going to spend the rest of my life with! Am I supposed to fall in love with them after testing their dance figures?”
“You don’t need to fall in love with anyone,” the queen said, right before pushing him towards the stairs in the most elegant way possible. “Just pick the most normal one,” she called out.
So in the end, Nattawat had to go downstairs, because everybody was suddenly looking at him. Tonight was organized for him. All these people were here for him, expecting something from him, wanting something from him. All he had to do was to shut his screaming brain up and do what he was told to do. He had to be the responsible crown prince he always had been. He had to do it.
It was his duty, his assignment.
As soon as he was down there, he was swarmed up by people. The ball had been going on for more than two hours, food had already been served and cleared, and guests were already feeling the buzz from the alcohol. They were tired of waiting for the prince to leave his table on the dais and come downstairs to meet them. This was evident from the overused smiles on their faces and the rushed way they attempted to communicate with him, spitting out words in clusters. So when Nattawat finally found himself among them, it became a small war between those trying to maintain their noble image while still vying to get the first piece of his attention.
After a few minutes of pure chaos, shaking hands with so many people, and trying to act as if it was incredibly nice to meet them, Nattawat finally managed to meet some of the potential brides. He exchanged a few words with each of them, attempting to pay attention, knowing that one of them would literally be his wife after today. However, it was nearly impossible to focus when almost two hundred people, including photographers, were watching his every move so closely.
In the end, he decided to do what his mother said and dance with them. Maybe a few minutes on the dance floor without any interruptions would be enough to have meaningful conversations with them.
So when he heard the music change, he smiled at the nearest girl and extended his hand, asking her for a dance. The girl was happy to be asked, thankfully, so they swiftly moved towards the middle of the room.
When people realized what was going on, they made a large circle around them. The music got louder. The girl’s skirts flowed as she skipped to take place in front of the prince, a small giggle between her lips. Everybody’s eyes on the couple, including his parents, watching intently and trying to take the picture in.
And then, something happened.
It was so sudden that nobody saw it coming.
It was a shock.
Just as Nattawat took the girl’s hand into his palm, and was about to put his other hand on her back, she fell. She just fell. It wasn’t even a graceful fall, as her eyes rolled up to show the whites and her whole body started swaying backward. Nattawat acted fast and caught her in his arms before her body could hit the ground like a sack.
He then quickly looked around, his brain working in alarm, trying to understand what was going on. Did someone attack her? Was she sick? Did she faint out of shock? What could be the reason?
Now that room, which was full of noise just up until a few seconds ago, was deadly silent. Music was gone, nobody was uttering a word, nobody dared to move. Everybody was looking at them in shock.
“What-” Nattawat tried to say.
But then he heard it. Just like everyone else did.
Bodies hitting the ground.
A heartbeat. Two. Three. Then, there were screams. People ran around in panic, trying to get away from those falling to the floor and searching for a place to hide. Everybody was shoving each other around, stepping on people, and leaving their hard-built noble image behind. Suddenly it was hell in that room. The chaos was even more grand than the ball itself.
Somebody held Nattawat’s shoulder and started pulling him backward. “You need to follow me, sir.” It was Naree, his bodyguard.
Nattawat was still trying to hold the girl up. “What is going on?” he yelled over the noises.
“We don’t know, sir, we need to get you out of here first.”
Nattawat looked around, resisting Naree’s insistent pullings. It seemed like the ones on the ground were all girls. They all seemed to be in the same situation as the girl in his arms.
“Something is weird here,” he said.
Something was very, very weird there, actually.
—
“I can’t believe this!” the king roared. He was holding the sides of his chair so hard that his knuckles were white now. “It’s been ten days, but all you bring me is excuse after excuse!”
“Your majesty, we’re trying our best,” the professor tried to explain but it was cut short again.
“You are not trying enough!”
Nattawat moved uncomfortably on his feet while looking at the ceiling, trying to give his attention to something else. Everybody, including his father, knew it was no use to get angry at the professor. It wasn’t going to solve anything. He was a doctor and he was doing his best with the knowledge he had. It wasn’t his fault that even the best was not giving the results they were expecting.
They were in the main office of the palace, and even though the room was quite big, it was still suffocating with the heaviness of the topic. The king, the queen, Nattawat, and his older sister Tontawan were in the room, with their main secretaries and some officials from the government accompanying them.
In the middle of the office stood five professors, four of them the best doctors in the country, and the other a well-known Indian-American neurologist who came to help with the case. This group was assembled quickly after the incident, but each member was meticulously selected by the officials. They had been working tirelessly without sleep for the last week and a half to solve the problem, pouring all their time and effort into it. They certainly didn’t deserve this kind of treatment from anyone.
“Honey, calm down,” the queen whispered.
Nattawat wanted to roll his eyes. He didn’t, though. Instead, he lowered them to meet with his sister’s gaze, who looked incredibly frustrated by the direction the meeting had been going. She looked like she wanted to scream.
“It is magic, father,” she said, not screaming. “We can’t solve magic with our ways. We already talked about this.”
The king inhaled loudly. Everybody knew he hated that word. Magic.
However, it was that. It was magic.
That day, on the day of the ball, when the initial fear had passed and it was for sure that there wasn’t an assassination attempt on anyone, people had calmed down and it was only then they could attend the people who had passed out. And it was only then, that they had realized the truth.
Those people who had suddenly lost consciousness were all girls, just as Nattawat had thought. There were thirty-eight of them, to be exact. And they weren’t random girls either. They all had something in common: They were the bride candidates.
That day, thirty-eight girls, all of the candidates who had attended the ball, had fallen into a coma.
So yes, something really weird was going on.
After the first aid from the medics, all the girls were quickly taken to hospitals, but even after so many hours of medical care, none of them had woken up. Nobody could understand what was going on with them, nobody could find an explanation, let alone come up with a solution. Many tests were run, many scans were taken, but there was nothing visibly wrong with any of the girls. They were healthy. They were okay. They were just… sleeping. They were sleeping very, very deeply.
Suddenly it wasn’t Cinderella anymore, it was Sleeping Beauty now.
Now, cornered by the media from both Thailand and the world, facing demands for answers, with the curious eyes of the internet watching closely, and the relentless pestering from the families of the girls every passing day, the king was under immense pressure. That was why he was trying to take his rage out of everyone he could find.
He knew it was magic. Everybody knew it. No thirty-eight girls had fallen into a coma simultaneously under normal circumstances. But the king didn’t want to admit it, because magic wasn’t supposed to be around anymore. It was supposed to be buried in the dusty pages of history. It wasn’t even supposed to be a possibility.
“We already requested help from the Flower Realm, Your Majesty,” one of the secretaries said, after a long minute of unbearable silence.
“Requested?” the king asked. “If this fiasco happened because of magic, then it’s because of them! Of course, they should come and solve it as soon as possible!”
“We don’t know if it’s their doing, father” Tontawan cut in one more time.
“There is no magic left in this world,” the king turned his neck to look up to his daughter. “Shadows are long gone, they were sealed in their world by my great-grandfather. It only leaves the Flower Realm as the culprit. Who else possesses magic other than them?”
Tontawan frowned a little. Nattawat’s sister was incredibly smart, but she had her own rights and wrongs. She needed strong evidence before deciding against her initial ideas; and apparently, none of this was enough for her. “They are peaceful creatures. They would never do something like that.”
“Your father is right.” It was the queen this time, speaking out loud for the first time since that morning. “Only they have magic and they are not incapable of doing bad deeds.”
“But they closed their own doors during the war with Shadows. It’s been decades that they haven’t taken a step out of their world.”
“It doesn’t mean they will never come out.”
“They find us barbaric, mother. They really will never come out, believe me.” Tontawan looked back to Nattawat, who was almost about to lose all of his comprehension skills at that point, and it was probably showing on his face. “What do you think about this? Do you also think it could be them?”
Nattawat was listening to them, of course, but he was also busy wishing to be one of the girls who had fainted. He wanted to sleep just like them, comfortably blacked out for days to come. He was so sick and tired of this whole thing, he wanted everything to be a bad nightmare. He didn’t want to get married in the first place, and if he knew it was going to turn into this whole mess, he would run away from the country days ago.
He blinked as he came back to the present, not expecting the attention to be on himself so suddenly. “Flowers?” he asked.
“Yes. Do you think they are the ones responsible for the attack?”
“Do they have any reason to mess with the royal family?”
“See?” Tontawan turned to the room. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“We won’t be able to know the truth until they come out anyway,” the king said in a dismissive tone.
The secretary from before spoke again. “After we reques-, I mean, demanded them to come out, they replied to our letter, Your Majesty. They have agreed.”
The king made a ‘humph’ sound. “Good. What does the letter say?”
“It says they are sorry to hear about the incident and that they are going to send someone to help us.”
“Someone? Just one person? Are they taking us as a joke?” The king yelled, he was getting red in the face again. “I think they don’t understand the weight of the situation yet.”
“No, no. I apologize, Your Majesty. I worded it wrong. They said they are going to send their most powerful Flower. Apparently, he is the only one capable of solving any magical curse.” The woman was about to cry.
“Calm down please, honey. Drink some water,” the queen was trying to coax his husband again, trying to hand him a glass of water.
Nattawat felt like he needed a glass of water too. When was this whole saga going to end?
“We’ll see if he is really capable of anything. If not, I swear they are going to taste what Shadows went through,” the king swore. “Let me know as soon as he arrives here.”
—
The Flower arrived exactly two days later. Nattawat was at a charity event when he was called back to the palace, so he had to offer apologies and go back home as soon as possible. When he arrived at the door, he was ushered into the main office one more time.
The king was yelling again, as Nattawat expected, his voice echoing in the long corridors of the palace. Nattawat quickened his steps even more and entered the room in a rush, catching the last words of his father’s ongoing rant.
“...if you don’t want history to repeat itself!”
Nattawat quickly made his way around the group of people and took his place next to his sister just like two days ago. “What’s going on?” he asked, but his eyes were roaming the room, looking for the infamous powerful Flower.
“He is a dick,” Tontawan said, deadpan. Thankfully she was whispering.
“Who?” Nattawat asked one more time.
But then, he saw him. The Flower.
Damn, he was indeed a flower.
He was standing right in the middle of the room, shoulders pushed back and head held high. He was tall, so tall, at least a head taller than everybody else. His round eyes were half-lidded as he looked down at the king’s figure, already seeming bored to be there. His shiny hair, his perfectly shaped nose, his flawless skin, his plump lips that were crooked down from the sides to show his distaste… He was unbelievably handsome. There was no way he was real.
His hair was a little longer in the front, but short on his neck, supporting a very modern-looking cut. He had a well-fitted light gray button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled up casually to reveal his strong forearms. It was paired with tailored khaki pants and a subtle black leather belt. He looked as human as he could manage, but he also looked like he was made by an AI. No wonder he was a Flower. No human was this beautiful.
“Him,” Nattawat’s sister pointed at the guy with her chin. “He is not a Flower. He is a dick.”
Nattawat blinked as he pried his eyes from the Flower and looked at his sister. “What are you talking about?”
Tontawan didn’t meet Nattawat’s eyes. “He is unbearable. You’ll understand in a second,” she said instead.
“Your Majesty,” the Flower started. Yes, even his voice was pretty. “I believe you’ve been repeating the same threats ever since I arrived. I understand. Girls don’t wake up, you get angry, people war. I really get it.”
“See?” Tontawan whispered.
“Are we going to start discussing the solution, or is this how you want to continue through the evening?” the Flower continued.
Oh, the king was red again.
“Your Majesty,” a secretary, a man this time, stepped out of the line he was standing in. His brows were raised high, as if he were trying to subtly warn the king. “Mr. Aster is a well-respected figure in their realm. He is one of the high officials. I’m sure he’s going to convey your concerns to his people without any problem.”
Aster? The purple flower? Nattawat nodded to himself, thinking the star-shaped flower actually fitted the guy’s image.
The king leaned back on his chair, lowering his eyes to his shiny wooden desk in a thoughtful fashion. He was used to screaming at everyone and getting his way no matter what, of course, but this being in front of him wasn’t one of his people. He was from another realm, and getting him angry could actually cause friction with a whole other realm. And that, just wouldn’t bring any good for anyone. At least, this is what Nattawat was reading from his father’s sudden retreat.
The war with Shadows, which occurred more than a hundred years ago, hadn’t been an easy one. Many lives were lost, and not only their country but also the neighboring nations that had joined the war suffered a big economic crisis that went on for many years to come. A war wasn’t as easy as the king was trying to portray and he was now aware that being harsh to the new guest wasn’t a good idea.
Seeing the king leaving the stage to him, the secretary took two more steps forward to address the Flower. “Mr. Aster, I’d like to ask you an important question. Who do you think could be the culprit of this incident?”
Aster’s uninterested gaze left the king and began to roam around the room, looking at everyone one by one, but not giving any of them more than half a second of his time. “I don’t know. Do you have any enemies?”
Oh, he was really making fun of them. Of course, they had enemies! They had a lot of enemies, actually!
“It’s the royal family,” the secretary said, leaning over, still trying to catch Aster’s attention. “Who could dare to have them as an enemy?”
The Flower shrugged. “I have no idea how your world runs. Could it be someone against the idea of royalty?” He continued to scan the room, inching closer and closer to Nattawat.
“No, sir.” The secretary was getting frustrated. “Nobody thinks that in this country. The royal family is at the core of our culture.”
Aster’s eyes finally reached Tontawan, then he blinked once and slowly turned his heavy gaze to Nattawat, looking directly into his soul. “It could be a personal matter,” he said, not breaking eye contact with the prince for a moment, as if addressing him directly. “Perhaps someone has an issue with the prince’s marriage.”
“That’s nonsense!” the secretary said out loud.
Aster blinked his emotionless eyes yet once more and shifted his gaze to the person next to Nattawat, continuing his inspection as if nothing had happened.
Nattawat released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Wow, this flower spirit really had a remarkable presence. He held people’s attention with such force even without actively doing anything. His aura alone was evidence of him being from another realm.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the secretary tried again. The king kept looking at his desk, listening, but the queen was now cutting the secretary in pieces with her eyes for his previous outburst. The poor man gulped nervously. “What I mean to say is that your statement doesn't align with reality, considering everybody was looking forward to the potential royal wedding. It received a lot of positive feedback from our nation as well as from other countries.”
The Flower made a sound like he actually cared about what the secretary was talking about. “That’s upsetting,” he said. “Anyway. If we don’t know the cause, we should start talking about the solution then.”
“Do you have any suggestions?” That was Tontawan. She had been uncharacteristically silent until now; almost starting to concern Nattawat. “You’ve made us expect great things after all this talk.”
Aster turned his gaze back to Nattawat’s sister, a barely-there smirk playing on his lips. “Why, I do, Your Highness.”
“Do elaborate, please,” she answered, crossing her arms on her chest.
Aster remained standing in his place, his hands respectfully clasped behind his back, but he was finally looking like he didn't hate to be there as much. “This magic is very strong, but not a complicated one,” he started. “It’s nothing impossible to solve, at least for someone like me. I just need to gather a few ingredients and cast a spell.”
"That's great," the king interjected. He was back in the chat. "Then do it now."
“Well, the spell is fairly simple to cast, but gathering the ingredients will take some time.”
“How long?” the king asked.
“It's hard to say. See, each ingredient is located in a different part of the country. If the weather is nice and the travel is smooth, it should take me about a month,” the Flower explained casually like a month was nothing when a whole political chaos was at their door.
“A month?” The king pushed his chair back and stood up. “You can use our jets and helicopters to travel wherever you need! How many ingredients do you need to gather for a whole month?”
“Your Majesty, I can’t fly,” Aster replied. “I’m a flower spirit. I need to be close to the ground at all times.”
The king looked at his secretaries for confirmation, but they had no idea either. “Then I’m going to assign a car and a driver to you, so you can find what you need as soon as possible. Just try to be quick.”
"I'm afraid I'll have to decline this offer as well."
“And why is that?”
“This is a spell. A sacred thing that should be made with heart and soul, requiring dedication and sincerity. It’s not something to be rushed, joked with, or taken lightly.” His words were flowing like music in the air. It felt like whatever he said made the most absolute sense. “I need to do it in my own way and by my own means.”
“But a month…” the king trailed off. He was obviously stuck.
“A month is just the minimum, Your Majesty,” Aster added. “But it should be nothing compared to the possibility of the victims never waking up.”
The king closed his eyes for a moment, taking deep breaths before nodding. "Okay," he said, defeated. "Okay. Do it. Take all the time you need. I just want the magic gone.”
Hearing that, Aster smiled. It was such a bright, charming smile that Nattawat thought he went blind for a second, just like everyone else in the room.
“There is one more thing,” the Flower announced, cutting through the relieved atmosphere in the room.
“What is it?” the king looked back to him.
“The prince is coming with me.”
—
What? Who was going with whom?
Everyone was speaking at the same time, on top of each other’s words. They were all trying to explain to Aster that it was, of course, impossible for Nattawat to go with him. Yet, Aster looked unfazed as always. He wasn’t even making any eye contact with any of them. He found the view outside the windows more entertaining than anything else.
“Wait a minute,” Nattawat said. He couldn’t help himself. This whole thing was getting ridiculous. “Everybody, stop talking for a second please!”
With that, the chattering died down and silence took its place in the office.
Nattawat didn’t leave his spot, he kept facing the Flower until he was looking back at the prince. As soon as their eyes met, for the second time, he asked again. “Did you just say you want me to go with you?”
Aster tilted his head to the side, eyes carrying a weird glint. “Yes,” he said. Short and simple.
“But why?” Nattawat asked, even more bewildered now.
“Why do you think?” Aster asked back.
No, this guy liked playing games a little too much.
“I have no idea, sir,” Nattawat snapped. “That’s why I’m asking. I don’t know what kind of help I can be to you on your journey.”
“I don’t need your help,” Aster said, not really replying.
“Then why am I coming along?”
“Because you are in the middle of everything. This whole magic is built around you. Your presence is needed for the core of the spell.”
“What does that even mean?” the prince asked, clearly confused. “I have so many responsibilities here. I can’t leave for a whole month.”
“So, giving your country a crown princess is not your most important responsibility?”
That caused another uproar in the room, with everyone shouting at Aster that this was no way to address a prince, and insisting that Nattawat was already well aware of his duties and responsibilities.
Aster raised his hand with one swift motion, silencing everyone instantly.
How… did he do that?
“Are you coming or not?” he asked, still drilling holes into Nattawat’s soul with his eyes.
The prince frowned, his breathing getting faster out of nervousness. He didn’t want to. He didn’t know what was waiting for him there. He wasn’t prepared. And worst of all, the mere idea of being with this guy; all of his pressuring existence, his allure, and his whimsical attitude, for a whole month was nothing but so damn scary.
“You don’t have to go,” Tontawan said to him in a low voice. “We can find another way.”
Nattawat looked down at his sister and shook his head. “It’s okay,” he said. He then turned back to face the Flower again, who was waiting for an answer.
Nattawat was a prince. He was the crown prince. From the moment he opened his eyes to this world, he was burdened with the title of ‘the future king’. He was trained all his life to be a filial son, a dutiful member of the royal family, and a valuable asset to his country. He was raised to do whatever he was told.
And this was one of his duties. He had to wake those girls up, solve the problem, restore his family's reputation, and ultimately bring a future queen to the country.
Of course, he had to do it.
“I’ll go with you,” the prince announced. “I’ll join you on your journey.”
Aster gave him a very sly smile. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Get ready, Peaches.”