Chapter 2 - : The Notebook

"Ysavel, how's your novel going?"

I messed my hair out of frustration. It's been a week now since my last novel was rejected. And now my editor is asking me about the current novel I'm writing. The novel that I haven't even started.

"I'm working on it. Just give me more time."

Adele, my editor, just sigh on the other side of the phone. She's probably frustrated at me now. It's been a week, and I haven't updated her about the novel I'm working with.

"Ysavel, you should do your best with that because if not, you know what will happen to you, okay? Anyways, I better be get going then. Just call me if you finished it, okay?"

After the call, I just stared blankly at my laptop. A few days ago, my editor told me that if I don't produce a story worth publishing, they won't renew my contract. It's actually a blessing that, up until now, my contract with them is still valid. Even if I haven't published any story after I signed with them. Among the writers they signed, I am the only one who still hasn't publish anything even after two years.

"What would I do now? I cannot even think of a good story plot. How can I make a story that will make everyone read it?" 

I closed my laptop and lay on my bed. Should I really give up writing now? But it's the only thing I want to do. Frustrated, I throw my pillow at the wall. 

"I just want to be a writer. Is it too much?" 

The wind suddenly blew, and some of the papers on my desk flew and lands on the floor. I immediately picked it up. It's my manuscript of the last novel I've submitted. King, are you gay?, the title of my novel. I sit on the floor and read it. It's an old novel I have published online back when I was in college. I only got the confidence to bring it to my editor because I couldn't think of a good plot. Also, I think it's about time for it to be known.

The story is about a group of nobles in a medieval setting. The male lead is the crown prince and a promising one. He's smart and has a heart for his people. He always put the people of his kingdom on top of his priority. He's a prince and a future king that everyone would want to have. 

The female lead is crossdressing as a male royal guard of the male lead. She's the Crown Princess of the neighboring Kingdom of Aeslaerean. She disguised herself as a royal guard because she's avoiding a marriage alliance with another kingdom. She's excellent at swordsmanship and combat fighting. Everyone has great respect for her, for being one of the best knight in the kingdom. She has one secretly, though. No one knows that the royal guard is a female and the crown princess.

The story revolves around how the crown princess in disguise was assigned to protect the crown prince. The crown prince then fell in love with the knight without knowing that the royal guard is a woman. However, because of this, the crown prince hides his feelings for his royal guard. He knows that if he let himself fell in love, his right to the crown will be endangered.

That's when the villainess of the story enters. She's a daughter of a high-ranking noble family. She grew up with the crown prince and the entitled crown princess, the crown prince's royal fiancée. She's considered the most beautiful lady in the whole kingdom and is known as a very kind person. She was loved by the people of the kingdom and everyone around her. But everything changes when she started falling for the crown prince. She becomes selfish and mean just to get the crown prince's love, but in the end, she was still left behind. The crown prince chooses the crown princess in disguise. She got mad and ruined the relationship between the two leads. But when she realized how futile her doings were, she gave up the crown prince.

My editor said that it has potential, but since the storyline is mainly used by many, I need to add something to it. They also pinpointed how the villainess character is quite unstable. She's mean, yes, but they don't understand how she easily gives up the crown prince. They said for a villainess character, she's too good. 

"What do they want? To make the villainess chased the crown prince and forced herself to him? But it doesn't make sense. Why would someone like Csille, a person who has high self-value, would chase someone who doesn't like her? I don't understand why they want the character to be a fool in love. She's selfish, but she knows what her limits are. Hays." I picked up the remaining paper and put it back in its place. 

"What should I do with you?" I asked while looking at my manuscript. "Maybe, I need to change the character of Csille then. They want villain, I'll give them a very hateful villain then."

I open my laptop and started to type on it. I was too engrossed in thinking about rewriting the plot when my eyes wandered to the notebook that the little girl gave me.

"Since you help me, I'm giving this to you. You want to be a writer, right? Write your next novel on this notebook, and you'll be famous for sure, but you should be-"

I picked up the notebook and looked through it. It looks old, but the inside is magnificent. The paper used for the notebook is not the usual paper you'll see. It's pretty thick compared to the regular thin pages of a notebook. It also looks yellowish, like the typical old paper. 

"Should I write on this? I've never tried writing my novel on paper. Maybe I should try it for a change. I mean, there's no harm if I'll do it. Plus, those writers before used to write their stories on this kind of paper."

I looked at it again and decided to give it a try. This may be my last shot at writing. Why not do it the old way, right? 

"But what does the little girl wanted to say? She didn't finish what she's saying, though." I try to remember what the girl said, but I really couldn't understand what she wanted to say. Lena's shout is deafening. I shook my head and just shrugged my shoulders. "Well, whatever it is, I don't think it's a big deal. I'll just write on this then. I just hope that the little girl's words will come true. Please, let me publish a book." I plead while holding the notebook. 

I closed my laptop then and took a scratch paper. "Oh well, I'll probably start with fixing the storyline."

I paused and tried to remember the suggestion of my editor. She wanted to make the villain an evil one. They wanted the villainess to do everything she can to ruin the relationship between the male lead and the female lead. They pinpoint that my storyline before is quite flawless, so they wanted to make it quite complicated so the readers won't get bored at it. 

"It's sad, though. I want my villainess to be not a bad character. She was the first person who's always there for the crown prince, but the crown prince didn't choose her. I guess I have no choice but to make you the bad guy. Sorry, Csille." I said while looking at my villainess written name on the scratch paper. 

"Oh, well, where would we start? Hmm." I started rewriting the plot in the notebook.

Princess Paislee, the crown princess of the Kingdom of Aeslaerean, run away from a marriage alliance and moved to the neighboring kingdom, Vrawyth Kingdom. She disguised herself as a knight and was trained to be the best knight of the kingdom. She's enjoying the life of being a knight when the king dispatched her as the royal guard of the crown prince Fraser. She thought she could pull it off, but what would she do if the Prince started to show interest in her, a male knight in disguised. Is the crown prince a homosexual? What if the crown prince knew she isn't a male but a female in disguise. Worst case scenario, what if he knew that she was the crown princess of Aeslaerean Kingdom? 

"I guess this would do. I'll just change Csille character traits, and it'll do." I look at the drawing of Csille, the villainess. "I'm sorry, but you'll be the bad person from now on."

Csille Lauretré, the sheltered daughter of the noble family of Lauretré and the one who'll ruin the entire Kingdom of Vrawyth. She was friendly and loved by everyone. But that's only her façade. Outside the eyes of the many, she's mean and cruel. She's selfish and only wanted to gain everything she wanted. And that includes the crown prince and the title for being an empress. She'll give up everything just to have the crown prince, even if it takes her to kill the Crown Princess Paislee of Aeslaerean Kingdom.