The three young royals had traveled all morning to reach their destination. They could see the crystal waters from up above as they had traveled by hovercar as soon as they got close to their location. This would be Elizabella's first time coming to the lake house owned by the royal family. It was a small island in the middle of the lake with a large structure planted in the middle. Upon closer observation, Elizabella was able to tell that the building's design was like a fancy cabin with more stone than wood.
It looked to be two floors with a swimming pool in the back and a large patio for entertainment. There were no guests yet as they had gone early to make sure that everything was being set up properly. According to Prince Zander, the entertainment should have arrived the night before to have their equipment set up. Knowing this, Elizabella was very curious to know who they were.
They had all traveled in the same hovercar, so as Prince Zander explained that they should not be the only ones there, Prince Maxen, too, wondered who the hired entertainment would be.
"Who did you get to be the entertainment this time?"
"I will not say as we are nearly there. If you are still curious to know, you will see them once we get off the hovercar," smiled Prince Zander mysteriously as he looked at Elizabella warmly. "I am sure that Princess Aphra will enjoy seeing them here."
"You really have me curious. Alright, I cannot wait until we get there so that I can see who you invited," smiled Elizabella as she wondered why Prince Zander believes she will like them when they have never spoken intimately before.
"Perhaps because he thinks I like all performing arts as I am known in school as 'Director Ginny' with many different productions under my name. Maybe that is why he thinks that I will like them automatically," thought Elizabella as they slowly came to a halt.
The hovercar landed gently, and a waiting servant came to open their doors. Coming out of the hovercar, Elizabella looked around and saw that she could see the sparkling waters from where she stood. It had a very calming effect as she took in a deep breath and smiled to herself. They were led inside the lake house, where the inside was very warm and inviting.
Elizabella first wanted to know where they would be sleeping since this could be a sensitive issue considering she was married. Prince Zander said that he had no control over the sleeping arrangements.
"Although I was able to plan mostly everything, I had no choice in the bedroom situations. But fear not. I was told that you two would share a room, just not the bed," said Prince Zander apologetically while he looked at Elizabella.
"We can make do with this arrangement as well," said Elizabella with a forced smile, while Prince Maxen seemed a little distracted.
"Sorry again, but my Royal Aunt wanted to take over that aspect of the planning since she wanted to make sure that there would be no problems," said Prince Zander as he felt a little irked.
"It is fine. Everyone knows that Prince Maxen and I are married. It is only natural that we share a room to sleep in," said Elizabella as she tried to sound like she did not mind, making Prince Zander feel worse.
"Alright, if you want to go and see your bedroom situation, you can ask a servant to lead you to your room. If you are going to freshen up, you could also take this chance to see where your bedroom will be located. Otherwise, we can go for a tour and see if we can see the stage that they have set up for later," suggested Prince Zander as he looked at Elizabella with a smile.
"If we are only going to do some tours and look around, I would like to change to a more comfortable outfit. I do not think that I want to be in a dress right now," said Elizabella as she looked at her dress she was wearing when she got out of the palace. "I may be overdressed right now."
**********
Elizabella was led to her room to share with Maxen later and looked to see if there were really two beds like Prince Zander had said. She sighed to herself as she saw the two beds separated by a side table in the middle. There was a large closet with her and Maxen's clothes already neatly put away. Walliams had escaped her shadow and lingered outside the room to wait for her while she changed her clothes.
Now that he was out, he had a habit of trying to sense others' scent nearby to familiarize himself with the staff and guests that would be coming later. As he was trying to discern where people were located, Walliams thought he had caught a familiar scent that he had not sensed for a long time. He frowned as he tried to remember where he had perceived the familiar person before. However, he realized that it was not just one person that he felt familiar with, but a group of them.
Walliams found it odd as he was sure that they were not palace workers or servants from his Lady's house. He wondered where he had met them before. It felt as if he had met them not too long ago, but also a lifetime ago. Why were they familiar? Should he tell Elizabella about his senses? As he was thinking, the door opened to show Elizabella had changed her dress to a white fitted blouse, a knee-length floral flowy skirt, a dusty rose cardigan, and matching flats. Her hair had been left as a half-up half-down look.
Walliams seeing her coming out quickly jumped into her shadow again. When he noticed that she had continued to walk towards the house entrance, Walliams spoke up.
"My Lady, I feel like there are people here that we know. I am just not aware who they are," said Walliams as Elizabella paused her steps before continuing her pace.
"Where do you feel them?" asked Elizabella as she wondered who they could be.
"I believe that they are downstairs. I did not sense them before as I was not actively searching, but now I can tell that a group of them are downstairs," said Walliams a bit vaguely as he tried to remember who these people were. "Do you want me to see who they are first before you go downstairs?"
"It is fine. We will see who they are during our tour. Maybe you will be able to know who they are before we see them," said Elizabella as she reached the ground floor.
"Alright. I will tell you who they are as soon as I can remember who they are," said Walliams as he grew silent in Elizabella's shadow.
"Good," said Elizabella as she made her way to where the two princes were waiting. "I am back. Where should we head to first?"
"Since this is your first time here, we should start on the ground floor and make our way to the upstairs for later. The others will not be here until much later, so we have enough time. Then we can reintroduce you to some of our cousins that were guests to your wedding," said Prince Zander as he smiled politely at her and began to walk while directing the way. "Let me show you the way."
Prince Zander had shown Elizabella around the ground floor, with Prince Maxen silently following them. Finally, they headed to an indoor theater room where the entertainers were setting up their things. At this point, they could hear the audio being tested, making Elizabella pause in her step as she recognized the voice on the microphone. Prince Zander noticed her hesitation, and he smiled to himself.
"Behind these doors, our entertainers are setting up their things. I am sure that you are curious as to who they are, so let me tell you who they are," said Prince Zander as Walliams gasped loudly in Elizabella's shadow, but only she could hear.
"It is them!" Walliams said excitedly, making Elizabella wonder who 'them' were.
"Who exactly is it then, Zander?" asked Prince Maxen as he wondered why his cousin had to be so mysterious and dramatic.
"Ah! Well, they are-" Prince Zander was cut short as two lively girls came out of the room complaining.
"Ah~! I am so tired! Leader really wants to get things all set up by tonight. I need a break!" said one girl with long coral pink hair as the other messaged her own back and nodded.
"I know. I am surprised that Beast is not saying anything today," said the other girl with a teal braid before stopping and gasping at the royals standing in front of them. "Ah! Um… is this not…"
"Starfish? Ivy? What are you guys doing here?" asked Elizabella as she was surprised to see the girls who had turned to statues before they were brought back to their senses.
"Is this Beauty?" asked Starfish as she asked her companion, who frowned at Elizabella.
"Bad Beauty! You act as if you know us, but you do not even invite us to your wedding! Do you know how heartbroken we were? This is not how you treat your friends!" said Ivy as she took on a strong stance, making the two princes shocked to hear what they said, while Elizabella looked guilty.
"I am sorry. The wedding was so fast. I honestly had no time to invite everyone to come," said Elizabella as the two princes slowly started to come back.
"Wait, you know each other?" asked Prince Zander as he looked at the two girls who glared at Elizabella while Elizabella looked at them.
"Who are these people?" asked Prince Maxen, not knowing what was happening.
"They are the entertainers that I hired. Their name is 'Red Enigma,' and they travel performing in many cities and towns," said Prince Zander as he frowned slightly and thought to himself. "I had no idea that they knew Princess Aphra."
The three girls continued to stare at each other while Elizabella wondered why her old friends were there. She had written to them that she had to cut ties with them for the time being, but she feared that they were aware of her engagement before receiving her letter. She thought they would understand her letter's undertones since she was not even using her real name or family. She was starting to get a headache.
"This means that Beast and Leader are here as well…" thought Elizabella as she hoped that they were more understanding of her situation.
"I would like to formally apologize," said Elizabella as she gave a determined look, making everyone there turn to look at her as the two girls then glanced at each other before sighing.
"We are not really upset with you as we do understand the delicate nature of your situation…" said Starfish as Ivy continued for her.
"We understand, but those two are really upset. If you want to apologize, then you need to do so to them."
"I understand," said Elizabella as the door opened again and a pretty girl and a good-looking guy came out holding hands.
They were both looking at their CDs and distracted by them before the guy looked up and noticed Elizabella, giving a surprised look.
"Beauty? Is that you?" hearing the guy speak, the pretty girl looked up and rolled her eyes before going back to her CD and ignoring Elizabella, who was looking at their hands.
Elizabella frowned before she quickly approached the couple holding hands while everyone wondered what she would do. She came close to them and looked at their holding hands, then looked up at their faces before grabbing their hands together and breaking them apart, startling everyone there, including the couple that had been holding hands. She mercilessly flung the guy's hand away before turning to the stunned pretty girl and threw herself to her.
"I am so sorry, Beast! I never meant to hurt you, my lovely wife! Please do not stay mad at your Little Beauty!"