The Pianist's Stunning Violets

In a quiet tone that was almost loud, Prince Mharl exclaimed, "What an amazing, breathtaking room this is. Filled with vast archives of documents and artifacts neatly stacked in museum collection storage." It was during this time that the king and queen conferred honor upon the excellency of the Philippines, President Reynam Devam. Of course, he knew them all. Doesn't he enjoy art at Tranegårdskolen now?

There was a large presence of the Presidential Security Group (PSG), uniformed men, and maids. In an instant, he suddenly turned his head as if he were trying to draw a circle with a compass. Everyone was preoccupied. While other visitors stared curiously at things at first glance, he slowly stood up, stretched his legs, and stood up with confidence. Boredom had already set in as he sat alone on a mahogany pastel couch in a corner of the room.

After walking through a long corridor, he reached the garden. The prince murmured cheerfully: "There are butterflies on the stem of the tree that looks like a cherry blossom plant facing the river." He walked quickly, ignoring the path as if he was trying to catch a fish in the river. Surprisingly, all of a sudden, he bumped into something. A light pain hit his chest.

The prince saw the short-haired girl, her back covered in dust, fall to the ground on the log near where he was standing. Her upper lip was parted and her only tooth was visible, even when she wasn't smiling. She was a hare-lip girl. In front of her were an old, wet rug and a small blue bucket with a yellow ladle that she was carrying.

"En sløv banan. «And the banana sløv. What's wrong with you? While investigating what could cause the bump, the prince, blushing the face, shouted: "You are not looking at your path!". He used his hands to brush the dust off his classic black suit. Her serious and stern demeanor says a lot about how serious he was about it. He unwittingly repeated his Danish expression when he was angry. This meant a slow and lazy person.

The girl still in her quiet, unstoppable stream of tears with wet eyelids felt her throat tighten and took steps to gather her things without looking at the prince. Her tears continued to fall down her wet cheeks like southwest monsoon rain. "Are you dumb? I am talking to you!" the prince angrily shouted as his pitch raised higher for emphasis. Without warning, he pulled her left hand to face him. When she had already gathered it in her hands, the blue pail fell again.

You'd better be careful where you step! Become awake, dreamy girl! " He said, grabbing her shoulders hard. His choleric attitude overcame him, "How dare you snubbed me! You're not that odd girl. Will you answer me?

Her short black hair covered her entire face as he bowed his head to check for her belongings. The pink cotton dress she was wearing was damp on the lower part, and her left side was full of dust. "Sorry!" the girl replied gently and timidly while tears continued to build up from her eyes and drip from her cheeks.

Perhaps the girl was three years younger than him, he estimated. "She is seven, while I am ten. She has an oval face, straight hair, and lovely eyes that complemented her beautiful complexion. The voice is nice. Her nose is prominent as just a Spanish model. Her apparent harelip, which had not yet been corrected, was the only thing that made her ugly. She is tall, but I'm obviously taller than she is, the prince pointed out."

Although he secretly wanted to apologize, he found a means to cover up his errors because he did not enjoy receiving criticism. When his reputation was on the line, he found a way to seem good. He gave in to pride.

"Hello! What is your name?" he growled.

In tears that almost blurred her vision, she managed to see the face of this handsome and good-looking but rude boy. He was a foreigner, and everything about him said so. Obviously, he came from a rich family. His clothes were elegant and expensive. Her only understanding of what he said is that he asked for her name. He had an accent, which she had already heard in movies she watched. It was as if a heavy bag was on her heart as she spoke. She collected the pail and dipper along with the rug.

"If you can excuse me, I rather go now!" the girl answered hurriedly. She turned left on the edge of the building without waiting for his answer.

"Wait!" the prince shouted. Even though she was only a few steps away, the girl decided not to look back. She was determined to flee from his presence.

Meanwhile, Prince Mharl turned around in anger. He raised his face to look at the butterflies that he saw a while ago, but they were no longer there.

"What did I do?" he asked himself as he walked back to the room. "How could I talk to her like that? Who is that girl? Maybe, she is one of the daughters of the servants here. What if she told them about the incident a while ago? Oh no!" he uttered anxiously suddenly aware of what might happen.

The uniformed man shouted, "There he is!" as he ran breathlessly toward some, who were apparently looking for him earlier.

Prince Mharl was curious about what had happened.

"Your highness, the king and queen were looking for you. It almost took us thirty minutes to find you in the palace. And it was fortunate that you ended up here. If not, some parts of the palace were hidden because of the vastness of the area. Come on, let's go your highness," the man in uniform said while bowing his head before the prince and extending his hand back inside.

Inside the library, the royals queried the prince about what he did.

"I didn't realize I was already near the river. While walking in the lobby, I was fascinated by the colorful butterflies, so I followed them and ended up here," the prince explained endlessly.

"Your highness, we need to go now," the tall man in PSG uniform told Prince Mharl.

They went back and used the shortcut in the middle of the building. They passed through three wide rooms before reaching the main room in the executive offices. The study, music, and parlor room. King Phil IV, Queen Viela II, his parents, the leader of Denmark, and President Reynam Devam of the Philippines soon appeared as they entered the room. They looked worried as they sat waiting for his return. Despite how they felt, etiquette had to be observed, so their gestures and emotions needed to be controlled regardless of their emotions.

"Oh, Prince Mharl, my son. "We have been searching for you for the past few hours already," the queen's worried face appeared as she hugged the prince.

"What did you do? Where have you been?" the king's worried face inquired as he stood from his executive chair.

"I was fascinated by the paintings outside, then saw a group of butterflies nearby and decided to follow them. "I ended up in the garden by the river," Prince Mharl explained, thinking that he had not shared the entire story.

"I found him near the river," one of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) members said.

"Alright! What is significant right now is that Prince Mharl is here. Since we were done, why not make our way to our lunch in the dining room?" President Devam suggested while smiling.

Prince Mharl and the queen held hands as the king agreed, "Well done!". President Devam guided them down the stairway instead of using the elevator to reach the ground floor.

"I decided to walk the three of you up the stairs, my highnesses, so that we could discuss the paintings on the ceiling, which I know Prince Mharl loved as you mentioned earlier. The painting shown here depicts a group of villagers at the fishing port. It was a typical sight in the country. That was made by Juan Luna, one of our national artists. This painting next to us on the ceiling is a landscape showing a man and a woman riding a carabao. It is almost vertically aligned with where we are standing. The painting is by Juan Luna," President Devan explained excitedly as he led the way.

The king paused for a moment and examined the painting intently with his keen eyes, as he looked at it with his own eyes. "This was awesome and meaningful!" the king exclaimed.

The next morning the tour happened. They enjoyed roaming around and being introduced to different unique and historical spots in the country. Night came, and the prince went outside of his room thinking that everyone had fallen asleep.

Now, he remembered that smallest thing he saw a while ago near the door. He needed to go to that room. He tiptoed and kept on turning his head as if somebody would see him any moment from now. The door was not locked as he opened it, and he was so happy that he even touched it. There was no alarm around except for the dim light above. He paused and debated whether to pursue his plan or not. Finally, he decided.

The next day at the airport the prince turned three times to see the country before going up against their private royal airplane. Their brief visit made him loved the country right away.

"Someday, I will be here again," he told himself confidently. His attendant led him to his chair as his parents followed him. When the king and queen entered, a close inspection was made by the uniformed men and royal guards.