Duchess in Distress

Chapter 2

PRINCE THEO

The sky was still dark, but there was a glimpse of light on the eastern horizon. The stars still twinkled even the morning sky was already approaching. It was the view thru the glass window of the penthouse in a five-star hotel in North Valley, where Prince Theo stayed the night for his unplanned visit to the province.

He was sitting on a sofa while watching the morning sky took over the night sky. It looked like he was watching it, but he thought of what his mother-Queen Isabella of Luvia-said to him yesterday before he fled to North Valley.

The province was the safest to stay away from his parents among all provinces since it was located at the border of Luvia. It was far from the capital city, Kingsville, wherein the Central Royal Palace and the royal family's residence were located.

He put his face on his palms when he remembered what his mother told him about his future marriage plan with one of the most eligible ladies in the country.

"Her blood should be royal," Queen Isabella's all-authority but elegant voice rang in his head, "She must be a descendant of one of our leaders in the past if she was not from our family line. I won't let you marry a girl with no status, title, or having no idea about her family history."

He sighed heavily, just thinking of those ladies in the court who only wanted his title, not his love. They all want to be a queen and not his wife - that was what he always believed. But Penelope was different. She did not want the title. She only wanted to be his wife.

His first love. His first relationship. His first in everything. He could not imagine himself waiting for someone walking down the aisle beside Penelope Keith. He only wanted her. Only her. Damn all the laws stating royals should only marry royals.

He got up from his seat and went to bed, where Penelope was sound asleep. He sat beside her and brushed some strand of her black hair away from her beautiful face.

Penelope Keith was a real beauty. She was considered one of the most popular stars with all her high-rating series and blockbuster movies. However, the monarch still regarded her low-profile because her family line did not come from any of the royals in history.

Dating the Crown Prince was one of her secrets that could ruin not only her career but her life.

She suddenly held the hand of Prince Theo, who caressed her face mindlessly. She opened her eyes, and Prince Theo looked at the beautiful brown eyes. She grabbed his face and brightly smiled that clutched Prince Theo's chest.

"I want our future child to get your mesmerizing blue eyes, so he will have evidence that he is a royal," she whispered in a morning voice.

Prince Theo held her hand on his face and wrinkled his forehead in confusion and curiosity at the same time. "What do you mean? Are the eye colors the basis of being a royal now?" He questioned very softly as if a lullaby. "I have cousins or even known members of the court who have brown eyes."

Penelope also sat down on the bed and leveled her face to the Crown Prince of Luvia. She shook her head and giggled like a little girl. "No," she responded, "But, every time I met a person with blue or green eyes or even gray, they came from a family with high status and title. You know, when I was a child, me and my friends believed that royals have eyes with beautiful colors, and we citizens are just brown-colored eyes. But, don't worry, I don't believe in it anymore," she put her head on his chest, "It was just a part of children's fairy-tale."

He hugged her, "Royalty doesn't mean you should have different eye colors." Suddenly, a familiar voice played on his mind.

"I'm a direct descendant of the Duke of North Valley," the ill-mannered girl in the convenience store said that. Prince Theo could not forget the blue-green eyes and the pale skin of the girl. Her face was somewhat familiar, and he could not remember where he saw her besides last night.