Dress picking

"Hello, ladies. I'm Celestina, the mistress of the court," said by an elegant woman probably two decades older than I am. I was thankful that she arrived. Her presence eased the tension earlier.

"I will assist the Crown Prince in molding each one of you, so that when time comes, the chosen lady has all the knowledge of what are the duties of a crown princess."

"That would not be hard, Mistress. All of us are from noble families who studied right etiquettes since childhood—oh! Pardon, Ophelia. I forgot you are not a noble lady like the rest of us," Lady Lilian, the daughter of the first minister, said softly but lethally.

I heard soft chuckles, only cut off by Mistress Celestina's voice.

"You are just a commoner. Am I right, Lady Ophelia?"

"You are." I'm not ashamed of my status. Why would I be? At least I am far from being criminal.

"All right. We are all clear. Ladies," she looked at the others, eyes strict. "She is here because like you, she was also chosen by the Crown Prince himself. So basically, you all are just in the same level. The royal court does not tolerate discourtesy here. Do you understand?"

Lady Lilian glared at me but she sealed her mouth shut.

"Yes, Mistress," we all said.

I like her, Raja in the background as if he was just watching a play while relaxing. How I wish we could just change position.

Be careful what you wish for, my lady. You don't know how much I wish to be always there for you whenever you need help. But I'm locked here, inside you.

That's basically my fault, isn't it? If I can only master my ability in a short span of time, you won't have to be always caged in my soul.

Ah! I know what you can do to master your ability on a short span of time!

How?

Think about what you need.

Huh? What do I need? Uh, my father? I don't know. Why can't you just tell me your idea? You know that I hate riddles.

You need a master, my lady. You need someone who can help you fully awaken that ability of yours, so that you'd know how to manipulate it like it's part of your well being.

But where can I get a teacher? I don't think I know anyone.

I know one.

Who?

His Highness.

I almost lost my balance.

What are you talking about, Raja? The Crown Prince as my master? That is insane!

He is the most capable among the people you know. You can make a deal with him. You do what he wants, and in return, he has to teach you use your ability.

You're making me a bait here! And what did you mean by do what he wants? Does that mean he can ask anything?"

Raja chuckled. Calm down. Of course you may set limitations. But I guess His Highness won't go that far—if I'm guessing your dirty thoughts right.

Stop teasing me. I'm serious here.

And so do I. Think about it. It's the easiest way. We don't know, you would only discover the key to your goal once you have mastered your ability.

That's what I was thinking about all over again when we were toured around the palace. It indeed makes sense. But the question is, would Demitri accept the deal I would offer? Should I start with an apology first?

I suppose that's the best thing to do, Raja suggested.

Thinking about apologizing to him made my stomach churn. I was suddenly uneasy, my eyes unfocused.

That is what you've got for hurting other's feelings, my lady.

You could have told me sooner about your idea! We shouldn't have reached this far if you only organized that idea ahead of time. Now what am I going to do? I already offended him enough. He'd definitely reject my offer the way I did to him.

Well, as of the moment, you can do nothing but try.

"This night, Prince Ares will join you for dinner. You may now go to your respective chambers to take rest."

The court ladies assigned to us led us to our chambers. All the way upstairs, I was thinking about how I would apologize to Demitri and how I would offer him the deal. Best time could be after tonight's dinner, I supposed?

What do you think, Raja?

I guess there would be no problem with that.

Indeed?

Indeed.

So the rest of the day, I spent my time resting in my super grandiose chamber. I think it's as huge as Demitri's, only that, the decorations of mine are very elegant and feminine.

"How soft this bed is!" I exclaimed as I lounged to the large, queen-size bed.

* * *

A soft voice and consecutive knocks woke me.

"You are already called for dinner, Lady Ophelia."

Oh right! I forgot about that!

"Coming!" I quickly jumped out of the bed and went to the bathroom to clean myself and change.

Thankfully, Thiara packed decent dresses for me. I really owe her a lot. She's a very kind woman.

When I went to the dining hall, everyone was there except Demitri. And when I say everyone, the King and Queen are included, as well as Prince David and Prince Martin.

"Your Majesties, Your Highnesses," I curtsied to show respect. "My apologies as I am late."

"No, you're not late. Just on time," the Queen humbly said.

I smiled and went to the farthest seat from Demitri's—I suppose—probably because all of them wanted to sit close to him.

"Nice to meet you again, Ophelia." Prince Martin gave me a friendly smile, making the brows of the ladies rose.

"So do I, Your Highness."

"I believe you have been here before?" the King's intense coal black eyes drifted to me. Now I know where Demitri got that pair of dangerous black eyes.

"That is right, Your Majesty. The night of Her Majesty's birthday, I was attacked by a rogue werewolf. I was severely injured and De—Prince Ares was there to help me. He brought me to the palace. I apoligize if I caused inconvenience to the palace that night."

"There's nothing to apologize for, Lady Ophelia. My son did the right thing," the King said with obvious pride.

"I could not agree more."

I noticed the glares of other ladies there, especially Lady Lilian who I think was imagining of killing me right there and then.

The sound of heavy footsteps against the marbled floor caught my attention. We all looked up to the person who caused the sound.

"Mother, Father," he said a bit coldly but there was no doubt the respect was there.

He went to his seat at once. I didn't look at him but somehow I felt his glance. Or maybe I could just be imagining.

"Goos evening, ladies," he greeted in a low baritone. Everyone except me returned the greeting. It was as though my tongue was tied.

"How is your evening, Lady Ophelia?"

I almost jumped from my seat. My palms were sweating.

Although I was having a hard time calming myself, I managed to fake it and looked at him with stoic, calm expression.

"Good so far, Your Highness," I said with a smile. If I don't treat him nicely, the King and Queen would think that there is something wrong between us. I don't want to draw attention more than necessary.

"I really love my chamber, Your Highness," Lady Lilian intervened.

I looked at the plate in front instead, but I could still feel Demitri's eyes on me when he answered her.

"That's good."

The food was served shortly. I was all silent, staring down at my food the whole time while rehearsing the lines I would tell Demitri later.

"Do you like the food, Lady Ophelia?" Prince David asked with... teasing? "For the next days, you may request for anything you like in particular."

"You may just tell me directly," Demitri offered, glancing darkly at his brother. There was a ghost of smile in Prince David's lips.

"Thank you," I said and only looked at Demitri for a fraction of second and went back to my food.

The dinner went smoothly. We were then escorted by our court ladies to our chambers, but instead of going to the pathway that leads to my chamber, I followed Demitri.

"Can you give me a short moment? I will just talk to Prince Ares briefly," I told my court lady.

She agreed and I quickly walked towards Demitri. Sensing that there was someone approaching, he stopped a foot from his chamber's door and turned. His lips parted a bit when he saw me.

"What... are you doing here?"

"I want to talk to you. If that is okay?" I asked in a low voice, afraid that someone might hear me talking to him informally.

"I thought you don't want to be close to me? What is this?" he fired, now his eyes were intensely dark.

"I thought I made everything clear that day? Why did you choose me? To announce your dominance in front of my face because you're the superior?"

"So you're here to talk about that."

"No. I went here to talk about something else."

His eyes narrowed. "What is it?"

"Can we talk about it inside?"