PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: DAWN OF FAITH ~ ETERNAL ECLIPSE]

The guests that had arrived were ushered in by the King and Queen of Orion, with their two daughters giving their best smiles for different reasons.

While Sophie smiled happily to receive her future family-in-law, Oriana grinned mischievously, patiently waiting to see the Crown Prince who had dared to play with her weakness.

"Welcome to Orion, great King of Avon," King Curtis stretched his hand forward, giving the king a firm shake on the shoulder as the other king did the same.

Queen Saline walked gracefully to the Queen of Avon, giving her side air kisses before a graceful bow. "Welcome to Orion, Her Majesty," the woman smiled.

The Queen of Avon looked around the palace with a condescending gaze before she finally looked at Queen Saline. "Thank you for your humble welcome. I am Queen Gwendolyn Galgani," she said with a slight bow.

Queen Saline noticed the look on the woman's face and how she had regarded their grand welcome as a humble one. She decided to ignore it, since people were watching.

Oriana, who stood by the side, noticed the silent battle between her mother and the other queen. She sighed; her mother had finally found her match. Oriana looked around, searching for the Crown Prince, but he was nowhere to be found. Oriana was tempted to ask the question, but she held herself back.

"Let's go inside," King Curtis said, motioning them as everyone walked inside the palace. Oriana stayed behind, craning her neck to see if the Crown Prince was hiding inside the carriage.

"Princess Oriana, is there something you're looking for?" Bessie ran to her side to ask the princess who appeared to be waiting for something or someone seriously.

Oriana bit her lips, "The main face of today's gathering, he should be here..." She tapped her finger on her lip before walking back inside the palace.

At the table where a buffet had been set, every member of the royal family sat down with King Curtis at the end, and his wife on his left. Next to her were Sophie and Oriana, while the king of Avon sat on the right with his wife beside him.

"We got the invitation late, so we were able to provide something this simple," Queen Saline said, pointing at the plates on the table.

The Queen of Avon nodded her head, "I totally agree, the table still looks too plain and empty in my eyes. The perfect word should be simple then." The woman covered her lips with her hands to smile gracefully.

Queen Saline inhaled deeply. She was done being belittled by this woman, first was how she looked at the palace like it was filthy, now this. She is also a queen herself. When she opened her mouth to retort, Sophie held her mother, whispering to her,

"Mother, behave. Just let her be; she's going to be my future mother-in-law," Sophie whispered to her mother before giving their guests a warm smile.

The King of Avon cleared his throat to speak. "As you already know, Avon is a very big kingdom. A marriage with Orion would only benefit you. So we need to come to an agreement on what we would take in return since Orion wrote to us first concerning this marriage."

"What do you mean Orion wrote to you first?" King Curtis asked.

Oriana, who was buried in eating, coughed loudly when she heard this. The power play in the dining made her forget about the mischievous letter she had sent, she gave up on listening when her mother and the Queen of Avon tried to raise shoulders. With her loud cough, everyone at the table paused. Turning to look at her, including her sister who was glaring daggers at her at the moment.

The girl quickly wiped her mouth, standing on her feet she bowed deeply. "I am Princess Oriana, welcome to Orion, your majesties." She said, as if she just noticed their presence.

Sophie tried to pull her sister to sit down, "What are you doing?" She whispered, with her teeth clenched.

Oriana waved at her sister dismissively, "Don't worry Sister, I've got this." She turned to the royal family opposite them.

"No need to ask which family sent the letter first; imagine an alliance with Orion. As we all know, though small compared to Avon, we are known for making the best quality jade. It wouldn't be a bad alliance, don't you think? And I'm sure the Crown Prince of Avon would feel so lucky to marry someone as beautiful as our Crown princess," Oriana said with a big smile.

The Queen of Avon frowned, "Why do you say so?"

"I mean seeing that he refused to come, means he's hideous right?" Oriana asked, looking very confident.

Sophie and Queen Saline smiled; for the first time in their life, they were proud of Oriana. Especially Queen Saline who enjoyed the look of anger on the other woman's face.

"Adric had a business around here; if you don't know, he is also a merchant. Very popular around here,"

Popular around women...Oriana completed in her head. When she saw the woman glare at her, she bowed slightly with a sweet smile.

"I understand, but we will also like to see him. Don't you think so, Sister?" Oriana turned to ask her sister.

Sophie, who wasn't understanding the situation nodded, "Uh-Yes. I mean I will also be happy if his face can match mine. As you can see...I'm not just any Crown princess." She raised her shoulder proudly.

"That's fine, we can send for him and wait in the palace until he arrives." Queen Gwen said, feeling a bile rise in her throat especially because of the uncourteous princess.

Oriana clapped her hands together, "That's great then; I'm glad we've finally arrived at a perfect conclusion. Let's eat as we are going to be family soon." She smiled, sitting back, happy that the issue about the letter she had sent was no longer going to be brought up.

After eating, rooms were made available for the guests while everyone waited for the arrival of the Crown Prince.

Oriana, who was enjoying how everything was going, sat outside under a shed, with a leg sprawled and her eyes looking at the clear sky. She dangled her hand where she was holding a strand of leaf.

"Who is there?" Oriana pushed herself up when she heard someone's voice. She quickly got on her feet, seeing it was the Queen of Avon.

"Greetings your Majesty," Oriana bowed. "Is there something you wanted, I can send the servants to bring it for you."

The woman looked at the girl in front of her from head to toe and sighed, "I'm glad you weren't the one picked to be our crown princess."

Oriana nodded with a smile, "The feeling is mutual." She said causally, dropping all honorifics with the woman.

"Is that how to talk to a Queen? What have you learnt as a princess?!" Queen asked sternly with deep frown.

"Nothing.." Oriana twitched her lips, "It might surprise you to know that I have learnt nothing Your Majesty." The girl said with a tone of fake respect.

Queen Gwen inhaled deeply trying to control her anger, she turned to leave the girl alone walking back inside the palace with her servants behind her.

"What was that?" Oriana said to herself, "Seems like these Queens get similar orientation, bothering an innocent me, who just want to enjoy nature, yet they belittle me with words." The girl sighed going back to continue her relaxation.

Far away from there, a young man stood with his personal guard

"Your highness, it seems like she's getting on the Queen's toes," the guard said.

Adric smiled, "Mother...seeing you angry with a mere princess is somewhere between refreshing and interesting,"

"Should I announce your presence?" The guard asked.

"No, you don't have to. I have someone I should meet first." Adric said looking at the princess who was resting on the floor like nothing bothered her.