Tale of the Sovereign Empress

Love is a most disagreeable and challenging aspect of life at times. It can either make your life happy with the one you share it with, or it can be painful in the most unexpecting and dreadful ways. I myself learned that the hard way.

I am Princess Kai, the sole ruler of the grand kingdom of Morado, and I am engaged to Prince Antonio of a kingdom in the west. I strive to eventually become a successful, strong, and influential queen or empress in the future, and retain the love of my people. I pride myself with my kingdom's richness in literature, knowledge, crafts, and fashion; only the best influences from neighboring lands contribute to my kingdom's vast and rich culture.All was well in the castle until one day, when I overheard my ladies in waiting talking about my husband-to-be spending extra time with a girl outside. I was approaching my room when I heard them talking about it inside."Can you believe that man would betray our Great Princess for such a lowborn?""Not in the least! Why, she's even as fat as a pig! A complete downgrade!""But are you sure that the attendant's words are true? He could be mistaken.""Indeed, his words must be true, for there are a few others saying the exact same thing. Why, even the girl's description from them aligns with what the attendant told us.""Yes, but they could very well just be repeating those things simply because the attendant also told them."Upon hearing those words, I suddenly entered the room to the surprise of my ladies in waiting."Oh! Your Royal Highness! Would you like a bath? Or how about some tea, Your Highness?""...Some tea would be nice.""Yes, right away, Your Highness."As one of my ladies in waiting went off to prepare tea, I took a seat in my favorite chair and asked another to brush my hair. But the room became awkwardly quiet."May I ask what's bothering all of you today?" I asked.The lady in waiting who was brushing my hair, Lily, answered with apparent hesitation in her voice."Well, it's nothing for us to worry Your Highness with.""Hmm...Would it so happen to be about the matter of the prince spending extra time with a girl from outside the castle?"At this, Lily froze and looked over at my other lady in waiting, Ana, who said, "We greatly apologize, Your Highness. But we just couldn't hold our indignation in after hearing of such news. Moreover, we didn't want to worry Your Highness with this.""It is alright. In fact, tell me more about this girl. What is she like?"When I asked that question, my third lady in waiting reentered the room, wheeling in a table with tea towards me. Afterwards she immediately poured a cup and handed it to me."Thank you, Helen.""You're welcome, Your Highness."Helen then did a curtsy. When she looked up, she noticed the faces of Ana and Lily."Why do you both look like that?" she asked."Well, we were just discussing the matter of the prince spending time with that girl with Her Highness," answered Ana.Helen darted her eyes towards me, a look of panic and concern on her face."It's really ok. I was just asking them what kind of girl she was, actually. What do you think of her?"After giving one final look to Ana and lily, Helen finally answered me."Well, from what the prince's attendant told us, she wasn't really that interesting.""The prince's attendant told you this?""Yes, Your Highness."I found this a bit strange. Why would the prince's own attendant tell my ladies in waiting about what's going on between him and a girl?"Can you tell me a little more about this girl?""From what we were told, she's not from a noble family at all! She has no money, no property, and no title, a dirty street urchin, to be frank...She's also a little on the heavy side.""A little?! She's like a pig!" exclaimed Ana."Well, I remember, but I was just trying to be polite.""You wanted to be polite about her weight when you just called her a 'dirty street urchin' a minute ago? How absurd. Moreover, why would you even want to be polite to her in the first place when she's wrapping those fat fingers of hers around the waist of our princess's prince?"Helen blushed, not knowing what else to say."What of her personality?" I asked."Her personality is such fake," answered Ana.She walked over to stand right beside me, as she was originally standing near a window."She tries to act cute and innocent to keep the prince's attention, a faux damsel in distress.""And this is everything about her, coming from the prince's own attendant?" I asked."Yes, Your Highness," answered Lily."The attendant told you all about the kind of girl she is, but he seems to have also told you that the prince is spending extra time with this girl, right?""Yes, Your Highness.""May I ask what KIND of time he said they are spending together? What did this attendant tell you that they actually do?"All of the ladies in waiting looked at each other with slight worry. Then, Lily gave an answer."Well, he told us that they were going on walks together, and that the prince would buy food and other things for this girl. He also said that they would also go to restaurants and special events together."I thought about it and realized that the prince has been rather absent from the castle a lot these past few days before his current arrival. However, this information was a lot, coming from his own attendant. In fact, it seemed a bit suspicious to me. Because we were supposed to have dinner together later on that evening, I resolved to bring this matter to the prince's attention then."Thank you for telling me this."That evening, Prince Antonio finally arrived for dinner. It was the first time I have seen him in a while, even after he returned to the castle. He sat directly across from me, quietly eating his food. In fact, he never even bothered to look up at me or greet me ever since the beginning of the meal. That's when I realized that there was definitely something wrong. So, realizing it was up to me to make the first move and try to figure it out, I spoke first."How have you been, Prince?""I've been well.""Have you? You have been gone for so long.""I'm fine, really."The conversation wasn't really getting anywhere from here, so I held my breath."Prince, it has been brought to my attention that you are spending a rather large amount of time with a certain girl. Would you mind telling me why that is and who she is?"The Prince abruptly stopped eating and put down his fork."She's just a friend."So the rumor is true?"I find it odd that an engaged man is spending a large amount of time with another female.""Listen, there's nothing for you to worry about. She's just a very needy person. I'm only helping her out.""Is she so needy that you can't just simply gift her some clothes and food without the addition of taking her for walks, to restaurants, and special events?""...You had someone spy on me?""No.""Then who told you all of this?""I will not disclose to you who told me, especially since you still haven't answered my question, Prince.""*sigh* Look, the girl is in really bad shape, ok? She has no friends, and her living situation is really bad. All I'm doing is helping her out and showing her that life is still good. There's nothing going on between us, and there's nothing for you to worry about. I'm going to my room. I've lost my appetite."Antonio then left the dining room, leaving me all alone. I began to wonder whether I was overreacting or not.