Chapter 2

"Lia, my dear, I'm sorry but there's nothing we can do about this." Queen Alyssa wiped the tears that threatened to fall. She had been on her daughter’s neck after the birthday night, trying to appease her and get her to agree to their plans. Princess Amelia was having none of it though. 

“How do you expect me to get married to someone I’ve never met?” 

Amelia just could not wrap her head around it. 

“Tell me! How do you?” she asked, a shaky breath that had effortlessly suppressed her rising rage escaped through her mouth. 

“Amelia, do not forget I never met your father before I got married to him. Our wedding day was, in fact, the first day we met.” Queen Alyssa answered.

Amelia looked away from her mother. Her parents’ case was different. They are in love! Wiping off her tears, she fixed her gaze on her mother who looked at her with a smile. 

“Look at us now, dear!” The queen exclaimed with her comforting smile, one that comforts the young princess anytime she needed it.

But this time, the smile in no way comforted her.

“He takes good care of me and I love him. He loves me too.” Amelia blinked. “And you are the product of our love.” 

The young princess shook her head, unable to accept the point her mother was trying to drive at.

“Yours is totally different. You love each other.” She argued. Queen Alyssa responded with a smile and patted her hair. 

“And we didn’t know each other before we got married.” She pointed out the fact. “There is nothing different about it. It’s the same situation.” 

Amelia couldn’t help but groan inwardly. Her mother was right after all. 

“The only difference I can note is the fact that you’ve been betrothed from birth while I wasn’t.” Queen Alyssa noted.

Amelia, who had always fantasized about getting married to someone she loves, just like the female lead, in the book she read earlier that week, had married the male lead. 

It felt all too surreal that she could be a victim of an arranged marriage and to someone she did not know and have never seen before…!

She turned to her mother to see her stare at her with an amused smile. 

“What?” she asked with a confused look.

“Those are only stories. Such love stories only happens in stories.” 

She let out a gasp, realizing she had thought aloud and her mother heard all she had said. 

“This is real life, dear. Love stories don’t happen that way since life itself isn’t a bed of roses.”

“But if arranged marriages were to be the fate of princesses, it’d be better if I just live a commoner’s life. I really don’t want this.” Amelia replied, her voice sounding firm with determination.

The door to Amelia’s chamber opened and the king stepped in. He walked closer to his wife and daughter, whose eyes were on him immediately he entered. The king sat down on his daughter’s bed.

"Father," Amelia stood up. "Is this some sort of political arrangement? Tell me and I’d understand.”

This was the only thing that came to her mind. Her father had promised to do all it takes to make her happy. Why then did he give her the news that had left her disoriented?

The marriage had to be a political arrangement. That was the only reasonable reason she could think of. Nothing else fits in. Or how would they explain this sudden decision of marrying her off? 

"Lia, I'm sorry." King Louis apologized, infuriating her more. Her father wasn’t even trying to defend himself. Was she right about their intention?

"I guess I was right then. You two are trying to marry me off for your selfish reasons?" Amelia yelled as tears threatened to blur her vision. 

Before she could blink them away, she felt a painful sting on her face, leaving her shocked. Tears effortlessly rolled down her face. She raised her head slightly to look at her mother. The queen had slapped her. 

Amelia stared with mouth agape. She couldn’t believe that her mother had slapped her even when she just did. 

The queen had never raised her hand on her before, all twenty years of her life. How she could react as fast as that to just one statement she made was surprising to Amelia. She touched her face and it really stung, making her wince.

"How dare you say that to your father and me?" Queen Alyssa asked furiously. She couldn’t believe her daughter would think so low of them. 

However, in response to her mother’s question, Amelia let out a chuckle as she lifted her hands off her face. 

"You slapped me, mother!" She declared. 

As if on cue, the look of anger dissipated from Queen Alyssa’s face. She looked down with guilt as though she realized what she did wrong which made her sigh out of frustration. 

"Look Lia, I'm sorry." She hurriedly apologized, placing her palm on her forehead. 

“Oh! Now she can feel her head aches? I should be the one doing that not her. I'm the one who just got a face-stinging slap. I’m the one that's getting married. My head should ache not hers.” Amelia thought as she stared at her mother.

"Liz, you shouldn't have done that. I understand Amelia's pain." The king finally intervened. He walked over to them and he placed his hands on Amelia’s shoulders. 

"We are meant to explain the reasons behind this to her and not to further hurt her." He said to Queen Alyssa. 

King Louis held Amelia’s hands and pulled her back to sit on her bed. They all sat down and Amelia looked on, waiting for them to get down to their story. 

"Amelia, you're not a political tool. I can assure you of that." The king began. "I've always seen in you a girl that will bring greatness to our kingdom and I'll not misuse that opportunity by using you as an advancement tool. You're my precious jewel." 

Tears slipped from Amelia’s eyes and he wiped them off with his thumb. 

"This all began with an agreement between two great kings," King Louis said quietly. He paused, his gaze drifting toward the window. "At least... that is where the story begins."

"This shouldn't concern me if you know you didn’t make any agreement." The queen shot a glare Amelia’s way for her interruption. 

"You should let your father complete his explanation before you interrupt." 

“Like that was important!” Amelia thought as she rolled her eyes slightly before she could stop herself. Thankfully, none of her parents saw that.

"This affected you because you're the grandchild of one of those great Kings." King Louis said and a frown creased Amelia’s forehead. 

"Granny sold me out?" 

"No, your grandfather didn't sell you out. He made an agreement with his friend to give his daughter's hand in marriage to his friend's son. This was an attempt to strengthen their friendship." 

"Now, that doesn't make any sense" Amelia thought for a while.

"That makes little sense." She had to admit. 

"Yeah, that's because I was his only child and I wasn't a girl." The king smiled.

“What was the need for a marriage alliance in strengthening their friendship?”

“Well, I have no idea why they opted for that but history has it that these two kingdoms had been at war for a long time. When my father, your grandfather became king, being the peace-loving person he was, he didn’t want to go to war against that kingdom anymore.”

“Sounds like what grandfather truly was.” Amelia muttered under her breath.

“As fate would have it, a new king was enthroned in this kingdom as well, who had a similar agenda to your grandfather’s. These two kings met and during their peace treaty, they agreed on a royal intermarriage. I believe this is because it is a known fact that none of them would be able to attack if their family member is in either of the kingdoms.”

The room fell silent as Amelia tried to process what her father just said. Since he wasn't of the female gender, it was impossible to get married to the person. Hence, the next generation was dragged into this.

“Now, this explanation makes perfect sense, right?” Amelia thought, suddenly feeling helpless. She knew the situation was still more like the political arrangement she thought it was. The only difference is that her father wasn’t the orchestrator. 

"I think I get this." She said. "But I'm sorry, dad. I can't marry the prince." 

Whatever prince she was betrothed to, she doesn’t want to marry him. At least, not yet.

She knew she wasn’t ready for marriage nor is she ready to shoulder the responsibility of being a crown princess of another kingdom.

"You have to, dear." Her father countered. "We’ve decided to get you two married before you start to show interest in someone else."

"What kind of decision is that?" She scoffed. “And what’s with the rush? I do not even know his name.”

"Prince Andrew recently turned twenty one," King Louis replied quietly. "The royal court of Dustrich insists the marriage must take place this year." 

Amelia frowned.

"Why?"

King Louis and Queen Alyssa exchanged another glance.

"Some decisions cannot wait forever," he answered.

"That doesn't answer my question." The king's expression softened.

"It's the only answer I can give you today."

Queen Alyssa drew in a slow breath before speaking.

"His name is Andrew." She paused. "Prince Andrew Harrison Brown... heir to the throne of Dustrich."

“Finally, someone mentioned his name. I’m starting to think this prince of mine has no name.” Amelia murmured. 

This time, her parents heard her murmur but choose to ignore it.

“How I hate situations like this! Why can’t I just live like any normal girl would?” Amelia whined and her father laughed.

"You are a normal girl, my princess." His smile was gentle, yet tinged with sadness. "I only wish fate had allowed you to remain one a little longer."

“So why do I have to be subjected to an arranged marriage?” she wanted to ask but there was no point in asking. It had been explained already.

King Louis stood and walked toward the door. His hand rested on the handle before he looked back.

"But I must warn you, dear. You need to get ready as soon as you can. Your wedding is in two days."

"Father!" Amelia exclaimed, her eyes widening.

He lingered for a moment, as though another sentence sat on the tip of his tongue. Instead, he forced a smile that failed to hide the sorrow in his eyes, and then he quietly left the room.

Amelia stared after him, her heart pounding. Somehow, she couldn't shake the feeling that her parents had told her everything... yet not nearly enough.

Oh no.