4 Banquet

At the palace

" Aaron , tomorrow is your birthday and we have a surprise for you , so please don't disappear and attend the banquet , please ." Queen Eve almost begged her son to attend while they were having breakfast .

" Hmm . " That's the only same reply she ever got from her son for 15 years .

" Good , but tomorrow please do all we tell you to . " Prince Aaron nodded while his parents grinned broadly giving Aaron a bad feeling .

Meanwhile

At the Campbelle mansion

Ophelia is swiping the floor when she heard the maids talking .

" Did you hear about the cursed prince ? " One of them was clearly excited to talk about him .

" Yeah , isn't that Prince Aaron ? " Another was confused why they approached this subject .

" Yeah . It's said that he was cursed by the evil witches leader 18 years ago . No one knows what that curse is until now because the prince locks himself in his room until the next morning . " A third one joined the conversation when she thought that she can escape some work .

" That's what I heard too . Also , it's said that a witch said that the cure was to fall in love to melt his frozen heart . " The first one shared her gossip with the others .

" True . Since then all the ladies in the kingdom wants him to fall in love with her , but I heard that their attempts were all a failure and the prince only became colder . " The third one again joined with her attempt to escape work .

Then the maids continued talking while Ophelia already stopped listening to them and went back to work while thinking about their words .

' Curse ? Fall in love ? Frozen heart ? I see . The prince must feel lonely suffering with the curse all alone . I guess we're alike in that department . I wish he becomes happy in the future . ' Ophelia hopped the prince is always happy while she knows that she'll stay being treated this day until she dies , but she didn't know that tomorrow will be the beginning of both their happiness .

The next day

At the banquet

The hall was bustling with people thirsty for connections with more powerful people while Ophelia was standing in a corner due to her servant clothes and not knowing anyone while Prince Aaron was standing in a corner too away from annoying ladies . Ophelia saw him through the corner of her eye and went to him , so that she can make friends without knowing he's the prince .

" Hello , my name is Ophelia . May I stand with you ? " She introduced herself carefully and elegantly trying not to slip up .

Prince Aaron looked at her from head to toe trying to figure out if she was one of the annoying ladies too , but he didn't find anything strange except for the fact that servants aren't allowed inside , so he just nodded making her heave a sigh of relief .

A few minutes passed , but there was an awkward silence between the two when Ophelia finally decided to break the ice .

" Can I know why are you standing here alone ? " Ophelia started clearly nervous about talking with someone for the first time .

Prince Aaron stared at her for sometime before answering , " It's boring talking with people who only came here for connections . "

" I agree . It's a birthday banquet , yet they came to make connections , not caring about anyone . " Ophelia agreed voicing her opinion .

Prince Aaron was a little stunned by what she said , for it meant that she didn't know who he is and also , it meant that someone cares about his birthday , although it was cursed .

" And why were you standing alone too ? " At this moment , his attention was on her and he wasn't ignoring her anymore .

" It's my first time coming to a banquet , so there's no one I can talk to and my clothes aren't really suitable for this place . " She explained motioning towards the banquet then her clothes .

Prince Aaron nodded then asked , " What's your full name ? "

" Ophelia Campbelle . " She answered truthfully , not hiding a thing from him .

" That woman's sister ? " He said pointing to her half sister , Elora Campbelle , who was gaining the attention of all men for her exposed clothes and heavy makeup .

" Yeah . " She replied feeling a bit down .

Prince Aaron didn't talk anymore .