- Wow! - He said surprised, "What is your family like?
- It was hard to talk about my biggest difficulties with James, someone I didn't even know. But if I wanted this to work out, I would have to trust him, and hope that he would trust me.
- It's just the two of you?- James asked, his face indecipherable, he wasn't looking at me, he seemed to be watching the horizon.
- No, if it were we would be lost! My mother has the task of taking care of Elise, while I work to try to support our little family.
- You seem to fight a lot and are very strong, just the three of you...
- Yeah, I always admired my mom, but after my dad left she kind of fell into a depression.
- Did he leave you?
- No, he died in one of the battles, the one against Hannibis.
- I'm sorry," he said, feeling sincerity in his voice.
- But... I've already told you a lot about myself, I could tell you a little about yourself.
- James Michael Junior, I still have a million middle names, but these are the best known, I am 21 years old.
- I like the name, why do they have to be so big?
- You know I don't know," he said, smiling amused.
And the rest of the afternoon went like this until we decided to go inside because the sun was strong and I needed to work.
- I have to go to work... the afternoon... er was very... nice- I said, stumbling over my words.
- But now you are the Prince's fiancée, you don't have to work in the kitchen anymore if you don't want to...
- I'd rather go, people are talking, James...
- Let the people talk, I guarantee they'll talk more if they know that the Prince's fiancée is still working for him.
- But if I don't go to work, what will I do?
- You know Melanie," I nodded, "I'm going to take you to her, and she'll lend you clothes more suitable for a princess, and I'll have them take care of your skin.
He held out his hand for me to accept. I was still afraid, not sure what people would say, but now this was my life.
I held his hand and he smiled and started to walk.
We walked in silence to the door of the castle, all that silence bothered me, it was embarrassing.
- What do you mean, a real princess?" I finally broke the silence, with something I really wanted to know.
- Being a princess and a future queen doesn't mean just having jewelry, expensive clothes and recognition. You have to be intelligent, kind and always think before any decision, to be queen means to put your kingdom above anything and know how to manage it. Are you ready to do this?" James was still holding my hand and stopped in front of the Castle's main door leading to the garden. The sun was hot nearby and our shadow was cast across the courtyard of the castle. And he, facing me.
- I acept," I said. Nothing else.
Without my expecting it James hugged me, I guess as a thank you for saving his lineage or whatever. If we didn't come to love each other, at least there our friendship would be.
We went in silence the rest of the way, James only spoke when we reached Melanie's studio, wishing me a princess day. He hugged me again and then we went inside, gave Melanie her orders and left us alone. Surely he didn't know that we already knew each other.
- I had heard rumors that one of the kitchen maids had become engaged to the prince- Melanie expressed no reaction, I was a little afraid, she didn't look at me as she spoke to me- I thought about you, but I thought you would tell me if you were dating the prince- Now Melanie's head was down- I see that I was wrong- That's when she looked at me, not angry, maybe sad, I was her best friend, and I hadn't told her something so important. But how could I tell her if I didn't even know?
- Mel, I can explain, I don't even...
- No need to explain, I'm here to serve you now, being your friend or not, won't interfere with my job- Melanie went into the closet and came out with, more or less, three dresses- Wear one of these, it'll look more decent, I'll sew the others and then send one of your guards to pick them up- Melanie was cold, nothing I could say would change the fact that I hadn't told my best friend about my engagement.
I went to one of the fitting rooms and put on the one I liked best, a red one, with some shiny stones.
- You look beautiful- Melanie just said.
- Thank you- That's all I said.
I knew Melanie didn't want me there, so I decided to leave. Without saying anything. I just opened the door and stepped out of the studio.
- Miss? The Prince has ordered us to take you to your new quarters, may we go?
- Sure," I answered, completely bewildered.
The guards escorted me, one on each side, wearing different clothes from the others, theirs were made of red and gold cloth, while the others' were limited to gold and a dark blue.
In another of the long corridors, I see Juliet coming out of one of the doors there. When she saw me, she made an indescribable face.
- What are you doing on this side of the castle? - she asked, as if I owed her some kind of explanation or was committing a crime.
- I was still in the habit of treating her with respect, Juliet had been my mistress for years, I couldn't get used to the idea that now I was the princess and she was beneath me.
- New quarters?- she said more to my guard than to me- You won't be staying here, will you? My cousin must be going crazy if he chose you, a commoner, to be the future queen of our kingdom. I bet it's just another one of his conquests. Juliet was angry, you could see it in her eyes, but she looked like a self-confident woman.
- You can talk all you want, I'll still be the one to marry him - I felt victorious for a moment. I thought I had hit Juliet.
Certainly, Juliet had dropped her confident mask. But she still hadn't given up on me.
- He may marry you, but he will never love you, he will always have others, he will always sleep with others. And you, dear, will suffer more than your heart can bear. After saying all this, looking into my eyes and leaning over slightly, Juliet pulled herself together, straightened her posture and walked away.
I remained static for a few minutes, what she had said was true, James would never love me, even if I came to love him, which would be almost impossible, he would never like me, he would always have other amusements and I could not have the same privileges, because above all, a queen should be faithful to her king.