It has been two days since Marceline and Ashton came to the decision of not having interest in each other's lives and ever since then only few words have they shared.
Words like good morning, I'm going out, good night and you look good. Other than that, there had been no meaningful conversation between them and Marcy could not have it any better.
Since she came, she had been given special treatment by the Queen mother herself who insisted on giving her a tour of the castle and Marcy had to hand it to them, they had a very lovely and beautiful castle.
Right now, she was busy preparing to join Princess Fallon and Rosamund with some friends for tea, it was an invite from Fallon herself and that made it all the more harder for her to refuse it.
" Gwen, are you very sure that I can not turn down this invite? I know I would not be able to hold back if Fallon were to utter any nonsense and my life has been peaceful all these while, she will do nothing but ruin my peace", Marcy said in a low voice to no one but Gwyneth Sinclair who was busy doing her hair.
She had not been able to get used to the life of having so many maids around her so she made the queen mother disperse them leaving only Gwyneth Sinclair by her side who was actually easy going and free spirited.
" Milady go for princess Aurelia's sake. I know you and the princess of Arania tend to not get along but she is Princess Aurelia's sister in law and they deserve to have a good relationship. If anything, please refrain from talking back to her, princess Aurelia actually doesn't talk back to anyone", Gwen replied gingerly as she carefully picked her words hoping not to displease Marceline.
" And that is why it is easy for just anyone to pick on her because she is too quiet. I can do anything Gwen but being quiet is not one of them after all I am a village girl and yes I like to fight as well", she said as she abruptly stood up from her chair causing Gwen to leave the hair halfway.
" You keep styling it in different styles when there is no need for that and I think you made the corset too tight, can you adjust it. I'm just going to have tea, I'm not going to attend some soiree", Marcy complained feeling uneasy and unable to breathe. Seriously, life was easier when she was nothing but a village girl, an Hunter's daughter.
" Milady, you look very beautiful like this", suggested Gwen as she tried to fix Marcy's hair all the more but Marcy swiftly dodged her and moved away quickly.
" Gwen I will still look beautiful even though the corset is not tight enough but I will die of lack of air if this corset is not adjusted immediately", she said as she raised her gown trying to fix it herself but Gwen quickly put the gown down as the door immediately opened and two gentlemen stepped into the room.
It was both Colin and Ashton, the both of them never left each other's side nowadays and she could not care less.
" Milady", Colin greeted from where he stood before making his way towards her and Ashton could not help but curse inwardly.
Did Colin have to move over there as in seriously, he always felt awkward with her nowadays because of their new rule to not interfere in each other's lives, he could not even take his eyes off her either because he was never one to shy away from eye contact.
Colin stretched out his hand and Marcy willingly put her palm in his for him to kiss the back of her palm, he was actually fond of doing that.
The first time they had met, she had wanted nothing to do with him and had even giving him cold shoulders but slowly she was starting to understand how simple he was and was also letting loose around him.
" You look lovely in this velvet colored gown Milady", he said with a smile on his lips as he let go of her hand and she smiled back.
" You only say that Colin because you are not the one wearing it. I bet if you were the one in this right now, any comment uttered about the gown would make you feel like you were being insulted", she said not minding that she spoke unladylike as she moved away from the dressing mirror and towards her shoes which Gwen quickly helped her with.
" Is the corset too tight?", he suddenly asked and she turned to stare at him with one shoe already done and the other being taken care of by Gwen.
" Yes, how do you Know?", she asked with a smile on her face and he smiled back before quickly picking her hand gloves and passing it over to her.
" I know a thing or two about women", Colin replied like a proud monk while Ashton sank with jealously from behind. The fact that Aurelia could talk to Colin so casually made him feel so left out and wanting the same attention.
" Do not let him fool you with his words Aurelia, he knows more than a thing or two about women", Ash said without thinking twice causing Colin to turn to him in disbelief but not letting it show in his face.
Since when did Ashton involve himself in such useless banters, like seriously since when?
" Colin is a lady's man and if you will excuse us, we are headed to go plan something, right Colin?", he said to Aurelia subtly saying it was end of discussion but Colin does know how to turn a situation to his favor.
" Yes, Ash is right and now that he said that, he just reminded me of why I actually came here. Ash and I are going hunting later in the afternoon and we were wondering if you would love to come with us", Colin inquired meekly as Gwen got up from squatting and shot Marcy a side look as a refusal.
On hearing hunting, Marcy's ears perked and she wanted to say yes immediately but hunting was not a ladies stuff, it was for men, she just happened to know so much about it because it was her father's occupation.
" I will think about it", she said not failing to notice Gwen's subtle movements. She quickly put on the gloves and with a sign that said she was leaving, she walked away from the both of them and at the end of the day not able to adjust her gown and still feeling uncomfortable.
Ashton stared at Colin with a deep look and with Colin feeling the heated gaze of Ash turned to stare at him with furrowed brows.
" Stay away from Aurelia, Colin", he said as he made his way to the wardrobe swiftly grabbing an all black attire suitable for hunting while Colin smiled deviously from behind.
That was something he would surely not be able to do. Why should he? The lady was after all, entertaining.
***
As Marcy headed for the common room where Fallon had said they would be, she could not help but admire the beautiful morning atmosphere wondering how it would be in the afternoon.
It surely would be suitable for hunting and hunting was a lot more better than having tea and gossiping about the lives of fellow women, such things she surely detested.
As she got closer, she could hear their distinct chatter as they laughed over something that they obviously found quite funny.
" Milady", Gwen called from behind and she immediately turned to stare at her before facing forward giving Gwen permission to speak.
" I think it would be best if you refused the invite from Sir Colin, it wouldn't be nice if the princess actually goes hunting in the company of men", Gwyneth said with all sincerity knowing that the body double would surely be pondering if to accept or not.
Marceline only spared her a glance but did not bother to say anything. It was okay if the princess went somewhere in the company of guards but it was not okay if the princess were to go out in the company of men, then what gender of guards did she take along, women?
She sighed deeply before stopping her footsteps in front of the double doors of the common room. The two guards positioned at each end of the door bowed deeply at her as a sign of greeting before opening the door and one of them loudly announcing her arrival.
The room quietened down as she stepped into it coming face to face with at least six unknown faces. The women stood up and so did Rosamund but Fallon remained seated.
" First wife of his Royal Highness, the crown Prince, it is a pleasure to be in your presence", one of the women said as she curtsied followed by the other women, Rosamund included.
" Come sister in law, finally we have you to ourselves", Fallon uttered from where she sat, a friendly smile plastered on her face.
" Yes we want to know everything, every single thing about your married life with the crown prince from day one to this moment", Rosamund said with a smile as Marcy took her seat quite expecting such words.