"Rapunzel listen to me." Seeing that the long-haired princess was still adamant in becoming his second wife, Henry knew that he had to extinguish such dangerous thoughts before they could fully form.
"I…• However, he wasn't even able to form any words first before Rapunzel attacked him with a flutter of her eyelids and a sweet smile, both being a critical hit and very effective!
"Yes, Henry?"
"…Nothing." Henry mentally sighed in defeat. Is there really no other way for him but to accept the poor damsels falling for him?
'I have no choice I guess. I didn't want any of this, but this is the only way to avoid hurting anyone. I just need to prepare an extremely cold and long talk with Elsa.'
Henry's next action suddenly caught Rapunzel off guard. He reached out to her face and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear before whispering slowly, "You're right but there's still something that you need to learn."
There was a faint blush on her cheeks, eyes looking down as she fidgeted, "W-What is it?"
"Aside from my fiancée. There was already someone else who wanted to marry me after her. Her name is Ariel and she's a princess of the Kingdom under the sea."
His first few words were thrown out of the window as Rapunzel's eyes turned into glitter at rhe last sentence, "There's an underwater Kingdom? And she's a princess of it?!"
"Yes, but that's not the point of what I'm trying to tell you. I wa—"
"Can I meet her? Oh, something much better! I want to meet both of them!"
Seeing that there's no way to make her listen to what he was conveying, Henry rubbed his forehead and gave his answer, "Ariel, you can meet. But I'm not sure about Elsa. She doesn't know anything about you and Ariel yet and I'll have to talk with her first. But before all that, I need you to listen to me, Rapunzel. I'm serious."
The look on Henry's face made Rapunzel stand straight and nod her head while matching his seriousness.
Henry sat on the bed with Rapunzel following suit.
"If Elsa doesn't approve of all this. Of you and Ariel being my third and second wives respectively. There's nothing else for me to do. I truly love her and I don't want to hurt her. Is it too much to ask?"
To his fortunate surprise, Rapunzel nodded her head several times, "I understand. If she doesn't want me, I won't push myself onto you…" Even with a bit of hidden bitterness in her heart, Rapunzel forcefully swallowed it down.
She once read that if you truly love someone, you're supposed to be willing to let them go for their own good. And she's prepared to do just that.
"Can I still meet Ariel though?" Rapunzel's words snapped Henry out of his relieved thoughts.
There's no need for him to hesitate, she and Ariel would surely kick it off especially considering their mutual feelings for Henry, so he agreed, "No doubt she would attend my birthday. So yes, you two would surely find a friend in each other."
"Great!" Rapunzel's happiness made her jump around the room for a good few seconds.
That's when the smell finally hit Henry. The paint was still not dry yet and its chemical odor was violating his nostrils, "Rapunzel, maybe we should find another room to sleep for a while. You can't sleep in this room with this smell."
Now that he said it, Rapunzel stopped and sniffed in the air, not taking long before the sharp and pungent smell hit her, "Eugh! You're right. Let's leave quickly!"
But before turning to the door, Rapunzel suddenly looked up and called out, "Pascal! Pascal where are you?"
'Right, almost forgot about that chameleon. Haven't seen him all day.' Henry curiously looked around the room.
At first, there was no response until he caught a small movement from the corner of his eye. Right there plastered over the wall was the chameleon, the shade of his body matching the sky's blue background and yawning for a brief moment before jumping onto Rapunzel's left shoulder.
To his surprise however, his body didn't change a single bit after landing. Still maintaining the blue color.
"Oh! Did I accidentally paint all over you? I'm so sorry Pascal!" She cooed at the chameleon.
Pascal simply shook his head in return, nonchalant about being painted on. Though when his eyes landed on Henry, they turned into squints and the familiar 'I'm watching you' gesture.
Henry ignored it and they left the room afterward. To which they were greeted by the castle's servants who seemed to have been ordered to take a little bit of distance away from the room.
"Hi, Myrcilla, Amelia!" Rapunzel waved her hand at the two female servants who greeted her with deep bows and soft smiles.
"Princess Rapunzel. Your mother told us to prepare the guest rooms for you and Prince Henry." Myrcilla, the one with braided auburn hair spoke.
The other, Amelia, with short dark hair, raised a folded towel in her arms. "We have also prepared the baths for you, Princess Rapunzel."
In response, Rapunzel placed her arms on her waist and pouted, "I told you to just call me Rapunzel! Drop the princess."
Both Myrcilla and Amelia glanced at each other before bowing once again, "Apologies but we can't do that, Princess Rapunzel. We are just mere servants to the royal family."
Rapunzel huffed which made the two servants shift uncomfortably. Clearly, they're not fond of angering their Princess for heeding a natural law that draws the line between the elite and the peasants.
Henry mentally chuckled. He also had his fair share of experience regarding this matter, he leaned into her ear and whispered, "Just let them be, Rapunzel. If you want them to refer to you as an equal, you should first make them feel that way."
This advice is of course, effective. Similar to Rapunzel, he also wanted the servants of the Lioncrest to treat him less like a master and more like a friendly boss from a company that doesn't treat you like shit and gives you unpaid overtime work.
Rapunzel still pouted but no longer pursued the matter. She accepted the towel and followed Amelia to the baths. Though before she fully left, she turned around to face Henry, "Henry?"
"Yes?"
"…Goodnight." Rapunzel smiled and resumed following Amelia.
"Goodnight," Henry replied with a wave of his hand, and then turned his attention to Myrcilla.
"It's getting late now. Can you show me my room?"
Myrcilla nodded her head and he proceeded to follow her as she turned and walked.
After three left turns and two rights, they finally arrived at the hallway of guest rooms, Myrcilla spoke after opening the door, "This'll be your room for the night, Prince Henry. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to call me. I've been assigned to the guest room next to yours."
"Thank you Myrcilla." Henry nodded his head and watched as the servant left after a bow of her head, probably on her way to fetch Rapunzel and show the princess her temporary room.
Meanwhile, Henry was about to step inside the room when all of a sudden, a bony hand clasped his shoulder, "Henry my boy."
Henry got startled and never had he ever turned around so fast in his entire life, "Jesus!" When he saw who it was, his expression deadpanned.
"Master Elias? Are you serious? I thought you were already asleep or something. What are you doing out here late at night?" Now that he mentioned it, Henry squinted his eyes suspiciously at the old man who was wearing a weirdly adorable purple nightie with his own cartoonic face plastered all over the silky cloth.
The tone of his voice took an accusatory turn, "Don't tell me you're peeping at women?"
"Bah! As if I've never had enough of women in my youthful days. I've probably bent more women than you'll ever swing your sword for life. Sorry to burst your bubble but I'm not staying this late to peep. I've been waiting for you. Let's go inside." Master Elias then dragged him inside the guest room, closing the door shut after.
"What's so important with this message that I need to hear it this late at night? Can't it wait until tomorrow?" Henry dropped onto the bed and lay on the mattress while Master Elias stayed standing.
"No, I need to tell it to you now or else I might forget it when I wake up tomorrow." Master Elias shook his head.
"Sigh. Fine, what is it then? If this is about Rapunzel and her magical hair, no I won't let you study her hair for an experiment or something."
It was Master Elias's turn to deadpan at him, "Do I look like someone who does dark magic experiments—?"
Henry interrupted him without an ounce of hesitation, "Yes. Have you seen yourself in a mirror?"
"Henry my boy, you're hurting my feelings." Master Elias feigned a painful expression while clutching his chest, "Anyways, I was actually asleep already earlier but I had a horrifying dream that woke me up."
"Dream? You had a dream? Are you serious?" By the look on Henry's face, one could immediately tell he's not amused.
"Just to let you know, 50% of my future visions come from my dreams."
Now that the old man clarified it, Henry's face turned serious and he pulled himself up from the bed, "Vision of the future? Is it bad?"
"It depends. It's about your brother, Alex." There was a hint of hesitant on Mastse Elias's voice before continuing, "…I saw him die in my dream. He was consumed by a sea of flames. Green flames to be exact."
"Green flames? It must've been me then. It's good news if so." Henry's shoulders relaxed and he sighed in relief.
However, Master Elias shook his head, "You don't get it, Henry. Those flames weren't yours. I'm familiar with those flames and that's not the entirety of my dream. The place where he was burned was familiar to me."
"Familiar, how so?"
"It's a sentient woodland realm. A forest where many magical beings rest under the wing of a single being. They call that place The Moors. Does it sound familiar to you?"
"The Moors?" Henry murmured the name with curiosity, "The name sounds familiar that's for sure, but I have no idea what that place is."
"It's where a vicious being lives. She is someone who once cursed a King's daughter to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday." As soon as Master Elias finished his words, the gears in Henry's mind were already spinning full-time.
"Tell me her name. This being and the Princess." He asked. There was a slight bit of tension in his voice. The story that Master Elias just narrated to him sounds familiar.
No, not just familiar but something that he already knows of. He just needed the confirmation.
"The name of the Princess is Aurora of Ironmere Kingdom. The neighboring Kingdom of the Moors, ruled by the last of her kind, a Dark Fey."
Master Elias stayed silent for a good few seconds. Letting the gravity of the situation settle deep in Henry's bones before continuing.
"Maleficent."