Meeting Royalty

The topic then turned towards Yawen's relationship, or there lack of. Ying Yue kept silent and let Jiao Long and Tara make fun of Yawen. Out of all the people in their acquaintance, Yawen was the one person who has never been in a relationship. Sure, Ying Yue has never been in an official relationship either, but considering the things that happened when she got drunk, she was disqualified from the list. Even the crazy uncontrollable Tara has been in an relationship, for all of seventeen days, but it still counted. Ying Yue looked up from the oats and ginger cookie she was concentrating on, and saw the look of disinterest on Yawen's face and slightly relaxed.

Tara caught the look of her friend's and a cloud lifted from her mind. For all her brilliance, the main reason Ying Yue was horrible at business was because she could never hold on to a secret or be able to control her emotions or able to follow through a strategy. She was straight forward to a fault. And for Tara, who had once made it her main pass time to observe and catalogue all of Ying Yue's facial expressions and body language, it was very easy to decipher the look. She looked relieved, for Yawen's look of apparent disinterest in their conversation.

" You love someone." Tara declared out aloud her gaze fixed on Yawen, much to the surprise of the other three in the pavilion.

" Yes." Agreed Yawen cooly, looking at Tara with an eyebrow raised.

"What? You are? How come this is the first I am hearing about it?" Asked Jiao Long perplexed, looking at his best friend.

Yawen shrugged elegantly.

" You never asked me about it." He answered flippantly.

Jiao Long sat forward in surprise.

"You are really in love with someone? Who?" Asked JiaoLong.

Yawen froze for half a second, he has wanted to tell his secret to JiaoLong for a long time, but he has been putting it off.

" Oh.. Yawen is also here. Good good. It's nice to see the three of you together. Who is this young lady?" Asked Madam Huo.

The four people sitting were startled a little. They were engrossed in their conversation that they did not notice Madam Huo making her way towards them with three maidservants.

" Mother. This is Princess Nakshatra. She is Ying Yue's friend." Jiao Long was the first person to recover, he got up and introduced Tara to his mother. He knew that by introducing Tara with her title was the best way to ensure her pleasant stay while she was in this country. His mother may have been wrong in the way she treated Ying Yue, but she was still well respected and loved by others in the society. If at all, Tara had to venture out into the society while she was there, his mother's support would be a huge support for her.

Tara rarely used her title. The people in her district were usually the only ones who never fail to address her by he title, but that does not mean that she was above using her title to make things easier for herself.

Tara got up and went forward to Madam Huo. Ying Yue and her relationship was not always horrible. When she was first brought to the Huo residence, Madam Huo had been excited. Because of complications during her pregnancy, she could not conceive any more kids. She was happy with Jiao Long, but she had always wanted a girl. For an entire week, she had been unseperable from baby Ying Yue. But, all that changed with Elder Huo's interference. Sure, he rarely talked to his second son and daughter-in-law. But he had treated them with respect. But Ying Yue's arrival changed the way he interacted with his second son, which in turn caused a lot of misunderstandings between the members of the family. And Jiao Long, her precious son who had been treated like a prince was thrown aside completely. In short, Madam Huo's treatment of Ying Yue was actually a result of Elder Huo's juvenile behaviour. But now that her son's worth had been recognised, she could see clearly through the haze of distaste she had seen Ying Yue previously. Tara was aware of all the complicated emotions of the people in this residence. She had previously did not have much positive thoughts about Madam Huo, but she was not petty enough to let her know that. Respecting the elders was ingrained in her bones.

She held her hands together in front of her, with the thumbs interlocking and made a small bow.

" Nice to meet you Madam Huo." She greeted the older woman in English.

Madam Huo who was a little thrown back with Tara's title. She has met with a lot of influential people, but that was the first time she was meeting a foreign royalty. She was a little bit dazzled and surprised that a royal was bowing before her.

" The pleasure is mine Princess." Madam Huo bowed.