Adelaide lowered her head as she pondered on why Ethan decided to smear his name.
"Do you have any idea why your brother decided on doing it? I mean everyone wants to protect their reputation, but your brother, on the other hand, does the opposite," Adelaide was confused.
"I guess to have ladies stay away from him, my brother is a very private person, and he thinks having a bad reputation would make the ladies scared of him, that is what I understand by it, but I am not sure why my brother decided to do so," Pearl replied.
"Ohh," Adelaide sighed, and she kept quiet at once.
The two females did not say anything, each lost in their worlds. The atmosphere turned silent, but it was not awkward. They could enjoy each other's presence in silence.
This silence was broken by the sound of the door opening.
"Princess… Oh my, Princess Pearl, I had no idea you would be here," Marie was the one who barged in.
"It is fine, I was already leaving by the way, soon, you will be called for dinner, you would be seeing my parents then, I assure you, they are not bad people," Pearl rose to her feet as she gave Adelaide a reassuring smile.
"Princess Pearl seems nice, I think it will be right to befriend her," Marie commented once Pearl stepped out of the room.
"I will continue to observe her, for now, I need to take a proper bath, you heard what she said, her parents would call me soon," Adelaide smiled, calmly dismissing Marie's suggestion.
*******
Adelaide was all dressed, and while Marie was fixing her hair, Ethan stepped into the room.
"Greetings, Your Highness," Marie immediately stopped what she was doing to give a bow to Ethan.
"You may leave, I will take it up from here," Ethan instructed, shocking the two ladies.
"But Your Highness," Marie was about to protest, but she swallowed her words when she saw the look in Ethan's eyes.
"Have a wonderful day, Your Highnesses," she gave in after she felt Adelaide's little pat.
"Your maid is quite loyal to you," Ethan spoke as soon as Marie stepped out. He had noticed the little actions between both of them.
Adelaide remained quiet, daring not to speak.
Ethan took slow steps, coming to stand behind her.
He picked a strand of her hair as he played with it. Adelaide's brows creased. She did not understand what he was trying to do.
"You have grown quite a lot, Adelaide," Ethan mumbled, lowering his head as he took a sniff of her hair.
Again, Adelaide was confused by his words, "what do you mean by that, Your Highness?" She could not resist asking.
"You will find out soon, I heard Penelope came to cause trouble, you can put her in her place next time," Ethan smiled as he picked up a pearl from the vanity table.
"There, my parents like simplicity, they will be happy to see you this way," Ethan continued with his words, and the more he spoke, the more Adelaide became confused.
He was not acting in accordance with the rumors, but then again, Pearl had said the rumors were false, so it was only right he behaved in the opposite way.
But to Adelaide, she felt that it would be better if he acts like he was portrayed in the rumors. She was not expecting his calm and sweet mannerisms.
"Why are you so stiff? At least, put a smile on your face, I don't bite," Ethan noticed the abnormality. Therefore, he pointed it out.
*******
Adelaide and Ethan walked through the long corridor of the Palace as they made their way to the grand dining room of the Royal family of Asteria.
Adelaide felt uncomfortable from having maids bowing down to her. Back in Dystopia, such a thing did not happen.
Ethan, on the other hand, had a small smile on his lips as he casually walked. But if one could look further, he was matching up Adelaide's steps.
After what seemed like an eternity, they finally arrived in the dining room.
Adelaide internally gasped as her eyes landed on the door. It was made of jade, gold inclusive.
She could not hold back her surprise, and her eyes finally widened when the door was opened.
Behind the door, she could see how large the dining room was. It was safe to call it a mini banquet hall.
Due to her surprise, she was unable to hear the butler mention their arrival.
Thankfully, she was also a Princess. It only took a minute before she was able to regain her usual composure.
But the grandeur of the dining room caused her to feel more aware of the Royal family. They were prosperous, there was no denying it.
"Greetings, Father, Mother," Ethan's greeting finally snapped her out of her reverie as she instantly gave a bow. She did not realize that they had already reached the dining table.
"Greetings to the Sun and Moon of the Asterian Empire, may your reign forever be long," Adelaide greeted with her head bowed.
She did not raise it until she heard a sound of approval, this indicated that her greetings had been accepted.
When she found out that she was to marry Prince Ethan, she had taken it upon herself to learn their traditions, which included their greetings, just to mention a few.
"Brother's wife looks pretty, he has surely snagged up a good treasure," after Adelaide had raised her head, she heard someone speak with a daunting smile.
"It will be best if Brother Edward keeps his opinion to himself, nobody needs it, and I heard from a little bird that his harem has been having issues lately," Ethan calmly muttered as he pulled out a seat for Adelaide who immediately had her seat.
Edward's smile dropped as he glared at Ethan, who flashed him a smile.
"Adelaide, we apologize for not picking you up when you arrived, I hope you did not take offense," Queen Victoria, Ethan's mother, asked with a friendly smile.
"Oh, not at all, Your Majesty, it's perfectly okay, I am aware you have a lot to do, so you do not need to feel bad for not picking me up," Adelaide was quick-witted as she gave a reply.
The Queen nodded, satisfied with her answer. It was not a secret that the Queen loved self-aware people.
"Let's eat," King Albert, the most authoritative person in the room commanded, and he was about to pick up his fork when he was stopped by his son.
"Father, I have someone who would be eating with me, I hope Father doesn't mind," Prince Edward spoke up, throwing a provocative look towards Ethan who was not bothered by his look.
"And who might that be?" King Albert asked in annoyance. It was taking all of him to not beat his disgraceful son up.
"Madeline, the daughter of the Duke of Pineal," Edward smiled as he responded, this time staring straight at Ethan who had a reaction.