Julius & Juliana

CHAPTER 7

The news of the princess being rescued by a man reached the entire kingdom of Duncan. Although he didn't believed the story at first, he thought that it must have been a planned work and that some i***t wanted to use the trick to win his daughter's heart in love. He refused to reward whoever it was that saved his daughter's life but when he was told of how the man was bleeding from his nostrils and lips, he was forced to believe. He asked Juliana to go and fetch him so that he can reward him personally. Juliana was glad that her father wanted to reward the man that had saved her life. She phoned Julius to inform him that she was coming to take him to see her father. He was excited and got ready to go and wait for her at the place they've agreed to always meet.

Juliana bought some nice clothes for him along the way because she knew he would be poorly dressed but wanted him to look nice before her father. She bought him a nice necklace and an expensive perfume. When she arrived there, she met Julius who has been waiting for long as his place was nearer to the venue than Juliana's and he was amazed to see her looking prettier than he has ever seen her look before. "Wow! Who can this be? Is that you Juliana? Is this really you? Oh my God! You look just like an angel in disguise. Did you fall from heaven?" He exclaimed. She chuckled at his words and playfully gave him a hit with her fist on his chest. He was poorly dressed as she predicted and she gave him the nice clothes to put on. When he finished dressing up, he entered her car and followed her to her father's palace.

They arrived there and Julius was greeted and treated like a prince. Shortly after, he met king Duncan who was now getting old with white beards and hairs, starting to sprout on him. He ordered for a feast and made merry with Julius for saving his daughter from the thugs. During the course of their conversation, he asked Julius about himself including what he did for a living and he was confused as he didn't wanted to say the truth about himself. He told the king that he is a mere artist who paints and draw live objects and people and he got paid for it. He mentioned his residence and the king realized it was a place where poor people lived.

After the feast, Duncan rewarded and thanked him once more for the rescue but told him to forget about his daughter as she was already bethroted to a prince from another kingdom. "You see my dear, I know that you deserve my daughter's hand in marriage. You did really well in rescuing her from those thugs and hence, I've rewarded you for your brave act. But you see my daughter, she's a princess and my only child. When she was born, a very good friend of mine who is also a King from a neighboring kingdom, told me of his interest to strengthen our friendship by asking his only son to get married to my daughter in future. I solemnly agreed and my daughter became bethroted to his son. So you see, it's quite unfortunate that she can't marry anyone else but him" Duncan finally concluded.

Julius was surprised that the king didn't want to see him near his daughter just because he had said he was a poor artist who lives in a poor area. He didn't totally believed what he heard from him and thought that the king had said that just to see reasons to make him stay away from Juliana. Juliana was sad that her father had dismissed him in that way and after she had seen off Julius, she walked back in anger to her father and said "why would you say such a thing? You know I'm not bethroted to anyone yet you said that to discourage him about me." "Do not question me, I'm your father and I know what's best for you. You are just a teenager to understand how precious you are to my kingdom. It would be a shame for you, my only child, a princess to mingle with that poor fellow from the gutters who hides himself under a facade of a rich young man. How many times do I have to tell you that as far as I'm concerned, you will only get married to a prince or the son of a wealthy man when the time is right." "Wealth is not all that matters father, we are wealthy and don't need anyone to come and add to our wealth. Personality is what matters most to me." Juliana concluded. "Do you love this man already?" Asked her mother. "I'm not sure, I just met him but I can only decide when I get to know more about him. There's something I admire in him." Juliana replied. "Then go ahead and try to know more about him if you wish" said her mother. "You will do no such thing" retorted king Duncan. "Make sure I never find out that you are seeing that boy else, you won't like what I will do to the both of you" he concluded. "Why are you being so harsh to your only child? If she wants to mingle with the man who saved her life then why are you against it?" " I still don't believe that story, that lunatic must have planned the whole thing because he admires my daughter and wants to win her heart in love." "But he was bleeding and according to Juliana the fight was real" concluded the queen. At this juncture, Juliana broke down in tears and ran away into her room weeping. King Duncan remained adamant on the fact that she must not go near Julius from that day onwards.