Prince Zander had gone to bed a little grumpy, and it took him a long time to fall asleep. He had many things on his mind that he just could not shut his brain off. With his mother coming back and seeing his cousin with another girl, he felt conflicted in his sleep, especially since Lady Elizabella saw it as well.
He wondered if he should pry in their marriage since this could hurt Lady Elizabella's reputation.
"Well, the whole point of my meddling would have been for those two to split. But if she ends up hating me afterward, that would be worse. So I should not intrude on my cousin's affair. However, how will they break up if I do not do anything? There has to be a way to tear them apart."
The whole night long, Prince Zander tossed and turned until he finally did fall asleep. When he woke up, it was later than he was used to, but he had to get ready to meet his mother, who was finally coming home. By the time he had had his breakfast, it was already time for brunch, and his mother would arrive soon.
When he greeted the senior royals, he looked around and saw that his cousin and Lady Elizabella were already gone, prompting him to ask.
"Has Maxen and Princess Aphra already left to her parents' house?" asked Prince Zander as he looked surprised and curious.
"They left earlier this morning. We are sorry that they will not be able to meet your mother, Lady Primrose when she finally gets here," said the Dowager Queen as she smiled politely at him.
"Oh, well, they can meet her when they get back. I am sure that mother will not mind so much," said Zander as he felt salty that they would be staying together all weekend. "She should be arriving any moment now."
"Yes, We had thought that she would come earlier. She even missed her nephew's wedding," said the Queen as she was upset with her sister-in-law not being able to make it to her son's wedding.
"I know she wanted to join in the festivities. But she could not leave her work unattended in such a hurried manner," said Prince Zander apologetically as he wondered what exactly his mother was doing since he last saw her.
"We understand, Prince Zander. She was preparing to come back as soon as possible and leave no loose ends. But now she is even late coming here. Was she not to arrive by now? Where is she?" asked the Queen as she understood that Prince Zander would apologize for his mother's irresponsible behavior.
"I am sure that she must have just been caught up in something. She will be here soon," said Prince Zander as he too began to worry if anything may have happened to have delayed her arrival.
"We hope to see her soon," said the Queen with a frosty look in her eyes.
"Oh, come now, Gennat Dear; leave Prince Zander alone. We cannot expect that he should be responsible for his mother. She is already a full-grown adult. We should wait patiently until she gets here," said the Dowager Queen with a kindly demeanor.
"Thank you, Royal Grandmother," said Prince Zander as he understood that his Royal Aunt was not upset with him but with his mother, who was keeping them waiting for so long.
Even Prince Zander was beginning to become impatient with his mother as he understood that her mood would change at the flip of a switch. Some days, she was more stable than other days; usually, she would be hard to deal with. He just hoped that when she arrived, or if she came, she would be in a better mood. The thought of her having one of her episodes in front of Lady Elizabella made him nervous.
He wondered if he had told his mother about her real identity, would she help him split the couple apart? The answer would quickly be a no. Why? She would deny that someone as noble as Lady Elizabella would go around telling others that she was a "Baroness' daughter." When she could easily say that she had inherited her father's Marquess title when he passed away, and her mother disappeared.
Another reason would be that she would not believe that there is such a coincidence that she left two other Princes just to marry his cousin, who his mother looks down on. The point is, Lady Elizabella would never match Crown Prince Maxen, which is what his mother would choose to believe.
He was confident that his mother would never look at her properly as she is married to his cousin, so she will never see the close resemblance to the late Marquess.
Everyone in the Kingdom of Edalelia knows that the Blakeloch family all had very similar features. The number one feature that all Blakeloch heirs had in common was their silver/white hair. Their family crest had a white diamond in the middle. Many believed that it represented their wealth in gem mines, while everyone agreed that it represented their hair.
Lady Elizabella was born with natural silver-blonde hair that looked white or silver under different light settings. Hence, her invisible eyebrows. Currently, her hair was no longer blonde, white, or silver, making it easy for her to not pass off as herself. Even if she were to walk in Edalelia right now, he was sure that not many would recognize her, even though her face is very memorable.
Even he was sure that he would not recognize her. The only reason he was able to identify her was that the pictures they used to introduce the future Crown Princess were when her hair was still blonde, making it easier for him to form a connection. It was not until her glasses fell off in school, and he was able to see her eyes was he able to tell that she was Lady Elizabella. He felt proud that he was able to spot her out of the thousands upon thousands of people.
"It must be destiny! Why else would I know who she is? Even my cousin, who is married to her, does not understand the weight of being married to a Blakeloch. If he knew, he would do everything in his power to keep and stay away from all other women," thought Prince Zander as he was sitting down drinking tea while they waited for his mother, who never appeared to be punctual. "I need to see if I can get them to separate. My birthday party should prove beneficial."
**********
After waiting until lunchtime, the senior royals had called it quits and made their way into the dining hall to eat their lunch. Prince Zander also followed to join them. It was not until they were halfway eating that a servant came in to announce her arrival.
"Lady Primrose wishes to greet the Your Majesties," said Steward Wesley announced, making the senior royals frown as they had not had their fill.
The Queen calmly wiped her mouth as she instructed the servants to bring her to the sitting hall. Prince Zander wondered if he should excuse himself to greet his mother. Prince Zander knew that she would want to eat with everyone now when everyone is halfway finished, or she would like to make everyone quickly stop eating with the intention that they should eat together and then say that she has already eaten. Either way, he knew that his mother came at this time to cause trouble. His dilemma was if he should help distract her or convince her not to do such a thing.
In the end, the senior royals understood his mother and continued to eat a little more, but not enough to fill themselves as they could very well end up eating some lighter snacks to curve their hunger later. The King was the first to finish, and the two royal ladies quickly followed his lead in washing their hands in lemon water. Prince Zander trailed behind them.
Soon the family made their way to the sitting room where Lady Primrose would be waiting for them. The King led the procession as they came inside to a charming Lady standing to greet the Royal Family.
"Primrose greets Your Majesties," said Lady Primrose as she gave a graceful curtsy to the senior royals who were only able to provide her with their well-conducted smiles.
"Dear daughter, how have you been? Are you hungry? Why not eat something while we catch up on lost time," said the Dowager Queen as she approached the Lady and brought her arms up to place them on her shoulders.
"Thank you, Royal Mother," said Lady Primrose as she sat with the Dowager Queen on a sofa, and a maid came in with a few finger foods and tea. "It has been a long time since I have seen any of you. How are you, Royal Brother-in-law and Royal Sister-in-law?"
"We have been well, dear sister-in-law," said the Queen as she sat beside her husband and Prince Zander sat next to his mother and grandmother.
"That is good. How about your health, Royal Brother-in-law? Last I remember, you were very ill," said Lady Primrose as she gave a very concerned look to the King, who smiled politely to her.
"Thank you for asking, Lady Primrose. Thanks to the late Baron, his medicine has proved wonders. We are feeling better than ever," responded the King as he failed to see the disappointment in Lady Primrose's eyes; however, it did not escape the Queen's eyes.
"That is great news to hear," smiled Lady Primrose, making the Queen wonder if what she saw was real. "I heard that my Royal Nephew got married to the late Baron's granddaughter. Why are they not here?"
"Dear daughter, they are visiting the Crown Princess' parents. It is good that they get to interact regularly as they are her parents," said the Dowager Queen while she sipped her tea, making Lady Primrose shudder at the thought.
"Oh, I had wanted to meet the granddaughter of the late Baron. I never had the pleasure of meeting her before he passed away. Too bad, they could not be here to welcome me back," said Lady Primrose as the Queen felt pricked by her words.
"Do you mean that they need to be here to greet such an irresponsible person such as yourself? Humph! We are so glad that Princess Aphra had the foresight to ask to meet her parents with Prince Maxen. We do not know how We would have behaved if they did need to greet this woman," the Queen quietly sipped her tea as she thought that Lady Primrose was only trying to stir trouble.
"Since the passing of late Crown Prince Lysander, it has been hard on me and Prince Zander," said Lady Primrose as she sighed and looked to be very tired, making everyone in the room very uncomfortable.
"What happened to her speech? Should she not say that differently?" thought everyone in the room as they wondered what it meant that her pronouns were incorrectly used.
"That is why I have decided to run for a seat in the government."