Chapter 1

"Mother, what do you mean? How do you expect me to get married all of a sudden?"

A young lady dressed in a simple yet flowing white gown, that seemed to be a nightdress, could be seen talking to an older lady. The girl struggled to keep her emotions at bay and not yell. The older lady looked on as the girl paced, her gown’s train trailing behind her. 

The lady was bewildered at the unexpected news she had received. Why would she not?

She recently turned twenty and had her birthday celebration in all excitement yet she got the shock of her life that same night.

Three days ago, she was so elated about turning twenty and how her celebration would be that she didn’t give anything a chance to get on her nerves. Not even when a clumsy maidservant bumped into her and poured tea on her dress. 

“I’m sorry, princess Amelia.” The maidservant fell to her knees. “Forgive me, your highness.”

Despite the fact that the lady, known to be Princess Amelia, said she was fine, the maidservant continued to plead.

“I’m fine. You can go on with your work.” Amelia tried to make the maid stand to her feet but the latter wouldn’t budge. 

When Princess Amelia realized she could do nothing, she left the maid on her knees and went back into her chambers to change. Little did she know someone would melt her resolve that night and finally get on her nerves! It was none other than her father, the king of Astral kingdom.

Yeah, she was a princess, the only child of the king of one of the most powerful kingdoms, King Louis Mark Ferdinand. 

The happiness she felt all day faded immediately a maidservant told her the King wanted to see her in the great chamber, a room he shares with the queen, her mother. Amelia became concerned because the king rarely talked to her in his room. He either calls her into his office or they randomly chat anywhere but his room. It was only on rare occasions she got invited to his room and she knew this had to be one of those rare occasions.

~

"Lia," King Louis had beckoned as he saw his beloved daughter entered the room. Princess Amelia traipsed towards the king who sat on the bed. Amelia saw the Queen seated across the room, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. Her expression was solemn, but there was something else in her eyes. Guilt... and fear. The moment Amelia looked directly at her, the queen quickly composed herself, forcing a smile that never quite reached her eyes.

This made the young princess wonder what the unusual meeting was all about. She sat down beside her father when he patted the bed. 

"Thanks for the birthday celebration, father." She smiled in appreciation, remembering every bit of the event.

~

The birthday party was awesome and she was glad people came to celebrate her. Different royal families attended the party. It was meant to be a small party but being the only child of one of the most famous royal families, the news that a party would hold at King Louis’s palace spread far and wide like wildfire. 

The extra information that attracted a lot of people, mostly royals, to the party was the fact that it was organized for the princess of the kingdom, who rarely showed up at royal events. Everyone knew she was the only chance for other kingdoms to latch unto Astral kingdom. 

The royal kitchen had to make extra arrangements for the families that attended without invitation. The guards couldn’t send anyone back. Their king wouldn’t allow it in the first place. He always made it clear that everyone was welcome in his palace.  

A lot of princes and princesses attended the party with their parents and most of them attempted to get Amelia’s attention. They wanted to get close and be friends but Amelia barely gave anyone of them a chance because she understood what their motives were, even before they spoke. She knew they wanted to strengthen their kingdoms' business relationship with Astral kingdom through her. 

While some came for economic reason, some were there to make friends to increase their military strength with the help of Astral kingdom. This was how powerful Astral kingdom was. 

No matter how hard they pretended Amelia could still sense their intentions from afar. 

While she cared less about all these because she didn’t want to be used as a political tool, she also did not like to interfere in the administration of the kingdom. 

~

"Amelia," The king called, jolting Amelia out of reverie. 

 "Yes, father." She glanced at him. She had formed the habit of not staring into his eyes for too long. It wasn’t due to fear or shyness but most times, she felt an aura of majesty radiate off him. She couldn’t blame him for that. He was a king after all and that has been her habit. Though he was strict as a ruler, he was never austere as a father. 

"I called you here because I have important information for you." King Louis said.

"I'm all ears, father." Amelia nodded, urging him to go on. 

"I don't want you to feel bad about this or blame anyone," he began and his voice faltered. For a fleeting moment, he exchanged a look with Queen Alyssa as though searching for the courage to continue. The silence that followed made Amelia's uneasiness grow.

That simple statement already gave Amelia a bad feeling about what her father would say. 

"Father, you can go ahead and tell me what it is." She said, despite what she felt.

King Louis kept quiet, occasionally sharing glances with the queen, Amelia’s mother. Amelia, on the other hand, grew anxious each passing minute as the silence began to eat her up. 

“Father!” She whined when the silence finally got her annoyed. 

"You're getting married." Her father announced and then shut his eyes, a look of guilt etched on his face. 

“What?”

“You have been betrothed.”

Immediately he dropped the bombshell again, the room went silent. Amelia looked back and forth between her father and mother. 

Everywhere suddenly starts to spin from her view as she stared at her father like he just spat nonsense. 

It’d have actually been nonsense to her if he didn’t look serious the next minute he opened his eyes.

Her body tensed up and her heartbeat accelerated, hoping she heard it all wrong. It suddenly occurred to her that she needed another definition of the word "betrothed". 

 “This is a joke, right?” She almost asked. 

"I- I don't understand, dad." She said instead.

”We really need another definition for that word," her subconscious screamed.  

"I'm helpless here." She mentally replied, staring at the silent couple – her parents.

"Dad," She almost yelled when her father remained silent, as though he didn’t just talk about her marriage. 

Her eyes became clouded with tears and her vision blurred. She broke out in cold sweats. Amelia knew she could break down any minute if she didn’t stop herself from shuddering. 

“Dad,” she whispered, unable to bring herself to say it out loud.

He disliked it when she called him “dad”. 

“I can see the books you read make you neglect the proper rules of address. Don’t even try to practice those on me.” He would usually say.

“Some ancient rules still apply in the palace, dear.” Her mother would remind her with a smile.

But this wasn’t the time for proper address.

"You have been betrothed, Amelia.” He repeated. “And you're getting married in few days." He continued, elaborating on something Amelia didn't want to hear. 

“This isn’t true. This had to be a dream! It is surely a dream.” Amelia muttered to herself crazily, resting her palm on her face. She shook her head erratically. 

She wanted someone to tell her it was all a joke. Her silent mother wasn’t helping the matter.

She stopped her erratic behavior and turned to seek answers from her mother who avoided her gaze.

"Mother," Her eyes squint slightly in her failed attempt to smile. "Am I really getting married?" 

Queen Alyssa parted her lips as though she wanted to speak, but no words came. She lowered her gaze instead. A tear slipped down her cheek before she hurriedly brushed it away.

Amelia didn't need an answer anymore. Sometimes, silence speaks volume and in this case, the word it chanted was none other than a "yes". 

"No!" She screamed. "You can’t force me to get married to anyone against my will." 

“I won’t.” She said firmly and stormed out of the chamber just before her tears could streak down her cheeks.

The heavy doors closed behind her with a loud thud, and silence settled over the chamber. Queen Alyssa buried her face in her trembling hands.

"There has to be another way," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

King Louis stared at the closed door for a long moment before replying.

"If there were... do you truly think I would send our daughter away?"

Neither of them spoke again.