[Music Recommendation: For whom the fire burns ~ Phildel]
Oriana followed Adric outside until they were far from the dining room. Then she removed her hand, wiping it on her skirt.
Adric narrowed his eyes at her reaction but didn’t say anything. "You did well, more than I expected. But just know, going up against my mother, you need to be ready,"
Oriana turned her face to look at him. "Ready? I didn’t even do anything wrong, and you asked me to be myself, so..."
"You’re correct, I did tell you that." He replied, his eyes now on the dress Oriana was wearing that gave her delicate skin the color it needed.
The princess noticed how Adric was staring at her at the moment, and it made her uncomfortable. She cleared her throat. "Are you really going to invite my family?" She asked, and Adric nodded. "But they don’t know I’m here. What if they deny everything?" Oriana gulped. She wasn’t ready to go through any punishment again.
"They won’t have anything to deny. The letter to Valonia states that they married off the Crown Princess, so you have nothing to worry about," Adric remarked, his eyes on her neck down to her chest where her gown was looking slightly revealing.
Oriana nodded. Either way, she was on a safe side. If Sophie should hear that the marriage was now between Avon, she would gladly take back her position. It was even better for her family to come around. She need not worry about anything. Oriana smiled to herself, she noticed that Adric was still looking at her, now his eyes were on her chest. Oriana held her hand across her chest.
"Why are you looking at me? Is something wrong with my dress?" She asked, feeling squirmish with the intent gaze.
Adric moved his head to the side, walking closer to stand in front of Oriana. He tugged her hair, letting it flow down.
"What are you doing?" Oriana asked, as her hair bow bounced on her shoulder down to her waist, covering her chest.
Adric took a step forward. "Where did you get this dress?"
Oriana rolled her eyes, where else would she get it. Was he assuming that she stole it? "The maids gave it to me," she replied, her voice laced with indignation.
"Go back to you room and wait for me, Don’t wear anything except what I give to you," Adric remarked, stretching his hand forward. He placed the hairband and pins in Oriana’s hand before he turned to leave her.
Oriana raised her hand to look at the hairpin and band. "Does he have some issues or something? Why would he?" Oriana pushed her hair back, trying to pack it back to its position, but she couldn’t.
"He’s an odd one, really odd.." Oriana’s voice trailed. She looked around where they were standing; he just left her all alone. How was she supposed to return to her room when she didn’t even know her way around here? Oriana’s stomach grumbled, reminding her of the dinner she had just missed.
"Maybe I should go back inside and eat," she muttered to herself.
"What?"
"Ha!" Oriana gasped. She wasn’t expecting to see anyone else. "Sorry, I was only talking to myself," she bowed slightly to the man. It was the young man she had seen earlier.
"Good evening, My lady. I am Caspar, Princess Jasmine’s husband," he took hold of Oriana’s hand and placed a small kiss. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎
Oriana bowed, holding her hand on her chest. "I am Princess Oriana," she greeted, taking her hand back. She didn’t want to think too much of it; maybe it was how they greeted around here, but she wasn’t comfortable with people touching her without consent.
"Princess Oriana," Caspar said with a smile, "I loved how you defended yourself during dinner. I mean, it’s not every day we get to see anyone except Crown Prince Adric stand up against the Queen. I’ll say he found his match in you," the young man commented.
I bet he didn’t. Oriana thought to herself she was not in the mood for talks, as she was really hungry. She rubbed her tongue on her lips. "Thank you," she replied with a small smile.
"You’re welcome. If there’s anything you want during your stay here, don’t hesitate to let me know. As we are both in-laws to the royal family, we should stick to each other," Caspar said, turning his face to give Oriana a friendly smile.
Oriana nodded. "Thank you," she muttered. But she was not looking to make any friends, no, not anymore. She just wanted her freedom, to leave this place and have her own life.
"You have something on your neck, here, let me," Caspar said, coming closer to touch Oriana’s neck, but his eyes were on her chest.
Oriana furrowed her brows, taking a step back. "What?" She looked down at her chest, but there was nothing there. She took another step back, but the man kept coming close.
"Caspar!" Princess Jasmine shouted her husband’s name.
The young man took his hand back quickly. "I told you there was nothing there," he said to the surprise of Oriana.
"What?" Oriana blinked, looking at the man, then his wife, who was now walking towards their direction with her two sons.
Jasmine glared at Oriana. "What were you doing?" She asked her husband.
"Oh, Princess Oriana here said she felt like her neck was itching, so I should check if the night fly got her. I told her it didn’t." Caspar lied with ease.
Oriana raised her brows. "No, I didn’t," she remarked, looking at the man with shock.
Jasmine didn’t want to hear anything else. She turned to look at her brother’s new wife. "I knew there was something odd about you when you decided to dress like that for dinner. Is Brother Adric not enough for you?" The princess scowled, turning to her husband she said, "Let’s leave," and the family walked inside the palace.
Oriana looked down at her dress. "What are they talking about?" She asked herself, bringing her head down to look at her dress. She bit her lips. "Sophie needs to come quickly and claim her position. What type of family is this?" She muttered, now looking for her room. She didn’t want to have an encounter with any member of the royal family.
Looking around the palace, she found two maids going about their duties. Oriana ran to them.
"Excuse me, please do you know where my room is," she paused. "I’m the new bride,"
The two maids bowed. "We recognize you, my princess,"
Oriana smiled. "I’m glad you do. Please, I can’t seem to find my room, can you show it to me?"
"Sure, this way, please," one of the maids pointed, and Oriana followed her. For some reason, she couldn’t really understand what had happened earlier. First, it was Adric looking at her dress; now, it was the princess and her husband.
"This is your room," The maid finally stopped in front of her door, then she turned to leave.
"Wait!" Oriana held the maid’s hand, stopping her from leaving. "Sorry, but is anything wrong with my dress?" She asked the girl.
The maid pressed her lips. She wasn’t supposed to say anything. "My princess," the maid bowed.
"Speak, don’t worry I won’t punish you," Oriana encouraged the girl.
The maid looked around to be sure nobody would hear her. "The way you dressed earlier, with your hair packed and the dress very light, it’s how the palace courtesans dress around here,"
"What?" Oriana blinked, but the maids had brought the dress for her. Did they not know about it? She asked herself.
"I’m sorry, please don’t tell Prince Adric I said so," the maid bowed.
Oriana shook her head. "It’s okay, you can go," she walked inside her room and locked the door. Going to stand in front of the mirror, she looked at herself. And how was she supposed to know that packing her hair up was for courtesans? In her own kingdom, it was different. Now looking at her dress, Oriana noticed that it was a little transparent at the front side. She remembered how Adric had brought her hair down.
"Was that why he did that?" She moved her hair back. Oriana stared back at her reflection. Who then gave the orders to the maid to give her such a dress to wear.
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