Dare To Love A Dragon - Chapter 88

“There you are,” Avan said in a cheery voice interrupting the tense environment in the prince’s room. “Come on, we are going to be late,” he said and took Ander’s hand that was holding the king and dragged him out of the room.

He didn’t need to turn around to know that Ander was mad at him. He could feel it from the intense glare he felt in his back. He hurried with him to the royal lake before letting go of his hand.

“Why am I here?” Ander asked his voice returning to normal. He had forgotten all that A Avan had done to him in the past so he was yet to have anything to hold against him. He just wished his family had given him a chance to change.

“For your surprise,” Avan said. He clapped his hands twice and the whole lake lit up with lights. There were beautiful decorations around the lake and the ground in which he stood was filled with flower petals.

“What is the meaning of this?” he asked the boy.

“Happy Birthday my prince,” Avan said happily. “It’s midnight of the day you were born, congratulations on becoming a year older,” he said to him.

Ander’s eyes softened, he was that he had forgotten his own birthday. But in his defense, he had so much going on in his life that he didn’t have time for such things. He was shocked that a stranger remembered his birthday when his family didn’t.

‘Even she forgot,’ he thought the image of the women he had called mother for many years appeared in his mind. ‘Why wouldn’t she? She is not my mother.’

“What happened?” Avan asked worried noticing the change in his mood. “Don’t you like it?”

“It’s perfect. You are perfect,” he said and ran down the path of lights. He was curious to see where the path led and what other surprises awaited him there.

“Did he just compliment me?” Avan questioned confused by Ander’s reaction. He seemed to have misjudged him a lot. The whole night he hadn’t heard a single mean thing from the prince. He felt his wish coming true but he still felt a bit sad.

He had been called by his father to hear the good news that they had made, he stood outside the room and heard everything that happened inside. He found Ander’s anger justified, it was unfair that they reacted like that just because they found out that he liked Francis.

Love wasn’t a crime and you can’t force the heart to feel what it doesn’t want to feel neither can you make it forget so easily who it once beat for. He planned the surprise to cheer him up and prevent him from doing something he might regret in anger.

He got out of his thoughts and went after the prince. He had his fingers crossed that he won’t dislike the surprise that he had prepared for him. He found the prince under the tree standing with no expression on his face. He couldn’t read whether he was disappointed or happy.

The tree was covered with fireflies to provide light and they were different painting of him hanging on different branches of the tree. Underneath the tree was a table with two candles on each end. All his favorite food was set in the middle of the table with complimentary wine on the side.

“Are you okay?”

Ander averted his gaze from the sight before him and gazed at Avan. “What did I do to deserve this?” he asked him. There were tears in his eyes and his lips were trembling.

“I thought you might like it. I’m sorry if…”

“I don’t like it,” Ander said interrupting him.

Avan became sad when he heard that, he truly thought that he had at least tried to meet his standards as a prince. “I love it,” he added.

He gave Avan a warm hug with a genuine smile on his face. “This is the best gift I have received in forever,” he whispered in Avan’s ears and broke the hug. He took a step to reach the tree and flowers petals and snow started falling on him.

He stopped and looked up, he stretched his hands out and let the cold snow hit his skin, that is when he realized that he wasn’t wearing anything on the top part of his body because of what happens in his room but he didn’t mind it. He loved the feeling of the ice on his skin.

Her smile widened in his face and warmth bloomed in his heart. He looked back at Avan with teary eyes. He was truly happy, every year he would have a ceremony in the palace. Many of the guests were strangers he never knew and couldn’t talk to and half of the time he was always yearning for his father that he never got to enjoy any of his birthdays.

His mother showered him with love but it was on his birthdays that he truly felt the loneliness that was his life. Most of the gifts he received laid in the royal storeroom unopened since he never wanted them.

For the first time in his seventeen years, he felt happy on his birthday. The party wasn’t grand but it was romantic, there weren’t any strangers around just someone who cared for him. He didn’t think about his father once, it was only him and Avan.

“Are you going to stand there all night? I am hungry,” he said and walked to the table. ‘Happy Birthday Ander,’ he read the words that floated around the table.

“Let’s eat,” Aban said drawing his seat for him.

“No cake,” Ander said with a pout.

“I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands. I didn’t get you cake.”

“This is not right. A birthday is incomplete without a cake, that is the whole point of a party. The cake is the reason people celebrate their birthdays,” Ander complained.

Avan felt speechless, he had prepared so much for him and he was being stubborn over cake. He looked at him but he didn’t notice any anger in his eyes only a childish pouty face.

“You’ll get your cake tomorrow, I’m sure there will be a big party and a big cake for you,” he said.

“I won’t eat until I see a cake,” Ander said stubbornly.