[Music Recommendation: Mischief Managed ~ John Williams]
Now inside her room, Oriana unfolded the parchment the king had slipped into her hand, her eyes fixed on it. She couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow as she read the contents. "Prince Adric’s desires: A woman with a sharp tongue, one who can scold me, criticize me even...a woman who can drain my treasury with her lavish tastes...one who can relentlessly pester me about my every move...and one who can ruin people’s reputations with ease."
She couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. Who would want such a woman? She had always known that Adric was an oddball, but she didn’t expect him to be attracted to a woman like what was written on the paper. She looked up to see Madame Rosalie, who was getting her dress ready for the day’s event. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
"Madame Rosalie, come see this," Oriana said, holding out the parchment.
Madame Rosalie placed the shoe she was holding close to Oriana’s dress and walked over, her eyes scanning the paper. Her expression changed from curiosity to shock. "Where did you get this?"
"The king gave it to me," Oriana replied, still chuckling. "He seemed quite pleased with himself."
Madame Rosalie hummed, looking at the words with her brows furrowed. "This is...quite a list. I’ve never seen anything like it."
Oriana nodded, shaking her head. She was a lot of things, but spending lavishly and talking too much? She had moods for it. "I know, right? It’s like he wants me to become the exact opposite of what any man would want in a woman." She sucked her teeth.
"I’ve always known His Highness to be different," Madame Rosalie’s voice trailed, "I should have known his taste in women would be different too."
The smile on Oriana’s face faltered when she noticed the serious look on Madame Rosalie’s face. "You’re not suggesting I-" she pointed at the paper.
Oriana really loved Adric, but it wasn’t enough to suddenly act out of character because he said that was what he wanted. Most of the things he wanted were against the norms of how a lady was supposed to behave, and her reputation was already ruined; she didn’t want to add to it.
"Do you not want to capture Prince Adric’s heart anymore?" Madame Rosalie asked, raising her head. "I know it’s a lot, but when I train my girls, I always tell them to look out for those qualities that a man likes. It’s different for every man. So if you really love Prince Adric and want him to look at you, then this is it."
Oriana touched her hair. She didn’t ever think it would be hard to make a man love her. Though she wasn’t as beautiful as her sister, neither was she very classy, she still possessed the average qualities any man would like if the scars on her body were ignored.
"But I-"
"Looking closer at these, they’re not quite different from you anyway," Madame Rosalie spoke through her teeth, looking to the other side.
Oriana touched her chest. "I’m a very calm and peace-loving girl. My days of rebelliousness are over."
"I agree," Madame Rosalie nodded, "But right now, you need to bring the rebellious princess back because that’s what will catch your man’s attention. Alright, let’s do it this way: do it because you want to be yourself and don’t care what others think."
Oriana narrowed her eyes, tapping her finger on her lips thoughtfully. "I don’t care about what others think, huh?" She raised the paper. "Drain the kingdom’s treasury? Sharp tongue and reputation ruiner. Let’s do this!"
Madame Rosalie clapped. She could see the fire of determination in the princess’s eyes. "Great! First, we need to start with your entrance. If you’re going to the event, you shouldn’t wear that." She pointed at the dress placed on Oriana’s bed.
"No, no..it’s not going to make a loud entrance that shows how extravagant I am." Oriana nodded, rubbing her palms together with her eyes shining like she just had a moment of awakening.
Madame Rosalie bit her lower lip when she remembered something very important. "How do we get our hands on the kingdom’s treasury?"
Oriana grinned, touching her chin. "I know just who to ask," she nodded her head.
Meanwhile, at the archery arena, the field was set for archers while those participating got ready. At the royal viewing area, Fidelis sat on his chair with a proud smile on his face when his son arrived. He waved for him to come over to his side.
"Father," Adric bowed, sitting next to the king, "You look extremely excited for today’s event in particular."
Fidelis winked at Rowan, then, looking at his son, he said, "Nothing to see here. Just enjoy the show. The women would go first, right?"
Adric nodded while looking at his father suspiciously. "Yes, though I don’t really have much faith in them." He said this particularly because of Oriana. The girl had no combat skills whatsoever; the only skill she had was her stubbornness, which lately she had given up on too.
The women of the royal family were ready, standing at their shooting positions to get ready.
"What about Princess Oriana?" Jasmine asked, looking around for the princess who was yet to arrive.
Sophie raised her bow, trying to shoot it with her eyes closed. Then she smiled. "I bet she’s not going to come today. She won’t want to disgrace herself."
Gwen chuckled. "It’s right for her to know her place early; a lowly thing acting like she’s something just because she got married to the Crown Prince."
"Who is that?" Adelaide pointed towards the arena entrance.
As everyone turned, a loud, deafening trumpet that startled everyone was heard. And a long line of carriages with soldiers walking in straight lines holding up the flag of Avon and Orion.
"Did we invite a special guest from another kingdom?" Jasmine blinked.
Adelaide sucked her teeth. "One flag belongs to Avon, and the other one-"
"And the other one belongs to Orion," Sophie revealed.
Jasmine gasped. "Don’t tell me it’s..." her voice trailed off.
Adric’s eyes followed the carriage that was now stopping in front of them, his eyebrows raised slightly.
"I didn’t know we were expecting someone very important," he turned to look at his father.
Fidelis, who had a little idea of what was going on, as the princess had come to ask him a favor earlier, touched his neck.
"Maybe you’ve failed to notice that someone important has been living in the palace all along," the king replied, turning his focus to the carriage. "Let’s enjoy the show."
Oriana’s carriage finally arrived. It was plated with gold all around, and the guards protecting her were dressed in the finest silk.
"Let us all welcome Crown Princess Oriana! Daughter of Orion married into the royal family of Galgani." Madame Rosalie shouted. And soon music engulfed the whole arena.
Everyone stayed calm, waiting for the princess to come down from the carriage.
One of the guards opened the carriage door, bringing his hand out to help Oriana come down.
Oriana stepped from the carriage, with her golden hair flowing down to her waist. A small crown of pure gold was placed on her head. She wore an off-the-shoulder red dress that flowed down and needed three servants to hold it. Her nails were painted with bold colors of yellow, and silver precious stones adorned them. Around her neck was a diamond necklace that sparkled when the sun kissed it, almost blinding the onlookers.
Oriana flipped her hair to show her shoulder properly. Without sparing anyone a look, she started walking towards the shooting spot with a proud look on her face. Behind her were two servants holding her long gown so it wouldn’t touch the ground.
"She looks like a queen, don’t you think so?" Fidelis turned to ask Adric with a small grin.
Adric tilted his head. "Why do I have a feeling I know what she’s doing?" He turned to look at Rowan, who threw his face to the side.
Oriana snapped her fingers, and a bow that was only used by the king was brought forward. It was a bow crafted from the finest snakewood and reinforced with delicate gold dust to form it into a masterpiece. The same care was taken in making the arrows.
"I should get ready," Oriana flipped her hair again, making sure that the crown didn’t fall off from her head.
"Mother! Isn’t that father’s bow?" Jasmine pointed out, her eyes widened in both disbelief and shock.
Gwen nodded. "It is," she muttered, turning to look at her husband. She tried to wrap her head around what was going on.
Sophie fumed, feeling intimidated by her sister. It was as if Oriana looked even prettier with everyone’s attention on her.
"Oriana, what do you think you’re doing? Are you not being too extra?"
Jasmine nodded in agreement. "I don’t know what’s going on, but you’re doing just too much."
Oriana slowly raised her finger, blowing an invisible dust off from it. "Extra? Haha," she chuckled dryly, looking at Sophie. "You mean like, ’pick-me-prince-Adric’ face from yesterday’s cooking event."
Sophie pointed at her chest. "A-re you talking to me?"
"The only extra I see around here is you, but don’t worry, the main show has arrived," Oriana picked up her bow, ready to aim. "And oh, Jasmine, don’t worry about me doing too much. Worry about you not being able to win anything since the event started. Now quit chittering girls let’s get this over with." She positioned her arrow and bow ready to shoot.
Jasmine and Sophie were left with their mouths hanging open, both looking at Oriana, gobsmacked
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