The first prince glared at his younger, much more attractive brother. He had to think of a plan to keep the two away. Emma might've not known this, but he was slowly catching feelings for the maid's daughter.
He thought of keeping Emma working quite late and sending her on multiple errands so she could be late for the meeting, but by doing that, not only would that annoy her, but possibly make her dislike him.
But he couldn't hold in the jealousy.
He couldn't hold the rage seeing another girl around his brother again.
Even though part of the reason he was protective was because he had feelings for Emma.
He craved his love to be returned, not to be unrequited.
He was sick of his brother getting all of the attention. Of always being the favourite child.
He was like a little kid, craving to be loved. His attitudes being the ways he coped with this, fully knowing he'd never take the throne since his parents always favoured his brother, probably choosing him as the next heir to the throne.
He decided to simply stall her until the time came for her to meet Michael in the garden before he thought of a more strategic way to ruin it.
Stall Michael.
The plan was simple. He'd ask his parents to postpone their anniversary dinner, make up some excuse, and when they do, Michael would have no choice but to skip the meeting. So Adam would swoop in, save the day, and everything would go as planned.
If only plans would go as they were planned.
Adam had managed to get his parents to postpone their dinner with some make-up excuse, but what he didn't know, or didn't expect in particular, was for his brother to be a man of his word of instead just cancelling the meeting or bail on her. Michael was truly a man of his word.
Instead of breaking his promise, ditching Emma to celebrate his parent's thirtieth anniversary, he chose to go out for some 'fresh air'; which wasn't completely a lie or false, as it had a grain of truth in it.
He had snuck out of the palace dining room to meet Emma and had arrived minutes earlier.
He was wearing his usual grey blazer, a white long-sleeved shirt, a black tie and dark grey jeans.
It was only a few minutes later Emma had arrived in more appropriate clothes for the occasion, as she was now wearing one of her finest dresses, a knee-length dress decorated with a pattern of ornate flowers, matching with her eyes perfectly, and accentuating her curves. She had put on some earrings, and she looked stunning under the Zenovia night sky.
Emma had never been to the gardens, so she took a moment to appreciate the wonderful views that the palace gardens provided, taking the scent of the flowers surrounding her.
Prince Michael gaped as he saw the person that was supposed to be a royal maid. Instead, she was replaced by a gorgeous woman - who looked nothing like the maid that he had bumped into - to come with him to stroll around the palace gardens.
He shook his head, his train of thought fading away as he extended his hand towards her once again. She gladly took his hand, and he gave her a tour around the gardens, providing context to everything they passed. This was quite the odd favor that he did to make it up to her. It was more of a date than an occasion where your boss' son invited you to the palace gardens just because he bumped into you and wanted to 'make it up to you'.
But Emma didn't mind. She wasn't properly taught about love, and she never fully understood it. The only love she ever felt was towards her mother and her best friend, Lily.
Her life was quite a depressing one.
She never had the chance to be tutored or the amount of support to go to school. She never really had the chance to make friends except for the colleagues and workers in the palace. For most of her life, she had grown up in the castle basements, and she never had a fatherly figure in her life because as far as she knew, he was deceased.
She was smart, but when it came to love, that was an exception.
They walked together, and they chatted about the palace. Michael had told her stories about how he grew up, and she had told him her depressing story of how she grew up.
Meanwhile, Prince Adam had thought his plan was put into action but was more than shocked when he saw the two walking hand in hand, and even more jealous when he saw her all dressed up. His fists clenched and unclenched as he angrily stormed back to the palace dining room where his parents were celebrating their anniversary.
He put on a fake facade and entered the dining room, a fake grin plastered across his face.
"Mother, father, happy twenty-eighth anniversary!" He exclaimed, being on his best behaviour.
The two parents smiled back at their son.
"Where is Michael? Hasn't it been quite long since Michael went out for air?" King William asked.
Queen Isabelle nodded.
"Yes, he has been gone for quite a while. I'll ask someone to fetch him immediately," she suggested.
Adam, seeing the perfect opportunity, placed his hand in the air.
"Father, mother, no need to do such things, I don't mind calling my brother. Consider it an act of self-benevolence, especially since it's your anniversary," he said, volunteering to cut Michael and Emma's moment short.
The two monarchs - or parents - nodded.
They didn't suspect their first son to have any ill intentions, so they just went with it.
Adam, now having the power to interrupt their little moment, strode towards the palace gardens, a genuine grin now plastered on his face.
As soon as he snuck up on the two, he cleared his throat.
"Brother, mother and father wish to see you back at the dining room," he said as he inwardly smirked.
Michael's eyes widened.
He was shocked to find his brother standing behind him, but he composed himself immediately and straightened his tie.
"Oh, yes, of course. Just excuse me for a little while, brother," Michael excused.
Prince Adam nodded, his smirk widening as he turned around, successfully ruining his plans.
Michael turned to Emma who had figured out what was going on.
She wasn't mad or upset, and she just shrugged.
He looked at her gratefully.
"I'm sorry, I'll have to cut this short, my parents are waiting for me in the dining room. It's their anniversary today," he explained.
Emma nodded.
"It's fine, it's best I take some rest myself too," she replied.
Prince Michael smiled warmly.
'This was fun, maybe we could continue this next time?" He asked.
Emma grinned.
"Sure," she said as Michael nodded before rushing back to the palace dining room, bracing himself for impact on how his parents would react.