Meeting the Queen

At 9 in the morning, the Kensington's carriage arrived at the Knights' mansion. Melissa was waiting at the main gate with her maid-in-waiting. She looked resplendent in a deep green gown, her hair was coiled into a braided bun, secured by a diamond encrusted pin. The only other jewellery she wore was a simple necklace with an emerald pendant. She looked fresh and radiant, and unlike her usually can't-wait-to-run-away-from-him attitude, she was actually smiling when the carriage drew nearer. He was mesmerized with her smile and was almost smiling back at her when he suddenly heard her shouted while waving her arms excitedly, "William! William!"

"Mother! Mother! I'm here to fetch you! We're going to see Queen Grandma today!" Lord William's tiny head poked out of the carriage while shouting back at the beautiful girl standing not far away. 

"William, mind your words, Lady Melissa is not married to me yet. You shouldn't call her that." Annoyed at his misconception earlier, Duke Kensington reprimanded his son instead. 

"Why not? She will become my mother sooner or later. So I've decided to call her Mother sooner than later. I'm sure she won't mind." Lord William said, clearly unhappy at his father's unreasonable scolding. 

Duke Kensington gritted his teeth and didn't say anything further. Judging from how Lady Melissa treated his son, he's pretty sure she wouldn't mind even if William called her Little Bunny. When the carriage door was opened, Duke Kensington was prepared to step out and assisted the lovely lady waiting outside. However, before he could descend, William bounced down and ran to hug Lady Melissa. Lady Melissa crouched down and hugged William back. 

"Mother, you look so beautiful today. And look, we both wear matching colours! How great is that? We're definitely meant to be with each other." Lord William's honeyed words subconsciously made Duke Kensington flinched. He looked over at his son and realized that the young lad was indeed wearing a dark green jacket today. How astonishing! His eyes wondered to his own black jacket and regretted not making one in a dark green shade. For a second, Duke Kensington was surprised at himself. Is he competing with his own son over Lady Melissa? Why would he care about this useless things? Before be could analyze his thoughts further, a shout jolted him back to his sense. "Father! Hurry up! We don't want to be late!"

Hmmmph! Duke Kensington quickly got on the carriage and realized that the brat was now sitting on Lady Melissa's lap, chattering non-stop. Duke Kensington glanced at Lady Melissa and saw that she was sitting comfortably holding his son. Melissa sensed the Duke's gaze on her and looked up to meet his eyes. She smiled while greeting him, "Good morning, Your Grace."

"Good morning. My Lady, you shouldn't encourage his unruly behaviour. A gentleman must always acts courteously, especially with a lady." Duke Kensington couldn't help but reminded Lady Melissa. However, he also knew that Lord William's upbringing to this date had been impeccable. His son knew his boundaries and always behaved properly. But, when it came to Lady Melissa, his normally calm attitude towards everyone was cast aside. In fact, William acted the same with the Queen the other day, purely because of Lady Melissa. On normal occasion, that boy would never bounced about like that, especially not with the Queenp. It's all because of this young lady in front of him.

"Your Grace, William is just excited to see me. But don't worry, I understand what you meant. I will keep that in mind." Melissa replied graciously. Although she had lots of things to say to refute this cold man, she'd decided to have that talk in private without William's presence.

Duke Kensington was pleasantly surprised at her agreement. However in the next second, he looked at her again and realized her agreement came too easy, it's just too incredible. Surely she had something else to say? This woman was definitely not easy to deal with!

When they reached the palace, a sudden uneasy feeling crept into Melissa's heart. She couldn't understand why. The feeling kept gnawing at her and she had a sudden urge to turn back and go home.

Duke Kensington noticed her uneasiness and gently console her, "Don't worry, the Queen is a very kind woman. You'd like her. I heard your mother was one of her close companions so she would love to meet you."

"Mother, hold my hand if you're scared. I'll protect you." Lord William heard what his father said and immediately jumped in to take care of his beloved mother.

"Yes, thank you William." With that, Melissa let William held her hand and the trio walked into the palace.

A lonely figure with an exquisite looking face stood on one of the balconies overlooking the palace entrance and watched the scene below. No one dared to approach this man who exuded a dangerous aura at the moment. Being born as the eldest prince, he's destined to inherit the throne one day. However, his cold and aloof aura made him unapproachable and those who interacted with him were always cautious in their actions and words towards him. He was ruthless in his approach and seldom offered mercy on those who wronged him. It was said that this prince also didn't have any interest in any of the noble ladies around him, and had remained unattached until today. Many marriage proposals from prominent families were offered to the Queen discreetly but all of them were rejected by the prince, citing they're not worthy of him. After the prince threw a big tantrum about this the last time this subject was broached, the Queen relented and didn't bring it up again. No one knew what the prince was thinking, and no one dared to guess. 

The mere sight of Duke Kensington and his son walking into the palace annoyed him greatly. He averted his gaze and finally rested on the girl he had longed to see for so long. She had grown more beautiful since the last time he saw her. How he wished she was betrothed to him and not that damn Duke Kensington! She belonged to him and him alone. With that thought, Prince Xavier's eyes turned dark and his thoughts wandered off.

Meanwhile, the trio had reached the Queen's inner chambers. Distracted by William's endless chatter, Melissa's thoughts were distracted and she momentarily forgot about the strange feelings she had experienced moments ago. When the Queen met Lady Melissa, she was taken aback. Lady Melissa's features resembled that of Duchess Rose Knight, her deceased mother. There's no mistaken with that black hair and violet eyes. Looking at Lady Melissa, Queen Serina felt a sense of belonging, it was as if her close friend had came back to her. The late Duchess had only brought Lady Melissa once to meet her, and that was when Lady Melissa was very young.

"Come here my dear child. Let me look at you." Queen Serina said after receiving Lady Melissa's formal curtsy.

Melissa looked at the regal looking older woman in front of her bearing the red royal attire exclusively for the Queen and knew this was Queen Serina Frederick. Melissa thought hard and realized there was not much mention about the royal family in the novel except that it was the Queen who had initiated the wedding between her and Duke Kensington. It was truly an eye opener to actually meet a queen in her life, albeit one in a novel. However, when she looked carefully at this fine looking woman in front of her, Melissa somehow felt she looked familiar. Where had she seen her before?

Melissa smiled and went to where Queen Serina was seated. The Queen reached out and held both of her hands while asking her many questions about herself. They chatted for more than an hour before Duke Kensington appeared with Lord William again. Both father and son had tactfully left the chambers earlier to allow both women to chat freely. Surprisingly, Lord William didn't create a fuss when his father motioned him to follow him out.

Seeing it was time for lunch, the Queen invited them to join her and the royal family for a meal. This way, she planned to introduce Lady Melissa to her sons and daughter. They would all soon be family and therefore it was only fitting for Lady Melissa to get acquainted with the royals. Queen Serina came to realize that Lady Melissa had never attended any banquet held by the palace for the past few years and when questioned, Lady Melissa couldn't remember any of the royal princes or princess. Although Queen Serina found it odd that a noble lady didn't seem to know the background of the royals, she took no offense as the child was said to have lived in recluse for a few years. Seeing that her mother had passed away when she was young, the Queen felt sympathy for this young girl.

Queen Serina led Duke Kensington, Lady Melissa and Lord William to the dining room. Melissa was greatly amazed at the intricate designs and the wonderful looking embellishments that adorned the interior of the palace. She had a strong urge to touch them but knowing how inappropriate that would be, she refrained herself. Lord William was walking in front of her, taking the liberty to explain the ins and outs of the palace, while Duke Kensington walked beside her in silence. Both of them seemed to be at ease being here. The novel did say that Duke Kensington and his son were heavily favoured by the Queen. They must have been here millions of times then, in fact Melissa wondered probably the Queen even had rooms allocated for both the father and son! 

Soon, they reached the dining room. Melissa gasped at the sight in front of her. There, the long dining table was laden with various kinds of dishes one could imagine. She subconsciously swallowed her saliva and her eyes traced the luxurious looking tableware which accompanied such sumptuous feast. Suddenly, Melissa's heart trembled at the sight of the white rose which was placed on each plate. Her favourite flower had always been white roses, similar to the original Lady Melissa. Remembering her past life, she had pots of white roses placed on the tiny balcony of her apartment. She had planted and tended to them carefully. The beautiful roses had bloomed beautifully all year long under her dedicated care. Now, with her long gone from her real world, those roses... Her eyes teared up at the memory of this and she quickly wiped them away. Duke Kensington who had been observing her, seen this scene and thought she must've been overwhelmed by being in the palace. He took her hand in his and when she looked at this unexpected gesture, he smiled gently at her. Her eyes looked uncertain but she smiled at him back. Duke Kensington was stunned momentarily, looking at this smiling beauty by his side.