THE OTHER PRINCESS

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: ONCE UPON A TIME ~ EVGENY GRINKO]

The next morning, Oriana woke up without a maid to attend to her. The girl walked to the bathroom to wash her face.

"Ah," she winced when water touched her open wound, reminding her of what happened yesterday.

"Nana's pearl," the young girl muttered. Running back to her room, she searched her bed worriedly until she found the necklace under her pillow. She held it close to her chest and smiled happily before tying it around her neck.

Young Oriana, with no maid to assist her, entered the bathroom and fixed herself up the way she remembered maids did for her. She dressed in one of her favorite dresses, which had the dullest color. With the front of her hair still dripping wet, the girl ran to the dining room to have breakfast.

Getting to the dining room, her whole family was already in the middle of breakfast. It was her sister who first recognized her.

"Oriana, ew! What's with your dress and hair? Mother, look," the older princess pointed with a look of distaste.

Oriana looked down at her dress and didn't see anything wrong with it.

"What are you wearing, and why are you late for breakfast?" The Queen asked with a condescending tone.

Oriana bowed as taught by her governess. "Greetings, Your Majesty. I had no maid to attend to me, so I dressed myself," her small voice was heard in the dining room.

The King, her father, didn't stop eating, his spoon making clattering sounds on the plate as if the girl did not exist.

"And what is that garbage round your neck? You look more like a beggar than a princess," Sophie huffed, shaking her head in disappointment.

Oriana frowned. She could take anything but not hearing someone belittle her precious gift given to her by her grandmother.

"Nana gave it to me," the girl retorted to her sister.

The Queen rolled her eyes. "How many times have I told you, it's Mother Queen, not Nana," the woman said, infuriated by her daughter's behavior.

The King finally dropped his spoon harshly on the plate. "Can breakfast be peaceful around here?" he asked.

Oriana gulped when she heard her father's voice. Looking down at her feet, she didn't dare to look him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, My King. I'll make sure she's disciplined," the woman got on her feet and bowed, holding her trembling hands afraid of her husband's action.

Oriana's father didn't say a word. He dabbed his mouth, getting on his feet. "The carriage will leave the moment I'm outside," he said, giving the young princess a look before he left the room.

Oriana finally let go of her breath. She had thought her father would break something, but it seemed like he was in a good mood today.

"Let's leave; we are going to the town's fair," the Queen said, dabbing her mouth and rushing to follow her husband.

"But Ma- Your Majesty, I'm hungry," Oriana said to her mother.

The Queen glared at her youngest daughter with hate. "You should have thought of that before waking up late."

"You want Fa-, I mean The King to hit Mother because of you again," Sophie scowled.

The Queen turned her glare to the older princess. "Shut it, Sophie. Now go wait at the carriage," the woman said with a low voice, looking around to be sure none of the maids heard the girl.

Before Sophie stepped out, she said, "Are we going to let her go with us dressed like that?" The older princess pointed at her sister, who looked more like a maid than a princess.

The Queen sighed, picking out a slice of bread; she pushed it to the young girl. "We have no choice. The king had agreed to be present with every member of the royal family, as other kingdoms would be present too," the woman said. She walked out of the door, followed by the two princesses.

Oriana held tightly to the slice of bread. She tried to walk faster and eat the bread at the same time, but it was not easy. She had almost succeeded when a maid bumped into her, pushing the bread onto the floor.

At first, the maid didn't recognize the girl because of her rumpled and unkempt dress. "Get out of my way, you- Princess Oriana?" The maid bowed.

But the little girl was too busy looking at her poor bread, which the maid stepped on the minute she walked closer to carry her inside the carriage, which was about to move.

"Make sure you act right during the fair; so many royal families will be in attendance, and Father might decide to arrange a marriage for us. I don't know how he'll do that for you anyway," Sophie, who sat opposite her sister inside the carriage, said.

Oriana's mind was elsewhere, her small piece of bread. She was really hungry, as she had missed dinner the other night. When she turned to look at her sister, who had an elegant poise even inside the carriage where no one was looking at her, the younger princess sighed.

Slowly, the carriage started moving, with the King and Queen ahead in a separate carriage.

When the carriage arrived at the village square, the magistrate announced the arrival of the King.

"Let us welcome His Majesty King Curtis and his beautiful Queen Saline," the village magistrate announced.

The tall king waved at villagers, holding his wife lovingly as they smiled in the crowd. After their introduction, they all moved to sit on their thrones.

"Also, the two beautiful princesses, Princess Sophie and Princess Oriana!" the man announced, and the carriage opened. A maid helped the older princess to step down.

Sophie, who enjoyed the spotlight so much, waved her hand to the crowd, crossing her legs elegantly. The princess bowed with a smile. The crowd cheered happily.

"That's our crown princess," someone shouted from the crowd.

"She shines brighter than the sun," another one added, getting a loud cheer of agreement from others.

Sophie didn't want the show to end; she enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention.

"Thank you so much. Oh my, you flatter me so much," the princess waved her hand as if to tell the crowd to stop, but that was far from it. She wanted to hear them scream her praises more loudly.

The magistrate said, "Isn't the Princess so humble? As young as she is, our dearest Princess Sophie already exudes the humility of a leader," the man praised even more.

Finally, Sophie bowed in front of her parents before sitting on the chair beside the queen.

"And for the last royal family member, let's welcome Princess Ori-"

Oriana stepped down from the carriage even before her name was mentioned, not because she wanted to, but she had tried to hold her head up, but then hunger was making her dizzy.

"Who is that? An imposter?" someone from the crowd asked. Even the magistrate was surprised; he took a step back.

"What is going on with her?" Sophie asked her mother.

The Queen pressed her lips; she knew very well that her husband was fuming. The woman snapped her fingers, motioning for a maid to come.

"Get Oriana out of there immediately," the woman ordered, and the maid ran to carry out he order.

The magistrate cleared his throat after the girl had been taken away from the crowd. "Sorry for that; there's been a little delay with the young princess. We will announce her later."

The event of the day carried on, and people couldn't care more or less about the other princess.