The princess remained fidgeting in her place as we stood by the main entrance of the castle. My eyes kept straying to the princess, who was clearly nervous since she kept fixing her already perfectly placed crown. Her hands would smooth out her dress multiple times, or she would look around before breathing into her palm and checking her breath.

It drew a smile from me every time she would do something out of nervousness.

Fortunately, there was no one else around us except for maids and guards, who stood with their heads bowed, unable to witness this side of the princess. We were all there, right in front of the open doors, to greet the Geraldian Queens since there had been word of their arrival into the Kingdom.

According to the long itinerary for the Queens and the princess, there was also the inclusion of waiting for the arrival of the Geraldian royalty to the castle. It was right there at the top and it required the best behavior of the princess since she was the only one who was going to be seeing through everything.

The Queen and King planned to meet them during dinner which was a tactic. They wanted the Geraldian Queens to believe that they didn’t want to hound them for political gain.

It was already a debate as to why they were visiting Naja anyway since they were not explicitly invited. There was no concerning news from Geraldia either which could explain this sudden trip. But whatever it was, I was going to make sure that the princess would succeed in her task while remaining by her side at all times.

Suddenly, a maid came tumbling through the large doorway as she bowed her head and addressed the princess nervously. “The Geraldian carriage was spotted entering the castle grounds!” Immediately, the princess’ head turned to me, and it was easy to understand why she had done so. “You will do perfectly fine, Isabella.” I spoke in a low voice while smiling comfortingly. “I believe in you.”

It was as if that was all she wanted to hear as she let out a long breath and turned toward the doorway once again. “Everyone is to greet the Queens appropriately and with immense respect!”

“Yes, your Highness!”

The princess’ back straightened as a carriage, undoubtedly, came to a halt right outside the door, entering our line of sight. It was driven by four large white horses, and it surprised me how there were no royal guards in sight. The Geraldian procession included no guards which was an odd sight in itself but when the carriage door opened to reveal a broad-shouldered woman with a crown atop her head of short hair; I concluded that nothing could be stranger than that.

“Is that the other Queen?” I heard the princess whisper as she glanced at me, but I had no answer. I hadn’t seen the Geraldian Queen or the one she had married – Bran. But seeing how the strong woman got off the carriage and then held out a hand in front of the gate – it was clear that she was not Queen Amelia Goldenheart.

I watched in a trance as someone else emerged from the carriage, holding onto the other woman’s hand to get down. Now that looked like Queen Amelia Goldenheart.

The Queen’s red hair shone in the sunlight as she smiled at her spouse with ease igniting a certain longing in my heart. A longing that had me glancing over to the princess’ back.

The two royals didn’t look in our direction immediately. Perhaps they didn’t notice us standing there or if they had, they didn’t care, which was what amplified my yearning for a similar relationship to theirs.

As the two Queens walked towards the castle doors, I noticed an older man exiting the carriage as well. He had a beard and looked wise, which immediately spoke of his status. So, the Geraldian Queens brought an advisor as well.

“Greeting Queen Amelia Goldenheart and Queen Bran Grine!” All the maids bowed, and I joined them as the princess immediately addressed them. “Welcome to the Kingdom of Naranjas, your majesties!”

I lifted my head in time to see Queen Bran smiling widely at the princess. “Is the Najan prince supposed to be this feminine?” I controlled the frown from showing as the princess giggled along with Queen Amelia. She had even slapped her spouse’s arm lightly as she shook her head. “This is the princess, Bran. Though I am surprised to see the princess here instead of the prince.”

The princess nodded her head. “The prince had wanted to greet the Queens himself, but the Queen assigned this princess to care for the Queens.” Even when Queen Bran looked simple enough to not question the princess’ words, the redheaded Geraldian regent immediately frowned. “Will we meet the Queen or the prince at all then?”

“Yes, of course, they will meet with the Queens later in the day. For now, you two must rest after journeying all the way to Naja.”

“I do feel slightly light-headed.” Queen Bran chuckled as she glanced at her Queen, who held a gentleness in her eyes for her. “Hm.”

The princess took this opportunity to clap her hands, for some reason, and gestured for them to follow her. I remained beside the princess as she began to walk in the direction of the guest living quarters.

The guests were provided with a separate wing of the castle where there was a special kitchen and dining space as well. It was so that if certain guests brought their own servants, they could easily have them accommodated there.

But seeing how the two Queens had only brought an advisor, there would have to be a cook, and maids assigned to the wing.

The mystery regarding their procession not including guards didn’t remain one for long as the princess asked the question during the journey to the guest quarters. “I noticed how there were no guards for the Queens’ protection. Would you like to have some guards be assigned to you?” I liked how the princess played off the curious question as a concern. It made me proud of her as I watched the Queens’ reaction.

Queen Amelia smiled as she shook her head, before grabbing onto her spouse’s arm. They were oddly affectionate even when in another Kingdom, but their actions didn’t seem disingenuous at all. If anything, their relationship felt like one everyone should aspire to have.

“My Queen is enough to keep both of us safe.” I had finally seen enough as the stronger Queen blushed a dark red, while Queen Amelia clung to her. Looking away immediately, I felt their interaction to be a little too damaging for my lonely heart. It was bad enough that my feelings for the princess caused me heartache every time I looked at her and was reminded of how I could not have anything with her. And now there were these two Queens who were the exact opposites of one another but held such harmony and affection for each other. It was actually painful to watch them.

The princess, however, remained glancing between them with a glint in her eyes as she smiled. “I heard Queen Bran used to be a gladiator.” Of course, that was something one of the spies at the Geraldian kingdom relayed, which the princess couldn’t tell the Queens. “Our Kingdom has several Geraldians come for a visit and rumors fly about all the way to the castle as well.”

Queen Amelia looked unbothered as she nodded her head, but the other Queen frowned which was an odd sight to witness. “I was not a gladiator.” The princess was surprised by the intensity of her voice as Queen Amelia laughed heartily along with the old advisor, who had been following us silently till then. I had almost forgotten he was still there.

Queen Bran glared at her spouse while also throwing several nasty glances over her shoulder at the advisor.

“Don’t mind Bran. She just dislikes being called a gladiator.” The princess smiled at the soft explanation from the redheaded Queen. “Elric and I, both, mistook her for a gladiator when she had competed for my hand in marriage.” The ease with which the Queen mentioned the circumstances she was married in was surprising since it was seen as disgraceful and desperate in the eyes of our Queen and the prince. They had even disapproved of the wedding.  

But no one had a right to disapprove of their relationship except for them, themselves.

As if forgetting something, the redheaded Queen gestured to her advisor comfortably. “Elric is my only advisor.”

The old man immediately bowed his head towards the princess as she looked to him. And in that next moment, all attention fell to me as we came to a halt in front of the doorways of the guest quarters.

The princess was quick to introduce me as well as she smiled in my direction. “This is Elena, my only advisor.” I bowed my head as well as I heard a question which I didn’t expect from the Geraldian Queens. “Hm, is the seat of the heir contested between the prince and the princess? I’ve never heard of an advisor being appointed to a non-heir.” My head raised as I watched the attention turning to the princess, who handled the question with complete grace and a hint of playfulness.

“The heir is still the prince, rightfully so. I was just punished with an advisor because of my problematic past.” The curiosity in both the Queens’ eyes was amusing as the princess continued. “I could relay all of it to the Queens over a cup of tea!”

Before the redheaded Queen could reply, Queen Bran was nodding her head frantically. “I would drink an entire cauldron just to listen to your misadventures, princess Isabella.” It was inspiring to see the princess interacting so well with the two Queens as she nodded her head before turning to the doors and pushing them open.

Entering inside, the princess immediately began to guide our guests to the living chambers while also pointing out the dining hall, kitchen, as well as the courtyard and garden. It was fairly simple yet an elegant accommodation for guests and seeing how the Queens did not comment much on it, was enough to deduce that they were satisfied with the place.

After the entire walkthrough of the accommodation, the princess and I walked back to the entrance with the two Queens following behind. “I will send for maids and a personal cook so that the Queens may have some refreshments before anything.”

“Many thanks to the princess.” Queen Bran replied with a smile as the princess continued. “All of the Queens’ belongings will also be brought here.”

“Hm, it would also be appreciated if we could meet with the Queen soon.” I frowned before bowing my head so that the Geraldian royalty could not see it. This need to meet the Queen wasn’t odd since it was perfectly normal to ask for an audience with the ruler of a kingdom, but the seriousness on Queen Amelia’s face held some other mystery. It felt as if there was something she wanted to discuss with the Queen urgently.

The princess remained indifferent as she replied easily. “Yes, your majesties will have the chance to meet the Queen later. For now, I hope you can rest for a while before we go for a visit to the orange gardens.”

I looked up to catch the disappointment on Queen Amelia’s face before it was replaced by a smile when Queen Bran spoke up excitedly. “I have been desperate to see the orange gardens ever since I found out about them.” The childlike curiosity and behavior were endearing on the short-haired Queen since it balanced the two Queens perfectly. While Queen Amelia still held a seriousness in her eyes, the other Queen looked excited.

The princess and I bid our leave after a while since the Queens’ belongings had been brought to them by a few castle maids. The princess wanted to give them space to settle down before we would take them to the gardens and continue forward with the decided plan.

For now, everything was going well with the Geraldian royalty. Queen Bran was easily tamed while Queen Amelia looked a little harder to please. She also knew more about royal and political matters than her spouse, which made her the real threat to be vary of.

As the princess and I left the guest quarters, I cleared my throat and allowed myself to be nearer to the princess’ ear before speaking. “It seems like Queen Amelia wants a serious conversation with the Queen.”

Part of the princess’ task was to figure out just why the Geraldian Queens’ had come to the Najan kingdom, and from the looks of the redheaded Queen, it seemed serious. But not grave enough to ring any alarm bells.

The princess also thought the same as she glanced at me. “We will continue onto the gardens, and hope that whatever business she has with the Queen will be revealed.”

“If she relays the matter to you, it might be troublesome since we don’t know all about the matters of the court or what the Queen is doing out of it.”

I watched the princess’ head move before she halted her steps and looked at me directly. “Wouldn’t it be better if she tries to discuss politics with me and realizes that I have no knowledge of it?” The question surprised me as the princess smiled innocently as if her next words were not filled with motivation at all. “Isn’t that the reason why you and the other advisors wanted me to represent the throne to the Queens?”

She was taking advantage of her lack of knowledge regarding political matters concerning the kingdom since it was, somewhat, the truth. She could use this to create a friendlier bond more quickly with both the Queens as they would be unguarded towards her.

It was the perfect approach.

“Do you need me as an advisor anymore?” The princess giggled which brought a smile to my face. She turned and began to walk along the hallway again as I fell in step with her.

“Nonsense. I will forever need you, Elena.”

Her words were spoken so softly, I had almost missed them.