"I am so sorry, Beast! I never meant to hurt you, my lovely wife! Please do not stay mad at your Little Beauty!"
Once her words rang out, there was dead silence in the hall. Everyone stood there, staring, not knowing how to respond. Suddenly, the guy who had been flung off took a step back next to the two girls who seemed to be watching a play. The two princes did not know how to handle Princess Aphra's words as they then turned to look at the pretty girl who looked upset from being hugged.
The girl, named Beast, was tall without any heels. She looked older, maybe nineteen or twenty, as her alluring amber eyes stared at Elizabella in disbelief. Her dark hair was in a high ponytail, contrasting to her milky white skin. Elizabella looked like a little girl as she reached up to her endowed chest and, while she hugged her tightly, exposed her sinful curves.
Seeing her, any man would feel stimulated as she seemed to give off a very fierce aura about herself, especially as she looked down on Elizabella while not responding, who in turn looked up at her as she seemed to plead with her eyes. Beast seemed to want to push her off when Elizabella, again, repeated what she had previously said.
"I am so sorry, Beast! I never meant to hurt you, my lovely wife! Please do not stay mad at your Little Beauty!"
Hearing her repeat herself stopped Beast from shoving her away as her face changed and responded with a tired look.
"You always say the same thing, never thinking that I am waiting at home. Waiting. For you to stop breaking your promises. How many times have you repeated to me saying that you never again will break your promise to me? At the very least, you could have called me instead of having me wait like a fool for you.
"It seems that our relationship means nothing to you. I am tired of waiting. Waiting on all our date nights that never happened. Waiting on our anniversaries, and yet, you always showed up late. Saying that work was hard and that I would understand. Of course, I understood. I understood that you were the breadwinner, but I always hoped that things would turn for the good and that someday you would not have to work so hard and place our family first.
"Now? Now I just do not care. You have done well with yourself, and the money comes pouring in. Yet, I am still not your priority. Do you even remember that today marks our tenth anniversary? What time did you just get home? There is nothing in your empty hands that I can see that would be considered a gift; whether an apology or an anniversary gift, there is none. I am tired. I think it would be best if you let me go," said Beast as her eyes glistened while she turned her head away from Elizabella, who was still holding on to her but instead held her by her arms.
Elizabella's demeanor changed as she looked at the now frail-looking girl in her arms. Her voice deepened, and her face looked guilty, then determination was expressed vividly across her face.
"My dear, I am sorry. I understand that you have always been waiting for things to change. I had long promised you that things would get better. Now that we no longer must struggle with money, I can slow down and spend time with you and the family. I just did not want to see you guys suffer and feel like I could not provide for my family. Please, give us another chance. This time, it will work as you have my guarantee. Do not think that I have given up on us for a minute. We can still work this out. I beg you, give me another chance. If there is still no change or you are still unhappy, then we can talk about other options. Please. Life without you is meaningless," said Elizabella as her gaze remained on Beast, who seemed moved while she tried to hold back the tears that had collected in the corners of her eyes.
The spectators remained still as the two girls continued in their world. The princes still appeared lost but watched quietly where they stood. Beast finally moved by drying her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Are you sure? Will this be the last time you forget an important family event? Will this be the final night that I will have to wait and wonder where you are and when you will come home? Will this mark the end of the lonely nights when you would have to travel far for work? Because if this is not, I rather not continue playing house with you," said Beast as her tired look was replaced with a glare.
Elizabella's face changed to look optimistic. She grabbed Beast's hands and held them gently as she smiled beautifully at her.
"I promise that things will indeed change. From now on, my family comes first," said Elizabella as the two girls looked lovingly at each other.
"End scene. Great job, you two. The emotion felt raw just then," said the guy who Elizabella had mercilessly flung off while he and the two girls watching on clapped their hands in approval.
"A dramatic reunion, indeed," said Ivy as she playfully rolled her eyes. "These two are so well in putting plays that it is amazing how they can do stop whatever they are doing to perform."
"Agreed, I still have trouble getting into character that quick," sighed Starfish as the group had calmed down and watched the two performing girls let go of each other when Beast looked upset. "To get into character and come out of it that fast is so envious…"
Beast looked at Elizabella, who had reverted to a Lady in her posture while she smiled demurely at Beast. Her height made her look like she was looking down on Elizabella as she looked to explode the next second.
"Is this your apology?" Beast said, surprisingly gentle, while Elizabella looked at her gently.
"Will you accept?" asked Elizabella as Beast lifted her chin to further look down on her and casually replied.
"Fine. So long as you do not ghost us again. There will be no next time," said Beast threateningly as Elizabella smiled widely, and the small group sighed with relief.
"I am so glad that they made up peacefully," said Starfish, where her two companions could hear when she turned to look at the guy. "Darian, it has been hard on you as Beast's boyfriend. Every time she had a meltdown, you had to calm her down yourself. Now Beauty as her best friend should be able to lift the pressure off your shoulders."
"I do not particularly mind," said Darian as he shrugged his shoulders and smiled at the two girls. "But I am glad they made up."
"What about Leader?" mumbled Ivy as they both heard and froze.
"Well, one disaster at a time," replied Darian as he sighed. "I fear that my best friend will continue to have a broken heart even after this weekend."
Elizabella and Beast had finally made up, and their weird play had finished. Now that the princes could ask what was happening, Prince Maxen cleared his throat when he thought that they had been ignored enough.
"Ginny, can you introduce us to your friends?" he asked Prince Maxen with a pleasant smile.
Hearing his voice seemed to have a strange effect in the hall. The happy chatter that had been heard before turned silent as they slowly turned to look at the neglected princes. Elizabella knew that how she behaved with her friends was not how a princess should behave and thought their performance must have startled the princes standing there watching with their inquisitive gazes. She smiled as she took a step closer to Prince Maxen.
"Yes, how rude of me. These guys are my friends. There was a time that we traveled together from town to town. Their names are Starfish, Ivy, Beast, and Darian," she introduced as the group politely bowed to the two princes. "We have not seen each other for months now. Sorry that I got emotional just now."
"Oh? So they are your friends. I just thought that you admired them because of that circus poster you had hanging in your locker," said Prince Zander as he smiled while Prince Maxen gave a slight frown before going back to normal.
"You still have that circus poster? I am surprised to hear that, especially after you went 'no contact' on us," said Beast a little snarkily while Elizabella blushed.
"Well, it is not like I will ever forget you guys. That was a great experience when we joined a circus last summer," said Elizabella as the two princes felt stunned.
"Circus?" asked Prince Maxen as Beast laughed merrily.
"That was fun. I was so shocked to see that the same girl hanging from a silk cloth married a Crown Prince. Thoroughly impressed," said Beast as she no longer looked upset but genuinely happy.
However, her words made Elizabella blush harder, not thinking that she would say that out loud in front of her "husband" and his cousin.
"You joined the circus?" asked Prince Maxen as he would never have thought that the girl he married who always appeared serious would ever do something like that.
Then he remembered that she seemed to have a wild side when they both snuck out at night and went for a ride. He thought that he could picture her doing something crazy like joining a circus, but still, it felt like the girl he knew had a split personality.
"Why would you join a circus?" asked Prince Zander in so much shock that he felt like he could not comprehend what was being said around him.
"Well, it was not so much as joined, but we did have an act in the circus. The circus had hired us to promote them. We performed in an ad with them since we have many gifted musicians, dancers, and singers. We just made them look more appealing to come and watch," said a male voice from behind the door that had opened again, making Elizabella's heart jump.
Everyone turned silent again as they looked to see a tall, handsome, and well-built young man. He looked to be eighteen or nineteen, had long sandy-blonde hair and gentle light caramel brown eyes. As he made his way to the group, his presence was so overwhelming that it made everyone have to pay attention to him.
"Leader!" said the group as Elizabella slowly turned to look at the newcomer and saw that he was smiling at her.
"It is good to see you, Beauty."