DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM
A few days after Ema's coranation, Ema found herself on her first offcial visit to a foreign country, Poulon.
She was coming to see Yusuke's knighting ceremony, though mostly as a representative of Elence.
Only a few other members of her family had come along, just to keep things simple. Her parents, Wataru, Louis and Sophie were all with her.
"I still don't see why I had to come," Wataru muttered as they flew to Poulon.
"Because you're Lady June's friend and you seemed like the best representative of your grandfather's new lords," Miwa said.
"I still can't believe I'm able to do this given I'm a lord of Elence technically," Yusuke said.
"It's more of an honorary title," Sophie explained, "just a small way Poulon wants to show their appreciation for saving Prince Zane."
"Hmm," Muttered Yusuke.
"Did you ever hear the whole story of how Poulon separated from Elence?" Sophie asked.
"Not fully, at least not yet," Ema admitted.
"Oh! Oh! Let me tell you all about it!" Wataru begged.
"Sure go ahead," Sophie allowed with a giggle.
"It happened around the time of the first queen to rule Elence, Queen Chandra the 2nd. Her daddy, King Hendrick, was not a nice king. He was about as mean as all the other kings before before him! So much in fact that his wife Kandra and father-in-law Sir Sean conspired to kill him so that Chandra could be queen. She was their only child and since she was still so little, they ruled for her while trying to raise her to be a better queen. Her daddy's brother Prince Edwin didn't like that. He thought he should either be king himself since he was a man or that he should rule for her instead of her mommy and grandfather. But since not enough people would support him, Edwin went to the Duke of Poulon. The duke, Thomas, was actually Edwin's nephew and Chandra's cousin. Edwin tried to convince him he should break Poulon away from Elence and become its own country. Edwin was hoping it would lead to a war and hopefully make it so he could become king in the aftermath. But Sir Sean was smart and didn't fall for the trick. Instead he peacefully allowed Poulon to break away to show a new side of Elence. And it worked. Everyone started to feel more comfortable around Elence and Poulon was able to stay friends, for a while."
"Wow, that was an impressive story," Ema said.
"Did they seriously kill the king?" Yusuke asked.
"Oh yeah, they did, despite what some may say, they killed him. Queen Kandra claimed that an intruder slipped into the room and attacked them and then fled out through the window," Sophie said, clearly not believing it herself, "I'm sure in this day and age they would have found plenty of evidence to contradict her story and prove she killed him herself. Hell a lot.of people had a hard time believing her at the time. But they couldn't fidn anything to suggest otherwise."
"Sneaky," Louis commented, "but at least their plan worked. I heard Queen Chandra the 2nd was a well respected queen."
"Oh yes, her grandfather did a good job raising her. He had to on his own after her mother died when Chandra was 8," Wataru said, "right, 8?"
"Yes," Sophie confirmed.
"Wow Wataru, you sure have been paying attention to your history lessons," Ema complimented.
"It was my favorite subject even beforehand," Wataru bragged.
"We'll be touching down in a minute," they suddenly heard the pilot announce over the intercom. Ema quickly looked out the window to see if she could see the country. It looked fairly lovely as she flew over it and came to a landing.
"Okay, it's go time," Richard called out as the other gaurds all prepared. "Don't worry about rushing off the plane, Princess Ema, you come out when you're ready."
"Sure," Ema said right as the plane landed and came to a stop.
The gaurds started preparing and opened the plane door.
"Okay," Ema said to herlself, "oh behalf of Elence, I am honored to be a visitor in your country."
"Sounds good," Rintaro assured her as he helped lead her to the door, "you'll be fine."
Ema nodded as she walked out of the plane and down the ramp. Immediately she heard Elence's national anthem playing. And as she came down, she saw Prince Oliver and Prince Zane waiting for her, along with Prince Oliver's wife and his three other children. The twins both had pale light brown hair while the youngest had blond hair similar to Zane's shade. Their mother meanwhile had a vary vibrant red hair color.
"Princess Ema, welcome to Poulon," Prince Oliver said as he walked over to her.
"Thank you Prince Oliver," Ema replied, "oh behalf of Elence, I am honored to be a visitor in your fine country.".
"We're glad you came," Prince Oliver said, "May I introduce you to my wife, Princess Rene, and my other three children, Prince Shaun and Princess Shawna, and Princess Kelly-Ann."
All four bowed in respect.
"I was kind of hoping she would bring more of her brothers along. I heard they're all really cute," Ema heard Kelly-Ann whisper.
"Yeah," Shawna whispered back.
"Girls, please," their mother hissed before she approached Ema herself. "Princess Ema, I am thrilled to meet you in person. I can't tell you how happy I am thrilled that you've managed to bring such joy to your grandfather's family. I look forward to seeing how far you come as Elence's future leader."
"Thank you Madam," Ema said as she bowed respectfully.
"You seriously let her slip through your fingers?" Yusuke heard Zane's brother whisper, "dude I would not have given up on her easily!"
Yusuke shifted his eyes towards the prince only to see Zane shushing his brother with a warning look.
"We'll escort you to the car, that'll take you to the Calaway Manor House. That's the usual place visiting guests stay while on offcial visits," Prince Olivet explained.
"I'm sure it's a wonderful estate," Ema said politely.
"And then after you've had a chance to freshen up, you'll be brought to our palace for dinner," Prince Oliver continued, "give you an opportunity to meet the rest of the family, my other sister, and brother and my many different nieces and nephews. Plus we can go over a few more details about Lord Yusuke's knighting ceremony tomorrow."
"Sounds pleasant, thank you Prince Oliver," Ema replied.
"All our way of making you feel welcome in our little country," Oliver said as he opened the door of the limo for Ema personally and allowed her and the rest of her party in.
Louis paused when he stood in front of Princess Rene. "So, you were another member of my father's fan club?"
Princess Rene blushed in embarrassment.
"Yes," she admitted, "I can't tell you how happy I am to know you, his son, is still alive and well. I was so crushed when he and your mother died. And devastated by the idea that you were also dead. It was almost like I had lost a child myself personally."
"Thank you Madam," Louis said. He noticed Rene looking towards Sophie with great enthusiasm.
"You two are even cuter together as adults!" she mentioned before backing away to let Louis into the limo.
"Thank you," Louis said one more time. He reached out and gently touched the princess' hair. "I hope this does not sound peculiar, but I'd love to try and style your hair. It's so pretty and vibrant. You no doubt are a great treasure to Poulon."
Princess Rene looked like she was trying to put on a professional face, but an embarrassing/amusing face kept trying to poke through.
"Thank you, it would be my pleasure," she managed to say before hurrying away.
"Sorry," Louis said.
"Nah, she does cute things like that all the time. One of the things I like about her," Prince Oliver assured him.
As the limo drove on, Ema looked outside at her new surroundings. Poulon didn't looked too different from Elence. Except, there was a distinct less amount of gardens and flower arrangements present.
It made Ema miss Elence and its' floral atmosphere a little. But she still seemed to appreciate the scenery Poulon had to offer.
Soon a small looking palace appeared in the distance.
"Welcome to Calaway Manor, Princess Ema," Richard said as the limo pulled up in front.
"How come we're not staying at the palace like Prince Zane and his family did when they visited?" Wataru asked.
"Because they sort of came unexpectedly and we didn't have time to prepare our usual guest resistance for them," Richard explained, "You'll notice that when we enter it'll be decorated with many different Elence themed decor and colors in honor of our visit."
"Oh do they do that each time an important visitor is staying here?" Ema asked.
"Exactly," Richard said, "if someone important from Japan was staying here, they would make sure it reflected Japan's culture. They might have even left a few Japanese items scattered around through out, in honor of your other heritage."
"That's nice of them," Ema said as the doors were opened by a butler and everyone walked in.
Just as Richard had predicted, the entire decor reflected Elence, with a few Japanese decor in and around the different areas.
"Oh wow, this is beautiful!" Miwa said, "it's giving me ideas for some of mu new design ideas!"
"Me too, for my chatue in France," Louis added.
"I'll make some notes!" Miwa promised.
"Ema, come here," Rintaro called out from a nearby room.
Ema hurried to where he was and saw him holding up a picture frame.
"Look what I found sweetie," he said handing her the frame. It was a picture of Ema's mom as a girl along with the Poulon princes and princesses as children out on a hike enjoying themselves and waving to the camera.
"Oh that's cute!" Ema cooed.
"And there's many more," Rintaro said as he moved aside to show a a whole table of different pictures of her mother with the Poulon royal family. Some also had King Stephon and few even had her grandmother Queen Wilma when Yolanda was very little.
Ema noticed quite a few had Yolanda and Prince Oliver together.
"Papa, there was never anything romantic between my mother and Prince Oliver, was there?" Ema asked.
"Oh no," Rintaro assured, "even when I first met them, it was obvious they didn't have any kind of feelings between them. They were more like cousins. Since Queen Abigail tried to include your mother in many different activities with her own children, it eventually started to be seen an example of Elence and Poulon mending their bond."
"That's nice, I'm glad the two countries could make peace through just being friends," Ema said.
"Exactly," Rintaro agreed, "and it's good to see that even though you and Zane aren't ever getting together, you're on good friendly terms. That'll do well for the two countries as well."
"Not as good terms as Wataru and Princess June," Louis joked as he joined the pair, looking at the pictures. "Oh Chi, your mother was so lovely. I should try doing your hair like her for some of these upcoming ceremonies."
"Oh thank you Louis," Ema said, as she kept looking over the pictures. Her mothet did truly look like she was a good friend of the royal family of Poulon.
'I promise I will keep up the strong friendship mother forged with them, especially for the sake of our two countries,' she vowed.
"You know what's funny?" Wataru said later that night when everyone arrived at the Poulon palace, "I think Elence's palace looks nicer."
"Wataru!" his mother scolded.
"This isn't a palace contest," Rintaro added.
"Even though I think he's right," Yusuke whispered to his stepfather.
"I have to kind of agreed with Wataru as well," Louis also whispered.
"Yeah, well, it's just rude to say it out loud," Rintaro agreed softly.
Ema led the way inside where they were escorted by a servant to the dinging room.
Inside was what looked like a full fledged party standing and waiting for them. King Dimitri and Queen Abigail stood in the exact middle of the whole group of at least 8 adults, including Prince Oliver and Princess Rene. As well as several children varying in age from at least the same age as Subaru and to possibly being a little younger than Futo. With the one exception of June.
"Welcome Princess Ema, Lord Louis, Lord Yusuke, Lord Wataru, Lady Sophia, and Mr. and Mrs. Asahina," King Dimitri said.
"Thank you for having us King Dimitri," Ema said as she walked up to the king and offered her his hand.
"I hope you are just as prepared to meet our family as we were to meet yours," Queen Abigail said as she led Ema down the row of people.
"I assume you've already met our son Prince Oliver's family. Next is our oldest daughter, Princess Lucida, her husband Lord David, her two older daughters Yoland and Courtney."
"Oh, were you named for my mother?" Ema asked the young woman.
"Yes," she confirmed with a smile.
"And these are the other three," Queen Abigail continued, gesturing towards the other three children lined up, "Randal, Jessica and Charlie."
Ema smiled and nodded to them.
"And then if we were to go down the other side, you will see a few more familiar faces, such as Princess Wendaline and June," Queen Abigail continued as she led Ema back the other way.
"Oh June," Wataru said softly, not sure if he should go up to her or hide.
"Hi Princess Ema! What do you think of Poulon? It's great huh?" June spoke up.
"June," her father started to say.
"Let her go," King Dimitri allowed.
"Yes, Poulon is very lovely," Ema said.
"This is my daddy, they call him Lord Brian. He wasn't born royalty. And these are my big sisters, Hazel and Fern. And my older brothers, Brian jr. He's named after our daddy and of course there's Ely. He was the youngest till I came along."
Yusuke and Louis could both see Ely roll his eyes at June's comments.
"Can I introduce Uncle Stanley, and Aunt Paige, and my cousin Naomi, Phillip, Veronica and Alexandra?"
"I think you just did dear," Her uncle Stanley pointed out with a laugh.
"Thank you June," Ema said.
"So, June, is that your little boyfriend over there?" one of her older sisters, Hazel asked as a tease.
"Oh Wataru? No he's not my boyfriend yet," June said.
"Not yet huh?" asked her other sister Fern.
"If he's a lord in Elence and you're a Poulon Princess, where are we going to have the wedding?" asked June's brother Brian.
"On the moon maybe?" Ely said out loud.
"No, that'd be too expensive," said June.
"Well, not if we pay for it together," Wataru said as he slowly stepped away from his mom.
"Why don't we all go and take our seats," King Dimitri suggested. He took Ema's hand and personally led her to the table on his right hand side.
"King Dimitri? Queen Abigail?" Ema spoke up as they ate, "my father showed me the pictures of my mother with your children on many different trips and activities. It looked like she had a good time being around you growing up."
"Mmm, yes, it some of the more happier times," King Dimitri said as he took a sip of his wine.
"A lot of people thought that us doing that with her was just a publicity stunt," Queen Abigail said, "but I assure you, we did it out kindness and love."
"Of course, it did still help mend the bond between us," Oliver mentioned.
"I hope myself, Prince Zane and many others of the next royal generation of Poulon can maintain that bond you all help create," Ema said.
"As do I," Louis added, "being the second in line after Chi at the moment."
"I just hope that when and if you marry Lady Sophie sir, we can attend," Princess Rene said.
Princess Lucida and Wendaline both nodded in agreement.
"I'm gald to know you didn't begrudge my birth mother over marrying your crush," Louis said.
"Well," Rene said looking to her two sister-in-laws who both shrugged their shoulders.
"It wasn't personal at least. We were still happy for the two of them."
"Thank you," Louis said smiling at Sophie.
"So are we going to practice this whole knighting ceremony thing after dinner or something?" Yusuke asked.
"If you'd like to," King Dimitri agreed.
"I'd like to watch, take some notes on how I should do it when the time comes," Ema spoke up.
"It's not that hard," Zane said.
"So first walk down," Zane instructed Yusuke as Ema, King Dimitri, Prince Oliver and few other family members watched.
Yusuke did as he was told.
"Then you kneel in front of me," Zane continued, gesturing to the pillow. Yusuke did so.
"Then I'll take a sword, and say, 'Yusuke Asahina, for your bravery and valor in protecting the crown, I hereby knight you Sir Yusuke, defender of the realm."
"And then I just stand up?" Yusuke asked.
"Yes," Zane concur.
"And we'll have a small reception afterwards," King Dimitri added.
"Doesn't seem too bad," Yusuke said.
"No, it's seems simple enough," Ema said.
"I'm sure you'll do just fine," King Dimitri assured her.
"Oliver! What do you think?" Princess Rene asked as she, Princess Lucida and Wendaline, Paige and some of their older daughters all came in with new hairstyles. Nothing too elaborate but still lovely.
"Oh wow, dear!" Oliver said in surprise.
"What have you ladies been up to?" Prince Stanley asked as he walked over to his own wife and circled her with a lustful look.
"Lord Louis was nice to do all out hair," Rene said.
Louis then walked in with Sophie looking amused themselves.
"Just my small way of acting as an ambassador and bringing goodwill to others," Louis said.
"And you most certainly have my good sir," Queen Abigail said as she walked in herself with her own new hairdo.
"What do you think, Dimitri?"
"I, well," King Dimitri sputtered. A smile of amusement crossed his face, "you look more beautiful than I could ever imagine!"
"Thank you dear," Queen Abigail said with a wink.
Ema looked around at Lucinda and Wendaline's husbands who were also looking rather impressed.
"I think, unless your brother wants to rehearse again, we're done for the evening," Zane whispered to her.
Ema blushed in embarrassment but nodded.
"Grandfather, may I be permitted to escort Princess Ema and her guests to their car?" Zane asked.
"Huh?" King Dimitri said as he shook his head and looked back at his grandson.
"It's getting late and I figured her highness and her family should be returning to Calaway Manor," Zane explained.
"Oh, right yes of course," King Dimitri agreed, "Good night dear Ema, we will see you at the ceremony tomorrow."
"Thank you," Ema said as she and her family all started to walk out, along with Zane and his siblings and cousins.
"Thank you for the nice evening Prince Zane," Ema said as they walked.
"Glad you enjoyed it," Zane replied.
"Do you think you'll want come back and see us again Ema, huh?" June asked as she dashed out in front of her.
"June, you don't do that to a princess, remember?" Hazel said as she walked over to her and pulled her away.
"I do think I'd like to come back, June," Ema said, "it's very pleasant here. And all your family seem very kind."
"Thank you, your highness," Yolanda said.
"I also think it's sweet that you were named after my mother, Lady Yolanda," Ema said to her.
"Thank you," Yolanda said, "Mother said she was like another sister to her."
"I don't know if we'll ever be that close, but I do hope to be friends with all of you or at least on good terms as time goes by," Ema said.
"Next time we should hopefully get to meet some more of your handsome brothers!" Kelly-Ann said.
"Oh boy, that's all they'll need," Louis said.
"So overall, what did you think of the whole royal family of Poulon, Ema?" Sophie asked as the family drove back to their guest house.
"They seemed nice," Ema insisted, "I didn't feel much tension or hostility among them."
"Good, that's a nice sign," Sophie said.
"And they at least all seemed to be happy with their lives," Rintaro mentioned, "I didn't sense any kind of unpleasant feelings among the spouses."
"According to my uncle, this is the first generation where no one has be disloyal towarss their spouse. The only one of King Dimitri's generation to be 100% loyal to his spouse was King Dimitri himself," Sophie said, "all four of King Dimitri's children have been 100% committed and happy with their choice of wives and husbands and vice versa. The only thing that may have come close was poor Princess Lucida loosing her first husband."
"Oh, Poor Princess Lucida is a widow?" Ema asked.
"Yes, her current husband, Lord David is technically Yolanda and Courtney's stepfather. But he's been a good man and father to them just as much as his own," Sophie insisted.
"Well, I'm glad they've all been such happy families. It gives me a good example to go off of," Ema said.
"Well your own family has a good stretched of loyalty to their spouses," Sophie said. "According to Uncle, there hasn't been any record of any king or queen from the 1st King Stephon and Queen Elizabeth, taking on a lover outside of their marriage. Plus few among any other children of the reigning monarchs."
"Oh yeah?" Yusuke said. It made him feel good about the possible future.
"And that's true for your mother and father," Rintaro said, "I have no doubt there would have been no adulterous actions among them.
"Oh that's nice to hear," Miwa cooed as she leaned on her husband in an affectionate manner.
"It is," Ema agreed, reaching for Yusuke's hand. "I hope I can keep that trend."
"You damn well better," Yusuke said softly.
The next day Ema watched with pride as Yusuke was officially knighted by Prince Zane himself. As Ema watched, she couldn't help but noticed Zane seemed to be wearing a smile of respect for him. It made her image that the two might become good friends someday.
Later at the reception, Ema found herself meeting a few more members of King Dimitri's family, such as his last remaining living brother, and his many different nieces and nephews, and their children.
Most of them seemed nice and pleasant. Some however seemed a little hostile and cold to her. However, Ema didn't seem to mind it too much. She had similar encounters with her own extended family back at the ball. For whatever reason they didn't like her, that was their reason and unless they were to go after Ema for it, they could just deal with it on their own.
"Look at you, Yusuke! You really do look like a knight!" Miwa praised when she saw her son after the ceremony.
"Mom, please, you'll embarrass me!" Yusuke muttered.
"You do look, impressive and important Yusuke," Louis said, "I couldn't be prouder of my little brother."
"Thanks," Yusuke muttered.
"And a good match for my princess and future queen," Louis whispered to him with a smirk, "as well as the father of the king or queen after her."
Yusuke gave his brother a surprised look.
"I hope I can do that one day!" Wataru said, "even if I like the medal Grandfather gave me, I want to be knighted too!"
"Just have to be patient, kay kid?" Yusuke said patting his head.
"Sure, story of my life!" Wataru muttered.
"Well, I'm feeling more confident about doing the knighting ceremony myself," Ema said happily.
"Good for you Chi," Louis said, "I bet you'll be amazing!"
"Thank you Louis," Ema said. "Speaking of which, we should probably make our way back to Elence huh?"
"Let us go say our goodbyes to King Dimitri and family, shall we?" Louis said.
"Yes, lets," Ema said as she and Louis walked over to the king and queen.
"King Dimitri, we thank you for your hospitality and for your kindness," Ema said.
"Yes, we fully enjoyed our first visit to Poulon and we hope to come back again," Louis said.
"Splendid," King Dimitri said, "we are glad you two enjoyed your time here and look forward to seeing you both again."
"Oh yes," Queen Abigail agreed. She gave Ema a little surprised as she suddenly pulled her close and hugged her. "You're just so sweet! Stephon's so lucky to have you for a granddaughter!"
"Thank you, Queen Abigail!" Ema said kindly.
She and Louis bowed and walked back to their family to head out.
Just as they were about to, Wataru felt himself being pulled back. He suddenly found himself face to face with June.
"You'll come back and see me again right?" she asked.
"Yeah sure," Wataru sputtered.
"Good! I like you!" June declared, "even if it's just as a friend!"
"Thanks, I like you too!" Wataru insisted, even as he suddenly realized his mother had come back for him.
"Wataru, say your final goodbyes," she said.
"Goodbye Princess June!" Wataru called back.
"Farewell Lord Wataru!" June called out as she waved to him.
"So, think they'll be a wedding some day June?" her sister Hazel asked as she came up to June.
"I hope so, he's so cute! Not as cute as Lord Yusuke, but he's with Princess Ema," said June.
"Well, I hope you are happy with your one true love someday," Hazel said as she led her sister back towards the party.
"We will be landing in Elence in a few minutes," the airplane pilot said over the loud speaker as the group flew home.
"It's good to be home!" Wataru said looking out the window.
"Yeah it is," Ema agreed, also looking out the window. It did seem nice to see the country again even if they had only been gone a day.
Ema felt even more relaxed as the palace came back into view as everyone drove home.
When they walked in, King Stephon was waiting for them.
"Welcome home everyone," he said happily.
"Hi Grandfather!" Wataru said as he ran and hugged him.
"What did you think of Poulon, Wataru?" King Stephon asked.
"It was okay, didn't seem quite as lovely as Elence for some reason," Wataru said.
"Well, maybe you're just being a little biased since you've been in Elence for so long," King Stephon joked.
He then walked over to Ema.
"And you? What did you think, my dear?"
"It is a nice place and King Dimitri's family are very kind and friendly. One of them even named her daughter after my mother," Ema said.
"Oh yes," King Stephon recalled, "a nice girl."
"They all seem nice," said Louis.
"They are, and they were a big comfort to me as well when Yolanda disappeared," King Stephon said.
"Did you spend time with them after Princess Yolanda disappeared?" Louis asked.
"More like they'd try coming here as "good will" visit to see me. I appreciated it and everything, but Robert started going out to his way to make them feel uncomfortable visiting," King Stephon mentioned.
"Probably to get you isolated so no one could truly oppose him once you were gone," Louis said.
"I wouldn't doubt it," Stephon said, "anyway, Yusuke, let me get a good look at you!"
Yusuke stepped forward with his head held high.
"You certainly look regal and important," King Stephon as he looked him over, "You should be proud of yourself."
"Thank you, Sire," Yusuke said as calmly and seriously as he could.
King Stephon nodded before looking back at Ema, "so are you feeling better about performing your own knighting ceremony for Mr. Mayter and Mayor Stuart?"
"I am, watching Zane perform the ceremony gave me a little more confident," Ema said.
"Good," King Stephon said, "You know I got to meet Mayor Stuart's daughters at Wataru's party? Nice girls."
"Yes, they seemed so sweet," Ema agreed, "I can't wait to see them at the ceremony."
"It'll be another proud day for you dear," said Stephon.
"Thank you Grandfather," Ema said.
"And I think that'll be the perfect time to try that hairdo I saw with your mother," Louis said as he played with her hair.
Ema had to blush at his comment.
"I'm so glad you allowed me to to help pick out your dress for today!" Hikaru cheered as he came in with a dress bag the day of Ema's own knighting ceremony.
Louis and Jane both looked up in surprise as he came in, already helping Ema with her hair and makeup.
"Kind of late with that aren't you, Lord Hikaru?" Jane asked, "I pulled out one of the princess' back up gowns just in case."
"Ha!" Hikaru said as he tapped her nose.
"If it wasn't for that fact that you are so good to Iori and have potential to be a future sister-in-law, I'd make you pay for such a comment."
"Well, lets see it what you brought Hikaru," Louis said.
"Gladly," Hikaru said as he unzipped the dress bag.
In it was a blue dress with a long skirt and sleeves, with a silver-white trim on the sleeves, neckline and bottom of the skirt. There was also a sliver belt around the center.
"Oh wow, it's beautiful!" Ema said excited.
"It reminds me a little of a medevil type dress," Louis said.
"That was kind of my idea," Hikaru bragged, "plus it's easy to get in and out of. With out messing up the makeup and the beautiful hair, I might add."
"Thank you," Louis said, 'I styled it after Chi's own mother."
"How fitting," Hikaru said kindly, "Now, hurry up and get in. I can't wait to see the aftermath! Come along Louis!"
"I'm coming," Louis said as he followed after his brother, and making sure to shut the door.
"Do you think we should call in another maid to help?" Jane asked as she prepared the dress.
"Let's see," Ema said as she managed to step into the dress and let Jane help pull it up and get her arms through the sleeves.
"Oh good, we did it," Jane said happily as managed to tug at the dress and zip it up.
"Thank you!" Ema said happily as she twirled around, "I like it! I could see wearing this at a few other important events."
"I could see that too!" Jane said excited. She actually surprised herself and Ema by giving her a little hug.
"I'm sorry!" Jane quickly said as she pulled away.
"For what? A friend can't hug a friend?" Ema asked.
She did raise her hand to allow Jane to escort her to the door. Jane smiled big as she took it and did just that.
Outside Louis and Hikaru were all waiting, as well as Richard and Chrissy.
"Oh wow, you look great your highness," Chrissy mentioned.
"Naturally," said Hikaru.
"And your, reminds me a little of your mother," Richard said.
"What I was going for," Louis said proudly as he took over from Jane at leading Ema to the front door.
There King Stephon was already wiating, in his uniform, playing around with Wataru.
"You think you can outdo me! Do you, Wataru?" King Stephon joked as the small boy dashed around.
"I'm going to be a great knight someday grandfather! I have to be sneaky!"
"Yes you do, don't you!" King Stephon said.
"A little too sneaky!" Masaomi said as he walked in, dressed in formal clothes, along with Erica, Ukyo and Hannah. All also dressed formally.
"Masa, are you sure I can't go to this?" Wataru pleaded to his big brother.
"Well, it would be as boring as Yusuke's," Masaomi tried to tell him.
"Oh thanks," Yusuke said as he walked in with Billy, dressed in his new uniform.
"No offense Yusuke," King Stephon said, "besides you need to be getting more of your things together for going home lad."
Wataru scoffed. "First chance I get, I'm coming back here and I'm never leaving."
"Well, something we can agree on," King Stephon joked, "also, by staying here, you'll have more time to ride Wind Storm."
"Oh yeah!" Wataru recalled, "can I go ride him right now?"
King Stephon looked at Masaomi for guidance.
"Maybe for an hour, then you do need to do what grandfather says and get ready for going back to Japan," he to told his youngest brother.
"Ok," Wataru about to run off until he he noticed Ema and Louis. "Wow, Big Sis! You look so much like a princess. I mean I know you are one, but...,"
"Thank you, Wataru," Ema said as she walked down with Louis. "Hikaru helped picked out the dress."
"You know there are times that man seems more feminine than me," Erica said.
"Yes well," Hannah muttered.
"I heard that!" Erica called out.
"Well I love it too dear," King Stephon said as he walked over to her and offered her his own hand. "and your hair! It's just like...,"
"Mother's?" Ema asked.
"Yes," King Stephon said, "Louis you are amazing!"
"Thank you Grandfather," Louis said proudly.
"Oh! Now I really want to go!" Wataru cried.
"Wataru, I'm not going either," Louis pointed out, "the only reason Masa and Kyo are going is because they're technically guests of Miss Erica and Miss Hannah who were formally invited by their friend. And also I heard Sophie's coming over. Maybe you two could go riding together."
"You think so?" Wataru asked.
Louis winked. That was all Wataru needed to hurry along.
"Just an hour! You still need to get prepared for going home," Masaomi called out after him.
"You mean my second home," Wataru called back, "Elence is my home now too!"
"Good for you, Wataru," King Stephon said. Everyone could see that little statement made him happy and proud.
"We'll make sure the young lord gets his things together," a butler standing nearby said.
"Thank you, hopefully it won't require the whole staff," Masaomi joked. Though he face looked a little like he halfway expected that.
"Well shall we be on our way?" Ema asked.
"Yes, let us ve going," King Stephon said as the small party headed out.
They drove to another smaller palace and headed inside that was still in the process of getting ready.
"How soon before the ceremony starts?" Erica asked.
"Well, Mr. Mayter and Mayor Stuart should already be here and getting ready," King Stephon said, "and the actual guests should be coming soon."
"So what should we do in the meantime Grandfather?" Masaomi asked.
"Well you're welcome to roam around the place, take in the atmosphere. Or you can go to the kitchen, get something to drink, or a snack," King Stephon suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea," Ukyo said as the four adults all walked off.
"So who used to live here exactly?" Yusuke asked looking around.
"One of my uncles, Prince Ira," King Stephon said as he walked over to a picture of his two twin uncles, "over the hills to the north is where his twin, Prince Ian lived. When they both passed away, none of their children wanted to really live at the residents. So we adopted them to be used for events like this, especially if the palace itself is busy."
"Isn't it true these two actually crashed their plane on purpose or something?' Yusuke asked, "Like I think I heard Lady Sophie mentioning that to Wataru during one of his lessons or something."
King Stephon looked his way before he looked back at their picture.
"It's widely speculated that is what happened," he admitted, "both were already dying. Uncle Ira had kidney failure and Uncle Ian had liver cancer and also both their wives had already passed away. And all their children were well off, could take care of themselves. I'm pretty sure that's what they were going for. Going how they would have wanted to, in a blaze of glory in their plane."
"Good for them," Yusuke said shrugging his shoulders.
"I remember Sophie talking about that too," Ema said, "made me want to look it up. And in doing so, I read what both did to honor their wives after they passed away."
"And what was that?" King Stephon asked amused.
"Great-Uncle Ian mixed his wife's ashes with the stuff they use for sky writing and made a heart in the sky for her. And Great-Uncle Ira mixed his wife's ashes with firework chemicals for one last great show in her honor, including making her name appear in the sky," Ema listed off.
"I remember that," King Stephon said, "I was getting close to actually asking your grandmother to marry me around that time."
"Sounds cool," Yusuke said. "They must have really loved their wives."
"Oh yes, father often said he and his brothers all lucked out in finding a good match," King Stephon said, "too bad I couldn't say the same for some of my brothers and sisters. And one or more of their children."
Ema and Yusuke shared a look before each reached over and held each other's hand.
They shared a look of understanding and determination, as well as love.
Ema soon found herself standing proudly at the center of the room as it filled with guests. Alex Mayter's to right, Mayor Stuart's to the left. Ema noticed a serious looking man sitting front and center at the front of Mr. Mayter's side and seemed to get the impression that she was his father, the great royal protester.
Ema wondered how he felt exactly being at a royal ceremony where his son would become a knight.
"I think everyone's here and accounted for," she heard Richard whispering.
Ema shifted her eyes and saw King Stephon nodding and giving a signal.
Fanfair started to fill the room as Alex and Mayor Stuart both walked side by side down the center aisle, and stopping just short of where Ema stood.
"Alex Mayter, please step forward," Ema said. Alex step forward, and bowed to her.
"Alex Mayter, you are here today to be knighted for your bravery and valor in protecting the crown," Ema said, "please kneel."
Alex did as he was told as Ema picked up the sword next to her.
"Alex Mayter, I hereby knight you Sir Alex Mayter, defender of the realm."
Alex smiled up at her before standing up and moving away.
"Peter Stuart, please step forward,"
Mayor Stuart walked forward with a proud smile.
"Peter Stuart, you are here today to be knighted for your bravery and valor in protecting the crown," Ema repeated, "please kneel.
Once the mayor had done so, Ema took the sword again. "Peter Stuart, I hereby knight you Sir Peter Stuart, defender of the realm."
The mayor looked even prouder as he stood and backed away next to Alex again.
"Good job dear," King Stephon whispered as the two led the way to the small ballroom where the reception was being held.
"Princess Ema!" Ema immediately heard Mayor Stuart's daughters shouting as they ran to her.
"Hello again," Ema said kindly, "it's nice to see you."
"You look really pretty today," Rachel said.
"Yeah!" Mia added, "like out of a storybook!"
Ema giggled, "thank you, I'm glad you two could make it."
"So am I," Mayor Stuart said as he and a new woman joined the girls. "Oh, Princess Ema, this is the girls' mother, Brook Stine."
"Your highness," Ms. Stine said with a bow.
"Thank you for coming and supporting the mayor like this," Ema said.
"Of course, I'm always here for him when he needs me," Ms. Stine said giving him a smile of respect. "I was very surprised when my daughters told me you suggested that instead naming the new library Peter wants to build after you, to be named after him instead."
"I thought it was more fitting," Ema explained.
"You are as sweet and humble as Peter said," Ms. Stine mentioned, "I like that, especially with a future queen."
"Thank you," Ema said.
"We should go enjoy the party a little more. I'm sure the princess has other guests to greet," Mayor Stuart said as he ushered his daughters away.
"And a lot of people you have to show off to with your new status," Ms. Stine said as she helped.
"Not now, please?" Mayor Stuart grumbled.
Ema turned and looked around at the vast sea of guests, trying to think of who to greet. It was then she noticed her older brothers and their girlfriends talking with Alex and his father.
"Hello, how is everyone enjoying themselves?" she asked as she joined them.
"Ema hello, you did well today," Masaomi praised.
"Yes, you looked like a pro up there during the ceremony," Ukyo added.
"Thank you," Ema said.
"Yeah, you did do good today, Princess," Alex also complimented. "Oh and Princess Ema, this is my father Jasper Mayter."
"Your highness," Mr. Mayter bowed his head respectively.
"I'm glad you were able to make it sir. I know you're not particularly found of the royal family," Ema said as kindly as she could.
Mr. Mayter smiled before looking at his son.
"It's true I have had negative feelings towards your family ever since my wife and other son died because someone tried to kill your mother."
"I can understand that sir," Ema said softly.
"But, I have never stopped respecting it. Most of the royals still try and do their best regardless of what others say, especially your grandfather," Mr. Mayter also said, "did they ever tell you that grandfather actually willingly met with me, twice, to hear me out. And then he even help change or alter certain aspects based on our meeting?"
"Yes, my brother Louis mentioned that," Ema said, "that is wonderful. I hope, even if you do protest against me, that you never stop standing up for what you think is right. As long as no one is hurt in the process."
"Oh don't worry, I pride myself on being a peaceful protester. I model myself a little after that American civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. Your great-grandfather was a big admirer of him too," Mr. Mayter said.
"Yes, I think I remember my brother Wataru showing me a picture of the two of them together," Ema said.
"Of course, as I was telling my son, the way things are going, and you as the heir, maybe I won't have to protest so much any more. Things seemed to be a little more at ease now since you and your brothers came here. And I thank you for that," Mr. Mayter said sincerely.
"Thank you," Ema said, touched. "Um Mr. Mayter, please don't think this as a way of trying to smooth talk you or anything, but, how would you feel if when we build our big hospital for the outer area cities, that we name the children's hospital after your late son?"
"You'd want to do that?" Mr. Mayer asked.
"I would, as I know my mother would have too," Ema insisted.
"I, would be so touched if you did that," Mr. Mayter assured her.
"I'll make a note of that," Erica said as she quickly pulled out her phone, "what was his name?"
"James," Alex said softly.
"James Mayter Memorial hospital, sounds nice," Masaomi said.
"Yes it does," Mr. Mayter said. He smiled proudly at Ema and bowed to her again.
"You truly have helped change things around here. More than I could have hoped for. I hope to see a good future for my country."
"So did I," Ema said with confidence.