Keep Turning by rae

Keep Turning by rae

Keep Turning.
“You will notice that all the paintings in this floor have one common theme, the Ballroom. The mastermind behind all these pieces is none other than the Unnamed Prince. The Unnamed Prince was a remarkable royal in his era, a great painter, musician and was once the Royal Navy’s Admiral.” The tour guide said.

Elise decided to explore the palace by herself. She already heard this story countless times and was getting bored. Until she saw a second ballroom that wasn’t part of the map.

For some reason, Elise felt that she was connected to Versailles, most especially to its resident, the Unnamed Prince. She feels at ease, she feels total euphoria when she’s here. It might also be the reason why this is her seventh time visiting this place. She was an avid fan of the Versailles yet this is a ballroom that she never heard nor seen before. She memorized the map of the palace, she knows every room here but this. She continued to explore the ballroom. It was full of chandeliers, gold details and paintings and it just kept on fascinating her.

“Beautiful, am I right?” A man’s voice was heard from Elise’s back that surprised her.

“Yes. Very beautiful indeed.” She didn’t look back as she thought he was just another Versailles enthusiast like her.

“I painted that.” He said.

“Funny. All these paintings are from the seventeenth century by the Unnamed Prince. Think you can fool me?” She replied. She didn’t like talking to others, especially when she was minding her own business. For short, she hated interacting with people.

“That is me, m’lady.”

“Who are you kidding?”

“No one. I am the Unnamed Prince.” He said with pride.

“What?” Elise immediately looked back.

And there he was, standing looking at the castle’s gramophone in front of her, the Unnamed Prince.

“It is you. Why are you here then? You shouldn’t be here, Prince.” Elise immediately said.

“This is our beloved location, my princess. And it has always been.” He said.

“Our? As far as I know, I’m not a royal. And this is the first time I have ever seen you in person.”

The Prince walked towards her.

“Do you still not remember who I am, Elisabeth?” He whispered in Elise's ear.

“That’s not my...” “Soan?” Elise asked.

Elise immediately ran to Soan’s arms and gave him a hug.

“I promised you that we would meet again, am I right?” He looked at her.
“You waited for me.”

“I did, my princess. And you were worth the wait.”

“Shall we?” Soan offered his hand to dance with Elise.

NOW PLAYING: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27: III. Adagio - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Elise and Soan were dancing gracefully with all of their hearts. It’s as if they practiced this dance their whole lives. Their feet grooving smoothly, hands placed where they should be, eyes looking at each other happily.

“I missed you, Soan.” Elise muttered.

“I missed you more, my Princess.” Soan looked at her with the same expression as he did five centuries ago. It never fades, for love never fades.

“Je t'aimerai toujours, peu importe le temps que cela prendra, car tu vaux la peine d'attendre." Sicheng whispered. Trans: I will always love you, no matter how long it takes, because you are worth the wait.

“Je n'oublierai jamais qui tu es, car ton amour et ton nom sont inscrits à jamais dans mon cœur.” Elise replied with a smile.

Trans: “I will never forget who you are, for your love and your name are forever engraved in my heart.”

“It’s now your favorite part, Princess. The dance of a lifetime.” Soan told her.

He held her hand and swayed her fast enough to the beat of the music. Their bodies were in sync as he turned her and she held his other arm to support her body.

“Keep turning, my princess.” He said.

“No, Soan. Please.” She said while still turning her body around.

She understood it. Her eyes started tearing up. She knew that this wasn’t permanent. That this was supposed to happen. And now that the time has come, it still hurts.

“Soan, I don’t want to. Please stay.”

“Eli, you know that I need to.” Soan cupped her chin and pecked a kiss on her lips.

“Let’s finish the dance, shall we, my Princess?” He said.

They once again danced to the beat. The only difference was that their smiles weren’t happy anymore. It was bittersweet.

“Just keep turning around for me.” He mouthed.

“Keep turning.”

“Je t’aime, Elisabeth.”

As Elise was turning around to the music, so did Soan disappear. He was slowly fading as the music was going lower and lower, until she realized that she was just dancing by herself, alone.

She sat down on the marble flooring of the ballroom with tears running down her face. Elise closed her eyes hoping that when she opens it, Soan would be there, wiping her tears and telling her to stop crying.

But it wasn’t like that. When she opened her eyes once again, she saw herself sitting on the grass, outside of the palace. The ballroom disappeared, the music stopped. But there was one thing that was left. A ring on her finger, with the engraving ‘dsc’. She knew what it meant, but not who he was.

“Mademoiselle! Why are you there sitting on the grass? Stand up!” The French tour guide told Elise.

“Do you have any questions about the Unnamed Prince, Mesdemoiselles et Messieurs?”

“Why is he called the Unnamed Prince, Monsieur?” A young lady from the crowd asked.

“Nice question! It is said that there is only one person that knows the Prince’s true name. It was his promise to his girlfriend at the time of his death at war that they will meet once again in another lifetime using their names. Up to this day, no one knows what his name was.” The guide explained.

“Does the Prince have any remarkable words?”

“Indeed! One of them is ‘Je t'aimerai toujours peu importe le temps que cela prendra, car tu vaux la peine d'attendre.’ which translates to ‘I will always love you no matter how long it may take, for you are worth the wait.’ It is said that the Prince said that to his girlfriend on their last dance. Only she can also recall what she replied to him at that time. So we can definitely say that only the both of them can recall what they were before.” He told the audience that made them wonder.

“Je n'oublierai jamais qui tu es, car ton amour et ton nom sont inscrits à jamais dans mon cœur, Soan.” Elise muttered.
Trans: “I will never forget who you are, for your love and your name are forever engraved in my heart.”

FIN.