[Music Recommendation: Icarus ~ A Royal Affair ~ Ruth Barrett]
Oriana stood up from the bed and washed off her body, changing into a new dress. She had fallen asleep while sitting on the bed earlier, and her nerves were now calmed. She looked around the room and muttered,
"I don’t belong here," she sighed, walking towards the door. Oriana turned the knob, but it was locked. She pushed it again, but it didn’t budge.
"Please, is anyone there? I’m locked inside," Oriana asked, starting to panic. Being confined in a small space after witnessing someone’s death was very scary.
Finally, she heard a small noise outside the room, and the door was opened. It was Adric’s personal guard.
"Princess Oriana, is there something you needed?" Rowan asked with a small bow.
Oriana furrowed her brows. "I want to go outside," she replied. It wasn’t even normal for her door to be locked to start with.
"If it’s something outside, the maids can get it ready for you," Rowan said, waiting to hear what the princess had to say, but Oriana just stood there looking at him.
"What do you mean by that? Excuse me. I want to go outside," Oriana tried to push her way through, but other guards came to stand in her way.
Rowan gave the guards a stern look. "What do you think you’re doing? Step back right now!" he commanded, and the guards bowed, taking a step back.
Oriana noticed this. "Am I being locked in right now?"
"No, Princess Oriana. His highness only asked that we take care of your every need as you’ll be shocked with the events of earlier. We wouldn’t dare lock you in," Rowan replied with a bow.
"I don’t need any of that, just let me leave! Let me be on my own," Oriana sighed, taking a deep breath. She turned to look at the royal guard. "I’m leaving."
Rowan was unsure what to do. Stopping the princess would result in touching her, and he didn’t want to lose his head. At least not yet. Also, there was an order given by the same head-taker not to let the princess pass.
"Is everything alright?" Adric’s voice was heard, and Rowan heaved a sigh of relief.
Oriana’s heart skipped when she heard Adric’s voice, not because she was having butterflies or falling for him. It was far from that; she was scared of him. Even when Adric gave his usual playful grin, which Oriana saw as him being unserious, now caused goosebumps to rise on her skin. She took a quick step back, avoiding Adric’s unwavering gaze.
Adric’s lips twisted into a smile when he saw Oriana’s skittish movement. He moved his gaze from her and settled it on Rowan. "Is there a problem?"
"The princess wanted to go out—"
"I didn’t say anything," Oriana interjected. "I wasn’t going anywhere."
Rowan was surprised to hear this but nodded in agreement. "Maybe I heard wrong. Apologies, Princess Oriana."
"Very well then, because your family would like to have a moment with you." Adric turned to the side, and Saline with Sophie appeared. "And the father?" Adric asked.
"Oriana," Curtis came forward, with a smile on his lips.
Adric clapped his hands. "Great! It’ll be a short reunion, so we won’t be rude as to barge in. I’ll be standing just right over there in case I’m needed." Saying this, he waved for the guards to move away from the door while he stood not so far from there.
Oriana turned to look at her family. She noticed that they had also changed their clothes to something even more official.
"Oriana, darling, are you okay?" Saline was the first to step forward, trying to touch Oriana’s face.
Oriana, who was not used to being loved by her mother or having a warm feeling around her, felt her mother was coming to hit her for misbehaving and she took a cautious step back.
"I’m sorry...I guess we haven’t..." Saline’s voice trailed off as she took a step back to her position, her hands back to her side.
Curtis turned to look at Adric, who gave him an encouraging smile. The man cleared his throat, turning to Oriana. "O-Oriana," he said. When he raised his hand to hug her, Oriana took a defensive position with her hands guarding her face.
"Oh no!" When Saline saw this, she fell on her knees and cried bitterly. "My daughter won’t even let us touch her."
Oriana brought down her hand when she saw that her father wasn’t planning on hitting her. She blinked at her mother’s reaction, wondering why her family was suddenly acting weird. She turned her face to look at Adric, who had his back rested on the pillar.
At the same time, Adric turned to meet Oriana’s eyes, and he gave her a smile. "Go on," he muttered, motioning with his hand. "Family time is good time," he winked.
Oriana slowly turned her face to look at her family. "Is everything okay? If this is about me leaving Avon so Sophie could take her position, I am not angry."
"Ye—" Sophie wanted to shout, but when she turned to look at Adric, she paused and cleared her throat. "Actually, what are you saying, Oriana? You should marry Prince Adric," she said through her teeth with a forced smile.
Oriana raised her brows. "What? What are you talking about?" She looked down at her mother, who was now wailing.
"I think what your mother means by that is that she would be blessing the union," Adric chirped, and when everyone turned to look at him, he shrugged his shoulder and turned to mind his business.
Curtis threw his face to the side. "We have decided to continue with the same plan as we told you about Valonia. Continue with the marriage."
"No! But I don’t want to get married to him. Please, Sophie, you always wanted this," Oriana begged.
"There’s nothing we can do about it. You’ll go ahead with the wedding, but then we will be leaving as there are things we need to take care of back at Orion. We won’t attend," Curtis explained.
Oriana shook her head. "Let me leave with you. I’ll be good. Don’t leave me here, please."
"Orion now owes Avon!" When Curtis raised his voice at her, Oriana winced and took a step back. Adric sucked his teeth loudly, and Curtis heard it.
"Oriana, this marriage is the only way for you to help Orion. You have always been a good daughter. Now all you have to do is help us. Help your family. I know you can because you’re our best daughter," Curtis now had a calm, comforting voice.
Oriana pointed at herself. "Best daughter?" And her father nodded. She turned to look at Sophie, who had her face turned to the other side.
"Yes, so we came to let you know that we will be leaving. Your marriage is already blessed. Feel free to come visit us." Curtis remarked as he turned, heading for the door.
Oriana blinked. "No! Wait, please don’t leave me here. Please," she tried to hold her father, but the man had already left. When she turned to look at Sophie, whose eyes were also filled with tears for a different reason.
"Please, don’t leave me. Mother," Oriana got on her knees to hold her mother, who was still sobbing.
"I’m sorry for all these years. I’m sorry, Oriana, for not being the mother..." Saline cried bitterly.
Sophie was about to leave the room when Adric stopped her. He moved his head to the side. "You’re forgetting her," he pointed at Saline, who was crying for a reason also different from Oriana’s.
"I’ll take her," Sophie bowed, turning back. She went to help her mother stand while she dragged her out of the room.
"No! Please no!" Oriana shouted. "Don’t go without me. Mother, I’m scared...Nana," her voice became distant as Sophie and Saline left the room, headed straight for the carriage.
Reaching outside the palace, Sophie let go of her mother. "This is all your fault. If only you had been faithful to my father! Someone like Oriana won’t take what belongs to me," she shoved her mother to the side, walking down to her carriage where the servants they came with were now waiting.
Saline sobbed as she entered her carriage. All she could think of was the life she was now leaving Oriana to face all on her own. And yet once again, she was a bad mother to her child.
Bessie bowed before she opened the carriage door for Sophie. "Are we leaving already?" the maid asked.
Sophie turned to look at the palace. "For now, yes, but we will be back to take what is ours."
Bessie nodded. "We will definitely do that," the maid replied.
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