Chapter 5

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Hiya lovelies pictured above is the dinning room where Nina is about to meet her guests.
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Gracefully, I walked all the way to the head of the table, making no eye-contact and staring emotionlessly ahead. Only once I reached the table did I take my time to look at the young men.

They had all gone quiet and were staring at me with wide eyes and slightly parted mouths. However, there were a few arrogant ones that winked at me and smiled but I just raised my eyebrows at them.

I was freaking out by the high level of testosterone in the room, but once I took a good look at them I became all giddy. All of the suitors were gorgeous. There was a range of features ranging from tanned body, chiselled jawline and cute dimples to fair skin, freckles and a cheeky smile.

They all looked just charming.

I cleared my throat and started speaking, "Welcome to 'The Royal Programme' gentlemen. As you should all know I am Princess Nina Phillips of Spain and I am absolutely delighted that you have all managed to arrive here safely, I hope everyone's room are to their liking. I am eager to get to know each and every one of you starting from tomorrow."

"So now that I've made my little speech let's get dinner started." I stated enthusiastically.

"That was pretty impressive, not the speech, that could've been improved. I mean way you walked in here, like you were actually eager to find a future husband. I'm surprised you haven't complained once since we've arrived," Natti whispered quietly as the dinner hall filled with loud chatter amongst the men, whom were getting to know each other.

"You know, I for once agree with dear Natalia," Alex said with a fake smile plastered on his lips and his voice dripping in sarcasm. Something was wrong and I was going to ask him what, when dinner was finished.

"Thank you for your kind words sister I'm actually looking forward to this whole programme now. There's something about this place that's making me feel confident. Oh and also don't forget what we talked about on the plane Natti. You can choose a suitor too," I said into her ears. She blushed and nodded profusely before going back to looking protective and fierce.

During dinner I overheard many humorous conversations and small talk amongst the men. I even talked to some of them. They were all polite except one.

He was the odd one out, it was clear. Whenever there was a little joke shared he always seemed to scowl whereas all the others laughed. There was something about him that made me fe feel uneasy and wary about him.

I shifted my focus to my twin and his beau, who were both looking at each other fondly and talking in a hushed tone. I had an inkling that Nik felt quite threatened by the appearances of the young men. In his eyes there was fear, he was scared of losing Angel to one of the guys here. However, I made a mental note to talk to him later and assure him that Angel is not going anywhere. After all, she was the most loyal person I knew of.

Dinner went surprisingly well and uneventful. I breathed a sigh of relief and got up from my chair to head to my chambers, to get dressed for bed. After I had gotten up, many of the men stood up to go to their rooms, no doubt they were tired from their journey too. I was told that they had barely gotten any time to refresh themselves before dinner, all they got time to do was check out their rooms, put their luggage away and change clothes.

However, before I climbed up the staircase, I heard my name being called out by someone. I turned around and came face to face with him. It was the 'odd one out' guy. He looked ravishing up close but nonetheless he was quite intimidating in my eyes. I gave him a small smile and started to make my way upstairs.

"No! Wait, Princess Nina," he said. I huffed and waited for him to catch up to me. "My name is Rafael Santos, pleasure to meet you. You can call me Raf." He then took my hand and gently kissed it.

"I'm afraid we got off on the wrong foot. I saw you looking at me as if I was some shady kidnapper just because I didn't laugh at the jokes. Well let me assure you, I am anything but that." He said. "The thing is I do not laugh often, but when I do it's very rare. Only people I like have seen me laugh. And besides, that guy's jokes weren't even that funny."

"Oh well I appreciate you for telling me that Raf. It does make me feel less wary of you I must admit. I hope during your stay I will be able to witness and hear your laugh," I said with a small chuckle, "Oh and please, call me Nina."

"Well I believe that is the plan my lady," Raf said attempting an English accent but failing miserably. "I wish you a very good night Nina. I will see you tomorrow I hope."

I smiled and nodded as I made my way to the royal quarters and knocked on Alexander's door. I wanted to ask him why he seemed annoyed during the dinner. He opened his door and quickly pulled me inside.

"What the hell was that Alex," I snapped. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Hey in my defence Natalia was just about to enter the royal quarters. You and I both know that if she saw you coming to my room this late at night, would give her the wrong idea. And I'm very sorry I roughly pulled you in but I hope you understand why I did that now," he said with a solemn expression before wiggling his eyebrows. I couldn't help but laugh at how silly he looked.

"It's fine I get it. But I actually came here to talk about dinner. The fake smile and the tone of sarcasm, what was all that about hey mister?" I questioned.

"Nothing to worry about. It's just that after seeing all those guys, I couldn't help but think that during our stay you won't be able to spend time with me and talk. I'm sorry I guess I just got protective, you know how easily I get annoyed." Alex said with a small smile.

"Alex you're my best friend ever! Don't you dare say things like that. I will always have time for you and don't worry, we can schedule a time where me, you and Nik can spend time together. During that time Natti and Angel can spend some time getting to know each other too." I explained whilst hugging him. "Is that okay with you?"

"Yes," he nodded, "now off to bed you. Tomorrow's a busy day." He kissed my forehead as I left his room and quietly tiptoed into mines.

After changing my clothes, removing my makeup and brushing my teeth I finally climbed under the soft covers and tried to sleep.

Ever since I could remember, I kept having the same dream. It was always of fairies and occasionally of mermaids too, but I didn't dare tell anyone because I knew for a fact they'd think I was crazy and childish.

So I was quite surprised when there was a change in my dream. Instead of my normal one, I fell asleep to the face of Rafael as the conversation we had replayed in my mind. It was odd indeed but I was glad I had some change to my recurring dream today, finally.

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There we have it! It wasn't that long of a chapter but we finally got to see how amazing Nina was during dinner. We also met some charming new guys.

What do we think about Alex's sarcastic tone and protectiveness over Nina?

What do we think about this mysterious Rafael who's managed to come up in Nina's weird dreams?

Thanks again for reading and I hope you liked it. Don't forget to tag, vote, comment and share this story to friends and family who might be interested.

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