1 Chapter 1: Mark

"Oh HELL no," a voice screams from the hall in front of my study.

Oh god. She must've heard by now.

The doors burst open as my little sister, Evelyn or Evie, marches up to my desk. Behind her, Asher is holding the side of his face that is bright red. Servants rush behind her, trying to restrain her, but she shrugs them all off and slams her fist on my desk. I flinch, but act like I didn't notice her entrance.

"Oh Evie, you're here?" I said nonchalantly.

"Don't even get me started," her voice sharp, "Everyone. Out."

Everyone leaves except for Asher who hangs by the door. He's a real one.

I looked up at my sister, straight into her cold blue eyes. Princess Evelyn Briar Velatra, my younger sister by a year. I mean, I have to give it to her, she's really pretty (I wouldn't say this to her even for a million dollars). She has the classic blonde hair and blue eyes only the royal family can have. Her hair is lighter than mine though, and her eyes are more blue. Her face is soft and sharp at the same time, with ox eyes and sharp cheekbones. But right now, her face is on the sharp side and she really does look like Mother.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU NOT TAKING ME ON THE TRIP?!" she screamed.

Oh right. My sister has a foul mouth.

I sighed, "This is why."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" she yelled. Asher winces.

"Look at you. Calm down, you just screamed in front of all the servants. You can't keep your temper down even in the palace Evie, how am I supposed to take you out?" I reasoned. We both knew this was an excuse. She only acts like this in the palace, but she's half the reason why I'm going on this trip.

Her voice lowers, but she's still seething, "I don't give a damn. How come only you can leave the palace?"

"You know why," I answered.

Her face darkens, "I know why. My question is why aren't you taking me?"

"You also know why," I replied.

Her face soured, "Annoying. Well then, send postcards. I'll have a sleepover with Jennie in your room then."

That shut my mouth real fast. If I argued that I didn't want her to sleep in my room with my half fiance, she would use it against me so she could go on the trip. That means my safest option is to just let her have her darn sleepover.

My sister is the ideal princess. She's beautiful (or so they say), thin, extremely smart and logical, kind, and volunteers whenever she can. Her modeling pictures have always done well and it was reported that 93.04% of citizens have a picture of her in their house. The only problem is that she's well…she's got personality, let's call it that. Don't worry, she's not like this with everyone. In fact, she's extremely polite as long as you don't get on her nerves. Usually, she has a good reason to fight back. For example, at a banquet a couple of years ago, a prince from a foreign kingdom put his hand on her thigh. So, she proceeded to stab his hand with a fork. That little action almost caused a whole war, but Mother was able to smooth it over. When the controversy broke, all it did was help gain support for Women's Rights. Her lashing out on me is just how she shows that she loves me. Since she only lashes out on me.

"It would be nice if Asher could stay," she pouted at him, "But wherever you go, he seems to go too. What a shame."

Oh right, the most important thing about my sister: she is desperately in love with my best friend. She gushes nonstop about him, even when we were kids. Because she is so adamant about marrying Asher, all of the other socialites won't touch him, for fear that they might get on the bad side of the fierce princess. At this point, peeing on him would make it less obvious that he's hers. There's just one teeny weeny problem: Asher has no interest in her whatsoever. I know as her older brother, I should try to talk him into it, but I'm kind of relieved. I don't want to share him with her.

Asher smiled through his teeth, "Sorry Your Grace, but as his secretary, I am required to-"

She put her finger to his lips to cut him off, "I know I know. Cut me the bullcrap. Oh well, you'll surrender eventually. See you later!"

She leaned in for a peck on the check, but Asher almost fell from leaning so far back. Evie made a "hmph," sound and left my study.

As soon as she left, Asher let out a sigh of relief.

I chuckled, "I mean she's not wrong. Can't you just date her? It'll save me a headache."

"No." he answered, the emphasis on the punctuation obvious.

"Please?" I whined.

He shot back, "Worry about your own love life."

I groaned, my mind wandering back to the topic that I was thinking about before my little sister threw her tantrum.

Jennie Mariano. My half-fiance.

Jennie is the daughter of Lord Mariano, one of my father's close friends. I'll give it to her, Jennie is absolutely beautiful. With unique light blue hair and silver purplish eyes, she did quite stand out. Huge eyes with long eyelashes, her skin as white as snow, curvy and thin in all the right places, and full lips, Jennie looked like a water nymph and was extremely popular. The only problem is that we had no romantic feelings for each other whatsoever. In fact, according to her, I'm the opposite of her type. The feeling's mutual. Jennie doesn't really have an opinion for herself and if she does have one, she has a ridiculous reason, and she doesn't care for royal duties, two things I need to see in my future wife. She's giggly, immature, and inexperienced. Perhaps that's why she's my sister's best friend. Those two are like two halves of a cookie. Knowing them, my room is gonna be messed up by the time I come back.

Father keeps pestering me to accept her as my wife, especially as my coronation is coming near. She's pretty, she's popular in society, a good socialite, and she's a family friend. Why else wouldn't I marry her? I have a whole list.

For instance, when we were children, Evelyn, Asher, Jennie, and I were sitting by a pond. Evelyn was busy chasing Asher around with a frog and Jennie and I were sitting on a bench. I was reading New Moon from the Twilight series, even though I was only 9, and Jennie was reading over my shoulder.

"Who do you like better, Jacob or Edward?" I asked her.

She thought about it for a second and answered confidently, "Jacob."

It was right then and there that I knew I would not marry her.

"What? Why?!" I cried.

"Jacob treats her better. Look, he drives her around. Isn't that cool?" she reasoned.

"Well Edward is a vampire," I argued.

"And?" she retorted.

"AND?!" I exclaimed.

"Jacob," she said.

"Edward," I replied.

"Jacob."

"Edward."

"Jacob."

"Edward."

"JACOB."

"EDWARD."

That went on for quite a while. We were so mad at each other, we didn't speak for 20 minutes. For kids, that's basically 2 months. It was a nice memory to think about, but it showed how incompatible we were.

Shaking my head at the mere idea of being on Team Jacob, I looked back down at the document my father had sent me. He had asked when I wanted to announce my engagement-that-wasn't-an-engagement. For Velatran's sake, we hadn't even agreed to being betrothed. But perhaps old age makes you impatient.

"How much trouble do you think I'll be in if I shred Father's document and perhaps, for a good measure, burn it in a fireplace?" I asked Asher.

He chuckled, "Perhaps you'll get sent to the dungeon for a good 2 hours."

"That would be better than going through this," I answered.

"I don't get why you're so adamant about not marrying her. She's not too bad," Asher said.

"It's almost like dating your little sister. I don't hate her, I just don't see her in that way. Plus, speak for yourself," I remarked.

His mouth snapped shut. He knew I was right. I'm pretty sure he has at least some feelings for Evelyn, but for some reason he keeps suppressing them. Oh well, if I had feelings for that little brat I call my sister, I would hide it too.