Where there's a Will, there's a Tiara | Complete (ONC 2021 Longlister)

12. Meeting Prince Duke

As it turned out, there were a surprising number of details already in motion for this supposed engagement. On top of the note and the ring, which were both sitting safely tucked away in my top dresser drawer, there were no less than three official meetings with various people to discuss things I honestly couldn't remember long enough to keep track of.

All I knew was that less than a week later I was standing in my room watching my grandmother bark orders at a hair stylist to ensure I would be properly dressed to meet the prince guy later that day.

I could practically hear Ezrah's voice in my ear, as I had been literally for the last week. His name is Edward, you know? And I did know. I also knew the pain from stubbing my toe was still around a week later and I didn't expect the pain of such betrayal to go away any quicker.

My grandmother, as my chaperone, got to follow me into the waiting car and continue to remind me of my duty and the rules even as we were driving the short distance to the estate. "You are to curtsy and address the prince as—"

"I know, grandma. We've been over this at least twelve times. There's not going to be anyone there. If he can't handle me messing up a thing or two, it's probably best he learn I'm not the girl for him sooner rather than later."

Nora resisted the urge to pop me upside my head, and I had to admit it was pretty fun watching her struggle to gain her composure. But this wasn't going to get me anywhere with gaining her approval either. It's just a year, I reminded myself. We get in, we push the engagement longer than her approval. We get out.

And when I put it like that it seemed so simple. It was the 'engagement' part that was really starting to worry me.

"So, once I've addressed him we are going to walk or talk or something for thirty minutes? This is how we are to get to know each other?"

"Well if you both would like to extend the visit, by all means," Nora answered, using a pin from her handbag to secure a piece of my hair that the wind had tossed out of place. "But we thought it best to limit the required time so as not to apply too much pressure."

Too much pressure? Like allowing me to be engaged to a person I'd never met! I honestly thought that was completely illegal!

"Adelaide," Nora said when the car rolled through the gates onto the grand estate. "I really think you ought to wear this as a sign of good faith." She slid the ring box out of her purse and set it down on my lap.

You have got to be kidding me! He hasn't even asked me yet and I don't know him.

I wanted so desperately to throw it out the window and tell her to take me home, but I'd put in too much work for her approval, and I couldn't give up now. So instead, I plastered a smile onto my face and slid the ring out of the box and onto my left ring finger.

"Now, Adelaide," Nora started, probably for another lecture.

"We're here," I interrupted her.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath through my nose. You just have to get through the next hour. You can do this. Just breathe.

The door opened before me and a woman in a black uniform nodded her head curtly and stepped back, allowing me to step out of the door on my own. For some reason I was expecting a crusty old man in an elaborate embroidered outfit holding my hand and helping me out of my carriage, or something. Not that that made any sense, but I guess the fairy tales got to me.

I waited for Nora to get out of the car and followed her up to the door of the house. Looking at it now, as the house of my fiancé, it seemed even larger than the last time. The ornately carved wooden door was so dark it was almost black.

"You may knock," Nora said when we had been standing in front of the door for several minutes. Knock. Right, that makes sense.

Scanning the door for a knocker, my eyes finally settled on the large golden carving of some type of large bird. Maybe a raven? I don't really know birds. Grasping its beak between my fingers, I pulled it up as high as I could and let it drop down to a percussive smack on the metal plate affixed to the deep wooden door.

I was reaching up to knock a second time, breaking carefully to try to keep my face neutral, when the door creaked open. A man in a dark green shirt and dark pants opened the door and smiled at me. "You must be Miss Adelaide Becker." He smiled and opened the door wider. "Please do come in."

"It is an honour to be here, Your Royal Highness," my grandmother said, curtseying.

This guy is the next king of a whole country? And he just opened his own door. Not what I was expecting.

"Your Royal Highness," I repeated finally, curtseying and counting to three before standing to full height again.

"You could probably call me Edward," he said, the corners of his mouth gently turning up at the edges as his hands pressed into the sides of his legs. "Would you please come in?" He stepped back and swept his arm in the general direction of a large archway at the other end of the entry hall.

"I'd like that," I said, pushing a smile onto my own face. This is so fucking awkward.

My footsteps echoed through the empty hall with every step I made my way across the stone floor. There was no indication that anyone actually worked in that house, which obviously could not be the case, and was slightly disconcerting. "So do you come here often?" I asked, trying to quiet the silence that grew around us.

"No," he admitted. "Though I am here to meet with you and a charity event they will have on the grounds here."

"Is it a party? I do love parties." If I could have covered my mouth with my hand without wholly embarrassing myself, I would have done it to hide my horror. Have I just invited myself to a party? That part wouldn't be so bad if it weren't sending off the message of my desperately wanting to be engaged to him which I most definitely do not! As it was, I settled for an awkward grimace and looking at one of the large tapestries that lined the wall. It depicted a knight of some kind, but my mind wasn't focusing on anything.

These are going to be the most awkward months of my whole life.

* ~ * Author's Note * ~ *

Kare means boyfriend, dumbass by KGBuchanan is another ONC entry you should check out. Oliver is an egotistical jackass. So is Jun. Soon they'll discover that not only opposites attract.