[Music Recommendation: Wicked Game ~ Grace Carter]
Oriana stood in front of her door. She didn’t want to look pitiful in front of Freya and especially Madame Rosalie. They would feel bad and blame themselves for encouraging her to confess her feelings. Oriana didn’t want any of that. She stood outside the room, practicing the smile she would give them.
While she was getting ready to open the door, someone inside pushed it open. Oriana gasped, startled by the abrupt action as she wasn’t expecting anyone to come out soon.
Freya ran towards Oriana, checking her body to see if she had sustained any cuts from the abrupt manner in which she had pushed the door. "Princess Oriana, I didn’t know you were here already. I’m so sorry."
Oriana smiled brightly. "I’m fine. See... nothing happened to me." She raised her hand for Freya to see. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
"That’s a relief," Freya sighed. "We thought you were taking too long, so I came to see if you were coming already... I can’t wait to hear if our plan work-" Freya paused when she noticed how flushed and pale Oriana’s face looked.
Oriana sniffled, rubbing her palms together. "Let’s go inside. It’s cold tonight." She ran inside her room. With an apprehensive look, Freya twitched her lips and followed the princess inside.
Madame Rosalie stood up when she saw Oriana. She walked towards the princess, reaching for her hand. "How was it? You took some time. Was it because he was so overwhelmed?" The excitement on the woman’s face faltered when she saw Oriana’s face clearly. "Did anything happen? Your face is-"
"Cold, I feel so cold right now." Oriana blew warm air into her palms, rubbed them together, touched her face, and smiled. "I feel better now."
Madame Rosalie raised her face, giving Freya a questioning look. Freya shrugged her shoulders.
"What did Prince Adric say to you?" Madame Rosalie asked. Her excited look was replaced with worry.
Oriana touched her hair, twisting it gently. "About that, we didn’t get to talk about that anymore. Something even more important came up," she lied. The thought of talking about what happened between her and Adric would only lead to more tears, and she didn’t want to cry anymore.
"Then why did you take so much time?" Madame Rosalie asked with her eyes narrowed suspiciously. She knew that something more had happened. Maybe the prince had made the girl cry. Rosalie knew Adric, and she knew that he never had time for the feeling called love, but she only encouraged Oriana because of how innocent the princess was.
Thinking that Adric now softened because he didn’t waste time in going to save the princess after he received the letter she sent to him.
Rosalie didn’t want to believe that she was wrong and had caused Oriana to get her heart broken. "Did Prince Adric say something to you?"
Oriana waved her hands dismissively. "No, no. It’s not what you’re thinking, Madame Rosalie! We just talked about the attack on the kingdom, nothing else."
"Attack on the kingdom?" Freya took a step closer. "Avon was attacked?"
Oriana looked from Madame Rosalie to Freya, then gave them an awkward smile. She wasn’t supposed to discuss the attack with them, but if she didn’t, they would continue asking. "Well, yes, Avon has been attacked. And the Crown Prince is really busy trying to put an army together to make a counterattack."
"Does that mean there will be war?" Freya bit her lip, scared of the possibility of the kingdom going to war.
Madame Rosalie touched Freya’s shoulder. "Don’t worry. War is not that simple. I’m sure his highness would do everything to prevent it." She spoke with an assuring tone that somehow comforted Freya.
Oriana gulped. The way Adric had found to prevent it was by conquering her own kingdom. What was beneficial for one was a big loss for the other. She sighed. "Yes, I’m sure he would find a way. He said something about the queen’s army. If he has it, then Avon would be safe."
Freya tapped her fingers on her lips. Something about the name sounded familiar to her. She wondered if it was in one of the books she had read in the past.
"Queen’s army," Madame Rosalie repeated. "I have never heard of it before. What is it about?"
Oriana shook her head slightly. "I don’t really know. I just heard him say that. Because of how busy he was, I couldn’t burden him with confessing my feelings when he already has a lot on his plate," her voice was low as she spoke.
"If it’s a queen’s army, then it should be controlled by a queen, don’t you think so?" Freya remarked with her head tilted to the side. She really wanted to know where she had heard the name from. It was so familiar yet strange.
Madame Rosalie nodded. "Whoever controls it, I just hope the Crown Prince gets his hand on it, so the princess can confess her feelings without worry."
Oriana gave them a smile. The truth was that she was really confused. She didn’t know which side to be on. By marriage, Adric was also her family, which made Avon her kingdom, but also Orion was the land she grew up in. Though her family made her feel like a foreigner, that wouldn’t change anything.
Even right now, she was torn on which side to be on because Adric only kept her because he thought she was going to be of help. Right now, she felt hurt her grandmother had such power but didn’t even trust her enough to take care of it. All she was left with was an ordinary necklace that had no meaning or beauty. Oriana’s hand mindlessly touched the necklace, and she sighed.
"We should let you rest up now," Madame Rosalie said. With a slight bow, she turned to leave the room but noticed that Freya wasn’t moving as she was deep in thought. She nudged the young girl. "What are you thinking about? There won’t be war, don’t worry." The woman smiled.
Freya touched her neck. "I wasn’t ..." Her voice trailed off. She turned to look at Oriana. "I drew a new bath for you. It’s still warm. I will now retire for the night." She bowed, leaving the room with Madame Rosalie.
Oriana waved with a smile until they were out of the room. She locked the door, resting her back on it as she exhaled. It was better this way; nobody had to know exactly what happened with her and Adric. It was her fault for believing that there was someone out there meant for her. If she had hardened her heart like she did in the past, thinking that there was no star for her to shine brightly, then she wouldn’t be in this mess.
Her heart started aching again like it did in the past, the suffocating feeling she used to feel back when she was in Orion. A feeling that made her feel like someone was driving a sword through her heart but didn’t just stop there, but was twisting it with force. Oriana fell on her knees, holding her chest tightly.
"This is not the time to cry again, Ana," she comforted herself, patting her shoulder. With great effort, she stood up and wiped the lingering tears from her eyes.
Walking towards the mirror, Oriana looked at herself. She touched the pearl necklace that had come to be a part of her. "It’s not Adric’s fault," she said to herself, pulling the necklace from her neck. "Maybe if I was loved at home, I would find love easily with people. Nana, you didn’t even love me enough to trust me." With anger, Oriana dumped the necklace on the dressing table.
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