Strolling around as planned earlier before, Ashton stared in adoration at each painting his blue eyes came across. Everyone of them that was placed in the walls of each hallway spoke a different story after the other and he was pretty good at reading them for he was an artist himself.
He walked elegantly with his hands behind his back and in gentle footsteps as well. The hallway was as quiet as the early morning breeze, no sounds could merely be heard, it seemed as though the servants of the castle were very good at making their appearances unknown.
He walked into another long hallway which was as well filled with multiple paintings at each wall. The first painting that literally caught his eye was a painting of Aurelia and her father the King in their throne room.
She was standing elegantly with her right hand placed on the King's left shoulder, a small smile adorning her pale white face but her eyes lacking happiness.
He could easily read into it for it seemed as though she had no reason to truly smile but she looked no different from the Aurelia in the bedroom.
His eyes swept across the painting as if searching for something but before his eyes could even find it, someone suddenly appeared behind him. It was one of his wealthily dressed guards, Ronald.
" Dearest Prince, the Queen Mother has requested you meet with her immediately in her Chambers", Ronald said in a dutiful manner before staring in awe at the painting in front of the prince.
" I must say the princess is one lucky creature, blessed with such heavenly beauty, her Jade eyes are so green and magnetic I feel as if I could actually get lost in them", Ronald said without holding back his thoughts and Ashton immediately turned to him with a raised brow.
" What? We can not deny the fact that you do not fancy the princess at all so at least I must let you know what such beauties you are missing by being too boring", Ronald said once again without fear.
The Prince and Ronald had Known each other for quite a long time and Ronald was as straight forward as the Prince, they were more than just guard and prince, they were good friends who would always taunt each other the moment an opportunity provided itself.
Ashton did nothing but sigh helplessly, proceeding towards the bedroom that had been handed to his mother while Ronald followed after him chatting away.
As they approached the door, Ronald could not help but say, " Rumors are already spreading crown prince, people are saying that you and the princess had such a splendid night that you couldn't even wait to continue in the morning, is that the reason why the princess hasn't left her room since this morning? Did the both of you truly have an extraordinary time?", Ronald asked like a clumsy fool waiting for gossip, his big brown eyes staring curiously at Ashton.
They were already in front of his mother's bedroom and Ashton glared at him as though he was asking too much but before he could say anything, the door suddenly opened and the queen mother's face appeared.
They both turned to stare at who was at the door and they immediately bowed on seeing her but she could not care less about the greeting.
" Answer him Ash, even I want to know how your night with the princess went?", his mother said with curiosity in her blue eyes as they stepped into her beautiful spacious chamber.
Ashton stared at his mother who was a forty and five years old but still young and lacking the amount of wrinkles that covered some of the women her age faces.
She had blue eyes definitely just like his and the same hair color, dark brown and he was glad he didn't carry any of his father's traits.
His father was a pretty demanding man, someone's whose death brought some sort of peace to Ash's life and even before the man's death, he still demanded that Ash be married to the princess from Rizzan Kingdom, how annoying.
Ashton stared at his mother who did not even bother hiding her curiosity, it was showing clearly in her eyes and he had been expecting her to request to see him but he had not expected her to be so curious about his night with Aurelia.
" Ashton after Liya's death you refused to ever look at a woman again even for the sake of spending time with her", His mother began even though she knew she was treading on hot coal, it was really painful when she saw her son shut everyone out just because of the death of a woman he loved.
" And it has been almost a decade but finally you have shared a night with a woman and who also happens to be the princess, your wife, should I not be glad because I really am", the queen mother said in a joyous longing voice and Ashton could only stare at her with a calm expression.
" Mother please do not go on and on about my night with Aurelia Hastings because I very much assure you that it means nothing to me, I just did not wish for you to nag me about not spending a night with her that was why I even bothered", he said coldly as he watched the smile on her face immediately disappear.
She slowly walked towards her well arranged bed and sat on it as if to keep herself steady before staring up at him. " But you did not even notice my arrival when I came in the morning", she said as if trying to assure herself that everything was fine and he was only lying.
" Well what do you expect from me, we can both agree that the Lady Aurelia is one beautiful woman and I really could not resist her charms that was why I did not even notice your arrival mother", Ashton said once again even though the words he said brought different heartbreaking expressions to his mother's face.
He approached her carefully and knelt on one knee so his hand could rest on her thighs and he could look at her face more calmly.
" Mother I am afraid I must disappoint you but other than bearing the name husband and wife, Aurelia and I will share no other bond, not even the one of love", he said decisively and she could only stare into his blue eyes hurt by his decision.
He stood up gently and placed a kiss on her forehead before walking away from the room. Ronald stared on not knowing what to do before quickly disappearing with the Crown Prince.
There was some truth to what Ashton had said, he really could not share more than just the bond of husband and wife, queen and king with Aurelia and he did all he did this morning only because he did not wish his mother to nag him about not spending a night with the princess.
" You may go", he said decisively to Ronald who quickly dispersed from his sight. Ashton arrived at the end of the hallway coming face to face with Aurelia who was waiting for him at the foot of the stairs dressed in that green gown which he had chosen, it looked quite delicate on her.
He stared at her for a long while without moving while she stared up at him with a smile on her face which did not look genuine in the least bit.
His eyes flashed as a memory went through him. It was short but painful, the memory of his Liya, the day she stood waiting for him just like Aurelia was doing right now.
All memories of Liya both good and bad were very painful to him, his only wish was that he could have saved her, then maybe he would not have had to marry someone he did not even care about in the least bit.
He closed his eyes and opened them once again, this time he began to move down the large and long stairs which four people could pass through at once, his eyes as emotionless as ever.
***
Authors note:
Hello my dear readers. It's your author here please do vote and comment if you love this book, I would really like it if you showed your support.