I lived my whole life in a castle.

And while my father would arrange sword fight lessons and cricket matches with other princes of our allied counties, here I am, walking and looking for something I am not sure about.

I took the long way to the sea, and while I'm strolling with my heavy prince suit, I came across a wounded bunny. It was lying on the ground with is lower limb bleeding. As I approached, I saw how it wanted to run away and hide. But, with its current state, it's impossible. I picked it up and tried to rush to the nearest lake and clean its wound. Judging the injury, it looked like another creature's bite.

The bunny was still. Peacefully breathing in my arms as I washed its wounded leg. I tried to talk to it and lift its willingness to live. But, as my mum told me, every choice we make is death. And this bunny chose to fight and would rather die than running looking frail and useless.

As I tucked the bunny between my legs, I hugged him tight and closed its eyes. Just a few seconds passed, and the rabbit stopped breathing. My heart wrenched and felt like it has been squeezed between two boulders.

I wept.

I buried the bunny and realized how cruel life is. One moment you're out there, running, hiking, flying, then the next day you're beneath the ground. Feeding the worms and other infernal creatures, your muscles and internal organs.

Death is a mystery. And without death, the worms wouldn't exist. And death is the fruit of both pride and bravery. I wonder why someone would like to die because of pride and bravery. I want to live in peace and love.

I wondered why my dad and our kingdom would always charge in an argument without proper reasonings and proper contemplating the matter before speaking up. I see it as a suicide. A risky, nonsense, type of suicide. I wonder how a simple subject could cause someone's dignity and reputation to be put in so much shame and barrenness. For dying physically is much better than dying in guilt and sin you committed because of your own ignorance. Be wise. Because the world and life were cruel enough. That a person will not die of snake's bite or even poison. Because its poison won't travel that quick. But the ignorance and cowardness will. An ignorant will cry and whine about the bite. But the wise will tie and cleanse the bite and seek a physician's cure.

I finally reached the sea. And the morning sun was warm. Enough to warm my chilling cheeks and nostrils.

The balmy breeze swept across the still sea, and I am sitting here reminiscing the day where I would run to my mother's arms, and she'd carry me all the way home. I felt a sudden disappointment when I caught myself absorbed with a memory that has long gone. It's impossible to live a contented life. We crave things we couldn't have, and while we envy those who have anything they desire, they also crave for real Happiness.

We are all prone to misery. Prone to damnation and eternal sadness. But like Delos' daisy, a curse can be a cure. A cure to sempiternal grief. We all bother thinking about how others have wronged us, but we never took the time to think about how much we have abused our own selves.

Forgive yourself first, then you can forgive others. Then Love will come next. And contentment. And then, Happiness.

I have been talking about Happiness. But I don't know what that is. Will it cost our kingdom's troops? How much gold should I give in order to understand real Happiness? I wonder what kind of treasure it is. Will it have a hard and shiny body like gold? Or brilliant hues when struck with light like a diamond?

As I walked through the sands, my shoes got buried every step I make. I sauntered and appreciated the beauty of the morning sun and majestic sea around me. Then to my surprise, I came across a body that was lying flat on the sand. A mysterious young lad with his hands cupped to his stomach. I looked around and searched for a wrecked ship, and wondered if he's dead. As I made my way to him, I realized he was peacefully sleeping. He looked different and dressed weirdly. Something I hadn't seen around my kingdom. Something that wouldn't pass for our castle's standard of men's beauty.

"Oi." I pressed his arms. He didn't move. I examined his face. His nicely curved eyebrows sent shivers down my spine. His long eyelashes were as black as butterfly's legs, and his nose was pointy and strong. His lips were dried, but pink enough to say that he has good mouth hygiene. I pressed him for the second time, third, and on the fourth try, he groaned and was wide awake.

"Hey. Who are you?!" He rushed and backed, startled of me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Who are you? And where is–"He grasped his trousers and took something out of his pockets. "My phone is dead."

"Who is dead?"

"What? My phone...is dead."

Then he showed me his phone. "Can you tell me how something like that can die?"

He looked at me weirdly, as if like my head is turning into a grasshopper.

"What the heck. Really?" He said. "What are you? From the 1500s?"

He stood and finally realized he didn't know where he'd go. "Where is... How did I..."

"Is there a problem?"

"Yeah. Where is the road to the Taxi?"

"Tax...e?"

"Taxi. Yellow cab. New York City cab." The weird man said.

"I am sorry, but I have no idea what a taxi is", I said.

He remained silent and examined me once again.

"Why... Why are you... What are you?" He asked.

"Pardon, but I am not sure I understand."

"God, you accent is so formal stop it. What are you wearing? What are you? And where did you take me?

I am starting to feel weird toward this mysterious young lad. He somewhat looked like the same age as me. But radiated so much energy that was too foreign for me. "I am a prince. Prince of Wessex."

He let out a chuckle then turned to a full laugh.

"Look, I am not trying to joke around here, okay? Just bring me back to where you took me, and I am starting to get mad."

When he said that he was starting to get mad, I stood and grasped my sword. If he'd begin a swordfight with me, then I wouldn't hold back. Because his threat was clearly irrational, and me getting killed by his hands would be shameful to my kingdom. If I'll die, then I'd choose to have an honourable death.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?"

"You said you're starting to get mad. I am expecting an assault from you, so I am getting ready."

He remained silent. "What year is this?"

"1820"

He stood still like his head was fogged with a wave of mystery. Stunned and dazed by my words, he turned his back on me.

"Is something the matter?" I asked. Then he turned once again to face me.

"Dude, last night I was having fun in a Casino. And I was on my way home. But then, I am searching for something I don't know, and then my feet took me to the sea and fell asleep. And now, I woke up, thenyou're telling me it's 1820? And you're telling me in—where, England? The heck, man?!"

I blinked. "Casino? What is that? And where are you from?"

"I'm from New York City. 2020. What the heck, man?"

"I've never heard such place. Sounds like something the cook would serve for breakfast and feed the leftovers to captives."

He let out a deep sigh then sat beside the huge tree just a few steps away from the seashore. I joined him.

"What is it you're searching for something that you don't know?" I asked him. He did not answer. He just stared at me weirdly, laying his back flat on the huge tree.

"Love. Peace. Contentment."

I gasped. Those words felt like a fog suddenly filled the whole place.

"Love is something you wouldn't find unless you do it for yourself first."

"What?"

"Love is not a feeling. Love is a commitment."

He smiled. "You're interesting."

I cracked a smile. "Tell me, who are you?"

"I'm a college student. I'm a gambler. I spend my free time in casinos."

"What's a casino?"

"A house full of gamblers."

"There's a house built only for gamblers?"

He laughed. "Yeah. Weird, right?"

"Yes. Weird."

We both stayed in silence and watched the waves danced in the morning breeze.

"How about you? What are you looking for?" He finally asked me.

"Me?" I looked below the sand and drew a smiley face. "Happiness. I'm on a voyage to look for mister Happiness."

"Happiness is doing what you like. Even if everyone, even the odds, is against you. You still chose to do it." He spread his legs on the sand.

"Like passion?"

He nodded.

"How do I attain it?"

"Happiness is not about searching for your purpose, Prince of Wessex. You have everything, yet you're still not happy. Happiness comes from within. Not just from the outside." He eyed the horizon. Then a flock of seagulls approached the forming morning clouds across the calm sea. "I am empty inside. I do gambling and having fun, yet I am not happy."

"Maybe because you don't know what Love is. That is why you don't know what it's like to be happy."

"I don't like love." He winced.

"Then you don't like happiness."

He pressed his lips. Then smiled at me. "I think you're smart."

I raised an eyebrow. "You only think?"

He laughed. "You're funny."

Then suddenly, he glowed faintly. "Whoa. What's going on."

"I don't know." Worry filled my whole system. Then without any hesitations, I reached for him. And I felt the warmth I've never felt for a long a time.

"I've never laughed that genuinely in a long time." He confessed.

"I've never felt that same warmth you gave me since when my mother died."

"I'm sorry." He said.

The glowing stayed like that, like the light of a dying lamp. He doesn't look hurt, but we were still bothered.

"Have you ever wondered how someone so rich, yet isn't happy?" He asked.

"Sounds like me", I admitted. "Because there are things that money couldn't buy."

"Like?"

"Like Love, Happiness, and Peace."

"Money can buy happiness." He said.

I shook my head sideways. "No. It can only buy temporary Happiness, but never the Happiness I am longing for. It can buy me clothes, a new castle, or even a new horse, and a servant, but I wouldn't want any of those. I only want one person that would make me feel happy every day."

"Then you're looking for love."

I stopped breathing momentarily. "I...Yes."

"Then, we're looking for the same thing."

"Who would have known that the two of us, looking for something we couldn't find, will come across and have the answers from someone who has no idea about what Love, Happiness, and Peace looked like."

"Feels like." He corrected me. "We cannot see love and peace. Not even happiness. It's easy to say that you're happy, in love, or in peace. But no one could tell if you're telling the truth or no." Then his glowing body intensified.

I panicked inside. "What on God's earth is happening to you?!"

He didn't seem so worried like me. But instead, he took a deep breath and sighed. "I think I understand it. The more we discover what those things feel like, I am starting to go back where I am supposed to be. For 22 years, this was the first time I've ever had a deep and pure conversation like this."

"We allowed ourselves to help each other and discover what we lack. To find the real meaning of Happiness, Love, and Peace. That it starts within us and then finding someone to share it with then lives happily ever after."

He cracked the most genuine smile ever—something I hadn't seen for quite a while now. And then I felt a sudden gush of blood in my heart. "Can I hug you?" I asked him.

"Why?"

"Because my heart is telling me."

He smiled. "I heard that heart makes people do stupid things." Then he moved closer and hugged me. I closed my eyes, and I saw my mum's face. She was smiling at me. Her hands were warm, and I felt safe again. I felt like I am sleeping and floating along with the clouds beneath the wheat fields of England.

When I opened my eyes, the Gambler's already fading together with the bright glow.

"I think it's time to go now." He said. And for once, I felt the ultimate melancholy again—the same as what I've felt when my mum left dad and me.

"Wait!" When we let go of our embrace, tears clouded my vision. And when I reach for him, he vanished in thin air. Leaving me with answers but in ultimate despair, and confusion.