The royal family had an unwritten rule. As long as their responsibilities allowed for it, they would try to have all of their meals together. To those who lived in the Palace, it wasn’t hard to understand why they set it up. As the acting ruler of the Kingdom, both the King and the Queen were often occupied with the important matters of the nation. It wasn’t an uncommon thing for them to wake up at the first light and be busy until late into the night. Ever since the Princess started her classes, the time the family could spend together shrank even more.

The few occasions when they could enjoy each others company became even more precious, so they would always make sure to seize the opportunity should it arise.

Oriana knew this and she shared her parents’ sentiment on the matter. To others they were the King, the Queen and the Princess, but to each other, they were like any other family of three.

There were a lot of times when she wouldn’t see her parents for days, despite them staying in the Palace. As a child, she would always feel very lonely during those moments. It didn’t help that there weren’t any kids her age that she could play with in her free time. Having no peers to keep her company, she turned to books, which quickly became her favorite means of escaping the loneliness.

She would spend long hours in the Palace library, reading everything that was available to her. When she ran out of books at home, she went to her parents and asked them to buy more for her. The King and The Queen naturally did what their precious daughter asked of them and shortly after, the Golden Palace became filled with tomes of different genres, from different parts of the continent, and even in different languages. As a result of that, another library had to be created, and the collection that they hosted became famous for its impressive size.

Once Kyra came to the Palace, things changed for the Princess. There was finally someone her age who she could play and spend time with. Loneliness stopped being such a big issue for her, but she still kept reading, albeit less often. Her preferences also narrowed to mostly romance novels.

The one thing that remained unchanged was that those rare moments spent together with her parents, she still cherished the most.

— Did you stay up late reading again? — The Queen took a sip of tea and glanced at her daughter sitting across the table.

The Princess was lazily chewing on a roll of fresh bread. Her hair was a mess and she was still wearing her night gown that she managed to only quickly cover with a thin robe. A pair of dark marks under her absent eyes completed the look of someone who, just moments ago, was still in the land of dreams.

Hearing her mother’s voice, Oriana flinched, dropping the bread she was holding on her plate with a loud cling.

— That must have been a very interesting story. — A vague smirk appeared on the Queen’s face.

— I wasn’t reading. I just had a hard time sleeping, because someone — Oriana turned her head to shoot daggers at the Commander standing behind her — wanted to torment me even in sleep. And when I finally managed to have a bit of peace, the brute you sent basically carried me out of bed. I didn’t even have time to change.

— Your wild imagination is not my fault. You keep reading those…

— No! No, no, no. You do not get to lecture me today. — Oriana interrupted Valeria and waved the butter knife in her hand at her. — The least you can do is take responsibility for your actions. You think you’re so perfect, so amazing, that you can just come and take whatever you want, and that everyone is just going to throw themselves at you… — The Princess began to energetically cut the bread on her plate with the butter knife. She didn’t seem to care that the whole process was going extremely slowly, nor did she seem to mind that she was turning the poor roll into a shapeless mass.

Seeing the passion with which she was murdering her food, and hearing the perplexing rant, nobody dared to interrupt her and tell her that she was using the wrong knife.

A few long minutes later, the crime scene was finally complete and the Princess also concluded the tirade that was clear only to her.

The King took it as a good opportunity to share some news with his daughter and hopefully make her mood better, so he cleared his throat before speaking.

— We received a message from Adler. Prince Emil is on his way to Lucetta. He should arrive in 2 days time. We were also informed that the ship from Liung-Mun docked in Helle yesterday and the Dragon Emperor with his daughter are heading here. They should arrive maybe a day later.

— The Prince is coming?! — Hearing the news Oriana immediately livened up. She was waiting for this moment ever since her father told her that him and King Charles of Adler agreed on a political marriage between their children.

Being the fan of romance novels that she was, Oriana realized right away that it was her chance to be like a character from her favorite book - “Romance of the Four Kingdoms”. It followed the stories of multiple characters from different social statues, who’s lives were interrupted by an unexpected war. There were a few tales that felt especially memorable to the Princess.

One of them told the story of a simple maid who fell in love with a foreign princess. Even though their love was mutual, they had to face many obstacles before they could be together.

Another was about a turbulent love between a talented general and his queen. At the beginning there was a lot of animosity between them, but as they were forced to spend more and more time together, their feelings changed and evolved into a passionate love.

The one that Oriana was the most fond of talked about two princesses, who were forced into an arranged marriage by their parents. Starting from enemies, to friends, and eventually becoming lovers, the women had to learn to rely on each other in a world where everyone was a potential enemy.

Of course, Oriana was to marry a prince and not a princess, and neither of them knew about the other enough to even be considered an enemy, but that was close enough for her. As long as the potential was there, she was happy.

— I need to start getting ready! — The Princess tried to fix her hair with her hands, absorbed in the fantasies that sprung in her head.

— There’s still some time until the Prince arrives. In the meantime we have a few things to take care of, remember? — The Queen spoke before her daughter got a chance to run off to her dream land. — We need to visit Dorothea. She is almost done with your dress for the ball. And we still need to carry this month’s gifts for the Temple. Kyra, if you would please take Oriana to her room and make her more presentable. The Commander and I will wait for you by the carriage.