Small update to show, yes I am still writing for this story and haven't died yet!
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THE NEXT FEW WEEKS passed by in a blur everything blending into one as chaos ensued around Olivia. The duke was truthful in his words and sent a letter to the emperor with her request just later that day and after only two days they'd gotten a response back saying he'd arrive in two weeks time, everything after that was madness.
The Auclair mansion was filled with busy servants making preparations for the prince's arrival, the duchess' constant complaints, her younger sister's confusion, and Olivia's exhaustion.
Today was finally the day Ezekiel would arrive and live with them from then on and Olivia would be lying if she said she she wasn't a small bit anxious.
Olivia along with the rest of her family (albeit reluctantly) stood at the entrance to their home, flanked on either side by servants, waiting for the princes arrival.
Olivia took a deep breath and straightened her posture more, if it was even possible, as her sister bounced on her toes excitingly waiting for the ever encroaching carriage.
The horse drawn carriage that stopped in front of them in what felt like a blink of an eye, wasn't extravagant like one would expect it to be. It was nicer then most, smooth dark wood, intricate designs were hand craved in each of the corners, and finally in the middle of door itself was a large gold three headed dragon, the trademark symbol of the royal family. She wasn't able to see Ezekiel himself due to the red curtains drawn shut from the inside, a servant soon enough stepped out of the carriage leaving the door open and walking around the back to grab two small luggage cases.
A small boy with impossibly vibrant red hair stepped out after him, he looked cleaner and fuller health wise, he was still far too skinny and short for his age. His hair was cut shorter and smoother then it was during they're first meeting, it was a sort of contained unruly, brushed back to curl around his ears and frame around his face, his bangs hung loosely on his forehead.
His outfit wasn't anything special, a simple white dress shirt and royal blue shorts, long socks that came up to his knees and black buckle shoes.
Ezekiel looked a bit shocked when he finally looked and saw Olivia. She gave a polite smile and followed her parents as they greeted the young Prince accordingly, along with Ophelia with all her four year-old gracefulness.
Ezekiel approached them with faux confidence, it was painfully obvious how unaccustomed to this position from the stiff way he walked to the slight twitches in his face and fiddling of his fingers. He hesitantly approached the group and took a deep breathe, "Hello, my name is Ezekiel Esteban, I am the third im-" He stuttered and cleaned his throat once, "Third imperial Prince of the Esteban empire. I thank you, Duke Auclair, and your family for taking me in." He bowed his head slightly and looked back up, the Duke and Duchess looked on impassively and Ophelia bounced on her feet in her constant state of curiosity, Olivia gave him an encouraging smile.
"We welcome you as well, Prince Ezekiel, to our estate. I hope your stay here will be comfortable, Estelle will show you to your room." Duke Auclair spoke up and just like, that everyone dispersed.
Estelle walked forward from behind the Auclair's and grabbed the prince's belongings from the servant who still stood a little ways away from Ezekiel. Olivia followed the two up the grand staircase and down the west hallway.
"Hello, Ezekiel! Fancy seeing you again." Olivia said with a sly grin. "You look better then the last time I saw you. Not so much on death's door anymore."
"Ah, Lady Olivia, yes I am much better." He returned a nervous smile, "This was your doing wasn't it? This whole arrangement." Ezekiel motioned vaguely around them.
"Yes, it was. I didn't like seeing the way you were being treated and how you lived, I believe you are destined for much more! And, plus, we're friends now! Friends help each other." She said with as much enthusiasm needed to be convincing, it was half the truth, she really didn't like the way this small child was being neglected but she already knew how his life was to play out so, she kind of cheated.
"Right, friends." Ezekiel glanced toward her and fiddled with his fingers, slowly and quietly he murmured out, "...thank you."
Olivia smiled, "No problem!"
As they slowly neared closer to Ezekiel's new room Olivia pointed out small rooms they passed around the house and gave him a sort of mental tour of the lay out, "This is my room! It's only a few doors away from yours so if you ever need anything feel free to come and knock!"
She really hoped he didn't hold her to that.
True to her word Estelle stopped only two rooms down of the door Olivia pointed out as her own living space.
The room itself wasn't anything special, only a bit smaller then Olivia's herself lacking the walk in closet she had, but it had its own bathroom, and was clean and spacious enough. White walls and sheer curtains covering large two windows on the wall opposite to them, a king sized poster bed with a red velvet couch pushed against the front of it was to the right of them, facing the wall with the a large wooden dresser in the corner. Other then the empty desk in between the two windows and a light blue, round rug in front of the bed, the room was empty.
Estelle walked further into the bedroom and placed Ezekiel's luggage on the bed before turning around with a friendly smile, "Welcome to the family Master Ezekiel!" He gave a shy smile in return to that comment, his cheeks flushing slightly pink, "I'm sure Lady Olivia will be thrilled to give you a tour around the manor before dinner! Isn't that right Miss?" She turned her soft smile Olivia's way.
Truthfully, Olivia planned to retreat into the library before being forced into an uncomfortable dinner with her family but she was never able to deny the sweet pink haired woman, and now wasn't any different.
"O-of course! I was just about to Estelle!" Olivia chuckled nervously, "Here, follow me, I'll show you everything you need to see." Olivia turned and Ezekiel trailed after her, leaving Estelle to unpack and put away the prince's things.
Olivia first showed him the rest of the west wing, she pointed out the guest rooms, drawing and living rooms, the small dining area, and library on that side of the house, she pointed to the backyard and gardens that could be seen through the windows. Then she moved toward the other side of the manor, again pointing out the guest and entertaining rooms, the duke's, duchess', and Ophelia's personal rooms that were on the way, the duke's office, a meeting room, and another small library.
Moving downstairs Olivia showed him the main dining area, the kitchen, the big library (as she called it) that was opened to all visitors, she explained how the second floor is mainly inhabited by the family's personal quarters and therefore the rest of the rooms are more personal to the family then it was to guests. She's even shown him to the servants quarters and knights training grounds.
Olivia tried to keep the whole encounter fun and happy with sorry excuses for jokes that he laughed at anyway and light conversations, with the way he seemed much more relaxed and comfortable around her, she had succeeded.
They ended the night with a quiet dinner with the rest of the Auclairs and reading a story together in the west wing library until Estelle came to fetch them and send them off to bed.
They said good night to each other and Olivia immediately slumped into the warmth and comfort of her bed.
She was exhausted, sure, but it wasn't the usual soul-draining-head-splitting dread and tiredness, she felt almost light and relaxed if you will. She'd genuinely enjoyed her time with the Prince.
Tomorrow she would introduce him to her teachers and they would access and decide where to start him in his education, then they would probably play together, read a story, and maybe Amos would stop by as he more often started inviting himself over lately. And it didn't sound too bad.
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Ok so, I'm really bad at consistently writing and posting chapters but! It's not my fault (entirely) I've been stuck in this chapter for weeks now, I wasn't too sure on how to write it and I've lost tons of motivation on writing this story cause my pacing was horrible and now everything has been really slow moving, which is my fault I will admit, and I want to move along with the plot but make it feel rushed, you know? I've kind of been writing this just as I go with not much planning at all and no beta reading but I try (┳◇┳).
Also, I've been reading too much fan fiction lately to focus on anything else in my life, so I'm sorry :p but I'm gonna start moving these chapters along at a faster pace to try and actually get to the important, juicy part of the story, so thank you for putting up with my crap :)
(Also, excuse any grammatical mistakes you might come across, please point them out if you feel the need and I will do my best to fix them! T^T)