"The misunderstanding had been sorted, the rumors ceased to exist but the situation left a deep connection between the Crown Prince and the First Princess that they couldn't shake off. It could be said that they were like characters of a romance story, ready to embrace their journey to find each other. But their journey was not going to be an easy one.
The same could be said for the Prince and the Second Princess. Even though the special gift that the Grand Duke's family was blessed with let the Prince realize who his fated partner was but the same was not the situation for the Second Princess. It was love at first sight for the Prince, but the Second Princess had no idea about it and how could she ever believe that such a blessing actually exists."
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Lu Zhi's office was situated at the outskirts of the city. It used to be an estate that spread over 15,000 acres of land; her great-grandfather had it built for his wife. The estate had a mansion with over 4,000 acres of floorspace and 6 floors in total including the basement which Lu Zhi had converted into her office. She had it remodeled 4 years back when she decided to start her own business.
Along with the mansion, the estate also came with a huge private garden, a ranch, a palatial guesthouse, rental cottages, storage sheds, an artificial lake and a greenhouse.
As a kid, Lu Zhi had always loved visiting the estate. She loved the beautiful views, the gorgeous architecture, and everything related to the estate. So 4 years back when she was thinking of place to start her business, Lu Zhi chose the estate without a second thought. She remodeled the mansion to be her office and also serve as private resident. She converted the storage sheds and made them into stores showcasing the various products that her brand, "Fantasy" offered.
It included fashion clothing, wedding apparel, shoes, bags, jewelry, and all the other fashion accessory that one could think of. Everything that Lu Zhi remodeled was designed in the fantasy theme and the whole estate now truly looking like a village from one of those fantasy novels and dramas. The estate was open for holding wedding as well and Lu Zhi had decided, very early on, that whenever she was going to marry, she will marry at this estate.
Right now, Lu Zhi was in her office, in the middle of a consultation with a foreign couple from Country B. The wanted to not only hold a destination wedding at her estate but also have her design the bride's outfit that must incorporate a piece of the dress that the would be bride's late grandmother had worn at her wedding. It wouldn't have been that difficult if the dress wasn't half burned.
"I know what I am asking for is not an easy job." the would be bride, Arianna bit her lower lip, "I have asked other designers as well but nobody was ready to take the job considering how burnt my Grandma's dress is. But I really want to carry something of her with me when I walk down the aisle. She's the only in my life who truly loved me and cared for me until Julian and I want to honor her while I take my vows and commit myself to the love of my life." her eyes were misty and Lu Zhi could help but let out a soft, "Aaawww." as Arianna's fiancé, Julian placed a sweet kiss on Arianna's forehead.
Lu Zhi didn't have the heart to say no, "I'll try my best, I really will." she said while taking the burnt but precious dress from Arianna.
"Thank you, it means a lot to me!" Arianna said while smiling through tears, "Thank you."
Once they were done with the consultation with Lu Zhi, the couple went to explore the gardens at the estate where they were planning to hold their wedding. Lu Zhi draped the dress over a mannequin and begin examining the areas that were burnt and the fabric that could be salvaged out of it.
She clicked photographs of the areas of the dress from where she could take out an enough piece of fabric to incorporate into Arianna's wedding gown. She was humming softly as she worked in peace but soon her peace was broken by the loud greeting from Lu Ying, "Hey Zhi Zhi! What are you doing?" asked Lu Ying as she plopped down on the couch at the corner.
"Cooking." Lu Zhi murmured sarcastically making Lu Ying roll her eyes.
"Is that why the dress is looking burnt just as the food gets when you try to cook it." Lu Zhi hit her sister with a pen in response but Lu Ying dodged it with ease.
"Why are you here?" Lu Zhi asked while taking out her tablet to create a a rough sketch of the wedding gown.
Lu Ying got up from the couch and dragged a chair to sit beside Lu Zhi. "Do you like Zhang Yi Chen?" she asked without hesitation.
Lu Zhi was momentarily stunned that her sister would ask something like that, "What made you ask that?"
A sly smile curved upon Lu Ying's lips as she opened the latest article about the last night's gala on Lu Zhi's computer and showed her the multiple photographs and videos that featured Lu Zhi and Yi Chen.
"I have not seen you this happy since your last break-up. It's not like you had stopped smiling or laughing or living after that douchebag broke your heart but I could feel it in my soul that something was amiss." Lu Zhi watched the photograph intently while Lu Ying continued.
"You know we always had this connection between us, something like twin telepathy, a sixth sense between us. It's why we could always sense each other's true emotions. I know you, I understand you even more than our parents and anybody else in the world and you do the same for me." Lu Ying wrapped an arm around Lu Zhi's shoulder as the latter laid her head on Lu Ying's shoulder.
"I am telling you this because I could feel the change in you, feel that spark in you that had vanished years ago. It all led me to believe that there is something between you and Yi Chen. And after my last night's encounter with Zhang Yi Chen's weird friend, I could see that you have something in your heart for Zhang Yi Chen." Lu Ying confessed.
"So, do you like him?" she asked again.
Lu Zhi thought about it for a few minutes before saying, "Not exactly." she drawled, "Kind of?"
"Tch." Lu Zhi stood up and went over to stand by the window, "He's a nice guy. A gentleman just as Dad had described him to be. He's a jerk sometimes but usually he's really good. It's hard not to like him." se then turned around to face Lu Ying.
"I don't have romantic feelings for him as of now but I won't deny that I kinda like him. I am just look at him, not only is he a good guy but he's damn hot!" Lu Zhi fanned herself using her hand, "I won't lie to you, he does seem like a package deal but right now he's a deal I am not interest in." admitted Lu Zhi.
"What I am interested in though, is Zhang Yi Chen's 'weird friend' that you talked about. Uh-oh-ho!" Lu Zhi raised her eyebrows suggestively, "Who's this weird guy that had you, the great general Lu Ying blush?"
"Huh?"
"Oh! Now you are pretending to be ignorant." Lu Zhi scrolled down the article and pointed at Lu Ying and Ming Ze's pictures. "I don't know about mine but I guess you have an admirer."
"Nah!" Lu Ying was quick to deny Lu Zhi's claim, "He's just some weird guy I met on the street and he really creeped me out that day. Last night was the second time we met and he, just out of nowhere declared that he was going to woo me." scoffed Lu Ying.
"As if I am going to ever date a promiscuous, philandering man like him. He is more famous for his relationships than anything else. I want to be the one and only in my man's life. I want to be is first priority -"
"The center of his universe, the soup to his dumplings, the seasoning to his noodles -" Lu Zhi jokingly continued adding to Lu Ying's statement.
"Shut up!" Lu Ying chucked her walled at Lu Zhi while laughing as Lu Zhi continued to make ridiculous comparison about what importance she wanted in her man's life.
Lu Ying was oblivious to the fact the same promiscuous and philandering man will give her that position and that much importance in his life as she had always dreamed of and wanted.
The two sisters laughed and playing around for a while before Lu Ying had to go back for an important meeting. After bidding goodbye to her sister, Lu Zhi went back to draft a sketch for Arianna's wedding gown. She had just finished sketching the base silhouette when her eyes fell on her desktop.
Lu Zhi randomly moved the connected mouse to get the desktop out of sleep mode. The article that Lu Ying had searched for was still open. She scrolled upwards to where hers and Yi Chen's photographs were posted. "Do I like him?" she asked herself.
Shaking her head, Lu Zhi closed the article and refocused her attention on finishing a draft sketch. Arianna and Julian's wedding was just one and a half month away. Zhang Yi Chen can wait till then.