Flowers of Worship

It was in the middle of the night that the woman who would be the Duchess came to see me. She said my father and mother died, and my kind uncle became king. She said it’s not worth it for me, the crown prince, to be living in hiding, too. “A while ago, Your Highness had been hiding from me. With all due respect, is that for the sake of survival? Just because your parents died doesn’t mean you have no reason to survive. Actually, that fact alone made it all the more reason why you should live. If you die now…” If I died now? When I asked her while looking at her eyes, the woman eventually brought out the harsh truth with empathetic eyes. “It’s like a dog’s death.” “That’s rude….” It’s...