A year had passed since the weird occurrence with the princess. Arthur still thought about it every now and then, wondering if she ever would return. He was fifteen now and much stronger than he had been. His muscles were larger and a lot more noticeable. Him and Jacob only grew a stronger bond being so close to each other in the cells. Their conversations were the only thing that kept each other sane.

"Jacob, when do you think we’ll be let out? We’ve been in here for so long that I’m starting to lose track of time."

"I’m afraid this may just be the beginning of our sentence. But that just means we can have more time to talk to each other."

"Is there anything we haven’t talked about yet?"

"Hmm... probably not. But our opinions will change a lot over time!"

The door in front of them slowly opened. Jacob and Arhtur stopped their conversation to see who it was.

"Sorry it’s been so long. I got in trouble and grounded a bunch! But I’m back!"

It was Rose. Her hair seemed to be a bit shorter, and her face seemed to hug her jaw a bit more. She looked a bit different from how Arthur remembered, but she was still wearing the sparkling dress she had last time.

Jacob looked at the princess in awe.

"You... weren’t lying about that, Arthur? The princess really did visit?!"

"Keep your voice down! I’m going to sneak you guys out for a bit so we can have some fun!"

Arthur’s face paled a little, but a small hint of excitement ignited in his heart.

"But... if we get caught-"

"Which is why we won’t."

Rose didn’t let him finish and rushed toward his door, taking out a small key she hid in her sleeve. The door clicked and swung open. Arthur didn’t know how to feel stepping outside his cage for the first time in over a year. It was like walking into a whole new world.

Jacob experienced something similar. He even tripped on his way out. Arthur looked at Rose who was standing confidently in front of him.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Why? Because we’re friends forever, remember?"

Arthur simply sighed.

"Where are you going to take us?"

"I’m going to take you outside the kingdom! I’m sure you guys will love to get a taste of true freedom out there!"

Arthur didn’t notice, but Jacob was very agitated at the suggestion. He started shaking slightly and bit his lip.

"Just follow me and make sure to stay close."

Reluctantly, the two of them started following each other out of the dungeon. The moment they set foot in the palace halls, the air itself seemed completely different. Each breath he took felt euphoric. He was able to stretch out his legs and walk freely as far as he wanted. All these sensations made him want to cry.

"This is... magnificent."

Rose looked back at Arthur.

"It isn’t all that great when you get used to it. Trust me."

They continued their voyage into the kingdom. Rose stopped at a clothing store and bought them new ones they could wear to disguise their appearance.

Jacob seemed to follow behind them from a great distance. Rose grabbed Arthur by the back of his neck and brought his face closer to hers. He blushed at the sudden movement.

"Hey, what’s with our friend back there? He keeps acting suspicious!"

"Oh. I’m not really sure. Maybe he’s afraid of going outside?"

"Well, he better fix himself soon! If he’s not coming with, I’m still taking you with me whether you like it or not!"

Arthur walked back towards Jacob to investigate his friend’s strange behavior.

"Jacob, is everything alright? You’ve been acting kind of weird since we mentioned going outside the walls."

Jacob jumped at the mention of the outside world once again.

"I... I’m just afraid of leaving the kingdom. That’s all."

"Well, get a grip! This is our one chance at freedom! I’m taking advantage of this as much as I can!"

Jacob simply nodded his head and continued following behind the two of them.

Arthur and Rose continued through the front gates of the kingdom and out into the vast meadows of flowers and grass. The sight was absolutely breathtaking. Rose danced among the flowers like a fairy. She would twirl her dress and fall into the grass to roll around, all while screaming and laughing.

Arthur tried to do something similar and ended up tripping over her, face planting on the ground.

"Ow! Hey, be careful!"

"I’m sorry. I didn’t see you! The grass is too tall!"

"It’s okay. What happened to your friend? I thought you talked to him already?"

Arthur looked around to see that Jacob was nowhere to be seen.

"Damn. If we don’t catch him and get him back in our cells-"

Rose put a hand on his shoulder. She was still smiling brightly at him. Her eyes pierced right into his heart, making it skip a beat.

"We can worry about that later. I’m sure he had a good reason to not come out here. Let’s just enjoy each other’s company."

A small wind picked up behind rose, allowing her hair to flow gently around her face. It was only then that Arthur realized just how beautiful the girl in front of him was. She suited the title of royalty perfectly. Her hair, her skin, her face, her eyes, the way she carried herself, the way she spoke, the gentleness of her touch, he was infatuated with all of it. But to him, he was nothing but a commoner. Someone weak and hardly deserving of her attention.

"I would love that."

She lightly grabbed his wrist and guided him east towards a massive body of water. Arthur stared at it with wide eyes as he approached. The sun was sparkling on its rough surface as small waves found their way to the shore.

"I’ve never seen this amount of water in one place before. This is amazing!"

He scooped up a bit and drank from his hands before coughing it back out.

"This water tastes disgusting!! I take back everything I said."

Rose started giggling.

"You aren’t supposed to drink it, dummy! You’re supposed to use it to cool yourself off!"

"Why are you showing me this?"

"It’s a nice view, right? This is also where most anglers catch their fish for the markets back at the kingdom."

"Can we just go back to rolling around in grass?"

Rose started laughing out loud this time.

"You’re really funny. I like you. I’m glad that I chose you to be my friend. Let’s try and get you back to the palace. I think this was all I could do for you today, unfortunately."

Rose turned away and started walking back to the kingdom. Arthur caught up to her quickly. Out of pure instinct, he reached out and grabbed her hand. Rose stopped for a moment, blushing. She looked at Arthur who also didn’t even realize what he had done. After three moments, she simply smiled and continued walking with his hand in hers.

"I think you should tell me a bit more about yourself. Or maybe I should tell you a bit more about myself, since we hardly know anything about each other, and also-"

Rose continued to trail as Arthur studied her magnificent features. They were surrounded by an infinite variety of flowers, wonderfully taking bloom in the summer heat. All of them were gorgeous in their own way. Some had a certain shape, some had a certain color, but Arthur’s favorite flower was the one he was locking hands with.

She took in sunlight, she brightened things around her, and everything else in comparison seemed to revolve around her existence. For when you look at a field of flowers, no one pays attention to the grass surrounding them. In Arthur’s eyes, she was the brightest and most beautiful flower of the entire meadow... or perhaps the entire world.