Chapter 297 Indecisiveness 2
Walking to his parents' room, Daneel took a deep breath before knocking and waiting.
This was the one room in the Palace where a smile would always light up his face involuntarily due to the sight of his mother or father feeling happy that he had come to visit.
This time, as his father opened the door, he saw that both of them were there, and they seemed to have been discussing about something, as was evident from the two wine glasses on the table.
No matter what his parents had gone through, the love they shared had never been affected. This only increased the fear in Daneel that he might miss something as special as this if he rejected Eloise.
These days, his mother had been spending her time touring the inner and outer cities and helping people in whatever way she could. He had sanctioned her a certain amount before to donate in order to build goodwill in the people, and she had been using this money very productively.
Her efforts had also definitely gone a long way in increasing public satisfaction, but she was, after all, just one person. Hence, the number of people that she had been able to reach wasn't very high.
Thinking on this, Daneel got an idea to magnify the effects of his mother's actions, but he shelved it for now as he had something more important to discuss.
Seeing the grave expression on Daneel's face, it seemed that Maria and Robert had also understood that something was wrong.
"Daneel, is everything all right?"
As he heard the question from Maria, Daneel first took a seat on the single sofa adjacent to the one on which his parents were sitting.
Before speaking, he first levitated a glass from the cupboard to the table before filling it with wine from the bottle nearby and drinking it in one go.
Robert only sat back and didn't say anything, but Maria now had a worried expression on her face.
After a few seconds, Daneel finally broke his silence.
"Mom, Dad, can you guys tell me how you fell in love?"
Hearing the sudden question, Daneel's parents looked at each other with confusion.
Instead of choosing to ask the questions on their mind, Robert and Maria first decided to answer, as they knew that their son would mostly answer them when the time came.
They had reached this decision mutually, but no words had had to be spoken between them.
Even Daneel managed to notice this due to the clarity that had come in both of their eyes at almost the same time.
Next, they smiled at each other briefly before Maria turned to Daneel and started to answer his question.
"You already know that your father's family approached mine for marriage after he fell in love with me at first sight in a family gathering, right?"
Knowing this part of their story, Daneel nodded.
"I was only 18 at the time, and your father was already a grizzled army man with a rough voice and a rough face. When my family came and told me that he had fallen in love, I was shocked. I had no idea what he saw, but I certainly hadn't seen anything in him to make me want to agree instantly."
At this moment, a slight blush came on Maria's face.
"This next part, even your deceased grandparents didn't know. I said that I needed some time, and I used a friend's friend, who was a part of your father's squad in the army to send a message to him that I wanted to meet. We met outside the Capital City, in front of a small lake around 10 Km east of-"
"15 km."
"15 Km east of the western gate. I told my parents that I was sleeping in a friend's house, and I had used the opportunity to get there. Naturally, I was a bit scared about being found out."
"She was jittery and actually almost attacked me when I spoke behind her.", said Robert, with a smile wider than Daneel had seen in a long time.
Pinching her husband discreetly and making him stop speaking, Maria continued as if nothing had happened.
"After he greeted me, there was silence for an hour. I still remember that there was a full moon, and its rays reflected on the lake's surface to form a beautiful sight by which I was spellbound. Just like that, we stood and looked on, until your father unsheathed a knife suddenly and threw it in a direction."
Daneel was surprised by this twist of events. Had an enemy appeared?
"It was at a tree beside the lake on top of which a flower had bloomed. The knife had cut it cleanly, and it floated down and was caught in your father's hands. Holding it forward, he walked up to me and said, 'Marry me, and I will protect you and take care of you forever.'"
Hearing this, Daneel looked at his father with a shocked expression.
This man, who usually spoke in a gruff tone and almost always had a serious expression on his face, had actually been so romantic in his youth?!
"And you fell in love, mom?", Daneel asked.
He had been reminded of the soap operas and movies he had seen on Earth. In them, such beautiful moments usually resulted in the heroine falling in love with the hero.
Yet, his words actually made the couple laugh out loud.
Confused, he waited for them to stop and explain what had been so funny about what he had said.
"Daneel, you might be the King, but you can really be very dumb sometimes."
The stumped expression on his face as he heard this only made his parents laugh more.
After quieting down, Maria said, "Of course I didn't, son. But I agreed to marry him."
"Why? Why would you choose to spend your life with someone whom you might not love?"
This time, it was Robert who answered.
"It is because she saw in my eyes that I was being sincere. At that moment, I gave your mother the trust that I would be with her, always."
Nodding, Maria grasped Robert's hand sweetly and said, "Yes. I knew that this was someone whom I might not love at the moment, but I was sure that there was no one who could take care of me better. I was right; we did end up falling in love later, when we got to know each other. Daneel, you have to understand that love is different for each and every person. Ask what you came here to ask."
Pondering on his mother's words, Daneel nodded and voiced the query that had been bothering him so much.
"Eloise said she loves me. I don't know what to do. I don't know what I… feel. And I'm scared that I will lose her if I reject her now."
A serious expression came on both Robert and Maria's faces as they heard their son speak in a tone that had more doubt and indecisiveness than they had seen in a long time.
After a few seconds, Robert shared a look with Maria before saying to Daneel, "Follow me, son."
Walking to the balcony, Robert waited for Daneel to approach before starting to speak.
"Son, in this matter, both of us have the same advice. How much ever we want to have a daughter in law and grandkids whom we can play with, we think that it is most important that you choose to marry someone for the right reason. Whoever you marry, you must be willing to share your life with them. You must give them time, care and trust. That means that you should not just marry for the sake of marriage and then leave your wife alone while you grow stronger or follow your dreams. You have a lot of time; do not fear about never finding love again. Just ask your inner self: do you love Eloise and want to spend your life with her for the right reason? Or are you considering it only out of fear? The answer to that should be the reason behind your decision, Daneel."
Looking out at the beautiful scenery, Daneel started to recall each and every interaction he had had with Eloise so far.
The story his parents had told him had made him realize that love was probably not what he had seen in movies back on Earth.
As he took his father's words to heart and started to think deeply about the topic, a clarity began to form in his mind about just what he wanted to do.