3 — The Engagement Ceremony (1)

A short maid dressed in black and white knocked on the door and said, "Your Highness."

Standing in front of the door beside her was another woman, taller than the maid while being of average height.

She had a straight posture as she glanced at her maid. She rapped on the door. But there was only quiet.

Once again, the lady knocked.

"Come in." A manly husky voice came out from the room.

The ash-haired woman entered the room followed by her maid who was holding a tray containing a cup of coffee from which steam was coming, both entering the room.

The maid placed the coffee on the night table beside the bed as she walked towards the curtains.

She pulled them up, letting the ray of sunlight inside the room.

"Your Highness, it's your engagement day today. Please, wake up," the ash-haired woman said as she made a sign for the maid to leave the room.

The maid bowed to her before exiting the room quietly.

The man covered in blankets groaned as the sunlight disturbed his sleep.

"Come on, Your Highness." The ash-haired lady pulled the blankets away.

"What in the?!"

The young man jolted from his bed, sitting up straight as he glared at the woman in front of him.

"Gloria?" He asked, puzzled. "What is with you referring to me as 'Your Highness' this morning?"

"Indeed, it is me. I was wondering whether perhaps I should start addressing you with more respect now, Crown Prince Yuden. After all, you will bring a wife soon." She grinned, teasingly.

Just as she was about to sit on the bed, her gaze fell on the complete mattress only to find a girl lying beside the ash-blond-haired young man.

"What's this?" Gloria quickly stepped away from his bed with furrowed eyebrows.

"Uhm... Nothing unusual, sister." Yuden replied with a little chuckle. He quickly shook the girl beside him to wake her up.

The girl groaned a little.

"Let me sleep a bit more," she muttered sleepily.

"Get up." Yuden coldly said.

The coldness in his voice had shaken up from her dreams. The girl sat up quickly, waking up to reality.

She hastily put on her clothes that were lying on the ground, took her shoes and rushed outside of the room.

"Yuden!" Gloria yelled in disbelief.

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean what's wrong? It's your engagement day! Not with anyone but with Layla Throren, the only Princess of Averlyon. How can you do this just the night before?!"

"She knows how I am. It's not like this marriage is anything emotional, sister. All I need is a woman who can help me get on the throne. It doesn't matter who it is."

"But still. You're a prince. You need to behave yourself. The media is always peeking for ways to taint the royal family and you behaving this way does no good." Gloria sighed as she sat on the couch, grabbing the cup of coffee on the tray.

"Wasn't that for me?"

"Not anymore." She smiled brightly as she pointed towards the washroom. "Go wash up and get ready. We will leave in the evening but you need to get yourself ready. You need to look like a proper crown prince after all."

"I don't wish to. Get me another cup of coffee. I can't do things properly without it. And I'm sure you wouldn't want me to smoke today." He grinned slightly but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

He knew his sister feared their father and she would do everything to be careful for him to not mess up such a special day.

Although, it was a special day for him as well. He would officially get what he wanted after years of patience.

"Okay, okay. But please freshen up." Gloria sighed.

"That's more like it." Yuden got out of bed as he headed to the washroom.

***

Half an hour later, Yuden came out with a towel around his neck and another towel was wrapped around his waist.

His defined abs were still a little wet, shining in the sunlight. He moved the towel away from his neck and started drying his still-wet hair.

He looked around for Gloria, but she had already left the room.

He walked towards the mirror and looked at himself in the mirror.

"Engagement, huh?" He scoffed as he threw the towel on the couch.

That word triggered an absurdly hilarious feeling to Yuden.

Just until last night, he was a free man. Free to do whatever he wanted, with whoever he wanted.

And today, he was going to be engaged to someone. A person he never thought about marrying because he belonged to her elder sister. Her elder sister had the first right to him as she was officially his fiancee from a young age.

He always thought there would never be a day when he would need to think about marrying Layla Throren. However, today was that very day.

He quickly came out of his thoughts, shaking his head as a few drops of water fell onto his skin from his bangs.

"I will be the king of Yurania, no matter what. Even if it means I need to marry Layla or anyone else, or someone that I hate." He told himself firmly, determined to reach his goal as he looked into the mirror.

He turned his head behind, finding an outfit already on his bed.

"Maybe Gloria got it prepared for me by a servant." He sighed as he took it and quickly wore it.

He couldn't be bothered to take out another outfit. It would be just a waste of time. Overall, he trusted his sister's choice.

She was a style icon. Duchess Gloria of Yuriana, a famous designer and one of the most stylish women in the country, and Yuden's beloved sister whom he cherished over everything despite their little disagreements sometimes.

***

The day passed quickly and evening came. However, it wasn't just any evening for Yuden. It was a very special day, marking a step ahead toward his goal.

Yuden was seated in the rear seat of his car as his driver drove Yuden's black Aston Martin.

The car stopped in front of an enormous edifice garnished with two types of flowers along with white light strings.

One of them were gardenia flowers with a mixture of kadupul flowers. Kadupul flowers were known to be priceless and was extremely rare to have a grasp on them.

Nevertheless, royalties were capable of getting anything they wished for, because if they had something in a huge quantity, it was wealth.

Yuden put on his poker smile, making his way inside the corridor. There were chandeliers of crystals clearing his way, and strings of lights were hung on the walls as well.

Yuden arrived in front of the hallway.

"Crown Prince Yuden Ravensly is entering the hall," A guard announced as Yuden stood in front of the door.

The door golden on which there was a lion crest, signifying royalty, opened.

Inside the huge hall, stood people dressed elegantly. Some women were covered in pieces of jewellery, bragging about the amount of money they spent on them whereas the men were only discussing their new projects and business.

The young ladies's gazes averted towards the young ash-blond-haired entering the hall. They quickly rushed to him.

"Your Highness!"

"How have you been?"

"Are you really going to marry Princess Layla?"

"Didn't you say that your fiance was lost years ago? And you still think about her when breaking up with me!?"

"Your Highness?"

Questions were thrown at Yuden. However, he didn't bother to reply to any of them.

He simply gave them an indifferent glance and walked towards a middle-aged lady in front of him who was talking to a couple near her old age.

He bowed down to her.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

The dark-haired lady with a few gray strings on them turned around. Her face brightened up as she placed her hand on the young man's shoulder in front of her.

"Crown Prince Yuden, it has been a while since we last met."

Yuden smirked as he looked down at the shorter old lady.

"Yes, it has."

The old lady excused her as she walked a little further.

Yuden followed her as he understood she wanted to have a more private conversation.

"It is such a shame that your father couldn't make it to the engagement ceremony tonight."

"Well, you know, business comes first." Yuden chuckled. "It's not like it matters," Yuden muttered softly in a way Emera wouldn't hear.

"Right, business."

"I haven't seen Duchess Myra and her daughter, Lady Irys yet. Although, I saw Lord Cassius with Princess Layla when I entered."

"They went to attend an important function back in our country. You know, someone from the Royal family has to attend."

"I totally understand. I just hope they can attend the wedding."

"Indeed. I hope your father doesn't miss the wedding either," Emera joked.

Yuden chuckled. "How can he miss his son's wedding? You're too funny, Your Majesty" he shook his head, laughing.

Emera and Yuden chattered and laughed together for a while.

"Are you trying to get closer to my grandmother than you already are?"

A dark-haired young lady walked towards them, raising an eyebrow at Yuden.

She had a pair of blue eyes as deep as the ocean colour. Her lips were curled up into a smile.

She wore a long scarlet dress and she had a transparent red scarf wrapped around both of her arms. Her hair was adorned with numerous jewelry made out of pure gold along with her earrings and necklace.

"Oh! Princess Layla." Yuden walked to her as he leaned against her ear, whispering words the great queen Emera couldn't hear.

"Jealous? You know that the Great Queen values me more than you, right, Princess Layla?"

Layla glared at him.

"Be careful. Your grandmother wouldn't like seeing you glaring at your soon-to-be husband, would she?"

The dark-haired girl sighed as she walked toward her grandmother and bowed down, greeting her.

"Bless you, my child." Emera pulled Layla up and held her in her arms. "I'm very happy for you, Princess Layla."

"Princess Layla." A middle-aged woman approached her as she caressed Layla's cheek tenderly.

"Congratulations. I'm so happy for you, my daughter." She smiled.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Layla smiled back at her.

She then rushed towards the man behind her mother.

"Your Majesty." She bowed to him, greeting him excitedly.

"Finally the day has come for you to become the crown princess of Averlyon," Zayn spoke as he caressed his daughter's shoulder lightly.

"What are you talking about, Zayn? You know very well that the only heir of this kingdom is her."

"Mother. She has been gone for 15 years. 15 years is a long time. If she had to return, she would already have!" Zayn spouted, trying to explain to his mother his piece of thought. "We can't be emotional when it comes to the kingdom."

"But, I know she will come back. I know she will."

"Not you too Queen Sameera."

"Your majesty..." Sameera averted her gaze away from Zayn, dejected.

"Get a hold of your emotions, King Zayn and Queen Sameera. We are still in public," Emera forced a smile as she made eye contact with a few guests.

Layla rolled her eyes as she walked away from there. She was tired of hearing everyone always talk about that girl.

She never met her but she knew that she didn't want her to come back. Everyone loved her deeply despite her absence.

What would happen if that girl came back?

Layla feared losing her position already at the thought alone.

She prayed for that girl to never be found or better, that she was already dead!