Fed up with their strong-headed, rebellious son, the King and Queen of the Kingdom of Terrigal come up with a plan for him to settle down by sending invitations to all the eligible young women of the land, to contest for his love, much to the Prince...
Lying in bed, twenty year old Prince Alexander ignored the knocking on his door from one of the butler's until it eventually went away.
"Finally." He released a exasperated breath and sat up.
He had just gotten back from England a month ago after studying there and his parents wanted him to marry as he was to take the throne on his twenty first birthday ten months from now, but he wasn't ready even though it was a tradition. There was so much that he wanted to do. He wanted to travel the world, explore new place and experience their customs and traditions, meet new people, etc.,
Standing up, he walked over to the massive, wall-covering library that he had at the foot of his bed and pulled out one of the world atlases that was there and began flipping through it before the door swung open. He didn't need to turn around to see who it was.
"What are you doing, Alex? There are guests here."
He rolled his green eyes at his mother's voice. "They are your guests, mother. Not mine."
"What are you talking about. They came here to see you." Queen Sofia replied irritatingly at her son's rude behaviour.
"That's because you told them that I came home." He replied dryly.
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"Do not use that tone with me, Alexander." Queen Sofia snapped, irked with her stubborn son. He got that from his father. "Yes, I was the one who told them that you have come home because they are good friends of ours. You use to play Graciella when you were little, do you not remember."
Alex sighed deeply, placed the atlas back onto the shelf and turned to face his mother, whom he inherited his dark wavy locks and light tan complexion from. "I do, but we are not children anymore."
It was his mother's turn to release a sigh. "I know that, but would you please just come down and greet them at least...They travelled a long way to get here."
"Alright. Give me five minutes." He nodded and turned to walk over to his large walk-in-closet.
"Thank you and please put on a different shirt."
"What's wrong with this one?" Alex stopped and looked down at his maroon T-shirt.
"You wore it to bed last night." Queen Sofia gave him a unimpressed look to which he simply chuckled and went into the closet.
Alex changed out of the shirt and grey sweatpants that he had on and wore a pair of black jeans with a navy blue jersey along with a pair of his converse before running his hands through his wavy, chocolate-brown hair to give it some volume before he exited his room, walking down the big, long hallway towards the grand staircase.
He knew that his mother would disapprove of his outfit but he didn't care. He was an adult now and he would dress the way that he wanted too.
Walking into their back parlour room, he saw his parents seated by around the coffee there along with his small sister, Princess Brianna and their close family friends the Cartertons, while they had tea. The Cartertons' owned a cheese manufacturing company over in the region of Belkimi, a day's drive away.
"Oh, here he is!" His mother feigned cheerfulness, smiling at him but that changed once she saw his outfit then she quickly composed herself, sending him a warning with her eyes.
"Prince Alexander!" Mr. Carterton stood up with a broad grin. He was a tall, lanky man with fair skin, thining blonde hair and piercing green eyes.
"Mr. Carterton." Alex smiled and they shook hands before he moved on to his wife and pecked her on the cheek.
"Hi my dear, how are you?" Mrs. Carterton asked kindly. She was a tiny woman with fair complexion, honey-coloured hair and amber eyes.
"I'm fine, thank you." Alex replied politely before moving away from her then his eyes moved to the other young woman in the room. One that he hasn't seen in five years. A carbon copy of her mother excluding the hair colour and eyes. She inherited her father's blonde locks instead and green eyes.
"Your highness." Graciella gave a small, yet graceful bow before him then she stood up straight and looked him in the eyes, and he saw that familiar spark in her eyes that he never forgot. Longing.
"Graciella." Alex simply nodded his head in acknowledgement but didn't try to interact any further with her and turned to his father.
He knew that she had feelings for him but he didn't feel the same way about her.
Taking the other seat beside his father, Alex watched as his parents exchanged looks with one another before his father looked at him directly.
"We have some news to share with you." King Stefan said to his son, prompting Alex to frown in question.
