The princess of truth

Chapter 20

In the perspective of Emilia

A week went by after I entered the void. Louis had given me a nag about doing reckless things without consulting him, but then again, he had hugged me crying afterward, so there goes the authenticity.

The castle is in havoc because today is mine and Andreu's engagement announcement.

My parents were so keen on preparing for the party that we couldn't say no. I put on the blue dress that I had used at the ball earlier.

My maid Elis tied my hair, and then we heard a knock from the door. "Emilia, honey, are you ready?" It's Andreu. Ever since I returned from the void, he started to use those overly sweet names.

"Yeah, I'm ready, Andreu." He opened the door and stepped in. He was wearing a white suit with a matching blue tie and shirt to my dress.

He walked to me and helped me up from the dresser. He kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear. "You look, beautiful darling." I kissed him back to his surprise and took his hand. "Let's go then, shall we."

We walked to the main hall's doors and waited for my parents' speech that was at the same time, "glad to be back" speech.

My mother started to speak. "Everyone, our dear friends, thank you for coming here today. Today is a big day. Today we celebrate our daughter's braveness to enter the void and save my husband and me. We couldn't have wished for a better daughter. Today we also celebrate for Christopher La Natér, who, to our sadness, couldn't come here today along with Andreu. He kept the portal open for Emilia and us." My mother stopped speaking, and my father continued.

"And talking about Andreu. He is a great man who found our daughter. There's nobody I would be glad to give my daughter to. Now we are getting to our main celebration topic but let's let the actual pair to tell you the great news." Louis came to open the doors.

He smiled at us as we walked past the doors. We walked to my parent's hand in hand. Andreu's parent's had come to stand at the other side. I smiled.

"Everyone, our friends and family, our journey to this point has been long. I never even dreamed of meeting my parents before I met Andreu. He gave me hope to think that I wasn't alone. He was there for me when all of this was hard for me, and he was here making all of this amazing. Without him, I probably wouldn't be here, and at first, I was just grateful, but little by little, gratefulness changed into something else. Something warm and fuzzy. I learned that I loved him and my feelings just got stronger through our experiences."

The hall was quiet, and Andreu continued. "In my case, I had always loved her. After all, but after actually meeting her, I'm her protector, talking with her, and just being around her. Her meaning in my life got stronger. I don't think I can live without her anymore."

We looked at each other in the eyes and then turned to look at the crowd. "With that, the two of us would like to announce in front of our parents and front of you that the two of us are engaged." The hall burst out in cheers, and Andreu and I kissed.

The party went on like normal the two of us danced and otherwise stuck to each other.

We ate good food and talked with our parents about the wedding and when to hold it. We thought that it would be best to wait a while. I was only sixteen, after all.

I was about to sneak outside with Andreu when my mother stopped me. "Could we talk for a moment?" She asked me, smiling, and I nodded. This was the first time we really talked properly, so I was nervous about what she wanted to say.

Andreu left to give us some privacy. My father came with us, and we went to a private room.

Immediately after getting to the room, my mother hugged me. Her hug felt so nice and familiar. "I'm sorry, darling, for taking you to earth. We didn't have a choice if we didn't do that you_!"

I stopped her. "It's fine. It's fine as long as you are here now." I hugged her tightly. "Thank you for being understanding and the other thing we wanted to talk about."

She looked at her husband, and my father smiled at me. "We have thought that we want you and Andreu will take over our duties soon after you get married."

I stared at them. "What do you mean?" They smiled at us melancholically, and my mother answered my question.

"We have been away for a long time. We wish to retire and give our job to the next generation. We heard from Louis that you have been doing most of our work after coming back, so we know that you will be a great queen. You don't need to worry about it yet. It's a thing from the future. Now go and enjoy your time with Andreu." She smiled at me as I was still in shock. I blushed and left the room.

I spent the rest of the evening with Andreu in the garden. We were lying on the grass right next to each other, looking at stars.

Apparently, Andreu doesn't like the night but enjoys it if he's with me. The night was warm, and we ended up falling asleep, cuddled together on the grass.