Chapter 21: Official Chaperone
"Your majesty, a Princess Carmela is here to see you." One of the servants opened up King White's office door as he looked up.
"Oh? I don't believe I've met her before. Yes, let her in."
"This way Princess." The servant bowed as Princess Carmela nodded and walked in.
"Your majesty, I am Princess Carmela, I come from the eastern part of Fairytale Island. I wanted to humbly request a position here at the castle. I'm looking for work, you see, my kingdom isn't as prosperous as yours and I can no longer count on my parents to care for me. I'm willing to work hard to earn my keep sire."
"Oh how dreadful. Yes, yes, of course we can find something that will work. You know, I was actually looking for an official chaperone for my daughter Snow White and Prince Merlin. I'm not sure if he's too serious about marrying my daughter. He's a good man, I just think he needs more time to adjust to the idea of marriage. Snow also said she'd rather wait a while before getting married."
"Oh I see, yes, such a wise king you are sire. This will do nicely. Your daughter is pretty and has such a kind heart." Princess Carmela's voice picked up at the word "pretty" as she inwardly cursed Snow White's appearance and felt the need to lie through her teeth in order to formulate her plan.
"Right, it's settled. Snow White is having her lessons now if you'd like to go to her study upstairs, but she'll be going over to the dwarf's home to look at some of Merlin's books. Make yourself at home. I believe Merlin will be having dinner with us."
"Wonderful. I thank you your majesty." Princess Carmela curtsied as she turned gracefully and looked around the castle, snarling at the paintings of Snow White.
"You definitely take after your father. Pig." She turned her nose up as the male servants, butlers, and chefs nearly tumbled over one another to catch a glimpse of her outward beauty.
"Papa, I'm home! Merlin's staying for dinner." Snow White walked in arm-in-arm with Prince Merlin.
"Welcome back! Merlin, nice to see you again. I actually have some wonderful news for you both. I just hired a chaperone who is willing to be present during your outings. Princess Carmela, please come in."
Snow White's mouth dropped as Prince Merlin squeezed her hand, ready to step in when Princess Carmela appeared to be crying.
"I'm so honored to chaperone the up-in-coming royals of the White Kingdom. Your majesties, please forgive my rudeness earlier. I was frightened by that dragon and was experiencing dizzy spells. Thank you both for saving my life, I'm indebted to you. If there's anything I can do to repay you, don't hesitate to make your needs known." Princess Carmela curtsied low as Snow White and Prince Merlin looked shocked.
"Oh, well, I um." Prince Merlin did not know what to say as he nervously looked around the room, then at Snow White.
"We're both glad you came and are willing to be our chaperone. I'm sure the little spat we had was just a misunderstanding. And since you know as our chaperone, that Merlin and I are going to get married; we appreciate your support for our maturing relationship." Snow White smiled as she made a small curtsy.
"Yes, of course. I will be at your beck and call princess." Princess Carmela slowly rose.
"Wonderful! Now that that's settled, lets eat!" King White practically skipped to the dining room as Princess Carmela smiled and walked gracefully behind him.
"Snow, I don't know about this." Prince Merlin whispered into her ear.
"Merlin, she was crying, and she apologized. Everyone deserves a second chance. Didn't I give you a second chance?" She looked up at him as she raised her brows.
"Well yes, but I genuinely love you, but Princess Carmela doesn't think about anyone but herself." Prince Merlin looked a bit worried.
"Don't worry, I can handle her." Snow White placed her hands on her hips as Prince Merlin smiled.
The next morning Snow White went about her daily routine, though she felt there was a constant presence of an overwhelming shadow, judging her every move, but she never faltered. She simply smiled and treated her with kindness.
"Papa, Merlin and I are going to Golden Goose Avenue, I need some new painting supplies and want to have tea and a bite to eat." Snow White approached her father with Princess Carmela right behind her.
"Yes yes, Princess Carmela is going with you I presume?"
"Of course your highness." Princess Carmela curtsied low as she and Snow White met Prince Merlin at the front door.
"All set?" Prince Merlin was leaning against the wall adjacent to the castle entrance as Snow White smiled brightly.
"Yep." She took his hand as they began walking together and chatting, Princess Carmela snarled as she cleared her throat.
"I think it's vastly inappropriate for a couple who aren't even engaged to show any affection while in public." Princess Carmela did her best to make her voice sweet as honey.
"Well if you prefer, you can stay at the castle and I'll take Snow out alone. Besides, I'm perfectly fine with sneaking around corners to steal a kiss." Prince Merlin snapped back as Princess Carmela's eyes widened.
"Hmph, I made a commitment to King White to be your official chaperone, and I'm a woman of my word. Not like you would know anything about keeping your word." Princess Carmela said the latter under breath, but Snow White was able to hear her.
"Guys, let's just try to have a good time today ok? She's right Merlin, she made an oath and that's fine. Carmela, I think holding hands is perfectly acceptable. And no stealing anything or I'll go find that Fairy Princess and ask her to make you a chubby green monster again." Snow White teased as Prince Merlin moped.
The three arrived at their first stop, which was to have tea and lunch. Princess Carmela hardly ate anything in order to keep her figure. Snow White had a delicious plate with prime rib, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and dinner rolls. And Prince Merlin had some chicken and rice with steamed veggies.
"Ugh, Princess Snow White, you don't think that's a little much?" Princess Carmela did her best not to sound too judgmental, though she wasn't at all convincing.
"No, I've been working out and I need to keep up my strength. Besides, we'll be walking around Golden Goose Avenue for a few hours and are still going to walk back home." Snow White happily ate her meal as Prince Merlin snapped his neck over at Princess Carmela.
"I think you should be more concerned with underfeeding yourself rather than saying rude things to others who are perfectly healthy." Prince Merlin's tone was threatening as Princess Carmela pouted slightly.
"Agree to disagree." She shrugged as she sipped at her mineral water.
Once they finished eating, they went into a nearby art supply store as Snow White looked around. Prince Merlin happily followed her, but found himself interested in the section for all things magic.
"Snow, I'm going to take a look at some of these materials, I've never seen them before."
"Sure Merlin, I'll be in the acrylic paint section." She kissed his cheek as she walked to the other side of the store and was browsing at the acrylic paint.
"Oh, what's this?" Snow White bent over to pick up a pastel colored palette when she heard two people snickering behind her.
"I can't believe that cow is courting with Prince Merlin." One of the women, who wasn't even trying to be quiet, was pointing as Snow White while the other one snorted.
"She's just pathetic, I bet there's a reason he's with her." She said suggestively as the other gagged.
"Pity perhaps." The two of them went on laughing and sneering as Snow White rolled her eyes and went about her shopping. She hated to admit how the two women had gotten under her skin, but she simply shook it off, put a smile on and met Prince Merlin at the front of the store.
"Find anything interesting?" Snow White peered to see what Merlin had in his hands.
"I did actually. And you?" Prince Merlin nodded as Snow White showed him the paints she found.
"Where did Princess Carmela go?" Snow White looked around as she found her walking back with lace fabric in her hands.
"Oh there you two are, I was just picking up some fabric so I could sew myself a new dress." She smiled as they went to pay for their things.
"It's really pretty." Snow White smiled brightly as Prince Merlin offered to pay for her things.
"Thanks Merlin, but I got it." She gently nudged him as he shrugged.
"Oh dear, I seemed to have left my purse at the castle." Princess Carmela pouted as Snow White held her bagged items and looked at Princess Carmela.
"I can loan you some money." Snow White handed Princess Carmela the money when Prince Merlin stopped her.
"It's fine. I got it." Prince Merlin grinned at Snow White, but glared at Princess Carmela as he quickly paid for her things and walked outside with Snow White.
"It sure is warm today." Snow White fanned herself with her hand as Prince Merlin nodded.
"How about we get some gelato?" He held her hand as he gently took Snow White's bag and held it with his free hand.
"Ohh, that sounds great!" Snow White jumped up as Princess Carmela ran after them and rolled her eyes.
"Didn't we just eat?" Princess Carmela's tone was anything but friendly.
"That was a couple of hours ago, and you don't have to come with us." Prince Merlin didn't even bother to look back as he and Snow White made their way to a local gelato stand.
"Well, I suppose I could have a small amount." Princess Carmela shrugged as she walked on the other side of Prince Merlin.
"Snow! Merlin!" Arthur walked up to the three of them as Jack and Hans followed behind.
"Hey Arthur, Jack, Hans, what're you all up to?" Snow White beamed as they giggled.
"We're putting up posters." Arthur handed one to Snow White as she read it over.
"Oh, you're advertising some hero work hu? And blind dates?" Snow White raised a brow as Prince Merlin leaned over to read it.
"Guys really? This isn't the best way to find your true love." Prince Merlin shook his head as Jack looked Princess Carmela and studied her for a moment as he nudged Hans and whispered in his ear.
"Well, they shouldn't rule this out, I mean they're trying to do something nice for others, though I'm not sure the blind date thing will go too well. But you never know." Snow White shrugged as Arthur looked up at Princess Carmela as his jaw dropped.
"Aren't you Prince Merlin's crazy ex-fiancé?" Arthur blurted out as Jack and Hans face-palmed themselves.
"M-me? Oh no, well Merlin and I were briefly engaged, but unfortunately we fell out of touch." Princess Carmela shot a warning glance at Arthur.
"If you say so, but I'm pretty sure when Merlin went to your house and found out how psychotic you were, he kept a safe distance from you. He even thought about making a spell to make you forget who he was." Arthur looked over at Snow White who was rather shocked at hearing all this for the first time.
"Well, I'm their official chaperone now." Princess Carmela gritted her teeth as he did her best to grin.
"Hmm, weird. Well, we've got to go now." Arthur, Jack, and Hans waved goodbye as they left.
"Aren't they just adorable. How do you know those three dwarfs Merlin?" Princess Carmela's eyebrow twitched.
"They're good friends of mine." Prince Merlin responded curtly.
"Ah, you've always been so open to being friends with everyone, no matter their station in life, or physical appearances." Princess Carmela's latter words stung Snow White, who simply smiled and held onto Prince Merlin's arm.
"You are a good person Merlin, so kind and giving. He's helped me out a lot. He helped me find Papa, and when I was handing out flyers, some guards had me cornered and were teasing me, but he stepped in. It was really gallant." Snow White looked up at him as he knelt down and kissed her softly.
"Hmm, apparently. Well, we should get going." Princess Carmela briskly walked away as Snow White and Prince Merlin followed behind happily.
"I guess having Princess Carmela for a chaperone isn't so bad." Prince Merlin shrugged as he helped Snow White carry her things to her room.
"Yea, she's pretty entertaining to have around." Snow White sat down on her bed as she laid back.
"Well, I'm going to head home and start reading this." Prince Merlin held up his new spell book as Snow White sat up.
"Ok, I'll walk you out." Snow White slowly rose as she nearly tripped when Prince Merlin caught her.
"You ok?" He looked in her eyes as she blushed.
"Y-yeah, I'm good. Thanks." Snow White stood up as Prince Merlin pulled her in as he began kissing her. Snow White leaned in as she wrapped her arms around him, deepening the kiss.
"Snow I was- Oh! You two shouldn't be kissing!" Princess Carmela raised her voice as Prince Merlin slowly pulled away as he nearly snarled.
"Shouldn't you knock?" Prince Merlin snapped as Princess Carmela flinched.
"I'm sorry, I'm just doing my job. I didn't know you were still here, otherwise I wouldn't have left." Princess Carmela crossed her arms as Snow White gently placed her hand on Prince Merlin's shoulder.
"Merlin, it's ok."
"Hmm, right." Prince Merlin gently pulled her out of the room as they walked downstairs.
"Hmm, it seems like this will be more difficult than I expected." Princess Carmela sighed as she began looking through Snow White's things when she found her diary under her mattress.
"This may prove to be helpful." Princess Carmela smiled as she took the diary to her room and began reading, managing to replace it before it was missed.