Oriana quickly moved her face away from Adric, with the force their lips had touched. Both of them received cuts on the sides of their lips.
"You don’t know how to attract anything else if not trouble, yes?" Adric asked, inhaling deeply as Oriana moved her weight one more time to his left hand.
Oriana pressed her lips, "I’m sorry, Walter was going to start crying," she muttered, and Adric nodded.
"It’s your cue to stand," he said, pushing himself up with his right hand, with Oriana’s head on his chest. One of his legs was down, the other raised a little to hold Oriana’s weight.
Walter, who was watching the scene, started clapping when he saw his uncle’s lips touch that of his auntie. "Babies on the way soon!" he exclaimed, and Jasmine quickly used her hand to cover her son’s eyes.
"Shut up!" Jasmine scolded her son, as everyone watched quietly what was happening between the couple.
Everyone was quiet except Sophie, who was yet to understand the situation. First, Oriana was supposed to be in Valonia with her new husband, and second, why was Adric’s hand around Oriana’s waist?
"Why - Oriana -" Sophie held her neck, closing her eyes for a brief moment, praying that when she opened them, everything would go back to normal.
Gwen turned to look at the princess, "This scene looks familiar," she muttered.
Jasmine nodded in agreement, "Yes, mother, because that was you the very first day Brother Adric returned with the princess," she replied, only to receive a glare from her mother. Jasmine cleared her throat and threw her face to the side.
Finally on their feet, Adric and Oriana started walking towards the entrance, where every member of their family was waiting. The first person to talk was Sophie.
"Oriana, what are you doing here?" she asked. "Did you hear about my marriage with Adric? Is that why... Oh, is that little boy your son?" She paused. That would be biologically impossible because Oriana just got married; her child wouldn’t just sprout and grow immediately, but she needed something to explain the situation.
Jasmine held her child closer, "What do you mean, her son?" She eyed the princess.
"Oriana, why are you not talking? What are you doing here, and why are you close to my husband?" Sophie asked, her eyes welling up with tears.
Fidelis raised his brows, "Husband? What are you talking about? Did you not receive the letter we sent?"
"We did -"
"Shut up, Sophie," Saline cautioned her daughter, "Your Majesty, we did receive the invitation. Was it not a wedding between our daughter Sophie and Crown Prince Adric?" The woman asked calmly, she was yet to understand what her youngest daughter was doing in Avon instead of Valonia.
Adric smiled, "I believe the letter says, between the Crown Prince of Avon and Crown Princess of Orion. Yes?"
"Yes, your highness," Sophie chimed, "I am the only true Crown Princess of Orion," she said with a bright smile.
Oriana tightened her grip on her gown; her sister was about to receive a clear blow to her face soon. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
"Is that so?" Adric grinned, "I thought the position had been shifted because when I went to Valonia, it was Princess Oriana who stood in as the Crown Princess, or was there a mistake?"
Curtis turned to look at his wife and two daughters, then he cleared his throat. "Your highness, can you please explain to us what you mean by that?"
"Gladly," Adric twitched his lips, "Valonia gave the Crown Princess of Orion as a repayment of the debt they owed Avon. Easy."
Sophie shook her head, "No..." Her voice trailed off. Oriana was sent off to marry the old king of Valonia. There was no way it was possible for her fate to suddenly turn like that. It wasn’t possible. She was the one who deserved to be a wife to Adric, not Oriana. "No..." She muttered.
"No?" Adric moved his head to the side, his lips curled up. "Are you saying that Orion lied to an entire kingdom?" He grinned, knowing it was difficult for them to accept it. That would only mean they deserved to receive the same punishment that was given to Oriana for lying in the past.
Oriana raised her eyes to look at her parents; they were put in a tight corner either to admit that they had lied or claim she’s the Crown Princess.
Sophie turned to look at her mother, "Mother..Father...we have to say the truth, we can’t have Oriana-"
"Apologies for the misunderstanding, your highness. You’re correct, Oriana is the Crown Princess," Curtis replied, his smile not reaching his eyes.
"What?" Sophie shrieked, "No! She’s not. We lied about everything, let’s say the truth!" The princess cried, nudging her mother on the shoulder.
"Sophie, please!" Saline sighed, she was already stressed out with everything and was trying to get her head together.
Adric hummed, "Is what she’s saying true? I’m sure Valonia wouldn’t sit back if their knowledge was played with. Also, I don’t remember Oriana being the Crown Princess the last time I came to Orion."
Oriana turned to look at Adric, wondering what he was playing at by saying that. Was he trying to bring Orion and Valonia to fight?
Saline stepped in to help her husband out. "Well, yes. You’re correct, Your Highness. The last time you came, Sophie here was the Crown Princess, but then after Oriana was punished, she came back as a new person with great character. So we thought it fit to make her the Crown Princess."
"Mother!" Sophie shouted, her hands trembling. Everything that started as a sham was now being turned to reality, thereby making Oriana the real Crown Princess.
Even Oriana was shocked by her mother’s response. She turned to look at her, then at Sophie, who was about to lose her mind with everything that was being said.
Adric sucked his teeth, with his hand dipped in his trouser pocket he said, "If I’m getting this right, Princess Oriana changed into a better person after serving the punishment given to her by my mother?" He turned to look at Gwen, who gave him a stern look that didn’t faze him one bit.
"You’re right," Saline and her husband nodded.
Adric hummed with a smile, "My mother be doing wonderful works for others. Good to know she groomed the next Queen of Avon herself. What better way to assist the kingdom, don’t you think, princess?" He asked, looking at Oriana.
Oriana blinked, "Y-yes?" She replied, looking at Adric with a furrowed brow.
"Good, then we are saying the same thing. Let us go inside and discuss the wedding proper," Adric started walking inside the palace, touching the side of his lips which was still bleeding.
Sophie held her mother’s hand, "Whose wedding? Mother, please tell me it’s mine. Mother, what is going on?"
Saline cleared her throat, "Sophie, we just arrived. Let us go inside and sit down, we can talk about all of this later," she tried to pacify her daughter.
Oriana pressed her palms together, unsure if she should talk or just walk away. It was a difficult decision for her to make at the moment. She looked from Sophie to Adric, who was casually walking inside like he didn’t just start a fire.
"You witch! You knew about this, right?" Sophie turned to look at Oriana, glaring daggers at her.
Oriana cleared her throat, "Walter, let auntie get you inside and clean you up." She quickly carried the small boy and bolted.
"That’s my son," Jasmine stood there, confused. She ran inside muttering under her breath, "This family must be filled with a different kind of crazy."
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