How should I even say it?Gosh, what have I gotten myself into...?

When I had told Penelope and Daniella what had happened they...laughed! Yeah! Unbelievable! 

When I woke up this morning, I thought I  would cone up with what to say in front of that cold man, but nothing came to mind.

I haven't told Damond yet, but I plan not to since he might go crazy.

But really, what should I do?

What if he spreads nasty rumours about me all through out the Kingdom? 

What if he even calls of the engagement?

Can he even do that?

Ugh.

This isn't something worth thinking about too much. 

I had told Eloise that I wanted an audience with the Shoubet's resources sector. 

Obviously, I didn't just come here to play. I need to help my Kingdom to flourish again somehow. 

I was worried about any special permission I would need to access their resources, but he said that it wasn't necessary since I would be marrying into the family anyway. Odd, but why would I argue? 

*Knock Knock*

Oh. That should be Damond. "Would please get the door for me Penelope?"

"Of course your Highness." She said. 

Her and Daniella were staying here for the meantime, they said they disliked being apart from me since their maids' quarters were so far away. 

She opened the door and Damond came in. 

"Well, it certainly seems better than your last one." He said while looking around my room. 

Hm, my ACTUAL room was a thousand times better than the Prince's room I had intruded upon. 

Wait, let me not think about that. I should just be glad Eloise led me here before I got lost again.

"Yes I love it, are you ready?" I asked. 

Being cooped up in my chambers out of pure fear of encountering the Prince was stupid. 

We had decided to go on a walk and have tea in the garden near by. 

He nodded so we started heading out right away. 

A FEW MINUTES LATER IN THE CASLTE GARDEN: TEA TIME

"Well this isn't too bad. I'm surprised everything was set up so nicely." I said sitting down. 

 hate to admit it really, but this castle is far better than ours. The Shoubets are far wealthier too.

After I get married to the Prince, that should change. Oh, I should stop calling him the "Prince" as if I don't know his name.

I do now: Andres  

A rather nice name for someone with such a frightening demeanor...

Damond began to fill my cup with barley tea. 

He always enjoyed times like this, together alone, enjoying sweets and drinks. He was always much more relaxed like this, and in a way better mood.  I like it a lot too.

"Thanks." I smiled. 

"Yeah.... ....so the you and Prince Andres yesterday?" He questioned.

Wha- huh? How did he know about that?!

It seems the shock was so apparent on my face that he even began laughing.

"Did you seriously think that Penelope would actually keep her mouth shut? You should know this by now!" He laughed.

Oh, of course it's her that told him...I really thought he would be angry, but he seems to think this situation is funny as well. 

"Literally STOP laughing! It's not even funny! You should have been there, he was scary!" I shouted. 

"O-ok... whew ...ok wow!" He was even cleaning the tears from his eyes as he tried to control his laughter.

Ugh!

"You're hilarious Rina, really." 

"How crude!" A foreign voice came from far behind our table. Who said that? 

Looking behind, we found a middle aged lady, dressed in the most expensive of dresses, walking pompously with a rather enormous sun umbrella over head, held by what seemed to be a Royal Guard. The Queen! 

Immediately, Damond and I stood up and turned to face her completely. 

"Sit down dear. We shall have this tea together." She said, while eyeing the food. 

"Good morning Your Majesty." I bowed, and sat down like she ordered me to.

What does she want? Why is she interrupting my day already...can I get no peace around here?

Her Guard closed the umbrella and began to pour her a cup of tea. She was facing me now, sitting at the opposite seat, staring at me intently. 

"Good Morning dear, I just happened to be taking a walk and spotted you having tea with your... servant." She said slyly as she eyed Damond who was still standing upright, holding tight, guard-like expression on his face. 

Wait- Servant?! Did she just call Damond my servant??

"Um, excuse me Your Majesty but he is my appointed Personal Guard from birt-" I tried to let my protest out angrily, but of course, she didn't let me finish. 

"Oh! They are all the same...servants, guards. You can't be too nice to these people unless they will start thinking that they are actually friends with you. Ha! Imagine, friends..." 

The Queen shook her head and chuckled in the most condescending and rude manner I had ever seen in my life. 

"He is my friend your Majesty." I wasn't even trying to keep up any false warmth or smile now. I wanted her to know that I was angry. How could she be so rude? If not to Damond, then her own Guard who is standing right next to him! Is he not also a Guard?

 I know the look of calm on Damond's face was hard to keep on. He must be angry. 

After my comment she sighed and shook her head at me, putting down her cup of tea. I hadn't touched mine yet.

Her voice now seemed like that of a talking Devil than a human being with a beating heart heart. She said each word slowly, as if intending to knock them into my brain. 

 "And herein lies your problem darling. Not only are you incredibly rude, you are also uninformed, uneducated, and ignorant. Speaking to me that way, who do you think you are!" 

Wait, what? What had I said? What had I done?? 

Her fingers curled, tapping the table in an impatient manner. She was waiting for my response. 

"I-I...I'm sorry, I-" and then she cut me off again. 

"Anyway, now that you're here, I should inform you of your upcoming duties. Eloise will give you your schedule later this afternoon, so you will see all you have to do for the rest of this month. Seeing as you're going to be in my position someday, playing around with your servants is not a good start. But not to worry, you will also be taking ethics and manner lessons with a private tutor we hired especially for you!"

The evil look on her face had been wiped clean by a false smile that stretched to her wrinkly eyes. 

"Y-yes Your Majesty, thank you." I said.

Maybe I really was being rude. This is someone else's Kingdom, not mine. I must abide by their culture and rules... I can't mess up here, even if it means submitting to people like her.

"Not to worry darling, I'll always be here for you if you need it. After all, it is my job to educate you before you unfortunately take my place as Queen. But really, I must be going now." 

She took one last sip of her tea and stood up swiftly. Her Guard reopened the sun umbrella and shaded her from the rays once more. 

As courtesy, I stood up and bowed. 

"Oh and one more thing dear. I know your wedding date has yet to be set but..." she paused and eyed my small figure repulsively . 

"Stop eating all these sweets, you still need to fit into your dress, remember?" And with that the Queen walked away back inside the castle. 

...

What just happened here? I should be angry at the way she treated me, but rather I felt disappointment at myself for being so unperceptive. I should have known she would be like this. I felt it the moment I met her. 

Now my mood had completely soured. I didn't even feel like drinking my tea anymore. It was probably cold now anyway.

"Rina." Damond whispered. His voice was soft and his face was full of worry. He wasn't angry like I thought he would be. 

"Don't let her get to you, she is the one as fault, not you." 

Oh, he was always so sensitive to my feelings. He didn't even mind the way the Queen talked about him but instead concerned himself with me.

"No, I'm fine. She talked about you worse anyway...Let's just go back inside." 

With weary eyes, he nodded and agreed. "Of course Princess." 

***

*Knock Knock*

Who is it now? It felt like I had only been on my bed reading for 5 minutes before I had to shut my book.

"I'll get it your Highness!" Daniella said. She opened the door to reveal Eloise standing with some papers in his hand. 

"Good Afternoon Your Highness." He bowed deeply to greet me and I nodded my head. 

"Her Majesty the Queen informed me to hand to you your schedule for the remainder of this month. There are some things she would like you to practice." 

Still feeling burnt out, I got up to take a look at the supposed schedule of a Queen in waiting like myself.

Damn, this is pretty long. By the end of this month?? How is all this possible???

A long list of random activities and assignments were all arranged neatly on a long piece of paper he handed to me. 

Yikes...

I looked up at Eloise to question if all this was really what I had to do, but the old man looked more tired than I did, so I shut my mouth. 

"Hm, what's this?" I noticed a black envelope in his hand that was dusted with some faux gold. It looked fancy.

"Oh! Dear I almost forgot! There will be a ball this evening and you are required to attend Your Highness. You will not need this invitation though, they will let you in regardless. The Queen says the dress code is black with a mask as well."

Huh? A mask?

So, it will be a masquerade ball then? Like, anonymous?" Penelope queried excitedly. It seemed she had completely halted her sewing to get in on this news. The look childish anticipation in her eyes were priceless. 

"Y-yes, just that madame." he answered. 

"Achkkkk!!!!" Penelope and Daniella both squealed in thrill holding each other jumping up and down. 

What is all this ruckus for? It's just a ball.  Although, I've never been to a masked one before...

"Your Highness, do you know what this means? This means we get to dress you up ahhhh!!!!" they screamed. 

Ah, so that's why they're excited. But wearing a waist snatching dress with a mask wasn't my idea of fun....

"Alright, thank you Eloise. It is just a little bit after noon so I will get ready later. Meanwhile, could I please try for the Resources Sector now?"

"Actually, it is open right now so please follow me." he said. 

I left the room with him and shut the doors, drowning my maids' giggling and screaming . 

The place was huge. I was already at the Resource Sector Room but now that I'm here I don't know what to say exactly. How do I ask for things to be sent to my Kingdom?

"Please go in Your Highness and don't hesitate to call me if you need to find your way back." 

So even Eloise knows i'm a lost cause...

"Oh and I'm not sure if the Chancellor of the Exchequer  will be there, so someone might be taking his place today." Like that Eloise left me to the room. 

I better just hurry up so I can start preparing for the ball. 

I opened the huge door and the gush of air with it enveloped me as well as the scent. 

Hm, smells like a new book.

"Please, come in." 

Huh? I recognized that voice.

A man sat in a chair facing backwards talking. 

"First, state your name and business and then we will be able to talk."

It couldn't be him. 

But then he turned around. 

Oh no. 

It really was him. 

Andres.