A week later.
There was a commotion in the capital city of Astoria Empire. The commoners were gathering around the street. Some noble even looked out of the window of the café or restaurant they were at. It was a joyous day. The crown prince of Astoria empire finally came back after a year of diplomatic visit to the Western Kingdom. At least, that was what officially people knew.
For this one year, a lot of rumors were circulating around. Mainly about who would finally marry the crown prince. It was said that The Emperor got angry and decided to send his playboy son away to reflect, but what he truly wanted was for his son to look for a bride. Despite of how capable the crown prince was, his many romantic involvements with noble ladies has been topic of discussions. It was really not a problem since the nobles are known for having lovers even after marriage, especially for royalty who would be able to marry more than once. The problem was despite his many lovers, the crown prince seemed to be not interested on getting married. Since no lady of the empire could make him settled, it was rumor that The Emperor decided to find lady from another kingdom for his son, namely the princess of Western Kingdom.
Everyone was excited to finally see whether their prince was not coming back alone this time, instead he might come back with his bride. After waiting for a while, the procession of the crown prince was finally seen.
His highness the crown prince Callisto Mada Astoria was sitting dashingly on his white horse. Just like his name, he had such a beautiful face that would make people hard to look away. But he looked so unapproachable even when he smiled. Still, people were mesmerized by his looks.
"I don't think the princess is on that carriage." Said a woman in the crowd.
"Yeah, that is a carriage for the maid." Answer another.
"You mean there is no princess?"
"Who knows?"
They were not the only one who realized this. In the second floor of Four Seasons Restaurant, a few noble ladies were discussing this topic.
"If the princess is not there, does it mean he is not getting married?"
"His Majesty gave him an ultimatum, he will get married this year."
"If it isn't the princess, the who would he marry?"
"Who else? Our Lady Larissa is the most suitable for the crown princess position."
"You are right. Lady Larissa is the most beautiful and talented woman in our empire."
The other ladies seemed to be agreed with the statement.
*****
The butler, the head maid, and other workers of the crown prince palace were bowing in greeting to the crown prince.
"Welcome back Your Highness." Said the butler while smiling.
The crown prince acknowledged him with a nod and a pat on the shoulder, then he headed inside the palace. He walked through the long hallway of the palace with the butler, his secretary, and the commander of The Lion Knights and finally arrived at his office. No one question why he would go there first instead of resting in his bedroom. While he seated, the butler poured the crown prince a drink. After the crown prince sipped the drink, he looked at the butler. Knowing what he was waiting for, the butler then said.
"His majesty sent a message. Your highness doesn't need to go meet him today. His majesty instructed for you to rest today and report to him tomorrow."
Hearing that, the crown prince just kept his silent. After that, he could see from the corner of his eyes that the butler seemed to be hesitating about something.
"What is it?"
Upon hearing the question, the butler decided to tell him what happened when he was gone.
"Lady Aishlinn has break her engagement with Duke Reymond."
The response he got was different from the indifference the crown prince shown earlier. The crown prince looked shocked. He looked wide eyed at the butler. He was not the only, even the secretary and the commander were looking at the butler with similar expression.
"What did you say?" Came the response from the crown prince.
"Earlier this week, the news of the broken engagement of the Lady has break out, your highness."
"Why didn't you reported this sooner!"
"His Majesty specifically gave an instruction to let you know upon your arrival to the palace."
"Why?!"
The butler didn't respond.
"Why Thomas?!"
"His majesty was afraid that would make you hastened your travel."
The truth was Callisto tend to be reckless about everything considering Aislinn, so the emperor didn't want the news to distracted him unnecessarily.
"Beside the Lady has left the empire."
"What do you mean by that?"
"The Lady decided to travel, Your Highness, so three days ago she left for the Eastern Kingdom."
"If you know about it, you would not let her go." Add him in his thought.
Shocking news after shocking news.
"After countless times I told her to break up with him, she finally did when I was not around. Great! Now she went off without telling me. Should I be happy about the break up or be sad because she didn't wait for me before she go." Thought the crown prince.
Callisto massaged her forehead. He was confused about how he feel about the news. He should be happy, right. After some time passed, he seemed to be hit by realization. He suddenly turned around and asked the butler again.
"Why?"
The butler seemed confused with the question.
"Why the break up? I mean she was so stubborn about this engagement. Tell me everything."
And then the butler finally recounted the event leading to the break up.