The Royal Blood
(A Be My Princess Fan Fiction)
Fan Fiction by : Animedaisuki
Chapter 8 : No Choice, I Went Home
I took a deep breath. I knew I needed it for my feelings were starting to look like a game of scrabble, and just to ket you know, I hate scrabble. My feelings jumbled like that, it looked almost like a pretzel, I'm confused as shit right now. Forgetting that I was in the presence of the princes, I stormed off and walked straight into the city.
Ring ring ring ring
Calling: Arcel Miller
Call end
'Oh. That was his 11th call…'
At the same time, in the Royal Garden
Ring ring ri—
"What?", I answered softly over the phone.
"Where are you?", Arcel solidly asked, frowing.
"I'm going home."
"Racel, where are you?"
"I'm…not really su—"
Beep beep beep
Arcel gripped his phone, frustrated.
"Did she say anything?", Joshua asked in equal concern.
Arcel frowned, "That stupid girl…I think her phone just died."
With Racel
I gasped out loud, "Waaah! My phone just died. Oh well, might as well go home."
Raven Kingdom is a wonderful place filled with unique and one-of-a-kind architecture and sites. I haven't got hold of their culture, tradition, and customs so I don't know what to say about them, however, I do feel like the place does have great things to be proud of. Well, not like it concerns me anyway. I left the palace, earlier, found out that my stuff from camp were delivered to the palace, thus, I took all that I have and left. Mom wants me home anyway, and I have work to do, also, I don't like how step-mom welcomes me. As for the king, I don't have any thoughts, he apologized, but I didn't get the chance to reply, and if ever I did, I wouldn't know what to say. I need time. I need time. There's too much to grasp, it's choking me.
In the meantime, I found myself boarding on the royal plan of Raven, just as my mother wished. In no time, I would be back in Oriens, and in three days, I would be attending the Duchess' coronation.
I let out a sigh, "I think I'm gonna go crazy."
In the Palace of Raven Kingdom
Queen Emerald approached the princes who were sitting worried in the lounge.
"Gentlemen, what seems to be the problem?"
Arcel crossed his arms over his chest and spoke, "Racel hasn't come back since this afternoon. We managed to contact her, but she didn't know the place she was at then. That's all we got, her phone died in the middle of the conversation."
Queen Emerald made her way over to the couch and sat beside her son.
"I've received word that she already went home. Don't worry so much, dear, she knows how to handle herself.", Queen Emerald said, placing a hand on her son's shoulder.
"She's still a girl, Your Majesty…", Joshua muttered. He seemed too worried, placing his hand on his forehead, looking so stressed.
Queen Emerald smiled sadly, "I worry for her as well…she can be reckless. Anyway, your planes must be here waiting to send you all back home, why don't you all get ready? I had all your things sent over here, I'll just arrange your rides."
Afterwards, the princes were sent to the airport, Queen Emerald and Prince Arcel went to bid them farewell.
"Mother, will Racel be okay? I mean, after all the things she knew.", Arcel asked as he looked outside the limo's window.
Queen Emerald gazed at the disappearing sun, "If you were in her place, dear, what would you feel?"
"I don't know. Confused, angry, sad? I might as well just go crazy."
"That's how Racel feels right now, and I worry so much for her because it might get in the way of her goals. The girl can be irrational at times as well."
Arcel smiled sadly.
"Arcel, dear, how much you've grown. You're now a fine young man. I'm sorry."
Arcel stared at his mother, stunned, "F-For what?"
"For leaving you…", Queen Emerald stated. "I could go on and on talking about your sister, because I was with her all her life…I wish I could do the same for you. Not a day passes by that I don't worry for you."
Arcel smiled, "It's alright now, Mother. We're together now. I admit, I never understood before, why you took her with you and left me, but I also learned how to realize because of that. After all, you always send me letters and gifts every month."
"It was crazy, because I kept it all from your sister back then, because I wanted to keep her safe."
"I'm sure she'll understand, right?"
Queen Emerald laughed lightly, "Racel…she was never the understanding type, but she has a good heart, we'll see in three days, during the coronation. If she attends, then we can assume she understood."
Meanwhile at the airport of Raven Kingdom
"What the hell are you all doing in my plane?!", Glenn shouted to the other five princes who sat comfortably in Oriens' royal plane.
"Apparently, our parents are currently attending a conference in your kingdom, and thus, we were asked to just go there and wait.", Wilfred replied.
Joshua, who was silently drinking a glass of orange juice, added, "Let's have dinner at your place."
"What?!", Glenn screamed. "I was not informed of this!"
Keith laughed, "Well, do you want us to inform you again? I don't mind repeating what Wilfred said, ehem, 'Apparently, our parents are curren—"
"Stop, stop! I get that part.", Glenn interrupted.
Just then, Yu appeared from the co-pilot's seat and announced, "Your highnesses, we are about to take off. Please do settle down."
"Let's just enjoy the flight, Glennypoo, in fact, it's much more fun because we're all together!"
"Yeah, whatever…", Glenn muttered.
Edward turned in the television, "Let's see what's going on in Oriens."
"The whole world is now aware. The secret that Raven Kingdom has been keeping for 22 years. The princess was unaware herself. Racel Morgan, the secret princess of Raven Kingdom, is a fashion designer of the famous designing company, Jean Pierre. Rumours have it that she was also the same person who became the fiancée of the Crown Prince of Dres Van, Joshua Lieben."
The princes watched in awe, silently, as a footage of Jean Pierre himself, being interviewed, appeared.
Reporter: "Have you been aware all this time?"
Jean: "No. But I don't think it matters."
Reporter: "What's going to happen then? Now that her status is well-known to the world."
Jean: "That's not for me to decide. Hahaha! Racel is a person of great heart and sharp mind, talented, and hard-working. I know her as a person with a dream of becoming a great designer. It's not for me to decide for her, besides, my workers are not just employees, they're family."
Then, from the background, some people screamed, "It's her!", "She's arrived in Oriens!", "Racel Morgan's here!"
The footage being shown live was now directed towards me, who was surrounded by security personnel as I walked towards my car.
"Miss Morgan, how does it feel after finding out the truth of your identity?"
"Your ladyship, is it true that you are one of Jean Pierre's?"
"Were you Prince Joshua's ex-fiancée? What happened then? It was a worldwide shock!"
"You are currently a citizen of Oriens, are you planning on moving to Raven to attend to your duties as its princess?"
"Your mother is the daughter of the Great Nobel Michael, what's the story on that?"
"The one your mother re-married, he's an architect, correct?"
"Miss Morgan…"
"Your highness…"
The phrases were now jumbled together as the crowd grew wilder. I decided not to speak up and answer their questions, instead, I kept walking towards my car, I'm not ready to give out a statement, nor am I sure if all of the information that I heard were true.
The footage ended, and Keith decided to turn off the television.
"It's a chaos in the airport.", Keith muttered. "Wait, if that was her car, the more dangerous, right? Her plate number can be seen, and wherever she goes, she'll get followed around."
Edward frowned, "Not only that, they might even find out where she lives."
"They already know what's up. Where she works, her family background even before she was said to be a royal.", Roberto added, crossing his arms over his chest.
Joshua sat silently, frowning and in worry.
With Racel
"Aaaagggghhhhhh!", I shouted, as I drove in the highways of Oriens. "I'm starting to hate my life. This is a catastrophe! A disaster! My life's gonna go down the drain! Everything! Aaarrrghhhh! Shit, wait, they found out what my car looks like, meaning, they knew my…of course they knew my plate number. Now I'm gonna be followed aroud everywhere I go, who I'm with, and then of course, I'm dead as hell gonna be judged and misunderstood, because those people fancy assuming things."
I took a deep breath and just tried to formulate my composure.
"AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!", I cried. Much louder. "Well, I can't go straight home. I'm gonna have to call—ugh—my battery died."
I pulled over the car and searched for the charging cable, plugged it in my car's socket, drove again, waited for the phone to turn on. When it did, the screen showed:
You have 152 missed calls
You have 140 messages
You have 2.5 million follow requests on Instagram
You have been tagged in 600+ posts on Facebook
'Ugh…this was the same thing that happened when I became Joshua's fake fiancee. Only this time, the world really gave a shit.'
The car's screen showed:
Incoming call: Joshua Lieben
"Hey, what's going on?"
"What do you mean what's going on?! Where the hell are you?"
"Driving."
"To?"
"I actually don't know, but I'm trying to avoid public eye for now. I think I'm headed to Nobel Michael's. I don't know, I didn't see the signage to where this road's leading to, but I think it's to The Holy Land."
"Hey, idiot, don't do anything stupid yo—Racel, wait there, okay?—Drive safely!"
"Was that Glenn, Wilfred, and Roberto?"
"Yeah. Our parents are at the palace of Oriens, attending a conference. They wanted us to wait over there instead."
"I see. Well, I gotta go."
"Hey, be careful."
"I will."
Call ended
Incoming call: Arcel Miller
"Hey."
"You okay? Where are you? Mom's worried, now that she saw what happened on the airport, you know, over the news."
"I'm okay, I'm driving to Nobel Michael's. I don't wanna go straight home, yet, quite dangerous since I'm alone, and they probably caught my car's plate number."
"Good idea. Just make sure to keep your guard up, alright? We're miles away from you, we can't get there in a few seconds, so be careful, alright?"
"Hahaha! Such a worry-wart brother you are, thanks, and I will."
"We'll see you in the coronation?"
I went silent for a moment.
"Racel…?"
"Huh? Oh…uhm, I don't know…"
"So you won't attend?"
"I don't know either. We'll just see then."
"Right, well…"
"I gotta go."
"Alright."
Call ended
With the Princes
The limo, after arriving in Oriens, took them straight to the royal household. Upon arriving, they headed straight to the conference room, where their parents were supposed to be.
"We should probably sit over there first, I don't think they'll be finished soon.", Glenn offered.
The princes walked over the couches just close to the conference room as Yu served them some tea.
Voices echoing from the conference room can be heard:
"So, it has spread out…"
"It's quite an unexpected turn of events, even Nobel Michael has managed to keep it for so long."
"No matter, the girl is the problem! She must be well-guarded! Something might happen…"
"They sure can talk as loud…", Keith muttered, sipping his tea.
"I'm pretty sure they're talking about Racel. Heh, everyone is.", Roberto stated, laughing.
Just then, the conference room's door opened, revealing Jan.
"Oh, your highnesses, their majesties request your presence.", Jan called out.
Inside the conference room, the kings and queens of the major six kingdoms sat around a table.
"Do you know the whereabouts of your friend?", Wilfred's father asked.
"Not exactly, father, but she said that she was on her way to Nobel Michael's.", Wilfred answered.
Joshua's father exhaled, "I think that's best for now, she'll be safer there than her own home."
"Glenn, tell Racel that if ever she goes back here, she's more than welcome to stay in the palace, actually, tell her that I require her so, Queen Emerald has been informed of this as well. Just let her know.", Glenn's mother stated.
Glenn nodded in response.
"Right, well, we're finished here.", Keith's father declared.
While in the Palace of Nobel Michael
"Miss Morgan, we've been expecting you.", Zain, the head butler, approached me as I walked up the entrance hall.
"Zain."
"Nobel Michael is waiting inside the crown room. He wanted to speak to you about something."
I smiled in acknowledgement to Zain and made my way towards where Uncle Mike was.
I walked in the Crown Room, and just as so, Uncle Mike was there, standing right in front his daughter's, aka my mother's, aka Queen Emerald's, crown.
"Uncle Mike?"
Nobel Michael turned around and smiled at me, "Why it's Racel, welcome, welcome."
"Uncle Mike, I wanted to ask you if—"
Uncle Mike chuckled, "I know. You have a lot of questions, go ahead, tell me what's troubling you."
I inhaled a load of air and spoke up, "I can't seem to ask anymore, I don't know what to ask."
Uncle Mike laughed, "Well then, let me start off with your mother. She was a feisty one when she was little, always the complaints, but you know, your mother is someone loving. She grew up to be somewhat of a rebel princess."
"Rebel…princess?"
Uncle Mike nodded, "Mm. I don't need to tell you the entire story of her life, however, she went away when she turned 20, I was devastated then. You see, her mother passed away after giving birth to her, and since then, I raised her by myself, and to me, I felt the kind of pain a mother would have felt upon losing a child. Emerald kept in touch, however, and I found out that she was in fact in Raven Kingdom. She told me stories about her life there, and I was saddened, because I found out that she worked at the palace as a maid…"
My eyes widened, "A-A maid?! Mother?"
Father,
I'm sorry…but I know you understand. Please don't worry, for I'm well. I work as a maid at the palace of Raven Kingdom, no matter, they treat me well. I know you didn't raise me to become such, however, I have always dreamt of living a life that I wasn't born into: the normal life. I promise, that I'll keep myself safe, and maybe someday, I'll come back again, after I feel like I've finished my task. I love you, father.
Emerald
"Indeed, but because of that, she met your father, King Aston. During that time, he was engaged with Duchess Emilia. Your father fell in love with Emerald, and cancelled his forged engagement with Emilia, deciding to marry your mother. Eventually, the royals of Raven found out that your mother was my daughter. She came back, asking for my blessing, along with the royals of Raven. This was the long kept secret between the Holy Land and Raven Kingdom. The run-away princess marrying the prince of Raven."
"It sounds like a love story everyone has heard of. I never thought that it actually happens."
"Well, they got married, but it was done in discretion. After a while, your mother gave birth to Prince Arcel, your brother. After a year, she gave birth to you, a princess. It was a shock to the entire world, because the king announced for you to be sent to an orphanage instead. I was disappointed, but due to tradition, it must be done. Raven Kingdom is a kingdom where generations of rulers were all princes. Even in history, no girl was born into the royal family, until you."
"Sire, her majesty has given birth to your second child.", the minister reported.
"Where is my wife? I must see her."
"Y-You gave birth to a girl…"
"Yes, sire. I shall name her: Racel.", Emerald stated happily.
The king looked down, "Guards, take this child away…"
"But dear…you can't simply—", Emerald cried out.
"Enough. Giving birth to a girl is more than enough. You can't simply bring bad luck to my kingdom, Emerald. Giving birth to a princess is a disgrace."
Emerald's tears fell down her cheeks, as King Aston walked away without a second word.
I looked down sadly, "There has to be a reason other than tradition…right?"
"I'm afraid only your parents can answer that. But to finish it up, in order to protect you from your fate, your mother stepped down from her throne in order to take care of you. Since then, King Aston has…changed. Your mother went home, along with you, and asked me to bless her once more, this time, by allowing her to give up her crown as the princess of this land.
"Aston, the princess is also your child. As a mother, I can't stand seeing my own child be taken away from me by her own father. If giving birth to her was a disgrace, your actions of throwing her out is lowly for a king respected by many. In fact, I wish you weren't her father, because you don't deserve to be. I'm letting go of the crown, give me my daughter, we'll leave this place, hopefully, you won't bother with us anymore. Marrying you was…my biggest regret. Farewell, Your Majesty."
"Father…I ask of you one last wish…please…set me free. I would like to step down my throne of being the princess of this land. I wish to take care of my daughter, give her a home…"
"You're well aware, child, that sooner or later, this conspiracy will eventually come out. Do you wish to take responsibility of that?"
"For my child father, I will. Racel is enough for me to continue living."
Nobel Michael smiled, "Then you have my blessings. I will continue to give you my help and support. Never hesitate to ask, child."
Emerald smiled and hugged her father, teary eyed, "Thank you, father…thank you…"
"She brought you up alone, and not too long after, she found another love, and thus she married the father you know right now. Your father belongs to one of the noble families in Oriens. Your mother had to tell him, of course, the story of her life before she met him. They came to me, asking for my blessing for their marriage, and of course, I agreed. Your father was a well-refined man, though born into a rich family, he lived in simplicity, along with your mother. Unfortunately, your mother became incapable of bearing another child, and thus, they never had a child. However, your father treated you as if you were his own, he loved you dearly, he filled in what King Aston wasn't capable of giving you: love.", Nobel Michael stated.
"But…the events that are happening now…it doesn't concern me anymore, right? I don't have to be caught up into this royal mess. But why…"
"I have a strong belief that someone close to the royal family of Raven has something to do about this."
I gasped, "But who would even dare?"
"Many would, Racel. As long as your father is in worse condition, many nobles will try to overpower him since Arcel is not yet of age…But child, think nothing of it. The truth will eventually be set free. Things have their way around.", Nobel Michael stated.
He walked towards a rectangular wooden container and gave it to me.
"Here.", Nobel Michael placed the container on my hands. "This is for you."
I opened the box and saw a Kanzashi (Kanzashi - Japanese Hair Pin). It was gold, attached at one end was a diamond carved into a rose about 2-3 centimeters in diameter.
"Uncle Mike, thank you! I love it so much!", I squealed.
Uncle Mike chuckled, "I was supposed to give you that on your eighteenth birthday, but I didn't think it was the right time."
"Thank you. I'll wear this when I attend the coronation.", I blurted out.
"I guess I'll see you there, child.", Nobel Michael stated, nodding in encouragement.
I bid my grandfather farewell, and quickly, I drove back to Oriens. Just to inform you though, Oriens Kingdom didn't used to be attached to the Holy Land, however, it was then decided that the major six must at least have easy access to this place, thus, they created a bridge connecting Oriens and the Holy Land.
Incoming call: Glenn Casiraghi
"Racel, are you on your way back to Oriens?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Come over. Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes."
"Oh, sure. Thanks for the invite."
Call ended
I arrived in Oriens' palace, greeted by Glenn along with Alan.
"Whaaaaaattt?", I asked in emphasis.
Glenn nodded in satisfaction, "Mother's orders. You are to stay here in the palace for the meantime."
Alan pulled my arm and walked me towards the dining room, "Come on, princess! I'm so happy, Racel will stay in the castle!"
"Alan, dinner will be served in the ballroom, remember?", Glenn reminded.
Alan stopped in his tracks, blushing a tint of red, huffing, "Hmph! I knew that!"
I giggled at his embarrassment.
When we arrived at the ballroom, I immediately greeted upon opening the door.
"Your Majesties, it's an honor to be—huh?"
I was faced with all the royals of the six major kingdoms, including the other princes.
"Racel, darling, welcome.", Glenn's mother greeted, gesturing for us: Glenn, Alan, and I, to sit down. I was seated beside Joshua, as requested by Roberto.
"Racel, how have you been after all this?", Joshua's mother asked.
I sighed, "Honestly, I haven't given much thought as to how I'm doing, Your Majesty."
"You must be in a state of shock.", Wilfred's father commented, me nodding in reply.
"You must understand that for the time being, you must stay within the premises of Oriens' palace. It was requested of your mother.", Glenn's father added. "Have you made up your mind yet? Will you be attending the coronation?"
"The truth will eventually be set free.", I thought about what Nobel Michael said.
"Yes, Sire, I will."
We finished up dinner, the kings and queens decided to chat a little more, leaving us children wandering around the palace.
"So…what's gonna happen to you now?", Joshua asked, directing the question to me.
I shrugged, "I don't know."
A long pause among us settled in.
"I talked to my father…", I started, earning myself a gaze from the princes. "He apologized."
"What did you say to him?", Glenn asked.
"Didn't get the chance to. His doctor said it was time for his medication."
Ring ring
Fr: Arcel
Racel…there's something you need to know.
Me:
What is it?
"What's wrong? Why the sour face?", Joshua asked.
I showed them the message.
Fr: Arcel
Mom is pushing through your coronation. The Duchess, along with the nobles, disagreed, however, father has permitted it. It's still up for debate though.
"You'll officially become a princess if it goes well, your father even agreed! That's great!", Roberto squealed in excitement.
I stared at him, "Oy! You know what it means if I become a princess, right?"
Roberto jumped up and down, "Yup! You'll be royalty! You'll finally be able to go back to where you belong! What's not good about that?"
My eyebrow twitched. I showed them the next message, "This."
Fr: Arcel
Side note, if your coronation was pushed through, Duchess Emilia said she would have you engaged to her nephew, Austin Andrews, eldest son of Grand Duke Harold Andrews.
Me:
WHAAAATTTTT?!
Fr: Arcel
That's kind of a good thing for you, since I'm pretty sure no guy would tie-the-knot with a demon, right? Hehe.
"That little piece of—", I muttered. 'Deep breaths. Deep breaths.'
Me:
Get lost, you over-sized chump.
I sighed deeply.
"They'll have you engaged?!", Roberto freaked, giving him a nod in response.
Keith scratched the back of his head, "Your romantic life is such a waste, every single time, you're forced to be engaged to some stupid runt."
Joshua's eyebrow twitched.
"Oy!", Joshua and I said in unison.
Keith's eyes sparkled with humor, releasing a tremendous amount of laughter.
"Oh yeaaaahhh! I almost forgot, you and Racel got involved in a false engagement!", Roberto commented.
Somehow, we caught each other's glance, so I quickly turned away, blushing. Joshua sucks at covering his embarrassment, so his face instantly heated up in front of the princes.
"My, my, Joshua blushes now.", Edward pressed on, smirking. Edward may be the gentleman most of the time, but if he starts teasing, you might as well spill.
"I'm not blushing!", Joshua shouted, his cheeks tinted red.
I laughed along with them and said, "You are!"
The night quickly ended, and the princes were getting ready to head back to Oriens' airport. Joshua approached me with his usual gaze.
"Will you be okay?", Joshua asked, blushing a shade of pink. It seems that he thought the evening light could hide his tinted cheeks, but it didn't. Unfortunately for him.
I smiled, "I will. See you on the upcoming coronation?"
He smiled, "Yeah."
Awkward silence
Joshua gulped. I could feel him tensing up, his eyes were looking everywhere. Yeah, that's how Joshua is when he's nervous. However, I'm kind of starting to feel the same way, I could feel my palms sweating.
"U-Uhm…", I started.
Joshua looked away, "Uh…I'll see you then."
"Yeah."
'What's wrong with me?!', Joshua thought to himself as he walked towards the front porch, where the limos were waiting.
Glenn joined me as I bid farewell to the other royals and, afterwards, accompanied me to the royal garden. We sat at the nearest bench in silence, until my phone notified me of a message.
Fr: Mom
I hope you're doing well, dear. You need not worry of what you will be wearing on the Duchess' coronation, I had it take care of. Keep safe always, that's an order. Love you sweetheart!
Me:
I'm doing okay so far, don't worry too much mom. Thanks for taking care of my dress, I'll be sure to attend. Love you too, mom.
"Who was it?", Glenn asked.
"Mom. Just checking up on me."
Glenn smiled, "Wanna grab some late night coffee?"
I stared at him, dumbfounded, "Right now? If people see us, they'll obviously get the wrong idea, we might get involved in an issue we wouldn't want."
Glenn laughed.
"Don't laugh idiot, this is a serious thing!"
Glenn looked at me, smiling, "I don't mind, as long as it's you…"
I stared at him, trying to force away my blush.
"Kidding, dumbhead. Try not to fall for me though."
I gritted my teeth, "Glenn…"
He raised his hands in surrender, "Sorry, sorry! I was just trying to make you feel better."
I raised an eyebrow, "How is that supposed to make me feel better, Casiraghi?"
Then, he smirked evilly, "Why? Would you rather have Joshua Lieben accompany you?"
I blushed and punched him playfully on the arm, "Shut up already! That wasn't what I meant!"
Glenn laughed, "We both know you still like him."
I huffed defensively, still blushing, "I don't!"
"Hello, Joshua?"
My jaw dropped, seeing Glenn talking on the phone with none other than Joshua. Glenn smirked at me and placed the call on loud speaker.
"What do you want at this late hour, Glenn?"
"Ohh, nothing much, someone wanted to speak with you."
I tried to grab the phone from him to no avail.
"Glenn!", I shouted, much louder than what I expected.
"Racel?"
I blushed and said, "It's his sister!"
"Glenn doesn't have a sister, stupid. What is it that you two fools want?"
"Racel wants to see you tomorrow! She'll finally admit her feelings to you! She told me she loves you and that she still feels about end of your engagement.", Glenn stated, and to me, it was as if the world ended.
Joshua remained silent for an unnatural length of time.
"I-Is that tru—Will you two quit it?! Tch, such childish idiots. I'm going to bed, good night."
"Hehe, good night, Joshua.", Glenn stated, as he smirked his evilest towards me. "Good night, Racel."
I rolled my eyes, "So much for sleep, Prince Glenn."
Glenn laughed nervously, "Hey, are you mad? You don't have to worry about it, I don't think Joshua even understood what I said, I mean, for someone like him, he's still probably half-asleep when he answered the phone."
I sighed, "Yeah, you're probably right. Let's just go get that coffee."
We were most definitely wrong. Joshua sat up in his bed, blushing as he brushed his hair with his hand.
"That girl—ugh—I can't believe I'm blushing over something like that.", Joshua muttered, smiling lightly to himself.
Nothing much has happened during the days before the Duchess' coronation. I continued to stay in Oriens Kingdom's palace, much to Alan's excitement. The day of the coronation finally came, and as stated by my mom, she had my "thing to wear" readied, thus, I decided to go with an easy-going outfit: a pair of faded skinny jeans, a loose white button-up whose sleeves were rolled up until the elbows, matched with a pair of light brown loafers. Since I never went home since three days ago, the only stuff I had, and decided to bring were my wallet and phone, and I included the Kanzashi that Uncle Mike gave me. I walked out of my room and headed to the living room.
"Woah, you dressed up quick. You finished ahead of me.", Glenn announced as he walked towards me in his crown prince attire. "What's with the attire?"
"Mom had it settled already, I think she plans on dressing me up in Raven."
Glenn laughed, "Looking forward to how you'll look. Hahahaha!"
"I'm not looking forward to it at all..."
We finally arrived at the venue, the throne room of Raven's palace. The room itself is as big as the ballroom. In full description, the room is rectangular, upon opening the two-door entrance, the thrones of the king and queen sat in the far end. Three ceiling-high windows lined each side of the room. That's about it, but since a coronation is being held, it was decorated elaborately. The center was lined with a red carpet and on each side of the carpet were chairs for the guests, or, what they prefer, witnesses. Two to three front rows were reserved for the monarchs who were going to attend, on the right side of the carpet were the place where the leaders of the major six were to sit. When we entered the room, mom, Arcel, and few other guests including the other princes were there.
I approached my mother, "Mom."
She sent me a smile, "Thank you for choosing to come."
I smiled back, "I thought about it, and I guess everything has its place. I chose to understand my own damn situation. Anyway, where's dad?"
Mom hesitated, then confirmed, "Which dad are you referring to, dear?"
I stifled a laugh, "The one I grew up to."
Mom laughed, "I asked him to go back home first."
"Ah."
Mom clapped her hands twice and two maids assisting with the décor came.
"Right then. They will assist you as you dress. Hurry along now, the event will begin in an hour and a half."
I nodded reluctantly, before actually following the maids out the room, I went to Prince Glenn and informed him of where I would be.
"Sure, see you later."
I went with the maids after that and I was now being styled.
"Uhm, is it alright if you include this Kanzashi that my grandfather gave me?", I requested.
The maid agreed. She fixed my hair into a neat, low side-bun. By the way, the Kanzashi is not actually chopstick length, rather, it's somewhat like a hair pin, and that was placed on the bun. Then, the maids led me to a platform and brought out my garments. The dress itself was pure white, and as a fashion designer, after wearing it, I assessed the kind of gown I'm wearing. As I've said, it's pure white. It's off-shoulder, and the skirt was styled in a simple sheath form. The back of the dress contains its watteau train, attached to the off-shoulder sleeves, which, by the way, was only about three inches in length. The maids handed me my accessories: diamond studded earrings, a diamond necklace, and two golden cuff bracelets. My shoes were simple, white pumps. I declined the diamond necklace, rather, I chose to wear the one that Prince Joshua gave.
"Is this really for a coronation? Or...have my family decided for me to get married right at this moment?", I asked the maids, making them giggle.
"My lady, in Raven, when one is going to be crowned, the royal family of Raven must keep the tradition of wearing pure white, with minimal accessories."
I stared at myself in the mirror and smiled, then an image of Prince Joshua appeared in my mind, which made me turn red.
"Oh, your ladyship, are you okay? You seem a bit flushed."
I nodded, "Yes, I'm alright. Shall we go?"
The maids hesitated for a bit, but they assisted me back to the throne room either way.
"Somehow, I do feel quite sick.", I thought as we walked. "Maybe it's because of the last few days' stress and shock. I'll get over this."
When we arrived, Arcel and my mom were standing outside the doors of the room. Arcel was wearing an all-white suit. White suit, white polo, white tie, white slacks, and to be a bit casual, he paired it all with white sneakers. He didn't wear his royal sash, however, the golden medals of some sort were there. He technically looked the same, only this time, he looked as if he was going to heaven. My mother wore almost a similar design with mine, the difference is that hers had a Queen Anne neckline, long lace sleeves, and instead of having a train, she had a cape draped over her shoulders which was secured by two white ropes attached to the cape that were tied together, forming a ribbon-like appearance on her neckline. She doesn't have cuff bracelets unlike me. Her hair was tied in a neat French twist with her royal crown on top of her head.
"I thought you stepped down?", I pointed out.
Mom touched her crown and said, "I did. However, it's part of the ceremony, that the former queen must be seen wearing the crown before passing it onto the successor. There's an exception though, if the former queen was dethroned, a chosen member of the royal house would be the one to put the crown on the successor."
"I see everyone's ready?", a soft, yet strong voice called from behind.
"Father...?", Arcel and I stated.
