Tanya ran into her room and shut the door. She then immediately sank to the floor and began to cry.
After a moment she then heard a voice from outside the door.
"Tanya, I know you don't want to see me right now but I want you to know you can talk to me or ask for anything," he sighed. "I'm here for you. I just want you to know you don't have to go through this alone."
Tanya was just too ashamed to face her brother.
Last week when the prince had informed her of her title being revoked, she hadn't sent a letter to inform him of what had happened. She knew he was going to find out eventually but she still wasn't prepared to speak with him. What would she tell him?
After a while, she heard footsteps walking away. Her brother had finally left. Hopefully, he would return to their family's estate. It was bad enough that her brother had come to see her. How would she have faced her parents if they hadn't passed away?
For the rest of the day, Tanya cried in her room her hands to her knees went up to her chest.
7 years ago the emperor had chosen her to be the crown princess because out of all the other noble ladies she was the most promising candidate. There was a lot of training required before taking on the role of Empress hence why the crown prince's fiancé was chosen early. Tanya was 15 years old and Malek was 17 at the time.
In the early stages of their engagement things were fine for a while. However, very quickly Malek began to display a dislike for Tanya. He found her irritating. He thought she was too outspoken and wanted her to be more quiet.
Tanya was confused she felt she was doing everything that was expected of her as a crown princess. She couldn't understand where she was going wrong but desperate to gain his affection, she tried her best to do what she could to meet his requirements. She had an enormous crush on him and really wanted him to like her. That, and she wanted to do her duty as Crown Princess well.
Over the years their relationship only worsened with Malek becoming more and more distant with Tanya. However, Tanya was doing her best to get his attention whenever she tried to get to spend time with her he would tell her he was busy and couldn't spend time with her.
Then Malek suddenly brought Celeste to the palace as his lover. Tanya realized she was losing the battle for his heart. He spent so much time with her though he had told Tanya e was busy and couldn't spend time with her.
He always compared her to Tanya, telling Tanya that Celeste was everything she wasn't. And this hurt Tanya since their appearances were totally different from each other. Celeste was petite, curvy and fairer skinned. She was quiet and dainty. Tanya was taller, wasn't extremely curvy like her and she was more tanned.
Malek always pointed out their differences to Tanya, saying how much better Celeste was than her. Tanya's insecurities got the best of her since she was totally different from her. She tried even harder to gain his affection by changing her appearance and personality to match Celeste's but to no avail.
However, despite all that she felt assured that she would retain her position as Crown princess since Celeste was a commoner. The position required a lot of work which would be easier for a noble lady who had a formal education. Celeste didn't have a formal education and couldn't even read or write. Which is why Tanya was surprised by how things turned out. Despite all that Celeste was still crowned the crown princess and what's more the emperor's approval is required for changing the crown princess.
Malek's father, Emperor Ramer, had chosen her himself. Had she fallen out of his favour as well for him to approve of this?
Tanya's mind was spiralling as she cried on the floor of her room. Her world was falling apart right before her eyes. She wanted to be loved by Malek and become the future Empress of the Empire. She also wanted to fulfil the promise she had made to her parents before they died of how would make them proud as Empress.
How could she fix this situation? Tanya thought to herself. Was it even possible? She was still his lover and still in the palace she would do what she could. There's still a chance you might get his attention. She internally told herself. She just has to be persistent and try harder.
She didn't eat anything and cried herself to sleep.
The following morning Tanya woke up feeling tired. Her head was aching from all the crying. Her eyes felt like all the tears had been drained from them.
What am I going to do? She asked herself. She immediately thought to regain his Highnesses favour. Maybe she could fix things. She was still his lover. This is what she'd been preparing for her whole life. She couldn't give up she still had to hope.
The servants that were to prepare her for the day came to her room.
She had the servants dress her up as beautifully as possible. Like she was going to a royal event. They put the usual powder that was at least three shades lighter than her normal skin tone. Though she was overdressing she felt she had to look her best all the time if she wanted to get his attention.
She noticed all the servants' glares at her as they prepared her for the day. She knew that they were probably thinking about the ceremony the day prior.
Tanya kept a steady composed expression on her face trying to appear unaffected by the recrowning ceremony. She had to keep a straight face. She was used to pretending to be alright with things now. It's how she tried her best to seem like she wasn't jealous of Celeste or upset that the prince didn't like her.
Once she had been prepared for the day. The only problem was she couldn't seek out the prince on her own. He had ordered her to only go to see him when he called for her.
Tanya remembered how after Celeste arrived at the palace she would always seek out the prince in order to impress him. Constantly going to his quarters almost every day to try and speak with him. She did it because she was desperate. He wasn't giving her any attention and never called for her since he was always spending time with Celeste. Tanya wanted a chance to win over his heart so she would do what she could to get him to notice her.
So instead, she thought to perhaps move around the wing of the palace as she carried out her duties. Though she was no longer Crown Princess there were a few duties she would have to continue doing despite Celeste technically being in charge of the role. Celeste was now receiving Crown Princess lessons, and learning to read and write.
So in the meantime, Tanya would be writing and signing documents and overseeing the wing in her stead.