Chapter 23: Dress Fitting

The next day, the paparazzi were still waiting in front of Elizabella's house, but now the police were stationed around the house in order to protect the future Crown Princess. She left like the day before to get to school, and again she had to go to the Palace, to get her dress fitting. She had had a lot of thought on the dress, and thought that since this will be the only time she will ever marry a prince, she will go all out. She hoped that she would be able to design the dress like she had originally planned for her real wedding and decided that this one time, she would "make a grand production."

Originally, for her real wedding day, she had wanted a simple wedding with an intimate setting, with only her close friends and loved ones. But now that she is having a fake wedding with a fake husband, she will go the opposite route.

When she had arrived at the Palace after school, she was immediately led to a room with three different designers. The Queen was also there to make sure that all went well.

Elizabella curtsied to the Queen and was told that they needed to start. The three designers already had a dress each as the sample for their designs. They had already been approved by the Royal Family.

Elizabella gave a slight frown as she was being measured and wondered if she would even be able to design her own dress. After they had all taken her measurements, they then proceeded to show her the dresses that they had brought her to pick one that she liked. They also showed her the finished sketches of how the final result would be.

"Lady Aphra, from these three, please pick one that you like," said the Queen as she sipped her tea and Elizabella looked deeply at the designs in front of her before turning to the Queen and curtsying.

"Your Majesty, I believe that all of these dresses are each lovely in their own right; however, I had wanted to design my own wedding dress, if that was alright," said Elizabella as she kept her head low, making the Queen look at her curiously.

"Oh? What did you have in mind? Remember that the dress needs to be finished before the wedding which means it will need to be finished within two weeks' time," said the Queen as she appeared enigmatic while she sat and watched her.

"I have experience in dress making and I have a few sketches with me. I would like to show them to the Queen, if possible."

The Queen kept her enigmatic look on her face as she stared at the young girl in front. She remembered that she was going to school with a scholarship and was in the Arts Department. She stretched out her hand as she saw that the young lady had produced a sketch book from her shadow, from what the Queen could tell was the arm of a different man than the last time. This time, she was not that surprised as she opened the sketch book to the marked pages.

The Queen thought that she would be ready but when she saw the sketches, she was marveling at the intricate details of the dress. She had seen and worn many dresses in her life and knew that this dress was probably one of the most beautiful dresses she had ever seen.

The dress shape was a ball gown with what looked like an intricate gold lace belt around the waist. It was not only white as it seemed to have gold details on the skirt with what looked like four layers of different colored fabrics.

The bottom layer looked pure white; the next layer looked like a gold veil over the bottom layer; the layer above it was an antique ivory color with gold embroidery like a drapery; the top layer was a pure white see through material with the same gold embroidery as the layer beneath.

The top was relatively simple compared to the skirt as a plain white bodice with short sleeves, and a high ruffled collar. It also had gold embroidery on the collar and sleeves. The dress was very modest as it did not reveal anything, and it was very regal.

The next sketch was of the accessories and veil. The veil was a long circular train where the front looked like it would drape around the body almost like a loose robe. It seemed to be of the same material from the gold layer on the gown with a beautiful golden lace trim.

"My, this seems quite intricate. Would it be possible to even have it made within a month?" asked the Queen as she had the designers look at the sketches and they marveled at the dress that was most fitting for a future Crown Princess. "Could this dress be made in time?"

"Your Majesty, looking at the designs on the dress, it seems nearly impossible to be able to find all the right materials and then have it prepared in time for the wedding. I would not feel confident that even a month would be enough time," said the senior of the designers as the rest nodded their heads in agreement.

This made the Queen stuck in a dilemma. She felt a little guilty for she knew that her future daughter-in-law must not be that wild about marrying someone whom she does not know well. She should at least have the dress she wanted to compensate her.

After all, she has not complained nor asked for anything in return for this forced marriage. According to the head Steward and young servant that had gone to read the edict, she seemed genuinely unaware of her engagement with the Crown Prince. A normal Lady would have already at least caved under pressure and aired out her grievances.

Not Lady Aphra Ginny Harkins. She took everything in stride and has acted even unfazed. The Queen knows that no girl would willingly say yes to marry the Crown Prince without reacting in some way, like overwhelmed or excited. This was the first time that she had even asked her for anything, and she still could not give it to her.

"Like I said earlier, Your Majesty, I have experience in making dresses. It will not cost me even a month to finish the dress. I already have all the material at home and looking at the middle dress here, it can serve as the preliminary sample of the dress that I have envisioned. I already have the veil finished and I would like to present it to you," with her last words, two pairs of arms appeared from her shadow and gently lifted a long wooden box in front of her.

Elizabella carefully opened the wooden box and took out the veil for all to see. The veil was indeed long as the three designers came to help lift the veil in wonder. It was not a gold material but rather a white material with a gold sheen under the light.

For practical purposes, the Queen asked if she, Elizabella, would wear the veil so she could have a better vision. Once placed on her, it seemed to transform the unassuming girl with glasses on, into a real princess.

They all gasped as they could not believe their eyes. She seemed to stand with a confidence and elegance that takes years to master with only the veil on. They tried to imagine how she would look like with the dress on. Even the servants, standing on the sides, could not help but be in awe of their future Crown Princess.

Elizabella slowly took off the veil and gently placed it back in the wooden box. The Queen was silent as she watched the young lady in front of her and contemplated.

"You say that you can have the dress finished by the wedding day?" asked the Queen as Elizabella confidently looked at her and lightly bowed her head.

"I understand the gravity of the dress being finished on time; thus, I could safely say that I can indeed have the dress ready before then. The embroidery is hand sown but one more day and it will be finished. I can have the detailing finished on time and since these gentlemen were kind enough to make the samples, I can easily use one for the base of the dress. It would not take long at this rate."

The Queen looked at the young lady and thought over what she had said. It did appear as if she could have the dress made on time if she did use one of the samples already made for the base of the dress. If she could make this her dream dress, she would probably feel more at ease when she finally married the Crown Prince.

It would give the girl something exciting to look forward to for her upcoming wedding. Thus, the Queen smiled as she made her decision and turned to her future daughter-in-law.

"We have great confidence that you will be able to make this your dream dress. However, we must have a backup plan in case it cannot be completed on time. Pick the dress for your base and we will have the others as the backup."