Pent-up Guilt

Chloe knew about the arrangement. She had overheard some of the other maids talking about it. She knew that the royals took agreements seriously, and an arranged marriage between the two royal families was no exception.

Her daughter marrying someone like Prince Adam deeply upset her. She loved her daughter dearly, and with all her heart.

She remembered that when the agreement was made, King William had only said that if the Duke had any children, they were to wed with his children. He just never specified with who.

Emma furrowed her brows.

"Mother, is anything wrong?" Emma asked.

Chloe shook it off, deciding not to tell her daughter of her chosen fate.

"No, no, nothing's wrong. I'm just shocked by the news," Chloe admitted.

"Oh, and I forgot. Mother, the King and Queen said something about a ball being held in my honor. And another thing about a big debut," Emma told her mother.

Chloe's eyes widened.

A ball?

She knew that balls could only mean two things; one of which was to celebrate an important event, a collaboration between two kingdoms being one of them, a celebration to celebrate the news of a new royal, or the other, being the announcing and naming of a royal title.

Since Emma was the daughter of the late Duke, that'd make her a countess, marchioness, or viscountess. Even though countess was the most likely pick.

While Chloe was deep in her train of thought, Emma was panicking, to say the least.

She hadn't been to a ball before, therefore, not having anything to wear to one. She had to go all out for such a huge event, especially since this was her 'big debut'.

Just as she was panicking, a knock came from the door.

She opened the door to find Lily again.

"Lily? What are you doing here?" Emma asked.

"Didn't you hear the news? I'm assuming you already know, right? Girl, I never knew you were a royal. Why didn't you tell me?" Lily asked.

Emma shrugged.

"Sorry Lil, I didn't know either. I just found out today. It's quite a shock to me too," Emma said truthfully, her face filled with guilt for forgetting to tell her best friend of what happened.

Lily sighed.

"That's not why I'm here though, I'm here to tell you that the royal seamstress is waiting for you, something about a custom gown for the ball," Lily explained.

Emma hugged her best friend.

"Thanks for telling me, Lil. I hope you could make it to the ball too. As far as I know, everyone's invited, and as my best friend, you're no exception," Emma told Lily who had returned her hug,

Lily nodded as they separated from the hug.

Emma rushed up the palace stairs, and headed for the palace closet, where she assumed the royal seamstress was already waiting for her.

She arrived minutes later, hoping she wasn't late for anything, as she strolled in the palace closet filled with elegant gowns and dresses on one side, and suits for all occasions. In the middle of the closet was a plush circular chair, where measuring materials and all sorts of fabrics were sprawled on it.

"Are you Ms Grey?" A woman asked. Her hair was a chocolate brown, her skin a fair, light brown, and hazel-brown eyes. On her neck, instead of a necklace, was measuring tape. She was one of the prettiest women Emma had ever seen.

Emma nodded.

"Yes, yes I am," Emma replied.

The woman grinned.

"I'm Ms Nox. The royal seamstress. I'll be in charge of your custom gown for the royal ball," she explained.

Emma nodded, awestruck at the raiments surrounding her.

"How are you supposed to make a custom gown for me in a day? That's impossible," she admitted to the royal seamstress.

Ms Nox laughed.

"Once I get your measurements, the color and type of fabric you want for your gown, my team will get started on it right away," she explained to the girl who had never in her life experienced something as lavish and extravagant as this.

After a brief session of getting measured and prepped for the ball, the seamstress handed some fabrics of satin, silk, taffeta and velvet.

She glanced at the fabrics and quickly chose a dark royal blue fabric that complemented her eyes, letting Ms Nox choose what she thought would suit her the best.

What her attire for the ball was going to be was kept a secret until a few hours before it started where she had to get ready.

Even though she felt this was all going too fast. One second, she was a maid. At the next, the daughter of a royal. What next? The Queen?

She shrugged the idea off as she suddenly realized she didn't have any more duties, no more jobs. It was a given that she no longer needed to be Prince Adam's maid anymore, so she didn't know what else to do.

She headed back to the maid's quarters, to find both her and her mother's belongings being carried by the royal help.

If it wasn't for the realization that their stuff had been moved to a guest suite, she would've panicked and started screaming at each and every one of them to get out.

But instead, she watched as her life was already changing, just because she had royal blood in her veins, and they had only found out about it now.

She followed one of the royal butlers to what was her new accommodation for now. It was not as huge as Adam's quarters, but it was much better than the quarters she lived in previously.

Emma entered her new accommodation, and gasped.

The dark grey mattress she used to sleep in was now replaced with a queen-sized bed. There was no need for her to sit on the floor anymore, as multiple chaises were in the suite. It was decorated with a luxurious, simple, but elegant style. Plush curtains were draped over the windows, and the chandelier hanging from the ceiling only made it more elegant.

The butler that had guided her there gave her a quick tour of the room, showing her where her private closet was, the mini bar stocked with beverages of all kinds, the restroom and all of its necessities, where the maids and butlers had placed her belongings, and last but not least, her favorite part of the room, the door that connected her room to her mother's private suite.

Her mother's suite was quite similar to Emma's, with the exception that she'd not need to work anymore.

Why this was all happening so fast was quite unclear to most, and weirdly enough, the two princes had yet to be informed of this matter, but the guilt was already racking up in King William and Queen Isabelle.

The reason for the Duke's death was all his fault.

But no one else knew that.

He knew that if he hadn't asked his close friend to do such things, Emma would've been able to return to a loving family, but he had stripped her of that.

The least he could do was to treat his dear friend's only daughter and her mother right.

No matter what it took.