Pick One

During the walk to the west wing, they encountered many distinguished guests, comprised mainly of young gentlemen and gentlewomen, all handsomely dressed to impress, especially the young women. Melissa glanced at them and noticed they all seemed to sport the same kind of hairdo, the one Lily had tried on her earlier. Many of the girls wore long drop curls which were arranged in a group of ringlets falling to the neck or bosom on each side while their front hair was brought smoothly down from a centre parting to the ears. Melissa wondered who had come up with such styles, it's too baby-dollish to her liking.

The men courteously greeted the Prince while the young ladies threw flirtatious looks at him while extending their greetings. All of them cast a curious glance at Melissa. Melissa's attire, make up and hairdo was entirely different from the rest of the ladies present, making her stood out among them. Not that she cared, she didn't plan to blend in with the rest of them anyway. In fact, she had even modified her dress to make it less voluminous. Looking at the rest of them, she kind of pity these young girls. They must felt so damn hot with all those layers and layers of skirts!

Prince Xavier led her through a passageway and soon they reached the main hall of the west wing. Prince Xavier opened a door to his left and gestured Melissa to go in. When Melissa stepped inside, her hands covered her mouth in surprised. There, an array of transcendent paintings were on display either on the walls or placed on the floor. She slowly walked to each painting and scrutinized each and every one of it. The main theme of most of the paintings seemed to be of nature, while some were painted using buildings as inspiration. 

"Your Highness, are these your work?" Melissa finally turned to Prince Xavier who was following her closely. 

"Yes, I've been painting since I was young. These are some paintings which I kept. Do you like them?" Prince Xavier said while smiling down at her.

"Like them? I love them!" Melissa said excitedly at the Prince. She just couldn't help it. Whenever she talked about paintings, she became super excited, almost childlike behaviour. 

"I want you to see them so you can choose whichever one you like." Prince Xavier said.

"What?" Melissa was confused. 

"I heard of your upcoming art gallery. The painting which you choose will be my gift to you in commemoration of the opening of your gallery." The Prince explained.

"Really?? Thank you, Your Highness!" Melissa was thrilled. She didn't think Prince Xavier would do this for her. She had indeed fallen in love with one of the paintings in the room.

She immediately walked towards her favourite one and stood still in front of a serene painting of the ocean overlooking sunset. She turned to Prince Xavier and pointed to it.

"Why did you choose this one?" Prince Xavier asked, curiosity in his voice.

"I really miss the ocean. When I look at this, I am comforted. Plus, who could tell whether this is a sunset or sunrise? It can bring either the beginning or the ending to something. No matter how we look at it, there are more than one profound meaning in this painting." Melissa explained while staring at the painting.

As someone who liked to paint, Prince Xavier understood what she meant. They both stood there for some time in silence before a page appeared and announced that the garden party has begun and his presence was required.

"Let's go. I will send this painting over myself when the art gallery is ready." Prince Xavier held Melissa's hand in his arm and led her to the garden where the party was held. As they neared the place, Melissa could hear laughter and chatter of the guests, everyone mingling happily with each other. Somehow, she felt nervous. Suddenly a name appeared in her mind: Anastasia. Shit! How could she forget about that vile woman! She was engrossed with her art gallery that she had completely forgotten about this female antagonist in the novel.

When Melissa entered the garden with Prince Xavier, everyone stopped talking and looked in their direction. She had only seen Lady Anastasia once in the original host's memory so she could not really remember how Lady Anastasia looked like. Melissa scanned the crowd but she couldn't pin point which one was her. Every lady had the same fashion style and they held the same envious look on their face, as if they wanted to skin her alive.

Before she could do anything, she noticed Queen Serina walked towards them, beaming with a smile on her kind face. She immediately retrieved her hand from Prince Xavier's arm and dropped a formal curtsy to the Queen. Behind her stood Duke Kensington. Looking at this man suddenly jolted her memory of their earlier kiss and Melissa subconsciously touched her lips. Duke Kensington saw her gesture and he flushed in embarrassment, clearly thinking of the same thing. Melissa quickly dropped her hand and cursed herself inwardly.

"Melissa, you're here. Come, come, I have something to ask you. Xavier and Zachary, you guys stay here with the guests." Queen Serina held Melissa's hand and brought her to her table for a chat. For once, Melissa was thankful for the Queen's interruption.

Duke Kensington and Prince Xavier stood next to each other, not saying anything. Finally, he couldn't stand it any longer.

"Did something happen between you and Melissa?" Prince Xavier asked. His blue eyes turned icier as he spoke.

"What? No, nothing happened. Why do you ask?" Duke Kensington evaded the question. 

"Hmmm...both of you are acting strange. Did you do something to her?" Prince Xavier probed further.

"Xavier, seriously, stop asking. You won't like the answer even if I tell you." Duke Kensington said ambiguously.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Prince Xavier immediately turned to face his cousin. 

"Your Highness, Your Grace, how do you do?" A sweet voice interrupted suddenly from the side and both of them turned to see who it was.

Lady Anastasia and Princess Katherine were seen approaching them, followed by a group of noble born ladies, mostly unknown to the two men. Seeing that it were these two women, both Prince Xavier and Duke Kensington turned rigid and they cursed softly at the same time, "Shit!" At the sound of that, they instantly looked at one another, sharing the same look of disdain.

"Hello ladies, how do you do?" Prince Xavier was the first to greet the ladies, while Duke Kensington merely nodded to all of them, not sparing a single glance to any of them. He took a sip of his drink and diverted his attention to look at Melissa who was chatting with the Queen. Princess Katherine saw this and she was furious. 

"Your Highness, I saw you earlier with Lady Melissa. Where did you go? How come she's alone with you without Duke Kensington?" Lady Anastasia said with an innocent look on her face. 

At the mention of Melissa, Duke Kensington glanced at Lady Anastasia and looked away again without saying anything. 

"I had something to discuss with Lady Melissa." Prince Xavier replied curtly.

"Oh, what is it Brother, is it a secret between the two of you?" Princess Katherine asked, obviously trying to create a rift between Lady Melissa and the Duke.

"Outsiders don't need to know. Excuse me, ladies, I have something to attend to." With that, Prince Xavier walked away without turning back. 

Lady Anastasia was not satisfied with the Prince's attitude and immediately followed him from behind after muttering something to Princess Katherine. She needed to get him alone so her scheme would work. No matter what, she needed to close the deal with him today!

Princess Katherine looked at the other noble ladies and seeing her gesture, they immediately left as well, leaving the Princess with Duke Kensington alone. 

"So, cousin, I heard your marriage has been postponed. You must be thrilled?" Princess Katherine asked nonchalantly.

"And why would I be thrilled?" Duke Kensington asked, his voice distant. 

"I mean, you don't really agree to this union in the first place. I do feel there're better choices out there for you. Don't you agree?" Princess Katherine said.

"Who do you think is better for me than Melissa?" Duke Kensington asked again, this time his voice sounded intimidating.

"Well, the person might be closer to you than you think. You just didn't look properly." Princess Katherine answered shyly.

"Be clear, who do you think that person is?" Disgusted with his cousin's coquettish behaviour, Duke Kensington asked coldly. 

"Zachary! How could you force me to say it out loud? You should know how I feel towards you." Princess Katherine's face reddened from embarrassment.

"Are you saying you are the 'better choice' than Melissa?" This time, Duke Kensington turned to look at Princess Katherine, his gaze unfriendly.

"Zachary..I..." Princess Katherine hesitated, stunned to see his cousin's unfriendly attitude for the first time. 

"Katherine, we're cousins who grew up together. I only treat you as a younger sister, same as how Xavier treats you. Nothing more, nothing less. I've never ever indicated to you otherwise. If you value our family bond with each other, do not ever mention this again, not to me nor anyone else. It's not going to happen." With that finality, Duke Kensington finished his drink in a gulp and left Princess Katherine standing there with her mouth opened in shock.