Ro's POV:
"And now please welcome Princess Rosella of Paladia and Prince Antonio of Apollonia!" The announcer shouts to everyone in the ballroom. Claps and cheers can be heard from every square inch of the room, along with some elephant sounds, while me and Antonio are walking hand in hand down the grand staircase to greet everyone.
As soon as we make it down the stairs, I am immediately pulled into a hug by my mother, while Antonio is pulled into one by his mother."I am so happy for both of you. I absolutely can't wait for the wedding to get here." My mother says to me and Antonio, while she pulls him into a hug as well and I am pulled into yet another hug by Antonio's mother, Danielle. "Ugh, I completely agree. The wedding is going to be so beautiful." Antonio's mother says to us.
I see Antonio's father, Peter, standing to the side, just staring at us and watching the exchanges made between everyone. I know he apologized already about how he misjudged me, and I forgave him for it, but I can't help but feel like he still wasn't entirely on board with our engagement. And I can't help but think that maybe I should be the one apologizing to him. I mean I completely ruined the plans for his son, he put a lot of thought and time into Antonio's engagement with Princess Luciana and I came along and ruined everything. I try and brush off the thought as music begins to play and Antonio offers me his hand to dance with him. Of course I accept and he leads me to the middle of the dance floor.
Me and Antonio dance for a few songs then go to take a break, and decide we should socialize with the people who came to our engagement ball. After all, it would be rude to ignore all the people that came to this ball to help celebrate. After about an hour of socializing, Antonio makes his way back over to our parents and I make my way over to Tika, Azul, Saji, and the triplets, who happen to be playing with Tika.
"Hello girls, are you guys having fun?" I ask while I go to pet Tika's head. They giggle, and Rita, the brunette, responds with, "Yes we are. Tika is so much fun to play with!" I look to Tika and she says, "The girls are quite fun to play with too, I enjoy their company." She says with a big smile. Of course, the girls don't understand what Tika is saying like I do, so they ask, "What did she say?". I translate for them, and they are very pleased with what Tika had said about them.
For a few minutes I continue to talk to the triplets and Tika, and out of the corner of my eye I notice Antonio offering my mother to dance with him. I'm very intrigued by this and decide to watch as they dance, with a smile appearing on my face. Ever since I have been trying to know his family and my family better, he has been trying to know my mother better, and I think it's the sweetest thing.
Not too long after I decide to watch Antonio and my mother, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and see Antonio's father behind me. "May I have this dance?" He asks with a hand held out to me. I hesitated in shock for a split second before accepting his hand and replying, "Of course.". He then leads me to the middle of the dance floor alongside Antonio, my mother, and a few other couples, and we begin to dance as well.
It was silent between us for a minute, then I broke the awkward silence between us by saying, " I just wanted to apologize for everything that happened in the past few weeks. And I'm sorry that things didn't work out like you had hoped or planned." He then stares at me for a second to take in what I had just said.
"What do you need to apologize for Rosella? From what I know of you have done nothing wrong, if anything I should be the one to apologize. I treated you horribly and misjudged you on multiple accounts."
"Well, I guess I'm apologizing for ruining all your plans. You know, with the engagement of Antonio and Luciana. You probably put so much thought and hard work into the wedding, and then I came and messed everything up." I explained further. He stared at me again, but this stare was different. It was filled with love and sadness.
"Oh Rosella, don't think like that. You didn't ruin anything at all. In fact, if it weren't for you we would have never caught on to Ariana's plans. You saved everyone. And you also make my son the happiest I have ever seen him, and therefore have nothing to apologize for." He said, but still looking at me with sadness in his eyes. "And I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like it was all your fault. That was never my intention. I guess I'm still just upset with the fact that...I tried to take away my son's happiness." He told me, with a look in his eyes like he was about to cry.
"But it's not your fault either." I told him. He looked at me confused. "You were only trying to do what you thought would be best for him and the kingdom. It was never your intention to make him unhappy. You were only trying to help him, so you shouldn't be blaming all of this on you either." I say to him.
He looks at me and I see a tear forming in his eye. "Thank you Ro, that's just what I needed to hear right now." He says with a small smile as a tear finally rolls down his cheek. I use my hand to wipe it away and he embraces me in a hug.
He then proceeds to tell me, "Welcome to the family." And at that moment, I finally feel like he accepts me, and the next thing he whispers in my ear almost makes me cry tears of joy.
"I'm glad to have a daughter like you."