The Crown Prince found himself sitting in the Crown Princess' bedroom, next to her bed while she slept. After his family's talk about his wife, he started to really wonder what secrets she was hiding. He already knew that she had some sort of relationship with the Queen of Edalelia, but did not know how far or deep it ran.
He watched her sleep and could not shake the feeling that they had indeed met as kids. He frowned as he still could not place where it could have been that they met. Why did she look so familiar?
Everything and nothing seemed familiar about her. It was hard to explain the feeling of familiarity, even to himself. He was sure that if they had met before, he would definitely remember her since her looks were very unique.
Her curls fell and framed her face as she laid on the bed asleep with her glasses on the nightstand. Still, to this day, Prince Maxen was sure that he did not know her real eye color as he had always seen her with thick glasses on. With this thought in his head, he became overly curious to know what her eye color was.
Now, he sat very antsy while he watched her sleep, wondering when she will wake up so that he could see. After a while of just waiting, he became bored and began to look through his CD. He was so bored that he even looked through the gossip columns who were still talking bout his wedding that just passed.
He looked through the wedding pictures and noticed that everyone in the family photos were smiling, yet he knew that no one was truly happy that day. The only one that could possibly have been happy was his wife, but again, he knows for a fact that she was not that happy as she felt forced into this marriage.
He sighed as he remembered her words before she cured his Royal Father. She seemed upset that she was never told that the King was ill and seemed to be more upset with the fact that if she knew beforehand, she could have cured the King in exchange to not marry him, the Crown Prince.
He did not know how to feel at this point as he began to feel that if she had know first, then they would not be married at this point and maybe even become friends because she had saved his Royal Father while he would still be pursuing Lady Margarette.
He let out a laugh in irony. He was sure that if she had cure his Royal Father before they married, his family would have engaged them together and they still would have been married in the future out of gratefulness, just like how grateful they were now.
"I feel like, in the end, we would always be married. It would just depend on what time..." mumbled Prince Maxen as he looked up from his CD and looked at his wife on the bed. "Actually, one may even think that you would cure him with the intention to get something from the Royal Family. Maybe, instead of waiting, they would have held you a National Heroine and married us then and there. Are we just fated to be together in this life?"
Prince Maxen took one last look at the wedding pictures posted online before putting away his CD. He sighed deeply and looked at Elizabella again who still slept peacefully on her bed. He studied her profile and wondered how he would have reacted if she had cured his Royal Father before they married.
"I am sure that I would have been grateful to you, probably to the point that I would not even mind getting married to you. Though I am sure that sooner or later, I would wonder how Lady Margarette is doing and if she missed me. Perhaps I would react in a moment of passion and marry you immediately, only to regret it quickly... No... This arrangement is much better than the alternative, one where both of us are in agreement to part ways, eventually, amicably..." thought Prince Maxen as he looked in deep thought while resting his eyes on Elizabella.
As he continued to think, he felt his CD ding, prompting him to look down and see that he got a message from Margarette. Knowing that it was from Margarette, his heart skipped a beat and he hesitantly opened the message.
I miss you
- Margarette
This message seemed to stun him as he would have thought that all this time with her ignoring him and even seeing him propose to another girl and even marrying this other girl, Lady Margarette did not want to see nor talk to him. Now here she was sending him a message, leaving him confused over what to do.
True that he and his new wife have already agreed to divorce and go their separate ways in the future, but he always assumed that Margarette would be someone that he could only see from afar until after the divorce. Now?
He was not so sure. Prince Maxen had already made a vow to himself that even if this marriage ended in divorce, he would try his best to appear to be a good husband. Meaning that he was not going to have any affairs while he was married to his first wife. He felt that he at least owed her that much since she was able to follow his whims of marriage and divorce without complaining. She has still to ask for anything from him or his family since they forced to change her life forever.
He frowned as he wondered if he should answer Lady Margarette's message or just not respond to it at all. He sighed deeply again as he massaged his temples.
"I should probably not try for any affair as if and when we are caught, my wife would be the most embarrassed. I should not make her life so hard while we are married..." thought Prince Maxen as he looked down at his CD again and reread the message. "Then again... she already knows about my feelings for Lady Margarette... would it still be an affair if she already and always knew about Lady Margarette and we both know that we will be getting divorced in the future? I mean, by the time we divorce, who is to say that Lady Margarette had not moved on for some other random guy? Would she be able to wait for me during the time that I am married to Lady Aphra? Should I not try to keep our relationship active and going for when Lady Aphra and I divorce, Lady Margarette and I can just be together without any complications?"
Prince Maxen felt a massive headache coming in as he contemplated his problem.
**********
Prince Zander had been talking to his mother on his CD when the King was cured. He had missed the important details and even missed the fact Crown Princess Aphra was the one who saved him. The family had decided to keep the fact that the Crown Princess was the King's savior a secret from even him.
Prince Zander went to meet with his newly wed cousin and hoped to also meet his wife. He first went to the Crown Prince's study and asked where he was. When he was told that Prince Maxen was in the Crown Princess' bedroom, he felt alarm bells ringing in his head.
"Oh? Are they doing things that single people like me should not be privy to?" Prince Zander asked jokingly at the maid who had responded to his cousin's whereabouts, making her blush before she responded.
"The Crown Princess was feeling rather tired and faint so she is currently resting. The Crown Prince is keeping her company. I am sure that he would not mind if you also went inside to keep him company."
"Is the Crown Princess alright? Suddenly feeling faint like that?" asked Prince Zander as he looked genuinely concerned for her wellbeing.
"She is fine, she was just feeling a little anemic is all," said the maid as she curtsied before Prince Zander left her hurriedly to go to the Crown Princess' bedroom door and knocking.
No one seemed to answer, making him frown before he decided to open the door himself. Normally the bedrooms do not lead into the actual bedroom but rather a sitting space that leads to a private apartment. The doors are typically left unlocked except for the door that lead to the actual bedroom. Going inside, he was not sure which door led to the master bedroom so he tried his luck and knocked on one before opening the door gently and peeking inside.
He saw Prince Maxen sitting on a chair next to the bed with the sleeping Crown Princess. Prince Maxen seemed lost in his CD as Prince Zander slowly approached him and saw that he was looking at his messages. He was not meaning to pry into his business when he noticed what the message said, making him pause his step.
"How is she?" asked Prince Zander as his eyes turned cold at Prince Maxen's CD and looked gently at the sleeping Crown Princess on the bed, making Prince Maxen startled that he was there.
"Zander... I did not notice you entering," said Prince Maxen as he smoothly put away his CD and pretended that he was not just lost in thought while looking at Prince Zander. "She is doing fine. She just needs some rest."
"How did this happen?" asked Zander as he overlapped a face from his memories and the sleeping girl on the bed.
"She exerted herself and she has a slight case of anemia. After resting for some time, she will be fine," said Prince Maxen as he looked at his sleeping wife, not noticing Prince Zander's eyes turning colder and his fists tightening.
"That is good to hear. It would be bad luck if something terrible were to happen to my new cousin-in-law."