Orillia has always wanted to rule on her own but her parents always wanted her to marry. When she meets Owen, a boy who's in the same situation as her, they work together to make sure that they both get what they want. To rule their kingdoms on thei...
I get ready for the photoshoot on my own, applying different makeup products to my face and fixing up my hair. My mother wanted a maid to get me ready for today, but I preferred to get it done myself.
I braid the top half of my hair into two braids, connect them in the back to create a half-up-half-down look, and curl the remaining hair. I finalize the look by pinning various little flowers into the braids.
I get up and look at the rack of dresses. I hadn't picked out a dress yesterday, I was far too tired last night from the hospital visit. As a flip through the various gowns, I settle on a long blue, off-the-shoulder dress. I've never worn this gown before, but it suited the occasion nicely.
I pulled it on and then slid on a pair of black heels. You wouldn't be able to see the shoes under the dress, so I didn't put much effort into picking out a nice pair. I check in the mirror and make minor adjustments to my look, and head downstairs to the common room.
We usually start off the photoshoots in the main room and then moved throughout the palace as we went. When I got there, Owen was already waiting for things to get started. He didn't notice me enter, seeming lost in a daze. I doubt he wanted this to happen any more than me. I make my way over to where he is standing.
"You ready?" I ask Owen, grabbing his attention. He looks down at me and I watch his eyes rake over my outfit. He clears his throat before answering.
"So so so ready for this," he says sarcastically. "You took forever to get ready, you know? We've been waiting for you for like twenty minutes."
"It takes time to look this good," I said waving my hands downwards to show my outfit. "And it's only twenty minutes, I could've taken longer."
"The hair was unnecessary," Owen states adjusting a flower in my hair. I shrug my shoulders. I wanted my hair to look nice, is that a crime? "You could've just left it down, with no curls. That would've saved you at least half an hour."
"I always have my hair down. I like to change things up for pictures."
"Whatever. What's your excuse for the makeup?" I give Owen a questioning look, not understanding what he meant. "I've seen you without makeup, and you don't look hideous. So what is the point of putting a shit tone of makeup on? That probably took you like an hour to do!"
"Will you stop complaining about everything I have on?" I let out a sigh. Did he need to make remarks about every detail? "It's a photoshoot, it's important to go all out. The entire kingdom is going to be seeing these pictures." Owen doesn't answer that and crosses his arms over his chest.
My mother entered the room and announced the beginning of the photoshoot. The crew that was hired began telling Owen and me where to place ourselves and how. The first setting we get is on the couch, simply sitting next to each other.
Owen takes my hand into his, placing our intertwined hands in his lap. My heart flutters lightly at the gesture, giving the photographer had not told him to do that. Although, I'm sure it'll look better this way. The man with the camera smiles before telling us to smile and snapping the picture. We take a few like that and then move on to the window.
We take various pictures in different locations, by the stairs, outside in the garden, and some by the palace doors. We finish it off in a little library my parents had added when they saw how much I loved to read.
We set ourselves up in between bookshelves for the first pictures. The photographer took some of us pretending to read random books, Owen pressed up behind me holding out a book in front of the both of us. As the photographer took a look at the pictures he'd taken, Owen placed the book back on the shelf and placed his hands on my waist. I turned to face him and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Jump on my count," Owen whispers in my ear. He looks behind me quickly before starting to count. "Three... two... one. Jump!" I jump up and Owen lifts me just above his head, and I giggle. I hear the camera click and see the flash. Owen slowly lowers me down and places me back onto the ground.
"Wonderful!" My mother exclaims behind me. I turn around to see her with a large smile plastered on her face. "Come look at the pictures we took today," she says ushering Owen and me over.
We look at the screen and scroll through the pictures of today. I do have to admit that we look good in them, we look happy for the most part. We laugh at the picture of us in the garden. The photographer had asked Owen to dip me, and as Owen complied, he nearly dropped me, and the exact moment was caught on camera. Thankfully, Owen had regained a grip on me and stopped me from falling all the way to the ground.
As we get to the pictures of us in the library, a smile forms on my face. We look happiest in these pictures, maybe it's because we knew the photoshoot was coming to an end. The last picture was the one of Owen holding me in the air. This was the best picture of them all. No one could tell from that picture that we don't like each other. I'm sure they would use this picture for publicity.
"You both are a lovely couple," the photographer says taking the tablet back. I just nod my head, not bothering to tell him that we aren't actually together.
"You are both excused," my mother tells us. I thank everyone in the room for the photoshoot and make my way out of the library, Owen right behind me. We both walk together in silence to the stairs. By tomorrow, those pictures would be out there for the world to see. This is where the real show begins. Now that the public is involved, rumors and speculations will spread like wildfires everywhere. We reach the top of the stairs and I turn to go to my bedroom.
"You look really good today, Orillia," Owen says and rushes away without giving me a chance to thank him.
I go back to my room and pull out my hair, removing each flower and then unbraiding my hair. I undress and run a bath for myself, letting my body relax in the warm water. I let my mind wander and just think. This photoshoot wasn't too bad, I've had worse. We had family pictures taken this one time, and Alex had spilled coffee all over Aveline and I's dresses. My mother was furious and yelled at us all to stop fooling around, even though it was just Alex being an idiot. My father had gotten frustrated with it taking so much time and just left. We had to reschedule the photoshoot for another day.
After I soak in the bath, I get out and change into some comfortable clothes, and lay in bed. I check the time and see that I've already missed dinner. I wasn't really hungry anyway. I open my phone and go to Instagram. The first picture that comes up on my explore page is of Owen and me, the one of him holding me in the library. That was quick, I thought they'd be out tomorrow but I guess not.
The caption of the post was "Is Princess Orillia falling in love? Or will she scare this one away too?". I giggle, I won't be scaring this one away but he certainly won't be staying. I open up the comments to see what people have to say.
Some are skeptical and say it's all a hoax, which I don't blame them for saying. I had made it very obvious in the past that I didn't want to marry. However, some others say that we seem to be falling in love and that maybe I had changed my mind.
I send Owen the post, adding "it's starting". I then close my phone placing it on my night table. I don't wait for him to answer and fall asleep.
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Sorry for such a short chapter, I had a busy week...
I hope you guys enjoyed it! Let me know what you think so far!!
