Melisa suppressed her emotions, then walked with a graceful demeanor to enter the vast throne room. There were many people in the place besides the king and crown prince sitting in front. They were the nobles of the Sigmund Kingdom, who were present to see the future wife of their crown prince.
Melisa stopped walking when she was close to the leader of Sigmund's Kingdom. She bowed respectfully, then spoke as calmly as she could.
"Melisa Oda Cyrille of the Kingdom of Cyrille approaches His Majesty the King and His Highness the Crown Prince on behalf of the Kingdom of Cyrille, hoping that the two countries can be good friends with each other in the future."
On the throne seat, King Dillion sat with a rather casual demeanor, nodding nonchalantly as he looked Melisa up and down with an appraising gaze. The throne room was in silence for a while. The man was silent for a long time before his low voice broke the tense silence that filled the room.
"From now on, you are only Princess Melisa, someone who will be trained to become a worthy candidate for my son. From now on, you must completely forget your home country, forget the Kingdom of Cyrille, and do your best to serve the crown prince and bear his children to continue our ancestry."
Melisa's gaze dropped slightly when she heard the cold words delivered by her future in-laws. Melisa tried to stay calm the whole time. She wasn't even allowed to change her expression as she answered King Dillion's orders according to what they expected.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will dedicate this life to the Kingdom of Sigmund alone."
Melisa replied politely, stood up straight again, and looked at her future husband, who was seated a little further back from King Dillion. Crown Prince Alexius did seem like the rumor circulating outside the palace. The man seemed shy, although his face was quite handsome to Melisa. He put himself more on display behind his father, as well as being more silent and passive when his father talked about him and his future.
Throughout the event, Alexius' thoughts seemed to be distracted elsewhere. However, when Alexius accidentally noticed Melisa's unrelenting gaze, a new expression finally appeared on the man's handsome face.
At that moment, Melisa felt like her heart was being squeezed when her eyes met with Crown Prince Alexius. The man looked like he wanted to say something, but ended up closing his mouth again before Melisa could understand what he wanted to say. Alexius averted his gaze before Melisa could catch another expression on his face. Melisa only stared at Alexius for a few moments. But in that short time, Melisa could already tell what kind of emotions Alexius had towards her.
Pain and sadness. Crown Prince Alexius was looking at her with those two emotions, even though Melisa was sure that the two had just met for the first time that day.
"Princess Melisa will be given a private residence within the palace grounds to learn etiquette and the things one needs to learn about being a queen. The best teachers will be called in to teach her many things. Then, if she can endure and show her ability as a future queen, the marriage between the two will be held as soon as possible."
Melisa's attention was distracted when she heard the voice of someone announcing King Dillion's decision. Melisa bowed once more to express her obedience. Then, once King Dillion signaled that she was allowed to leave, Melisa exited the throne room without looking back.
For some reason, she couldn't understand, the gaze that Alexius directed at her could not be easily forgotten. An uneasy feeling filled Melisa's mind immediately after that. Of all the possibilities Melisa tried to anticipate, she never expected that the person who first hated her would become her future husband.
***
After showing her face to King Dillion and getting her residence, all Melisa needed to do was follow her new chamberlain, Julian, to her castle. Melisa was escorted by horse-drawn carriage since the palaces were far from each other. No one spoke during their journey. Even though Julian was in the same carriage as her, from the moment they met, Melisa could see nothing but a sarcastic and reluctant look from the person who was supposed to serve her from now on.
After a while, the train finally stopped, and Melisa was asked to get off Julian after that. Melisa was distressed that no one was willing to help her when she got off the train while wearing her elaborate dress. But after trying to be careful, Melisa was finally able to get off despite the blush on her snow-white cheeks.
"Your Highness!"
Just as Melisa was trying hard to ignore the embarrassment of people just watching her without helping, a familiar voice gave her new hope again. Melisa turned her head in the direction where Teresa was hurriedly approaching her. Unlike Melisa, who was escorted in a horse-drawn carriage, Teresa seemed to have walked from the place where they parted to their new residence.
"Your Highness, please forgive me for being late to return to your side."
As a knight, Teresa was able to quickly regain her breath and spoke to Melisa with an audible regret in her words. Teresa was someone who prioritized Melisa's safety above all else. When they were living in an enemy kingdom, Teresa probably thought that leaving Melisa alone was the same as putting her in danger.
"It's okay. You must be tired from running around here."
Although Melisa still felt a little uncomfortable, she tried not to show it by smiling at Teresa. The two of them only had each other in this completely unfamiliar place. Even though everyone disliked her, Melisa felt she could still survive for the sake of her family and Teresa, who had sacrificed everything to follow her.
"Talking casually with the royal family. I can judge how important royalty is in the Kingdom of Cyrille just by seeing how the servants there treat their masters."
"What do you mean-"
"Teresa."
Melisa quickly warned Teresa when her knight was about to reprimand Julian for his blatant insult. Melisa knew they couldn't make trouble on their first day living in that place. Melisa also knew that Julian was not just any chamberlain. He was a nobleman from the Kingdom of Sigmund. Therefore, starting a fight would only disadvantage them in the future.
"Julian."
Even so, Melisa did not think that she needed to ignore Julian's insults any longer. Melisa knew her current position was probably just a prisoner of war from the kingdom who had surrendered. However, on the other hand, she was still the future crown princess that everyone should respect.
"What the-"
"I tolerated you because it was your first day working with me, and you might still be unfamiliar with your duties as a chamberlain. However, in the future, I will not tolerate the same mistake again. I think that even in the Kingdom of Sigmund, there are strict regulations on what kind of punishment will be given to someone who blatantly insults the royal family, even if that person is just a candidate of the royal family in the Kingdom of Sigmund."
Julian looked surprised when Melisa suddenly spoke so firmly and even dared to insert a threatening tone to him. But Julian was no fool either. When he saw that Melisa meant what she said, there was a hint of doubt in his heart. Julian finally shut his mouth, even though he knew that right now, Melisa was nothing more than a girl who didn't have any power in the palace.
"Hmph, I'm just telling the truth."
Melisa remained silent as Julian left, followed by the stares of the servants in her new palace who no longer wanted to look at her when Julian had left. Melisa took a deep breath after she witnessed all that. Surely, her life would not be easy in the Sigmund Kingdom.
"Let's go in, Teresa."
But when she saw her knightly face again, Melisa felt as if she had the strength to go on and protect her kingdom.