25 THE ARRIVAL OF THE GROOM'S FAMILY

Daybreak and everyone was busy with one thing or the other. It was a special day for everyone to celebrate.

King Dingbang had finished preparing for the marriage, in fact, he was always prepared because he was always in his royal tunic dress. His crown was sparkling and attractive. King Dingbang sat on his throne as he awaited the arrival of his in-laws. Because prince Gen was a hot-tempered man, but nevertheless, he was a good man and king Dingbang was delighted about that. What he wasn't sure about is, prince Gen was like every other prince out there, who will suddenly change after getting married. King Dingbang was doubting if prince Gen will continue to be the good person he was always after marrying his daughter.

Most men pretend to be good when they are looking for a woman to marry, but once they are married, they begin to show their real colors.

Princess Fen has been sitting on a chair for a few hours. Actually, her maids have spent the time they could just to prepare her for the marriage. She was looking more beautiful than her actual self. No doubt that Shu was there with the maidens that were preparing Princess Fen. Always dedicated to her service to the royal family. All her colleagues are going to miss her more than they will miss the princess. Especially the male servants that she does have secret affairs with.

Shu always treats everyone with love and respect. No servant nor the king and his entire household has any grudges against her. Even though she tried to fight for Princess Fen's right behind the king's back.

"My Lady, you look good." Shu said with a visible smile on her face.

"Yes, she is." The other maidens responded in chorus. Princess Fen gave them a faint smile. She was not comfortable. She felt like her life was about to be given out to an unknown ghost. Not only that, but she was feeling sick inside and no one knew it. No one was able to understand what was going on in her mind. Even Shu failed to see it because she was too occupied to notice anything.

Princess Fen has been moody since she woke up in the morning. She tried to smile at everyone, but deep inside of her, she was crying.

"Take a good look at yourself," Shu brought down a big mirror from the wall and placed it in front of Princess Fen. She studied herself in the mirror with admiration. The makeup was perfect and attractive. She was wearing a royal white gown with some glittering necklaces which added to her beauty. Princess Fen raised her hands and saw the hand bangles that were made in gold with different designs. She was in love with the bangles, which made her smile to herself in the mirror. Princess Fen took a good look at her hairstyle. It was parked to the back, and it was being supported by hairpins in the form of flowers. Nothing was more attractive to her than those flowering hairpins. She was wearing a smiling face now. Shu was happy that the princess liked her dressings.

"My Lady, can you please stand up and try to take some steps?" Shu asked, and Princess Fen nodded.

Shu returned to the mirror, and they supported princess Fen to stand up from the chair. She stood up as she thought to herself, "This is the heaviest dress ever." She smirked.

"Can't I wear a simple dress rather than this heavy dress?" Princess Fen reluctantly asked.

"With due respect, no. This is the type of gown meant for wedding purposes. This is how the bride is expected to come out. And even if you want to change dress, His Majesty won't agree with you." Shu responded.

Princess Fen stood speechless with an angry face. Shu and the other maidens encouraged her to be happy, but she pretended as if she wasn't listening to them. Shu patted Princess Fen's cheeks and gave her an assurance smile and said, 'all will be fine, just cheer up, and you will be okay." Princess Fen nodded.

Before anyone could realize it, princess Fen began to show expression of her happiness. She was smiling and laughing as she talked to the maidens that stood before her. They were all flabbergasted because of her behaviors, not because they weren't happy that she was happy, but it seems to be a surprise when they have been trying to convince her to be happy. She was refused to be, like a hard stone. But now, she looks like the happiest person in the entire universe.

Princess Fen was happy, not because she wanted to, but because she knew that nothing would change even if she was angry. She pretended to be fine so that she wouldn't end up crying. Besides, crying won't bring any solution. After making sure that the princess was doing fine, all the maidens left, including Shu. Princess Fen was left alone in her room. She was expecting her mother to come and take a good look at her to know if there was any error in the dressing, but she didn't come. Even when princess Fen was left alone, the maidens were still attempting to help her whenever she needed assistance.

A trumpet was sounded to announce the arrival of the people of the Decresh kingdom. At the hearing of the sound, princess Fen's heart almost cut off. The fear that grips her can make one think as if it were her last day on earth.

The Decresh army matched into the kingdom as they drove. Two caravans were following behind the armies, one was Prince Gen and the other one was for king Wang Lei.

The sounds of cymbals, drums, flutes, and other instrumentals can be heard from the background as they were ushered in.

By now, Shu must have finished preparing for the wedding ceremony. Deep inside of her, she was pleased. Why the happiness? It was because she was leaving with the princess to another new king. New place, new life.

She was still going to miss everyone in the Neville kingdom, but it will only last for a while, and she will forget about them all.

Queen Mei sat inside her room as she listened to the noise coming from outside. She peered through her window and watched king Wang Lei and prince Gen in their convoy entering the kingdom. This makes her regret getting married to king Dingbang because she can't comfortably go out there and meet her family. When she was kidnapped and brought to the kingdom by king Dingbang, she never hesitated to agree to marry him. Not only because she was afraid of him, but she also fell in love with him along the way while bringing her to the kingdom.

Shu dashed out of her room and headed to princess Fen's room. On getting there, she found three maidens whose princess Fen called them to support her and raised her gown when going downstairs when the ceremony started. Shu stood and stared at them for a while. She moved closer to where princess Fen and the three maidens were standing.

"My Lady, it's time," Shu said to princess Fen, and she felt like someone stabbed her with a knife.