Part Four- In Which Aurelius Falls in Love

Strolling through the marketplace was one of Aurelius's favourite things to do. Although the amount of villagers clamouring to see him sorta ruined it.

But Aurelius had a soft side, that no one realy knew- he loved to plant flowers, he'd buy them in the dead of night where no one saw him, plant them, grow them, and sing to them by the light of the moon and the quiet strumming of his lyre.

One day, Aurelius went down to the market- yet again, and pretended to soak up the limelight of his adoring fans. He really just wanted a quite walk in the market, watching the people and the flowers.

But everywhere he went, people cried for him to kiss their kits, "marry them", sign their toadstools, bless their families.. and so on.

So Aurelius walked grimly through the market, when he saw.. Lunaberry.

Oh, that beautiful lovely Lunaberry.

With fur like spun moonlight and snowy white highlights in her perfectly accented coat. Her beady eyes shone with kindness and determination. Lunaberry was the daughter of a slave of a faerie.

She'd run away from the faerie with her stepsisters and stepmother and arrived at Lushweed when she was a kit, trembling with memories of hatred and slavery.

Of course, the villagers warmly took them in. She didn't seem to mind much, spending her days either in the townhall library or picking blackberries with her stepsisters and mentoring the young kits. She was a kind and knowledgeable chinchilla, as she adored reading and learning immensely. Other people didn't know that her stepmother was cruel to her, always reprimanding her for "being too smart" or "liking to read".

Obviously, she had caught the eye of the Prince, but little did Aurelius know- she secretly disliked him as she thought him prideful for "soaking up all the attention in the village and trumping around for glory". But he was about to find that out.

Aurelius approached Lunaberry as she sniffed a flower inhaled its earthy, sweet scent, not noticing Aurelius nervously lingering behind her.

"Hello there Lunaberry!" He said, flashing his most charming grin. (He didn't want to seem a nervous wreck, although that would've shown Lunaberry that he wasn't the cocky, obnoxious, confident buck she thought he was)

Lunaberry turned around in surprise. The Prince was talking to.. her??

"H-hi," she says tentatively, her nose flushing pink with embarrassment: she hated crowds and the Prince just brought one to her. She saw a few female chinchillas (Aurelius's fangirls) tittering disappointedly that the "slave's daughter" was talking to their "beloved".

"What brings you here to the market today?" He says, chatting up casual small-talk.

Lunaberry frowns, "I-I always buy tulips and sell blackberries at the marketplace on Sundays."

"Oh how nice," The Prince steps forward to examine the tulips at the flower vendor's stall, genuinely engrossed in the enchanting scent and look of the flower.

Lunaberry's eyes widen as she bites her lip, taking a step back, "Well, I'll have to be off now, your Majesty," her lip curls disapprovingly as she scampers off into the bustling crowd.

Aurelius's face falls as he mutters to himself in Realisation, "She doesn't like me.. because.. I'm royalty?"

He slowly trudges back to his burrow, crestfallen. Determined to find a way to win her heart- but as Aurelius, not his Majesty Prince Aurelius.