Later that night after dinner, the new Crown Princess was asked to join the King and Queen in the King's study room. Elizabella felt a little apprehensive about what they wanted to talk to her about, but she decided that she could not say too much if they asked.
Taking a deep breath, she walked after the servant who would lead her to the King and Queen. As she walked, many passing servants would take a peek at her as they were all curious over the new Crown Princess. They all thought that she walked very gracefully and her eyes did not seem to appear shifty as she looked forward and straight.
Once her presence was announced to the King and Queen, she entered and stopped before them to curtsy. This gave the two royal adults time to see how she responded under such stress and were both secretly pleased with what they saw.
"Your Majesty, how may I serve you?" said Elizabella as she curtsied to the royal couple.
"Please, Princess Aphra, have a seat," said the King as he sat at his desk and the Queen sat in front of him to the side, leaving an empty chair for Elizabella to take next to the Queen.
"As you wish," replied Elizabella as she moved to sit next to the Queen.
"Princess Aphra, We are sure you are wondering why We have called you here," started the King as Elizabella seemed unfazed with his presence, making the King secretly happy. "Would you care for some tea?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty," said Elizabella as she was offered tea from the standing servant next to the King, before he took a step back and made his presence unknown.
"We have called you here to formally introduce Ourselves to you. Normally, We would hold a more formal, stately even, meeting to not only be introduced to Us but to other members of the Royal Family; however, We wished to have a more private setting, since you are already a member of the Royal Family. It would not look good if others inquired that we are meeting only after you married into Our house. Forgive Us for the discretion of this meeting."
"I sympathize with your dilemma and am aware of the gravity of what this could mean if done the more proper way of meeting the King for the first time," said Elizabella with a smile and look of understanding as she drank her tea.
"That is good that you understand Our concerns. Also, We would like to formally thank you for saving Our life. Hence another reason why this meeting is met discreetly," said the King as his gaze showed gratitude to the Crown Princess who sat in front of him, prompting the Queen who sat beside her to reach out her hand and firmly grasp her arm.
"We were so emotional that day that We did not have time to actually thank you, Princess Aphra. Thank you, for saving Our life partner, Our husband and King," said the Queen as her eyes teared up while she held onto Elizabella's arm.
"The pleasure was all mine. In fact, my duty. I am sure that my grandfather would have wanted me to save the son of his friend. Also, we are now family and must learn to live together in peace and harmony," said Elizabella after quickly placing her cup of tea down and looking at the Queen and comforted her. "This way, we get to learn more about each other's likes and dislikes to further grow closer, now that more time was granted to the King, we should be more joyful and remember that life is fleeting."
"Well said, Princess Aphra. We have been observing you tonight and have come to the conclusion that, although you physically look nothing like your grandfather, We see a lot of him in you. He had a noble character and was a responsible man. We had the pleasure of meeting him shortly after he saved Our Royal Father and before his passing, he looked after Our health," said the King as he looked at Elizabella and seemed to reminisce about the past, while the Queen dried her eyes and never let go of Elizabella's arm. "In fact, the Royal Physicians have stated that, unlike their natural powers of healing, your late grandfather seemed to have a rare power of regeneration. So rare that they have never heard of this power. Seeing you here heal me, they have concluded that your powers are just like his. We have not heard that his two daughters have any of his powers."
"Well, Your Majesty, both his two daughters, my mother and aunt, do indeed share this same power, but a more weaker strain of self-regeneration. They have never been sick a day in their lives, nor have they ever broken any bones. I, on the other hand, have broken a few bones, but I was able to heal very quickly. I was informed that the bones set in a way that they appeared as if I have never broken anything on an x-ray," said Elizabella as she she continued to let the Queen hold onto her arm while she comforted her. "I found that I could heal others more recently, like two years ago by accident. At that time, my grandfather was already long dead and I could not ask for his advice on how to properly heal others , as I have heard him able to do."
"We see. Did the Queen of Edalelia know about your powers?" asked the King while he gazed at her with a friendly smile, making Elizabella look at him with a friendly smile herself.
"I do not feel too comfortable talking too much about my past, but to answer Your Majesty's question, yes. Yes, she knew about my powers," said Elizabella, still with her friendly smile on her face while looking directly at the King, making the King think it was good that she did not bow to just anyone but still kept a polite enough bearing.
"We were told that the Queen of Edalelia had looked at you to be a potential wife candidate for her Royal Grandsons. What say you on this topic?" asked the Queen as she had let go of her arm and looked at Elizabella with a quizzical smile.
"That was only talk from their end," said Elizabella as she reached for her cup of tea as she started to feel a little uncomfortable over this topic, making the two royal adults look briefly at each other before turning their attention to her.
"Their?" asked the Queen as Elizabella sipped her tea slowly to think on how to answer their questioning.
"Yes. The late Crown Prince was good friends with my family. He was the first, that I know of, that brought that topic up to my family. However, we were still children back then when he passed and it was never decreed, while all such talk disappeared. I never knew that the Queen still had it in mind until..." Elizabella briefly paused as she tried to control her hands from shaking uncontrollably. "Ahem. Until I was much older."
"We see," said the Queen as she and the King failed to realize that the Crown Princess was trying her hardest to reign in her emotions that she hid behind sipping her tea. "The reason We ask was that We wanted to know if you had a past romance with the two Princes of Edalelia. We hope that it would not be a conflict of interest in the future."
"I understand, but our relationship was pure until the end," said Elizabella a little sternly before taking another sip of her tea, making the two look at her hard. "Your Majesty must not worry, as I will promise to dedicate my life for Prince Maxen. There will be no conflict of interest in the future."
Hearing her words, the two visibly relaxed. Prompting the King to bring on the next topic.
"What would you like as a reward for your contribution? Obviously, it must remain secret."
This had briefly stunned Elizabella, as she did not know what to ask. She was tempted to ask, or even beg for a divorce in that moment. But thought that it would not look good for the Royal Family if their daughter-in-law suddenly asked for a divorce, the next day after her wedding. She decided that a more practical wish would do.
"Your Majesty, I would like to have a pass to go and visit my family often. I say 'often' and not 'as often as I like' for I know the implications of both statements. I promise that I will not take for granted this pass as it could seem like I am dissatisfied with my arrangements to the outside world," said Elizabella as she thought that it would be hard to be herself if she was constantly being monitored in the Palace and thought that being home in her 'parents house' would make it easier to do what she liked.
"Is that all you want?" asked the King as he and the Queen looked at each other momentarily and looked back at Elizabella. "As it has come to Our attention, you have yet to ask for anything from Us since you agreed to marry the Crown Prince. Is there no desire that you wish to obtain?"
"As of this moment, there is nothing that I really want. If I can have that guarantee that I will have a future Royal Pardon, for me or to anyone of my choosing, that is all that I want," said Elizabella as she bowed her head while she sat and thought of if her secrets were to ever come to light, she would want that Royal Pardon.
"As you wish," said King as he wondered why she would want a future pardon.