The ride home was painfully awkward for the couple and Elizabella was glad to finally be getting off the vehicle. Her servants lined out in the yard to greet her and greeted the Prince as well before he left. As the Crown Prince, he was used to this type of life and did not feel anything weird about Elizabella's household doing this.
However, the servants felt that their Lady's mood was not the best as she made her way inside. They wondered what had happened when they noticed the large ring on her finger and froze. They were very aware of that particular ring as their late master had had it made for his wife as a birthday present. Unfortunately, he was not able to give it to her as they were plotted against and died.
They knew that Elizabella could not bear to look at it, but could not part with it as well. So she had it on display in her store as just a display. She never had plans to sell the ring. In fact, she had wanted to bury the ring with her mother but her body was not found in the incident. She had decided to keep it on display until her body was found so she could bury it with her.
To this day, her people were still searching, but have not found any trace of her. The thought of not being able to find her body has always made her upset as she knows that her parents would have wanted to be buried together with her five younger siblings. The thought of her family's passing has always brought her down and looking at the ring on her finger was really bringing her down.
"Should I be upset with them for selling him this ring, knowing I did not want to sell this, or should I be upset with myself that I did tell them to sell him whatever but at a higher price?" thought Elizabella as she looked at her hand while heading into her study. "If this is going inside the Royal Vault, I hope that it was bought at an even more extorted price."
**********
That night, the news outlets were flooded with how the Crown Prince had surprised his future bride with a magnificent engagement ring. Pictures showed him kneeling down on one knee and presenting her the ring. The reporters went wild wanting to know more details on the ring when a public post was made from the store itself with a picture and price tag. There was even a summary as to how the ring was made.
This ring was made with the careful intentions of a lord in love with his lady for her birthday. He had it commissioned to be made by her birthday so that he may present it to her. Sadly, they both passed away before he was able to give it to her. That is why it was named "Eternal Longing."
When news hit that Silver Raven had sold the ring, the store received an influx of new orders, specifically for the same exact ring. This brought great joy to the manager who had been wondering if he had done the right thing by selling the one item in the store that was not on sale. The manager knows that his Lady likes to accumulate wealth in the background and selling this ring to her future husband for her makes sense to keep the ring in the family, while winning much publicity with this sale.
In the Palace of Glear, the Queen watched the news with the Dowager Queen while drinking tea. They both approved of the way that the Crown Prince handled the situation with the future Crown Princess.
"It seems that they make a good team when it comes to public relations. This young Lady Aphra seems to understand how to behave in public. She even has a plan to further divert their attention, by writing a love song of sorts? Oh right, would you know if she has already passed the final exam of Home Economics?" asked the Dowager Queen as she admired the play that the young royal couple came up with. "We are sure that she will be able to pass if she was able to speak privately with you and not offend any of the Palace Etiquette as We hear."
"From what We have heard, she has not yet done the final exam; however, she already enrolled for her next class schedule to take the class. As you know, everyone in the Academy must take that final exam but the class is not as important unless you want to spruce up on any of the skills, like cooking a particular item," said the Queen as she sipped her tea elegantly. "We have not heard about any of those skills from her. We cannot be sure if she will be able to pass for sure. The Crown Prince has already passed the final exam and now Prince Zander will need to pass the final exam. We have heard that he has already enrolled in the class for the upcoming school term. More than likely, he and the future Crown Princess will have the same class. It would be nice to have them get along as in-laws. Prince Zander would be a good ally for them in the future."
"Oh, yes! It would be for the best if they all get along in the future," said the Dowager Queen as she watched a news broadcast showing off the engagement ring and admired the ring. "We are admiring how the Crown Prince was able to find a ring with that hue and color. One would think that he bought that ring because it reminds him of the future Crown Princess' hair."
"Yes. It is good that he was so insightful about finding her this engagement ring," said the Queen as she smiled proudly. "This will definitely make the wagging tongues calm down with their love story."
"However, We fear that this may bring out more rumors. They will not stop until enough time has passed and they have shown that they are a worthy couple to admire," said the Dowager Queen as more news on the gossip channels were spreading.
**********
The news was leaked by the Royal Palace of Glear's homepage that the future Princess was going to write a love song for the Crown Prince that would be showcased at school by the weekend. Many were skeptical about whether or not the song would be bought from someone else or how authentic the song would be.
The students of the Art department from the Academy all tried to defend her past productions as genuine art with no outside help. With a track record like hers, they doubt that the song will be bought or made by anyone else.
After this, the gossip channels all began to question as to why the real reason they were getting married as they still thought they were too young. Some people believed their love story and thought they really loved each other, which was why the Royal Family was letting this marriage happen so soon. Others thought that the future Crown Princess was a seductress that was greedy for the throne and did not care if their love story was real.
Many people that believed this were further fueled by the fact that her late grandfather was given a noble title by befriending the late King. These people shamed her for trying to climb the social ladder. All of this was seen by Elizabella and her servants who were monitoring her social feed.
"My Lady, what should we do about this negative press?" asked Steward Josaf as they scrolled down the comments while Elizabella watched and absentmindedly play with her new ring.
"Nothing, for now. We will just have to wait until this weekend for my performance. By then, the gossip will die down," said Elizabella as Steward Josaf thought over her words.
"Well, I am convinced with your music; however, Walliams will not be here this week. Will you require help to record the music video?" asked Steward Josaf.
"Relax. I will need some of the maids in the video and maybe all the others in a few shots for extras. You all will not need to do anything but act like you normally do in real life," said Elizabella with a grin.