Cid finally finished the ring the next day.
He had a steady hand and had taken his time, just like his father had told him too.
This ring, well both of them now, was his best work, work that he did not rush in the slightest!
There was a difference though, and he hoped that that wouldn’t matter!
One will be bigger than the other because…One was for her, and one was for him…
It was his initial idea anyway but, will they cim that it is not the same?
He didn’t want to lose the Princess simply because one ring was bigger than the other!
With one more wipe, Cid put the ring in a small box, then sighed.
It had been a long couple of days!
Now that he didn’t have to return back to the bcksmith shop, Cid bid his farewells and promised the boss again that he will not forget to tell upon which bcksmith was behind making the ring that seemed to be the most popur object in the kingdom right now!
The fact that so much time had already passed by since the decration was made, still didn’t mean that the subject was no longer talked of!
There was still quite a line up at the pace, now that people have come from other pces outside of the capital, and then there were people who were just hanging around, talking…
As Cid took a deep breath and added himself to the line, he held tightly onto the box that contained the ring, now hiding in his pocket.
He had wanted to just charge ahead, being filled with enthusiasm upon finishing the ring, but now…Now he felt like he needed this time to tell himself of what was going to happen.
Apparently, the ring was all that was needed, and he and the Princess would become engaged. He’d heard it from so many people! Rumours on the streets, from Pauletta and Benjamin, even from Leonard who had yelled it past Benjamin to where he was hiding inside their house.
It still didn’t seem real though to Cid. He felt like he had to be someone that could duel a thousand warriors and walk across a desert!
Taking another deep breath, Cid walked forward.
The line only took a long time because of pleasantries and people who demand more after the ring is told to be not the right one. The line could be faster but, it was going too fast for Cid!
He was so nervous, so very nervous!
Making the ring, it was fine! Doing his best, pouring in his effort of his love for her, that was fine! Now…Now, in person, giving her the ring in front of so many…Why…Why can’t they do it in peace, I mean…By themselves?
With the sudden memory of the Princess kissing him, Cid suddenly changed his mind and thought it was better to have people around!
Just, why can’t he calm down!? She wasn’t going to bite his head off!
Cid took another step closer and heard a voice.
This voice came to him in so many different ways. Angry, stubborn, happy…
Right now, it was…Bored…Totally indifferent!
Cid smiled and could picture her face. She could also have her arms crossed over her chest and maybe even going to the extreme of tapping her foot!
Ah, the dear, how will I keep her happy?
“Bring in the next gentleman.”
With all the ideas of her voice and how her face would look like, Cid didn’t even know how close he was getting to the front of the line!
“The ring is missing at least two distinguished features of the Princess’s choice ring, would you like to look, Your Highness?”
“Send them off…”
“It’s there, the…The features are hiding or…Or those features aren’t real!” Cid heard from inside.
“Another…I can’t keep repeating what I have already said.” Said the Princess, the voice being bored and upset.
“I can be a good husband for you, Your Highness.” Stated that same voice again.
“Repeat my words.” Said the Princess.
Then what seemed as the servant or person that had looked at the ring said, “The Princess has cimed to only marry the person with the exact ring as I have expected and appraised, mind you, I also have the Prince, Prince Elton behind me…Oh and Her Highness, the Prince is behind her as well of course! She is not suited for another as it is a promise that had to be made to change the will of a King. As a Princess of a country, she must keep her word and does not mean any ill intent or to be discourteous in any refusal. Please, good sir, take your leave.”
With what seemed like stomping feet, Cid finally saw a man well dressed and obviously very angry.
“Don’t bother!” He stated, before leaving.
Yet inside there were voices too.
“You still need to shorten it, sir.”
“Yes, yes, Your Highness, you are completely right!” Even though this man happily went along with his Princess, wanting to please her, he really was only there to appraise the ring…He doesn’t understand why he became the person to have said those words and make everyone mad at him! It wasn’t fair!
Cid shook his head, how could he leave! Just to hear her being bored and upset, how could he leave her like that?
“Bring in the next gentlemen.”
Wanting to make a specific person smile, Cid calmly walked in and removed his hat from his head, to smile at that lovely face of hers.
Straight away she jumped up and ran to him, nearly falling over the hem of her dress!
“You are finally here! You kept me waiting!” She stated, pushing her dress down again, after having to pick it up. “Show him!”
Cid let out a small ugh and gave the small box to the men, who then looked up at Cid. “Very nice and elegant!”
“Thank you.” Cid stated. It really was just a box…
Both the Princess and Cid heard the intake of breath after the box was opened, and the Princess smiled at Cid.
Cid smiled back, having completed his objective as…She was now smiling…
It took another moment for the man to check the entirety of the ring and afterwards he nodded, “It gives me great pleasure to have finally found you!”
Cid nodded politely and looked at the Princess, “I didn’t want to rush making it, only to ruin it.”
“Indeed! I am a ring maker and was picked because…Well nonetheless, I am so honored to have meet you! May I know your name?”
Suddenly, the fact that the long-lost maker of the ring being found was forgotten, as a professional ring maker was beaming at what he thought was another professional ring maker.
“Cid, Cid Relh. I used to do jewellery crafting with my stepfather but have now broken away and started my own jewellery crafting.”
Cid put out his hand to the other man’s outstretched hand and felt quite shocked to the strength he had.
“Very gd to have met you! I wish to get together to exchange ideas, that would be…”
With a loud sigh, the Princess then interrupted them, “Can we please take this to my brother now! It would be unkind of me to not send the people outside off when there is no reason for them to be there!”
“Yes, yes of course, Your Highness!” The appraiser truly felt wronged! He obviously couldn’t refuse an order from a prince to be the one to approve or disapprove a ring, but he did have an ulterior motive! He really wanted to talk to the person that had made the most glorious ring he had seen another make! How easily that was stripped away from him!
Before another word was said, the Princess took the ring from the man and led Cid away from the room.
Cid stopped her when they were away from sight and smiled at her. He had words to say but didn’t know how to speak at that moment…
The Princess smiled back and walked to be right in front of him, “You’re te!”
“I know…” Cid stated, putting a hand gently to her face, “I’m sorry.”
She let out a ugh and lifted the heels of her feet up and down briefly.
Smiling like idiots they just stood there…
All their dreams had come true!
“Send her in!”
“Come on!” The Princess quickly led the way once again and raced through the corridor and through the door.
“Brother!”
Prince Elton frowned, “A Princess…”
“Shouldn’t run, I know! Look, it’s the ring, it’s Cid! Cid is here!” She stated, putting both the rings down and pushing Cid forward after.
Seeing her so flustered, Cid held onto his ugh, and as much as he could, his smile as well.
It was so obvious that she was happy, and that made him happy in return…
Life…Life was good!
“So, it is.” Was all Elton stated as he looked at both of the rings. He was not at all surprised…
“That means we are engaged now, right brother!?” The Princess stated, boldly taking Cid’s hand in hers, right in front of her brother!
Prince Elton stared at their hands and the Princess let go, going silent.
“You are to hold the conduct of a Princess…At least until you are married and out of sight of everyone!”
Cid put his hands up and hurriedly stated, “I…I am an honorable man, Prince Elton. Your sis…Her Highness and I…”
Prince Elton stood up then and walked to be in front of Cid, “I would have known otherwise, Cid.”
Cid blinked and didn’t know how to respond, whilst Elton looked from one, to the other.
The prince himself just quite simply didn’t understand…
Was it that Cid liked his sister because she was a Princess? That’s what he had heard from many of those in the line these days…
But he knew…He knew that it wasn’t that for Cid. But then what was it?
“By tomorrow the two of you will be engaged to be married.” Prince Elton stated and then went to walk out of the room.
“Brother, please, can we get married soon?” The Princess asked, almost begging.
Prince Elton stopped and turned, “Why so quickly?”
Cid watched the prince and found that he had not changed at all in so long…Detached…Alone…
He always thought that Prince Elton was this way because of the responsibility of his status but for once, for once Cid wondered if Prince Elton really didn’t feel much outside of his status. Did he really not know how to love someone?
“…An uncle!”
“What!?” Both males said, while looking at Princess Bethany in clear shock!
“Since that is on your mind you will wait even longer now to be married!” Prince Elton stated, almost angrily.
The Princess gred at her brother and crossed her arms over her stomach, “Are you not human, this is what we do! If you don’t marry us properly in two months’ time…We’ll do it ourselves!”
Both Cid and Prince Elton continued to be stunned!
“…You will not!” Prince Elton stated back, losing his normally cold face, to that of anger.
“Then I suggest you state that we are to be married then!” The Princess stated, while grabbing Cid’s hand, “You have two months, brother!”
After they left the room, a loud noise was heard and the Princess held onto her chest with a hand, “Wow, I haven’t gone that far before!”
Cid was hopeless against her, “Was it worth provoking your brother?”
The Princess frowned, but then a moment ter smiled, “I know what I want, now I just want to live my life.”
Kissing her forehead, Cid heard her say, “I was…I wasn’t…What I said, in there…I meant it.”
Once again, not knowing what to say or what else to do, Cid kissed her forehead again.
Was he ready?
Was he going to be a good husband, a good father?
Well, he knew the alternative, of not being with this woman, this girl…The stubborn girl that fights everything…Being without her wasn’t what he wanted.
Then…It seemed he can only do what makes her happy…Isn’t that after all what made him happy too?
Cid decided to keep things simple, if he didn’t think too much into things and remembered how much he loved her and loved being with her…That was all that mattered.
He will do what he can to protect and cherish her to the rest of his days!
This is the End of Cid Relh, The first Volume in my fairy tale saga!
YOU WILL FIND MORE OF CID AND BETHANY IN THE NEXT VOLUME: DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
Diamond in the Rough is about Prince Elton and Alison. One is currently a thief, the other a Prince. With a chance to find out more about what happened years ago, both end up on the same wavelength and even with a bit of what they think of as an out of reach wish…
Based on ‘Addin’ but with a bit of reverse and no ‘magic’.
Thank you to Wiki for historical information about when things were invented, of course the timeline will not be perfect. (I made it suit the story, more so than real history.) I wanted to make Cid come up with a few ideas so that his future of being a master in jewellery crafting would make him a valuable asset for the princess and even the kingdom.
