Chapter 91 - Visiting Great-Grandmother

"It's still too early for lunch. I will take you to a place first."

"Is it a good place?"

"I don't know if you can call it a good place, but it is an important place for me and grandfather."

"Okay."

Vaughn helped Zenia board the carriage. Vaughn remembered that no one knew that his great-grandfather was still alive. 

"About my grandfather, no one knows that he is doing well. He doesn't want anyone to know. Only a few of my men knew that he's still alive."

"Don't worry about that. I won't even tell it to my family."

"Hmm…"

He only said a few words about the places they passed, and Vaughn remained silent most of the time. Zenia found it rather odd but did not complain. She was enjoying the scenery and did not really mind if he wished to keep quiet.

When they passed a valley with fields of colorful flowers, Zenia was so amazed. She had never seen so many varieties of flowers before. She had a hunch that some of the flowers were deadly. 

She wanted to ask something from Vaughn, but she saw that he had closed his eyes. She decided not to disturb him. The ride was smooth and pleasant. Zenia felt sleepy and closed her eyes.

Vaughn felt Zenia's head on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and changed his sitting position to make it more comfortable for Zenia. He was no longer the foolish youth who thought of abandoning the fight for the throne and just take Zenia away.

There was a time in his teen years when he thought of abducting Zenia and live with her somewhere far away from Tissuria and Ishelon. Zenia was only thirteen when Vaughn completed his training and graduated from the academy. He told his great-grandfather about his plan of running away with Zenia. His grandfather did not talk him out of it, and he did not encourage Vaughn either.

The rejection was far from his thoughts, and he believed that Zenia was still a naïve young lady that he could easily persuade. He learned a lot from his classmate who had a notorious reputation for always getting any woman he fancied. That classmate told him to just run away with his girl, and he should not let anything to stop him.

He had never thought that Zenia might not go with him at all. He always thought that Zenia would not be able to resist him once he applied the  teachings  of his  good classmate . He never suspected that classmate either. 

His grandfather took him to his great-grandmother's grave where they offered some prayers. He could still remember the words that his grandfather had uttered.

My dearly beloved wife, I come here today with our great-grandson who had decided to take on a wife. He will turn seventeen in a month and should be considered a man. The wife that he wanted to kidnap has just turned thirteen. She's so young and still needs her mother by her side, but our great-grandson is so in love with her. What should we do?

My wife, do you still remember when we were just starting out? I can remember that you were already twenty-three when we got married. You were ten years older than the girl that our great-grandson wanted to marry.

We went through a lot of hardsh.i.p.s because my father did not want me to marry you back then. But, our love still prevailed. We got married at an age when we were matured enough to know what we should do and how to get things done. We were able to get passed through it all without falling apart.

Eventually, I inherited the throne. You told me that I should be a good ruler for our people. You told me that Tissuria was so important to you. The entire Tissuria was chanting my name, and my brothers could do nothing but to give up the fight. So many people lost their loved ones due to incessant fighting for the throne.

You risk your life to save me because you said that Tissuria was more important than your life. Tissuria needed me to lead. If only you can tell our foolish grandson the things that you endured just for your beloved Tissuria. I sometimes envy Tissuria for getting much affection from you. You gave your life to save me… to save Tissuria from the clutches of the unscrupulous individuals who were only after the wealth of the kingdom.

My wife, I tried my best for your Tissuria. But, the generation that followed did not turn out well. Our great-grandson here has the same aura that I once had when I reigned as King of Tissuria. But, he wanted to abandon your Tissuria to be with his beloved. 

I hope that our visit here can knock some sense to him. Ah, it's unfortunate that youth is truly wasted on the young. I cannot blame him for thinking selfishly, but I do hope that the girl is more sensible than he is.

That visit was like an electric shock. He knew the story of his great grandparents and how they fought for Tissuria. Now, he should also consider the people of Ishelon – Zenia's people. 

"Your Highness, we are here," the voice of the coachman woke Vaughn from his stupor.

He got off the carriage and extended his hand to Zenia, "Come, this is the place. We need to go there on foot."

Zenia took Vaughn's hand, but she noticed that something seemed to be bothering him. He did not let go of her hand and started walking.

"Your Highness, is there something wrong?" Zenia was not looking at where she was going and depended on Vaughn as he led her to their destination. 

Vaughn looked at Zenia and pretended that everything was alright. "Why did you say that, my wife?"

"You seemed to be… eerily silent."

"I'm just thinking of something. Don't mind me."

"Do you feel uncomfortable? Are you in pain?"

Zenia wanted to add, 'Are you having another monthly period blues?'

Vaughn was still okay a moment ago, and Zenia was trying to recall everything that happened that day and hoping to find the culprit in the sudden mood change of the Crown Prince. She found nothing odd. 

'Is it because of grandpa's advanced age? Is grandpa dying?'

Zenia looked at Vaughn and pitied him. She knew that even though Vaughn had his mother, the Queen was not always there for him. She had a hunch that grandpa was the one who had always been with Vaughn.

Although he couldn't see Zenia's facial expressions, he knew that she must be thinking something outrageous. 

He shook his head, "Stop thinking weird things and move faster. We still need to walk a bit more."

Zenia did as she was told. She just followed Vaughn's pace and did not let him drag her. She was surprised when they reached the place. It was a beautiful garden with lots of blooming flowers all around. When Zenia inspected it closely, she found out that it was a graveyard.

The place was spacious and the truly eye-catching feature of the place was the huge tablet standing in the middle of a circle of flowering plants.

Vaughn stopped in front of the tablet. "Great-grandmother, I'm sorry that I only come to you now. I am already married to the woman that I truly love and cherish. I know that you will give us your blessings, just like great-grandfather."

The tomb keeper gave Vaughn a candle to lit and put it in front of the tablet. Vaughn pulled Zenia closer to the tablet and nudged her to do the same.

"Hello, great-grandma. I am Zenia Anisen and the Crown Prince's wife. I promise to help your great-grandson achieve his goals to help your kingdom. We may not have met personally, but I can tell that you are one amazing woman."

The tomb steward also gave Zenia a candle to lit, and she copied Vaughn.

Zenia understood Vaughn's silence earlier. He must've felt guilty for not visiting his great-grandmother for a long time and also to introduce her to the woman whom his great-grandfather loved dearly.