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She thanked the maid who had set a cup of tea in front of her and placed a cube of sugar, as she stirred her cup she hummed happily.

Ella brought the cup to her lips, enjoying the warm and sweet sensation the jasmine tea filled her mouth with, her mother had always had a knack for buying the tastiest most exotic teas around, she was grateful for it.

As Ella put her cup down she noticed that her parents and brother were all frozen in place staring at her.

“What?” The girl questioned them. “Is there something wrong with how I look? Do I look weird?”

She frantically started inspecting herself for any abnormalities in her attire, had she forgotten to button up her dress? Was there something on her face?

Her mother was the first to speak after the long stretch of silence. “Nothing is wrong dear we’re just surprised is all.”

.....

“Surprised? What about?”

“Well you were humming,” William responded, a shocked but delighted look on his face. “And smiling too, it seems you’re in a generally good mood, it’s very unlike you Ella.”

Ella furrowed her brows at William, it was unlike her to be in a good mood? Really? Had she really been that gloomy in this life?

“I’m glad to see you out of your room.” Her father added on. “We were all so worried.”

Ella looked down at her plate in guilt, of course they were worried about her, she had shut everyone out even more than she usually did. They were her family after all, and even though she wasn’t particularly interactive with them, they still loved her.

“I’m sorry for worrying you.” She looked up at her family and smiled warmly at them. “I’m fine now.”

William almost chocked when he saw Ella’s smile, he’d never seen her smile so genuinely before. He wished she would smile more, she looked absolutely precious.

“I’m assuming this new found happiness is a curtsy of prince Nathan?” William asked sheepishly.

Ella turned to face William who was smirking as he mouthed a cupcake. Her cheeks reddened at the mention of Nathan’s name, why was her heart pounding like this? William just asked her a simple question, there was absolutely no need to panic.

“The prince?” Ella’s mother questioned. “What does the prince have to do with this?”

William swallowed his cupcake and grinned widely. “He came over to cheer Ella up the other day, I’m just assuming that’s why she’s so peppy this morning.”

“He and I are just friends.” Ella responded hastily, the red on her cheeks spreading to her ears and the rest of her face. “He just came over because he was worried about me, like any good friend would be.”

William snorted out a chuckle at how much emphasis his sister was putting on the word ‘friend’, didn’t she realize her facial expressions were selling her out.

“Friends, lovers.. so long as you and the prince are in good terms.” Her mother responded with a smile.

“What about this Jillian fellow?”

Ella looked up at her father and sighed. “Jillian... um, Jillian is gone father.”

“Gone? Where to?”

“I don’t know.” Ella responded in a low tone. She had never uttered those words out loud before, she realized that saying them audibly made the reality of Jillian’s death all too real to her. But she knew it was time to let him go, for the sake of her sanity and for the peace of his soul. She would always keep his memories with her, and deep down she knew he’d want her to live happily.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Lord Morrell responded.

On the surface, Ella’s father didn’t seem like he cared much about his children’s personal affairs, but deep down it was quite the opposite. He always put his children’s wellbeing above everything else, especially his only little girl. He wanted her to have a happy and luxurious life with everything she wanted, that’s why he was adamant on her getting together with the prince.

“So are you spending your day today with the prince again?” Ella’s mother questioned the girl.

“What?” Ella’s red face returned with a vengeance. “Why are you asking me that? It’s not like I spend every day with him.”

“Calm down sweetie it’s just that I haven’t seen him around lately is all.”

“Oh” Ella looked down at her plate and sipped her tea, why was she feeling so embarrassed over the mention of the prince all of a sudden.

“He’s probably attending to royal duties.” Her father spoke. “He is the crowned prince after all, I’m assuming it has something to do the the visit from the king of the Eastern kingdom of Gavaria.”

Lady Morrell looked up at her husband. “King James Burchard is coming to Meria?”

“Yes he is.” The man responded. “Word has it that he wishes to form an alliance with Meria.”

“But Gavaria is such a large and powerful kingdom already.” William mentioned. “Why would they need an alliance with Meria, is there something they’re not telling us?”

“Well we’ll just have to wait and see. Considering the king is coming here himself, I’m made to believe this alliance is of utmost importance to him.”

William pondered on his fathers words, he was right. Kings never left their thrones for anything, this must have been a very special case indeed.

“So he’s left the crown unattended to?” William asked. “Who will run the kingdom’s everyday affairs while he’s away?”

“Probably his son, prince Adam.” Lord Morrell responded. “He will most likely be acting king in his father’s absence.”

“I hear the young prince conquered the northern kingdom of Baiviles when he was only sixteen.” Lady Morrell added on. “He’ll be quite the formidable king one day, no wonder his father can leave an entire kingdom’s affairs in his hands.

Ella couldn’t hide the shock on her face, he conquered a whole kingdom at only sixteen? He must be a really ruthless and petrifying man.

Amidst the little family moment, the butler walked into the room and handed lord Morrell a parchment. The man rolled it open and read the contents intently.

“It’s from the king.” Lord Morrell spoke. “He says king Burchard’s royal procession will be arriving tomorrow and he wishes to hold a small feast to welcome them. All lords are to attend with their families.”

Lord Morrell’s gaze then fell on his daughter. “The prince specifically asked for you to attend the feast as his guest of honor Ella.”

Ella looked up at her father in shock. “Me?”

Being asked to be the guest of honor at any royal function was an incredibly big deal to anyone. It meant that you would sit at the high table with the royal family and sit on the right hand of whosoever invited you. It was basically like a way of showing other royals that among them, you are the most favored by that particular person, and Ella had been invited as the guest of honor by the crowned prince.

“Oh how wonderful!” Her mother exclaimed, clearly unable to contain her joy. “I’ll have the royal tailor make you the most beautiful dress right away.”

Lord Morrell and William also smiled at the news, they both knew that there was no way the prince would ask Ella to be his guest of honor if he didn’t care for her.

Ella on the other hand felt distraught. She was flattered that Prince Nathan was willing to do all of that for her, but the last thing she wanted was to sit at a table, next to the prince, where every Jim and Jack would be staring at her.

Ella knew that many maidens, daughters of the different lords of the land, would literally sell their souls just to get a whiff of the prince’s attention. Making her his guest of honor would be like throwing her into the lions den, those desperate females would eat her alive.

[Nathan you idiot, why are you always so extra?]

Ella’s mother grabbed the girl by the shoulder and gestured the girl to follow her. “Come now dear, I’ll have you looking like the most beautiful princess in all the land. Every girl in attendance will be so jealous.”

That’s exactly what Ella didn’t want, she didn’t want to make anyone jealous.

Ella would occasionally catch wind of the nasty gossip that the princesses and little ladies of their land would utter about each other. The way in which they slandered each other’s names was so venomous that it made Ella wonder why they even bothered pretending to get along in the first place.

Ella was sure if the chance presented itself, these girls were capable of physically hurting each other just to have an advantage over one another, it was gut wrenching.

And now here poor Ella was, being dragged to what seemed to be her death sentence by her mother. And after she’d worked so hard to keep a low profile.

[I’ll get you for this Nathan]