Chapter Twenty-nine

"Am I interrupting something?" The Queen asked. Her askance gaze shifted from her flustered son to the whitened face of Caroline.

Carol wished for the ground to swallow her whole that moment. If it was possible for the world to end at that moment she would be super grateful. She suppressed a shiver, transposing her pale face to a warm smile.

"Not at all Your Highness!" awe transformed the Queen's features as she stared at her, astonished. Carol turned to Adrian still with the warm smile.

"The suit does look good on you, Your Majesty!" She said with a light bow. He felt prickles of pain as Carol turned her back to him, he hated her calling him that but he understood why she did. She walked gracefully to where the Queen stood at to the door.

"It is nice to see you again, Your Highness. I trust that you have been well, ma'am?" She asked in a polite manner, surprising everyone including herself.

The Queen gave a light nod. "Indeed I have, Caroline!".

"I shall take my leave then!" She spoke with a smile. She gave a light curtsey and exited the room.

Once she was out of the danger zone, she let out a deep breath that she held when the Queen walked in on them. Her heart hammered in her chest. It felt like it would explode at any moment.

"That was close!" She shook her head, removing any fleck of fear within her, heading towards the end of the hallway.

>>>>"Such an extraordinary woman, don't you think son?" She asked, her gaze fixed at the closed door.

"Yes she is!" He simply said.

Queen Elena turned to him with a fixed smile as she approached him. "She is right about one thing, this suit does look good on you!" She said while removing a lint from the collar. Her hands rested a little while longer on his arms. She wore a proud look as she stared at him full of admiration.

"Yeah!" The sadness and yearning in his voice was not overlooked by her.

She sighed, letting him go whilst rubbing her hands together.

"It seems that I was indeed interrupting something, Adrian. You two looked somewhat…" she paused, searching for a word to use "...intimate!".

Adrian's eyes widened on hearing the word 'intimate' but he said nothing, knowing fully well that nothing he would say will change whatever she thought of them.

She looked at him, he avoided her gaze. A corner of her lips quirked up.

"Seeing how silent you are only means that I am indeed right, isn't that correct son?" she frowned at him.

He let out a breath, turning away from his mother's questionable gaze.

"Well, this isn't the first time I am seeing you two being this intimate!" She said matter-of-factly.

He turned to her quickly, the color drained out of his face. His mother chuckled.

"You seem a little shocked!" She stated.

"How did you…"

"Your engagement ball!" She cut him off. "You guys should have been a little bit discreet!" She said, grining at him.

Few Weeks Ago; The Engagement ball.

"Where is he?" Queen Elena searched the empty bedroom for him but he was no where in sight.

Giving up, she left the room. She made a quick turn to the right and bumped into Walter.

"Good evening Your Majesty!" He greeted with a bow.

"Good evening, Walter. Have you seen Adrian?" She asked, concern clouded her eyes.

"Yes a few minutes ago, he said that he felt a bit unwell and retired to his room!" He replied without a flinch in his impassive features.

"I have already gone to his room but he is not there!" She replied, her eyes grew weary with concern.

Walter's eyes widened a bit and it didn't go unnoticed by her. He kept quiet for a little while, pondering on what lie to tell.

"Maybe he returned to the ball, Your Majesty!" He said quickly, he tapped his fingers on his thighs.

'Where are you, Your Highness?' he thought while trying to keep his usual calm composure.

Queen Elena observed how unsettled he was. Knowing him for the longest of time, she has become accustomed to certain behaviors he expressed, especially when he is lying or covering up for someone, someone like her son.

She quickly fixed a smile on her face.

"You are certainly right, he must have returned to the ball!" She said in agreement, not wanting to question him any further.

Walter gave a light bow before he left. She kept her hands on her sides, feeling determined to find her son that night.

She began making her way back to the ball room when a glimpse of shadow heading towards the Palace garden caught her attention. Queen Elena instinctively followed it, thinking perhaps it would lead her to Adrian.

She followed it discreetly, it stopped behind one of the erected pillars that led to the Palace belvedere. She could faintly hear familiar voices of people she knew, one belonged to Adrian but she could not pinpoint the other one.

She sighed, staring at the figure of the woman squeezed behind the pillar, she shook her head in disapproval. She detested it when people intrude on others' affairs, especially one that could tarnish the reputation of someone important to her.

She cleared her throat alerting her of her presence, the woman jumped like a frightened kitten, she slowly turned to her, quivering.

The cold, dark stare she received from the Queen sent her spirit flying to the heavens.

"May I ask what you might be doing here?" She asked with folded arms.

"I… uh… I got lost finding the bathroom!" She said softly, her voice was shaky as she spoke.

"It seems you went further from it, don't you think?" She glared at her.

Gabby gulped, she didn't expect to face the Queen that night when she set out to follow the Prince.

"I think so, Your Highness!" She replied, avoiding her gaze.

"Good! Then I suggest you better leave!" She ordered, her voice was commanding and it sent shivers down Gabby's spine.

"Yes, Your Highness!" She said meekly, prepared to scurry to safety from the death glares she received.

"One more thing" Gabby paused, slowly turning to face her, awaiting the next dreading words "If I hear any certain rumor about what you think you saw tonight from anyone's lips I will make sure that you would regret living in this country, do I make myself clear?" She asked, her eyes blaring with rage.

Gabby nodded severally, her body shook with fear.

"Then I guess that we understand each other!" Her face suddenly brightened up, she reached out her hand. Gabby squeezed her eyes shut expecting to get hit but was surprised when the Queen tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She slowly opened her eyes. The Queen's smile looked calm but deadly.

"I am so glad that we understand each other!" She said softly. Gabby gulped, she did a quick bow and ran out of there with her tail between her legs.

Queen Elena snickered. It was so easy to threaten someone. She sighed, she missed those days when people were once frightened by her. She walked closely to the pillar to check out on Adrian. Her eyes widened when she noticed that they were dancing. She found herself smiling, noticing the look in his eyes as he stared at the woman who seemed to be the same woman that got into a contest for designing Jasmine's wedding dress. What were the odds?

Million thoughts ran across her mind.

'How do they know each other? And why do they seem so close?' These questions bothered her the most as she stared at her.

Queen Elena thought it would be best to leave them be and was about to leave when she observed how close they got, her eyes narrowed at them. There was an attraction, a spark between them that she didn't notice a second earlier. The way she looked at Adrian and the way Adrian looked at her, it seemed somewhat familiar to how she looked at the King. She gasped, realization dawned on her. They were in love. It was so unexpected, she never thought that her son would fall for someone she'd least expected.

Queen Elena gasped again when she saw them kiss, she felt her heart skip a beat watching them. It felt like she was transported back to the time of her younger days, days of her first meeting with the King, when she was still new to the feeling called 'Love'. Seeing her son feeling this way for Caroline mirrored her back to her younger self.

She slowly walked away, not wanting to disturb them. She felt a quiet contentment spread through her knowing that one of her wishes for him has come true even if the one he loved wasn't someone of a royal blood.

* * * *

Adrian fell silent when she told him how she discovered their secret rendezvous.

"You have known eversince that night?" He asked slowly, astonishment written all over.

She smiled at him. "Yes, and I also know that you sneak out of the Palace late at night and sometimes return early in the morning when you think that everyone is still asleep!" She said clinically.

His eyes glistened when she said all that like it meant nothing. He was still trying to recover from the first shock he received a while ago and here she was giving him another.

"How did you…"

"I saw you one morning sneaking into your room after my early morning jog! I wanted to say something but decided to let it go. I just thought back then that you just wanted to be alone at the moment. Oh, and I have seen you a few times sneaking out of the Palace with your motorcycle!" She explained.

Adrian blinked at her, without uttering a word. He felt a bit light headed having being caught by his own mother. He sat on the nearby couch staring into nothingness.

The corner of her mouth quirked up as she got closer to him, resting her hand on his shoulder.

"Do you truly love her?".

He looked up and noticed the smile on her face. It didn't carry disdain or anger. It was calm and affectionate which soothed him.

He nodded "Yes Mother, I really do!".

"Have you told her how you feel about her?" She asked, sitting on the arm of the couch, her hand caressing his back.

"Yes but…" he paused, she stared at him, her eyes clouded with corcern "... She said that she doesn't feel the same way I do!" She noticed the hurt in his voice and it broke her.

"And I get it!" He turned to look at her, tears glistened in his eyes "But deep down I just get this feeling that she is lying to me about her feelings, I know that she does love me. I felt it the first time we kissed and the way she looks at me tells me that she does!".

"I have noticed it too, she does love you but what if…" she kept quiet for a bit "... What if there is something preventing her from telling you how she feels about you?".

Adrian ran his hands through his hair, a few locks fell out of place curving his features "I have thought about it and I think I know why, I feel like it could be because of Jasmine and I getting married!" Queen Elena kept quiet as he spoke, listening deeply to every word he said "I am already working on it, if I could just find a way for the two nations to still be allies without the royal families being tied down to marriage. Maybe then she could tell me how she truly feels about me!" His voice was hopeful and carried so much determination that it put a smile on her face.

"I believe that you can figure it all out and just so you know, I will always be rooting for you. I just want you to be happy son, which is one of the many things I want for you." She gave him a light squeeze, before pecking him on the cheek.

"Does it mean that you don't mind that I am in love with Carol?" He asked, staring at her.

She gave a half shrug "She seems like a nice girl, a hard worker. I can imagine how hard it took her to reach where she is at the moment. It can really put a smile on one's face when you think about it. The most important thing is that she makes you happy. So if you love her then I love her too and I will accept her as my own daughter!" She replied.

Joy took hold of him, hearing his mother's approval of Carol. It imbued him with more confidence and determination to find a way out of this situation he was in. He was willing to do anything to be with Caroline even if it means getting his old man enraged because of his choice to be with her.

The Queen got up and headed towards the door taking him by surprise.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

She halted in her tracks and turned to him.

"To meet my future daughter-in-law…" She replied, her eyes twinkled subtly.

She turned on her heels and reached out for the door handle. Her hand rested on it for a bit. A smile was fixed on her face as she thrutched the door open.

"... Caroline!" She said softly, closing it quietly behind her.