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Knock.
“Enter.”
“Sir,” Balduin replied, coming in, but I didn’t bother to even look at him.
“What is it?”
“I’ve come to inform you the film crew is here.”
“Film crew?” I repeated, not understanding.
“Yes, sir. You approved a documentary on your father and his life in the palace.”
“Oh, right.” I had because I had gotten word of another company that wanted to do a special on him. I knew it would be just the first of an onslaught of things to come. And I wanted there to be at least one made and approved of by the palace. “I did not realize they were starting so soon. Where are they now?”
“In the cherry blossom garden.”
I frowned. “Why now? They aren’t in peak bloom anymore.”
“I’m not sure, sir.”
If they were going to do this, they were supposed to do it right. Rising from my chair, I stepped out of the room and down the hall. Of course, there were still cherry blossoms, but it wasn’t the same impact as to how they were in April. Those were important to my father. Checking out the window, I glanced around to see two cameramen and a female already filming.
The footmen, seeing me approach, opened the doors for me. The first thing I noticed was the scent of the trees, and the second was her words…
“The cherry blossoms you see were given to King Lionel III by Emperor Yamasato Hitomaro of Japan at his coronation. Along with the sprout of these trees, he included a message: “May your reign see their full blossoming thrice over.” A special wish as the growth and full blossoming for these trees takes anywhere from twenty to thirty years. While King Lionel might not have seen it bloom thrice over, he did make them to full bloom, and it is said that every year he would stop here, in this very spot, and watch them in remembrance of how far he had come. The day he died, he’d managed to come here one last time to admire their beauty in full bloom. A sight we have missed, but believe he must have seen this…the fading fall of greatness. The circle of life—we all have our time, and then that time passes and new arises. Because things are not forever, we must admire every state before we are no longer able to.” She smiled into the camera.
“An…d got it!” the cameraman said to her, giving a thumbs-up.
She exhaled and hunched over once before rushing to see the shot. “How was it? Do we need to break it up more? I think I said too much at once.”
“No, it is fine,” I replied.
They spun back around at me, and then their eyes widened. It was a bit amusing. It took a moment before they all seemed to reboot.
“Your Majesty,” they all said quickly.
“Forgive me for interrupting. I grew curious,” I said, looking over their small setup and then back to the woman with shoulder-length blond hair. It was strange; I was sure I’d seen her face before. “Have we met, miss…”
“Yes,” she exclaimed, overly excited. “Ummm, I mean yes, sir. Last December, I was part of the crew tasked to work on your last project…Winifred Peckham.”
“Ah… Winnie, right?” I remembered now. “You changed your hair, so I did not recall.”
“Yes, sir!” She grabbed her hair. “More TV…standard.”
“Oh, so you were promoted. Congratulations.” I smiled and looked at her crew. “Is this all the people you need? I was expecting a bit more…staff?”
“I thought it best to keep it limited for now, sir. We did not want to disturb you as we know you are all still mourning,” she replied.
“Well, I will not disturb you,” I said before turning to leave when she called out to me again.
“Sir!”
“Yes?” I paused, looking at her.
She stepped closer. “Um…this is my first project…well, not my first project. More like my first solo. Not that they’d have me do everything, just this section of the documentary on the gardens and…I really want to make it special. They gave me access to the library, and I found some…journals of his—”
“Journals? My father?” I asked.
