Fantasy Romeo and Juliet

 Long time ago, there lived a fearless country leader named Romeo. He was intelligent, brave, and handsome. Some would even dare to call him perfect except one minor flaw: He can't fall in love. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how many women he tried with. Perhaps his childhood trauma of a missing female best friend caused it? That is one of the rumor anyway.

Once he reached his middle age, his entire family forced him to marry a young princess from a military country against his will. He accepted his duty to continue his royal lineage with a heavy heart. Chasing true love is just time-wasting, he thought. Until she appeared back in his life. 

Who is she? Her name is Juliet, Romeo's female best friend who disappeared when they were both kids. A few days before Romeo's wedding, he discovered Juliet begging at his front door. Apparently, her merchant family went bankrupt when they were kids and they had to disappear before the loan sharks can arrive at their house. Her and her family spent the last 20 years living in hiding, always afraid of their own shadow. 

Romeo, being the kind person that he was, helped Juliet in every way possible. He gave her money to start life again. He settled her debts for her. He listened to her accumulated fears and traumas, often spending entire nights wiping tears away. They had so much to tell each other and so little time to even do that. Romeo's wedding was near. 

Juliet became so close to Romeo until the royal court started rumors about her. It even reached the ears of Romeo's fiance! They had an argument and fought over this issue. Romeo's father also suggested to him to just take Juliet as his concubine if he loved her that much. After all, it is a well known fact that Kings often marry for power and take concubine(s) for love. 

Romeo's decision was a very selfish one. He decided to cancel his marriage with the princess instead of taking Juliet as his concubine. The Diplomats for both countries lost many nights of sleep trying to deal with the aftermath. War was inevitable because of Love. Romeo, knowing everything started from him, volunteered to lead his country's army from the front lines. Even if that meant possibly never seeing Juliet again.

Juliet, knowing how Romeo thinks, gave her blessing to him. She waited at the palace and endured countless bullying from everyone who knew the truth behind this war. In her heart, she was deeply conflicted with Romeo's decision. She does not want to share her man with another woman but she doesn't want to watch countless people die because of her either. In every possible solution lies regret. 

The war rages on for years. After a long stalemate and countless casualties, both sides signed a peace treaty. Romeo can finally come home to Juliet. Both were overjoyed at the thought of being together again. Until......

Romeo came back as a cripple, with the war costing him an arm and a leg. Juliet cannot hide the disgust on her face and told him so. Heart-broken, Romeo can only cry and scream "WHAT IS THE POINT OF LOVE IF ALL YOU FEEL IS PAIN?" 

Countless people died for love and still there is no happy ending. Romeo finally managed to wake up from his fantasy ending with Juliet. He died a broken man, ending the royal lineage with him, and his country later on got so weak from that war that it got absorbed as it's neighbor's new territory.

THE END.