"AH!!!!!!!" the loud shriek of Sophie startled everyone at the table. It was as if the palace was experiencing a mild earthquake.
"What was that?" King Curtis asked with an irritated voice. "Why can’t someone have breakfast in this palace peacefully for just one day?" the man turned to look at his wife. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
Queen Saline cleared her throat, waving for a maid to go and find out what happened.
Oriana, who was already at the table, knew exactly why Sophie was screaming. Her forehead must have swelled up after hitting the hard carriage door. This was going to be disastrous for her.
"And here I thought it was just one Princess who is crude, turns out they come in pairs," Queen Gwen said with a condescending tone that was aimed at pissing the other woman off.
Before Saline could open her mouth to speak, Curtis glared at her as a warning sign for her to sit still.
The door to the dining hall flew open, and Sophie walked in. Her hair looked disheveled, but that wasn’t the problem; it was the protruding horn on her forehead shining red.
Oriana buried her head in her food, trying her best not to look at her sister for any reason because she wasn’t sure how long she could hold back her laugh.
"Sophie, what happened to your face?" Queen Saline’s eyes widened with horror, seeing her eldest daughter with a bump on her head.
Sophie turned to glare at Oriana, then at the Crown Prince. "I don’t remember what happened yesterday, but Oriana must have..or Your Highness?" She turned to look at Adric.
Adric, who had been enjoying his breakfast, stopped when his name was mentioned, his eyes first met the golden anxious eyes of Oriana, and the corner of his lips tugged.
"I believe your sister would be in a better position to answer that. After all, I’m not allowed to touch an unmarried lady lewdly; even I understand that." His words were delivered sweetly, like he had all the innocence and the world was trying to ruin it for him.
Says someone who had gone under the skirt of countless unmarried maidens. Oriana judged him with her eyes, but that wasn’t her main problem. It was the attention of everyone that now diverted to her.
"Oriana, what did you do to your sister!" Queen Saline asked with anger. "Do you not know her body is precious and she deserves to be protected at all cost? Why have you let her stoop so low to your level?" The woman fired her words without blinking.
Sophie rubbed her forehead, "Look at what she did to me; I don’t want to have a hideous scar like her own. Mother...." The Crown Princess whined.
Oriana pressed her lips, touching the part of her leg where the scar had formed, she squeezed her palm tightly.
King Curtis, who was listening to this, hit his hand on the table to call everyone’s attention. "Silence, we still have guests here,"
"It’s okay, your Majesty," Queen Gwen’s voice was heard, "We’ll be family soon after all," the woman said with a small smile.
Her husband, King Fidelis nodded, "That is true, it’s a matter that can be settled as a family."
"I want the same pain to be inflicted on her; look at my forehead, Mother..." Sophie went to show her mother, and the woman glared at Oriana angrily.
Queen Gwen cleared her throat, it was time to teach the rude princess a lesson. The woman, who was already filled with hatred for the younger princess because of her crude way of talking, now had found the perfect opportunity to break the girl.
"If I may suggest, Your Majesty," she turned to look at the King of Orion. "I have a better way to punish the Princess. Even I noticed how unrefined her manners are." The woman said, giving Oriana a pointed look.
Oriana tilted her head, what? unrefined? She didn’t even do anything to this woman. She settled her eyes on Adric; the Crown Prince was busy enjoying his breakfast like none of the conversation mattered to him.
As if feeling someone’s gaze on him, Adric raised his eyes, and when he saw the princess looking at him, he smiled, revealing his dimples. Raising his cup, he made a subtle toast to just her before going back to focus on his breakfast.
Not happy with the way the woman was trying to pry into their family affairs, Queen Saline spoke up, "You do not need to worry yourself; I will handle my family matters myself.." the queen said with a high sense of pride.
"Is that so? Like you have been handling it.." the tone of mockery in the woman’s words didn’t go unnoticed by everyone at the table, and it triggered the queen of Orion more.
"How dare you -"
"Quiet, Saline..." King Curtis stopped his wife from saying anything further.
Saline turned to look at her husband, "But you heard her talk to me in such a downgrading manner, in my own Kingdom," the woman glared at her husband.
"She is not far from the truth either, if you had trained your daughter appropriately we wouldn’t be having an issue like this one." King Curtis said with a tone of indignation which his wife didn’t appreciate one bit, especially as it happened in front of her rival.
Queen Gwen raised her shoulders, seeing that the king was on her side. She gave the other woman a smile that was filled with victory.
Saline’s heart bubbled with anger; she had just been humiliated in front of another woman, and it was because of this curse! She glared at Oriana with deep and profound hatred.
"We all know how Oriana is, she isn’t normal and acts possessed. I did my best in training her but what could I possibly do with a child who didn’t cry but was laughing at her grandmother’s funeral. She is nothing but a curse!" Saline fired with anger coursing through her veins, and she used the same anger to push her chair back, walking out of the table.
Hearing her mother’s words, Oriana held her hands together. Not that she wasn’t used to hearing these words since she was a child, but hearing it while facing someone like Adric who might possibly use it against her someday caused her chest to squeeze.
"My wife can be a little sensitive in the morning," King Curtis said to Queen Gwen, who smiled at him with a small nod.
Sophie, still fuming with anger, pointed at her forehead, "What about my head? What am I going to do now? I still have to walk around today..." The self-centered Crown Princess who only cared about herself whined.
Shut up already, Sophie! Oriana screamed in her head, wishing to voice it out. After all, it wasn’t anyone’s fault that she got drunk, but she needed a way to come out of this or her punishment was inevitable. Oriana stared at Adric; he was now done eating and was talking with his father in hushed tones like they weren’t part of the table.
"If Your Majesty would allow me, I’ll love to handle Princess Oriana myself. I mean if she were staying with me, I would have straightened her out long before now." Queen Gwen suggested.
Oriana could see the hatred in the woman’s eyes; if the woman should handle her punishment, she might even push her down the stairs and claim it was an accident. How was she supposed to escape this punishment? Oriana brainstormed. She racked her brain but was running out of ideas.
King Curtis moved his eyes from his daughter, then to the Queen of Avon. He nodded, "Sure, why not. Maybe a new hand would help straighten her out." The man agreed.
Sophie nodded; she didn’t care what was going to happen or who was going to hand out the punishment, as long as Oriana got punished, that was all that mattered.
"So for the punishment -"
"Sweet mother," Queen Gwen was cut short by the low voice of Adric, which was clear for everyone at the table to hear.
Even Oriana was surprised to hear his voice; she gripped her hand on her dress. Was he going to tell them everything to increase her punishment?
Adric lazily stared at Oriana, his dark brown eyes having a glint of mischievousness behind them.
"Yes, Adric?" Queen Gwen replied, impatiently not happy one bit that she had been interrupted.
Adric moved his eyes away from Oriana and settled them on his mother, "I know how much you love justice, and straightening out defiant children. Little wonder my sisters are the way they are, that’s another story, and I’m not a storyteller." He paused, only to continue,
"But what is it called when you try to unjustly punish an innocent person?"
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