Finally, the Queen’s lips twitched as I widened my eyes when she started to smile. It was a rare occurrence for the Queen to smile, and seeing how the princess was the one receiving this approved stare, was a solid achievement.

“Perhaps all the princess needed was an advisor.” My eyes widened when the Queen’s stare turned towards me, and I got to be the recipient of her smiling expression as well. Bowing my head immediately, I tried not to fidget under her gaze.  

“Ulgrim.” My chest tightened with uncertainty as the Queen’s voice reverberated in the throne room. “Yes, your majesty.”

“What do you advise I should do in this matter?”

Ulgrim sounded calm and confident as his voice was clearly heard by everyone in the throne room. There was a reason why I respected Ulgrim since he never tipped to just one side. He was always just and sure of his advice. “The princess’ concerns are genuine and fair. She does not possess an income, and she wants to benefit the Kingdom. Children are the future of this Kingdom and to have them hold a high regard for royalty would be to ensure their loyalty when they become responsible citizens. I believe your Highness is capable of making a just decision in this matter.”

Hearing the man’s words, I felt pleased for the princess since this was a clear victory for her. But perhaps nothing is always completely certain, especially when it concerns the Queen.

“Hm, very well then. The princess shall receive an income from now on. The same as the prince.” I glanced over to the princess, who bowed her head immediately but then the Queen continued speaking. “However, the prince should be the one to make a decision regarding the gardens since he is the one to handle all of its matters.”

The prince was already staring at me when I lifted my head to look at him. And let’s just say that he didn’t look the least bit pleased. His eyes bore down on me, and it felt like his target had suddenly changed from the princess to me.

But even then, his decision would have to be in the princess’ favor since Ulgrim’s advice was sound, and if the prince went against it, he would be seen as spiteful and immature.

I hadn’t calculated up to this point since I didn’t expect the Queen to agree to the princess getting an income so easily, but I also didn’t expect her to have the prince make the final decision. From this point onwards, the princess was on her own since I wouldn’t be able to help her out with whatever the prince would decide upon.

Suddenly, the prince’s lips stretched into a smile, and I frowned as his eyes stared right at me before he turned towards the Queen. “The Queen already knows of the economical state of the Kingdom, and how we just have these fruits for trade. So, perhaps we can settle on something that would be in both our favor.”

I narrowed my eyes when the prince continued speaking. “Perhaps, the princess would like to buy the oranges from the Kingdom and facilitate the orphanage from the goodness in her heart.”

I knew exactly what the prince was implying. He wanted the money from the princess since he was displeased with the Queen’s decision to grant her an income.

The Queen, however, didn’t see anything wrong with the prince’s suggestion. “That’s settled then. The princess can use her income to buy fruits for the children of the orphanage.”

That was expected from the Queen. She clearly didn’t see anything wrong in the prince. But while I was displeased with the finality of the Queen’s voice, the princess’ words rang out in the throne room with clear intentions. “Very well then, I will buy the fruits after picking them myself from the gardens each week, and I will tell the children of the orphanage that they are a present from the just Queen and the generous prince, and of course, the kind King.” I was baffled when the princess smiled only towards her father before bowing her head and backing up. Feeling surprised by her unplanned words, I stepped backwards and mirrored her actions.

There was silence for a while before the King’s laughter was heard along with the Queen’s throat being cleared. “It’s decided then!”

It certainly was.

“Everyone is dismissed!”

I could already feel the small victory since the princess had handled herself better than we had discussed on the way to the castle. And we had obtained the one thing that was denied for the princess – a proper income, as well as the slight approval of the Queen.

Just having the Queen smiling in her direction was enough of a victory on its own either way.

I felt a hand hold my arm as I was dragged away gently. “Come along now.” I heard the princess’ voice and allowed her to take me out of the throne room. Outside in the hallway, the princess gave me a wide smile as she began speaking. “Was that good?”

“That was excellent!” I allowed her the pleasure of being satisfied with her own achievements since she had been the one to work so hard for it.

“Yes, that was excellent indeed.” We turned towards the door where the prince and Oanez had exited from, followed by the four royal advisors. Melvin and Graham looked oddly pleased as they quickly passed by us while giving me subtle pats on the back, but Ulgrim and my father stayed, for some reason.

The princess folded her arms as she frowned. “I wouldn’t have to go to mother if you had just agreed when I came to you the first time.” My eyes widened as I held onto the princess’ wrists, but her words had been heard by Ulgrim as well as my father. Their expressions remained indifferent, but I could tell immediately what they were thinking of now, as they bowed their heads.

“We will take our leave now.”

I watched as the two walked away before I sighed in defeat. Seeing my reactions, the princess turned to me with a frown. “Was I not supposed to say that?”

Her question was answered by the prince, who chuckled. Gone was his rage or displeasure. There was only a victorious emotion on his face as he crossed his arms. “I disagree with father since you’re as immature and naive as ever.” I frowned when he turned to me with a smug look. “The royal advisor, Elena, here is the one puppeteering the princess.”

Before the princess could say anything, I was already facing the prince bravely, stepping to stand in front of the princess in a protective manner. Why? Because I had a death wish, and also because if I were to be killed or imprisoned for being disrespectful to the Kingdom’s heir – I wanted to at least fight for the princess’ honor one last time.

“The only thing I am doing for the princess, is listening to her and giving her appropriate attention and advice. Something she shouldn’t have had to receive from someone she just became familiar with a day ago.”

Oanez’s eyes widened behind the prince as I stepped backwards and bowed my head in quick succession. But I wasn’t done speaking. “The prince may punish me however he pleases but heed my advice: do not treat the princess as an adversary.”

I felt my arm being pulled and found myself being pushed away. Before I could understand what was happening, the princess was shielding me from the prince, who still had a smug smirk on his face as his eyes turned to the princess instead. “I apologize on behalf of Elena, brother. She has a bad habit of speaking out of line.”

The princess was not someone who should have had to apologize on behalf of anyone and even the prince knew of it as he laughed aloud. “You both seem to have bonded incredibly well in the span of just two days.”

He wasn’t wrong but I didn’t want to agree with him, so I kept my head bowed, in hopes of receiving a smaller punishment for my disrespect towards him. But while I expected some kind of penalty, I received nothing as such.

Instead, the prince smiled menacingly as he stepped closer to the princess. “I will listen to your advisor this one time, sister, and let you off with a warning. But remember your place.” I gritted my teeth in anger but remained with my head lowered. Somehow, I was more offended by the prince’s words to the princess than she was since she replied with a calm voice. “I understand brother’s suggestion.” It was not a suggestion but seeing how the prince chose to walk away – he had been pleased with the princess’ response.

As soon as we were left alone, the princess turned to me with an angry frown. “Yes, yes, I apologize for speaking out of line, your Highness.”

“He could’ve hurt you.” She looked around as she grabbed my arm and began to drag me away while continuing to scold me. “You didn’t have to say all of that to him. Now he’s going to target you as well.” I nodded my head, understanding how grave our situation had become. The princess had mentioned going to the prince before, in front of Ulgrim and my father. While I spoke back to the prince while looking straight in his eyes. It was disrespectful enough to speak back to a royal, but I had done so with perfect eye-contact.

He would have every opportunity to hold this one interaction against me.

“I’m sorry.” I sighed as the princess, and I reached her room. She entered the room, while dragging me along with her. Closing the door, she turned immediately to glare at me properly. “I understand your rage, your Highness.”

“Isabella. My name is Isabella.” I frowned when she sighed heavily before going to sit on her bed. “I have just started to get mother’s favor, and it's because of your ideas that she’s looking at me differently now.” I watched her cheeks darken as she turned her head away from me. “So please, try not to get killed by my brother’s rage.”

Even though I was supposed to be her advisor, she was the one giving me real advice. This was the first time that I felt like I wasn’t ready to become a royal advisor, but my self-doubt didn’t remain for long.

“I can understand we both made some wrong decisions today. We can deal with them tomorrow properly.” I stared at her as her words provided me with a little comfort. I didn’t think she was this perceptive to know what I was thinking about but the expression on her face was kind and forgiving. It was also dazzling and incredibly attractive.

It evoked multiple questions inside of me. Some terribly inappropriate to ask.  

“May I ask you something, your High--”

“Isabella. And yes, you may.” I looked at her as she smiled at me as if there was nothing wrong. It reminded me of when we were picking oranges in the gardens. She enjoyed that mundane task so much as well, or when she was at the orphanage when she listened to a few children tell her made up tales they had heard around the neighborhood.

I felt a certain need to keep her smile engraved in my mind somewhere, so that no one would know of these arising sentiments. This was wrong, and impossible to follow through with. She was not someone I could develop such gentle feelings for. She was a princess, and I was her advisor. But even when I told myself these things, my tongue still let out the intrusive and inappropriate question, and all the trust and good impressions I had made with the princess collapsed around me.

“W-Who were you in a relationship with before?”