Chapter 22: An Engagement Ring

As she left the Royal Physician's office, she saw the Crown Prince walking on the other side of the hallway. He had seen her and decided to approach her as she curtsied to him when he was in front of her.

"Your Royal Highness, Crown Prince, a pleasure meeting you here," said Elizabella as she curtsied to him, making him give a slight frown.

"You know, you can just call me 'Wolf' when we are alone. It is going to be strange if you keep calling me 'Your Royal Highness' all the time," he replied before she looked up at him, giving him a strange look.

"If you insist, then I will call you 'Maxen' when we are alone," said Elizabella with a blank face, making the Crown Prince look at her with a look of disbelief.

"Did she just go against what I had just said? She is seriously brave!" thought the Crown Prince as he took a deep breath to calm down. "May I ask, Lady Aphra, to accompany me to view the Palace gardens?"

"That would be lovely, dear Maxen," replied Elizabella as the Crown Prince led her away to the gardens and leaving the many servants behind with approval.

The Crown Prince had led Elizabella to a more secluded location within the gardens. She discreetly looked around and liked what she saw. The Crown Prince dismissed the servants that had followed and turned to look at Elizabella.

"I hope you are preparing for the wedding coming up and all is going well on your end," he stated with a look.

"Everything is going as well as it should be, thank you for inquiring," shot back Elizabella, while the Crown Prince turned to look away.

"The wedding is fast approaching; I have been informed that I must pick out a ring for you. I need to know what your ring size is so we can get this over with," he said while Elizabella slightly frowned and thought.

"Of course, I can tell you, Maxen; but may I ask, have you already picked out a ring?"

"If you must know, I have yet to pick one for you. I had planned on finding one in your size from the Royal Vault and be done," he said while Elizabella felt her face twitching from his comment and sighed.

"Although I am flattered that you thought to get a ring from the Royal Vault, but I had assumed that we were going to make others believe that we are in love with each other. Even though a ring from the Royal Vault is nice and all; however, it seems to lack any sentiments. The impact of you actually putting your time into picking out the ring will make our marriage more believable."

"How so?" he said with a frown as he thought this sounded like a lot of work.

"For example, if you were to custom make it, people will believe that you are into the idea of us getting married. Buying one can also get this same impact since we are running out of time.

"We can simply say that it is the perfect one whereas picking one from the Royal Vault feels too rushed and possibly without thought."

"How can that be? It would be from the Royal Vault! Who would complain?" he stated with a budding anger as flames began to form around his clenched fists.

"Yes, it is true that it will come from the Royal Vault, but it would normally feel more sentimental if it were from, say your great grandmother and she meant a lot to you. However, seeing how our relationship is just a sham, giving me a ring from a passed away loved one may be too much. But since you have yet to pick the ring, if you pick one that has no sentimental value to you or to me, when the paparazzi find out, it could make them start talking."

"Then what do you have me do?" he asked feeling frustrated.

"Just buy one. Possibly big and from a popular jewelry brand. Just make sure that when anyone asks, you have a good story to tell about said ring."

"Are you saying that I should buy an expensive ring for you?" scoffed the Crown Prince as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"It would make the public admire your love for your new Crown Princess if you were able to make it appear like you took your time to pick one. I had suggested an expensive one so that you can find one within a certain brand and even be quick about it so you would not have to look for so long. Just remember that you should have a good story ready."

Elizabella said all that she said so that the Crown Prince would pay more attention to their "fake" marriage. Since it was his idea to fake their marriage, he needs to be more responsible in the play.

Therefore, she has decided to make his life a bit harder by trying to manipulate him into not only buying her the ring, but also paying her for the said ring. She hopes that she has hinted enough for him to buy it from her wares.

Maxen had thought over what his future Crown Princess had said and concluded that she must be materialistic to covet a new shiny ring with her righteous wording. He frowned as he believed that that was what she was after.

"Joke's on her! Once we divorce, that shiny new ring will go straight to the Royal Vault!" he gave her a smile as he finally thought that he would definitely search for the most expensive ring he could find. "I understand. I will buy one that is most expensive. By chance, do you already have one in mind?"

"Well, I grew up outside the kingdom, I only know foreign brands, like Silver Raven," said Elizabella as she so casually mentioned the store she owns.

"Silver Raven? I have heard of that brand. Margarette has mentioned it to me before, saying it was an upcoming new store that only sold to the high nobility a few years back."

"I see that the two of you have known each other for a while now. The store officially opened only three years ago and from the beginning, they were highly received from the nobles. I heard that they officially went international about a year and a half ago," said Elizabella as she fixed her glasses and narrowed her eyes while she thought. "Since they are based in a different kingdom, I would suggest that you try and check them out before it gets any later."

"Do not fear, I will make sure that I find the most expensive one," said Maxen as he puffed out his chest.

"It does not need to be the most expensive, just that you have a story or a reason to getting that ring."

"Oh, do not worry. Leave everything to me," he smiled brilliantly at her as she seemed to understand his hidden intentions and smiled back while giggling to herself.

**********

Elizabella had gotten home feeling better since she was positive that she was able to manipulate the Crown Prince into buying a ring from her store.

"I hope you do not mind that I am using you as free advertisement, Maxen. As you will most assuredly buy the ring from my store. Even if you take it back to put it in your family's vault, you still would have paid me first. Ah. What a naïve Prince!" thought Elizabella as she looked through her documentations concerning her father's businesses and her store and thought to call the manager of her store to inform them.

She told the manager that she will be getting married soon, but that her future husband, the Crown Prince of Glear, will need to buy her a ring from her store. Elizabella mentioned that they should sell him anything he wants, just at a ridiculous price and to even publicize the transaction. She hummed a tune as her nearby servants heard her and were a bit confused. Is it possible that she was actually happy about getting married to a prince she does not know very well?

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince was busy looking through the online catalog for Silver Raven. He had already thought to find the biggest ring with the most expensive price so that his future Crown Princess would feel the pain of when she would have to return it to his family.

"All of these are exceptionally good, but I wonder which one is the right one. The price is enough to scare most normal families on their best sellers. Making the public aware of this ring and its price will let her know just how expensive it is when she hears about it! I need to hurry up and find one that suits her requirements. Hmm…" the Crown Prince was looking when he saw one without any price showing, making him smile while his eyes lit up. "This one looks great! But where is the price?"

He clicked on it and found that it was being only showcased and not for sale. He frowned as he thought that the stone looked perfect for his future wife as everyone will agree that the color was the same as her hair. Who would not think that he is a romantic if he presented her this ring?

"This is it!" he exclaimed as he smiled to himself. "Now all I need to do is to negotiate for this ring…"