Inside the Queen's carriage, the three important figures of the Walton family sat amicably as they discussed the severity of the situation, the fact that the crown prince was yet to arrive at the borders.
The queen mother, Roseline Walton, sighed in apparent worry, her brows furrowed together as she hastily thought of a solution to the problem at hand.
Her son was surely not going to make it to the border in time and recalling all that he had said to her this morning, she was all the more worried.
Had he purposely abandoned the tradition of riding the bridal horse with the princess because of his resistance to the marriage? It would be a huge insult to the crown if the princess was to ride alone on such an occasion.
" Oh dear, Ashton never ceases to amaze me Roseline. Seriously on such an occasion he decides to disappear leaving only a piece of information stating that he would be at the border when we arrive, to think that we are almost at the border and we still haven't gotten news of his arrival, frightens me", said Lady Gwyneth, Duchess of Northern Arania.
Sitting next to her was her husband, Duke Patrick Walton and opposite them sat the worried queen Roseline. The Duke allowed his hand to rest on his wife's gloved ones as he subtly advised her to not make things worse for the queen than they already were.
" Rose relax, Ashton would never do something as immature as this. The tradition will not be neglected and that I can very well assure you", Patrick stated in his manly voice and the queen could only nod hoping as well that her son does not disappoint her in the end.
She stared aimlessly at the window of the carriage as if the solution to her problems would magically appear from the outside of the carriage.
Meanwhile, in the third carriage, no noise could be heard other than the constant humming of Lady Rosamund as she did so quietly to herself. After having given Marcy so many informations, there was no word left to say and each of them kept to themselves.
Marcy rested her head against the carriage window with her eyes closed but actually she was not her asleep. She was mainly lost in her thoughts as she went through every information she had gathered in her head.
She had once read about the tradition of the bridal horse when she had been given books to study during her stay in Rizzan Castle. It was a simple tradition carried out in Arania Kingdom for the benefit of the people and for the purpose of introducing the new wife of the Royal family.
It was regarded as a sign of respect for the commoners of the land. Royalties were barely seen by them, knowing what the wife of the King looked like was a privilege and the people had always trusted that the Royal family of Arania would surely grant them such privilege.
Now she had to ride alone. The prince would have not only caused her to endure such humiliation but he would have also disregarded two of her conditions concerning their settlement marriage.
The sound of heavy sighing brought her out of her thoughts and into the real world as she opened her eyes just in time to see Fallon bring her hand to her mouth to cover it as she yawned quite elegantly.
Rosamund stopped humming, her brows furrowed knowing fully well that Fallon would never sigh like that in front of anyone if it was not mainly to attract attention.
" Finally, I can breathe much freely now", exclaimed Fallon as she took in deep breaths of air as if she had been deprived of it for a short while.
" Rosamund, ever since I have been in that good for nothing Kingdom all I have had to do was breathe in that unclean air of theirs, Arania is much more comforting, don't you agree with me?", Fallon asked as she stared maliciously at Aurelia, just one look at that pretty face of hers and she would feel as if she had lost the battle, she had actually failed in achieving her goals and the feeling irritated her.
" I could not agree with you any less dear Princess Fallon, Arania is indeed much better than that sham of a Kingdom, it makes me wonder how a Beautiful lady such as yourself could live in there Aurelia", Rosamund said in a manner that said she wished for Aurelia to join in the conversation.
" You think I am beautiful, well I think the both of you are also beautiful. My beauty is so good because of the fact that I lived in such a kingdom whereas your faces only got better after you lived there for two days, if this air is what you call clean then you better rethink your words Princess Fallon because how come your face only got prettier after you arrived and you had been breathing in Arania's air all your life", Marcy said softly but slowly so that every word that came out of her mouth was not misheard by the princess and her dearest friend
As expected, Fallon's face changed color immediately and it felt as though she would pounce on Aurelia any moment from now.
Rosamund was openly glaring at Marcy as well, this mum doll could actually give insults like this, then she had to be very careful with how she spoke from now on, she had actually found a worthy opponent, how amazing.
But all in all, Ash would forever remain hers and as long as the princess was on her side, Aurelia would not even last few months with the prince.
But in the two times they had actually met and talked, this mum doll princess had never retaliated amongst them and always kept her cool, what brought about the sharp and toxic words all of a sudden.
Marcy could not care less about what they thought. If they expected her to keep quiet while they continuously threw insults at her then they would be mistaken. She was Marceline Augustus and she had never once backed out of a fight, she would surely have a comeback in the end.
Aurelia was miles away right now and playing Aurelia's substitute meant standing up for Aurelia as well. Although the reason for Aurelia's disappearance was not disclosed to her, she would never let anyone consider the princess of Rizzan weak and that was for sure.
She shut her eyes once again as she sank into her own thoughts. Now that she thought about it, what if Aurelia was never found? What if she had to spend many more months as Aurelia before the girl was found? Would she seriously have to endure all this hatred and conspiracy until then?
Her life had been very peaceful but ever since she met the king and his pestering messenger, Alan Goulding, her life had become more of a play than reality.
Now she was surrounded by people with crazy intentions, she was starting to lose her sanity. To become someone's substitute was never truly easy, it meant living an entire life that was not even yours to begin with. She sighed outwardly in a tired tone as soon afterwards, the carriage stopped moving.
" We are here, finally", Rosamund announced in a chirpy voice as the coach man opened the carriage door and both she Fallon hastily stepped out not bothering about the help of the coach man, they were clearly awaiting her humiliation.
She stepped out as well, her green eyes staring aimlessly at the woods that surrounded them and the two road path, one that led to Arania Kingdom and was surrounded by knights dressed in uniformed attires and there was another path that led to Resbay Kingdom, a kingdom that had been acquired in war by Arania warriors.
A decorated white horse appeared from the corner of her eyes and she immediately turned to stare at it. The Bridal Horse was finally here and there was no sign of the crown prince.
She would actually have to ride this horse alone and so help her, God, she prayed within herself as she walked towards the horse amidst the curious eyes of the Royal family. The prince was a no show and she was very well prepared to handle the situation alone.
A sharp and stern voice suddenly sounded from behind her, commanding her to stop and she turned around not expecting to actually see that particular person today.