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Chapter 13 - The Truth

Gwen came to the burial to visit her dad's graveyard. It has been so long since she visited him–Last year Christmas was the last time she visited his graveyard and also her grandma's. This time she came because she had a lot of thoughts that she wanted to share with him. 

"Oh?" Gwen paused for a moment when She found out that someone came first than her. She moved closer and was surprised to see the visitor who came to visit her father's graveyard, "Q-Queen?" 

Queen Wilhelmina turned around. She was as surprised as Gwen, "I didn't expect you to come today?" 

"S-Same as me…"

Queen Wilhelmina smiled and gestured to her to come closer, "I am not on my duty today. So don't call me Queen." Gwen looked down because she was quite nervous to stand side-by-side with the Queen. 

"D-Do you know my dad?"

Queen Wilhelmina smiled and turned to her, "Maybe more than your mom did. I was quite surprised when I found out that you're Guillaume's daughter. If he was still alive and we decided to go until the end, You would probably be my daughter." 

"W-What–You–" Gwen covered her mouth in shock when she found out that her dad and The Queen were used to being lovers. 

"Was it that surprising to you? Do you remember what your dad's job was?"

"A-A Tram driver…."

"And that's how we fell in love with each other. Unfortunately, Our ex-company set up a rule where their workers aren't allowed to date each other, So we dated in secret. But then I realized that…they have their own reason why they set up that rule–As a tram driver, We usually take different routes and would barely see each other."

"Is that why you two break up?"

"Nope. Your dad suffered from depression. One day he came to me and asked for a break-up. I thought he was cheating on me but it turned out that he suffered from depression and didn't want to burden me with negativity…back then I insisted that I was able to handle him but I was wrong. So in the end, We agreed to break up and stayed as friends. Guillaume then met someone who experienced the same thing as him…"

"And they could understand each other well until they decided to get married…"

"Yea…My mom suffered from depression too. But she has been joining medical therapy and is slowly getting better each year…"

"Glad to hear that…It must have been so hard for her when your dad passed away…"

"How did my dad die?" 

"An accident. But I think he felt that he was about to 'leave' soon. He used to tell me that he tried to die several times until he met your mom. I was so upset when he told me that. I told him that if he wants to die, die with dignity and it happened; There was an attack directed at a female passenger and your dad protected that woman but ended up getting stabbed. He died on his way to the hospital…" 

"So, he really died with dignity…"

A bittersweet smile formed in the Queen's face, "It was the toughest time for me. There were a lot of regrets I felt towards your dad… If only I could be a little patient, I could have saved him…"

"It was his own choice. It wasn't your fault."

The Queen turned to her and smiled, "That's why when I saw you this morning, You looked very familiar to me; You have the same eyes as your father."

"H-How did you meet the King?"

"Tch–We actually met at your dad's funeral. They were friends and after Guillaume's death, I decided to take his route as a way to respect him. I met Frederick there. He used to ride Guillaume's tram line and that's how they became friends and after I took his line, We started to get close and fell in love with each other." 

"I see…."

"I understand it must have been shocking to you when I showed up in Arthur's house and the reason why I kept coming to his place is because I know he never brings anyone else there beside me, his dad, and his cousin, Max. I was as shocked as you when I found out that my son brought a woman to his private place."

"I–I'm sorry–"

"No, You don't have to be sorry. My point is you must be that special for him so he was freely showing you his private side. I understand it must be burdensome to be picked by the prince–I used to be in your position when I found out that Frederick was a Prince. That punk proposed to me first and when I said yes, He told me that he was the Prince. It was too late to say no. Arthur was kinder. He let you decide for it."

"Was it tough….to be a part of the Palace?"

"It was. At first–just like any other monarch country, There are tons of rules that we have to follow; The etiquette lesson, how to handle the media, and there are many other lessons that we had to learn. I needed some time to get used to this life. But as time goes by, The more I follow my husband when he's on duty, the more I  meet and interact with people, The more I can see life in different perspectives. It isn't that bad."

Gwen let out a deep sigh after listening to the Queen's experiences yet she still can't decide her heart. 

"You have the right to reject him if you don't have any feelings for my son. As a mother, of course I always pray for Arthur to end up with the right woman because he has tons of responsibilities in the future. It is his responsibility, not his wife's. All she can do is just to stay by his side as a moral support because It's tiring to lead a country. I hope you don't use this as a reason to reject him when actually both of you have mutual feelings."

"Please think about it carefully, Gwen. I'm asking this as a mom, Arthur's mom."

Gwen turned and looked at Queen Wilhelmina. She said the same thing as her son and Gwen just realized that they both shared the same puppy eyes feature on their faces. No wonder King Frederick loves his adorable wife so much.

"Palace life isn't as scary as you think. We will always welcome you. We treat The Finding tradition with so much respect because we'll never know when it is going to be held again. So The King and I respect any decision made by Arthur about any women he wants to marry. So please think about it carefully."

— 

On the next day, later at night, Helena took some pictures with her colleagues who kept praising her runway gig as the main model tonight. She kept saying thank you to everyone who came to the show while heading back to her room. 

When she entered the room, Helena was welcomed by a huge red rose bouquet on her make-up table, "This was from–"

"A flower shop worker came and delivered this when you were on stage. He said he couldn't tell from who but you might know the person who sent it through the memo–"

"Ah there was a memo!" Helena took it out of the bouquet and read it, "Good luck to your show tonight! You look amazingㅡMx" She was giggling at the initial of the person who sent it. She flipped the memo and there was another note in it: 

Navy car on B3 basement, Just in case you miss me <3 

ㅡ Mx ㅡ 

Helena smiled from ear to ear. She knew that Max was also attending this event.  But since she was busy on backstage and could not see him during the runway, it kind of upset her a bit. She thought Max would just leave like that. 

"I'm not going home with you tonight. Someone is coming to pick me up," said Helena to her manager.

"Your boyfriend?"

"Kind of?" Helena smiled with blushes on her face. She quickly packed her things up before rushing out to the place mentioned by Max. She looked around and made sure that it was safe enough before she entered the car and was welcomed by Max's raspy and warm voice.

"Hi, Bab–" Helena did not let him finish his greeting to kiss him. 

"I didn't see you there–"

"I was sitting at the front, to be honest…but you only looked straight during runway. You look amazing anyway," Max smiled and responded back to her kiss. "Mmh–your place or mine?" 

"Anywhere as long as not here. I'm afraid the media will catch us. What if they've already done it??"

"Just tell them the truth," Max pecked Helena's lips before turning his engine on and heading out of the building without realizing that a paparazzi caught them.