20. About Matchmaking

As Royce walked briskly towards the royal hall, he almost hit Athena as he was about to turn right.

"I'm sorry, Athena." Royce said. His breath hitched a little and chose to stop for a moment.

Athena nodded politely. "There is no need to apologize to me, prince. I didn't pay attention to my steps. Why do you look so restless, prince?"

"I'm facing a pretty annoying thing. Did you see my father enter the royal hall?"

Athena shook her head. "No, King Arthur just got into the horse carriage."

"What?? I thought he was going to the royal hall. And I guess he shouldn't be leaving right now. Do you know where he's going?" asked Royce.

"It just so happened that King Arthur got on a horse-drawn carriage driven by Frans. Princess Lucy and I just got here. And I think I overheard King Arthur say, that he asked Frans to take him to the Crystalball Kingdom. Isn't that kingdom far enough away? I heard, the location of the kingdom is near the mountains and the sea." Athena said.

Royce just nodded slowly. He rubbed his face furiously. "It turns out that my father's words are quite serious. He headed there, definitely wanting to ask for confirmation about the matchmaking."

Hearing those words, Athena frowned. "What do you mean, Prince Royce?"

"Athena, I want to betrothed to Aubrey, the princess of the Crystalball Kingdom."

"W-what? Ooh, is that true? Wow, I congratulate you, Prince Royce. Soon you will get married and--"

"Athena!!! I hate that matchmaking!! I don't want to accept the arranged marriage. And I will only marry a woman I truly love. I'm so angry at my father for planning it." Royce said. His gaze looked angry as Athena tried to congratulate him.

Of course, Athena immediately covered her mouth. She felt guilty, because she did not know that Royce wanted to oppose the matchmaking. "My apologies, Prince Royce. I really don't know."

"Never mind, forget about it. Are you busy?"

Athena nodded slowly.

"Can you accompany me for a moment? I think I need someone to listen to my complaints." Royce said. His voice sounded pleading. His gaze also looked shady at Athena.

Then Athena nodded her head. "Of course, I would be willing to listen to you, Prince." And the two of them went to another area of ​​the palace. Athena followed Royce's footsteps towards a quieter area to talk.

As for Bella, the woman seemed busy looking for something. She was in the king's and queen's chambers. This afternoon, Victoria was going with Hellen. So, Bella is free to do something in the room.

Bella was indeed given the task of cleaning the room and changing the bed linen. And now she was in the master bedroom, the bedroom of King Arthur and Queen Victoria.

"Where's the key?" Bella asked quietly. She tried to rummage through all the drawers and find what she wanted in Victoria's box.

Bella is looking for a key that is quite important. And the key was indeed held by Victoria. A key used to open a jewelry box that has been well preserved in the history room.

The historical room, it was Queen Ariadne's favorite room in her heyday. And in the history room it contains many relics of the previous kings. Including the stash of old jewelry belonging to the queens who once ruled the kingdom.

Bella knew where the jewelry chest was, because she cleaned the history room quite often. And she had also seen Victoria open the chest of jewels.

The contents of the chest were indeed filled with jewelry made of pure gold, diamonds, pearls, and pure silver. Bella wants to get all the jewelry. She wanted to sell all the jewelry to a merchant who dared to pay a very high price for her.

However, it seems Bella's plan was foiled by Hellen.

"Bella, are you still cleaning this room?" Ask Hellen. The woman suddenly entered the bedroom.

Making Bella immediately stood up straight and released her grip on the box containing some of Queen Victoria's makeup. "Ah, I'll be done in a minute, Hellen."

"Queen Victoria is not going with me. She wanted to rest in this room immediately. So better get your work done quickly. I think Queen Victoria will be upset if you stay here too long."

Bella nodded politely and tightly gripped a duster she was holding. "Ah, well I'll be done in ten minutes. I'm sorry if my performance today was a little slow."

Hellen just smiled a little. "I have already forgiven you. Come out as soon as you finish changing the bed linen."

"Yes, Hellen."

Then Hellen came out and left the bedroom door open. Making Bella snort in annoyance because her plan failed. Then he accelerated her activities, until she finally finished cleaning the main room.

Bella immediately exited the bedroom, and returned to the royal kitchen area. Maybe she could do it another day. Besides, Jackson hadn't given her any news of when the men's army would come attacking.

When she was about to go to the kitchen, Bella stopped in her tracks. She saw Athena talking to Royce near the palace garden on the side. Bella didn't like seeing the two of them look so close.

"In the near future, the two of you won't be able to smile anymore. You're so arrogant, Royce. After this you will obey all my orders. Should I make you a slave who is willing to serve me every day?" Bella said with a smile that looked arrogant.

Then Bella immediately continued her footsteps. She had better finish her activities today, so that this afternoon she could meet with Jackson.

***

"I'm sorry, Prince Royce. I guess this time I can't give you any advice. I don't know what to say. How about you meet Princess Aubrey first. Then tell her that you don't want to marry her. Tell her slowly and politely. I'm sure Princess Aubrey won't be mad if you refuse." Athena said. She tried hard to give Royce a suggestion.

Royce frowned. "How can I meet her? Just hearing that matchmaking thing makes me dizzy."

"But that's the only way, you should be able to speak politely and ask Princess Aubrey for it directly."

"Do you know Aubrey? I just never saw her face!" Royce said irritably.

Athena smiled. "I think Princess Aubrey is very pretty. She is known as a princess who is smart, generous, and likes to help many people. Therefore, you won't know what she's like, if you don't try to meet her."

"But what if my father is very angry?"

"You do have to face it, Prince Royce. Because you really want to refuse the matchmaking. But, don't you regret refusing the matchmaking? What if Princess Aubrey really is that beautiful?"

Royce looked at Athena. "I wouldn't fall in love with another woman easily. Even though she is very beautiful, if I don't love her then I can't just force my feelings. And…."

Royce's words stopped, because he was fixated on Athena's brown eyes. It turned out that they were talking that close and Athena had been watching Royce very closely since then.

Athena was just trying to be a good listener. She looked at Royce, because she wanted to listen to Royce's words carefully. But Royce seemed to be bewitched by the girl's gaze.

"And?" Athena asked quietly.

Royce looked nervous, then he shook his head as he turned his gaze to another direction. "Ah, I don't think we need to talk about that anymore. Ouh, why is it so hot, Athena? I think I should take a shower." Royce said. He immediately stood up and left Athena just like that.

While Athena was confused, why didn't Royce continue his speech and just walk away?

*****