The Prince & The Pauper || z.m. [Book 1]

~14~

Hi I just wanted to wish you all good luck! You guys are in for a lot in this chapter ;)

Everyone in the castle bustled from room to room, hallway to hallway to prepare for the big night. Excitement and tension filled the air. The chefs quickly prepared the food items that were going to be consumed by the guests later tonight. The gardeners groomed the plants and also added a couple of new additions. Maids polished and dusted every exquisite piece in the castle. Not one space of the building was left untouched. Tonight was a big night, everything had to be perfect.

Madeline, Genevieve and Amelia completed their orders that the king and queen had asked them of. Genevieve was quite thrilled for tonight. She was going to attend her first ball and she had the perfect attire, all thanks to Prince Zayn. She had arrived at the castle at seven in the morning, with her dress and accessories to go with it, just as the queen had asked her to. She was to get ready right after all her jobs were completed at the castle. As her mind was occupied of completing her duties, her thoughts barely wandered off to the events that had taken place in the last couple of days.

As eager as she was for the night to approach, she wondered who would be the future princess of Genovia. Zayn didn't want to go with any of this in his life right now so by obeying to his parents' orders, who was he going to choose to spend the rest of his life with? Or what was he going to do if he was still strongly against this? Genevieve had the feeling the night would be filled with surprises.

Genevieve also felt stressed and tensed about the night approaching. She didn't want to mess anything up now, or later at the ball in front of all the guests. A total of 1,825 guests were invited expected to arrive. Thinking of only the number put knots in Genevieve's stomach. That's a lot of salad plates, she thought to herself. She imagined herself tripping in her dress in front of everyone or many of the other disasters that could take place tonight. Shaking out of her negative thoughts horrified, she planned to think only positively.

Zayn looked out the window deep into his thoughts. He felt anger, frustration and a hint of sadness. He replayed the conversation he had with his parents only a couple of months ago, telling them he was not going to get married this year or anytime in the near future. But look where he was now. In just a few hours, he was to announce who his future wife was going to be. Zayn tried to come up with a plan to flee from this whole situation but he didn't have the heart to. His parents' honor, respect and trust meant too much to him. He wasn't going to just throw it all away. He would not dare to embarrass his parents in front of so many people over a selfish act. Zayn was also upset over the death of Matilda. She had played such a big role in his life, but only for so little time. He wished he was able to spend more time with her before she passed away. But thanks to Genevieve, he was not only able to meet her, but also sit and talk with her. Too many things were happening in just a course over some days. The last thing on his mind right now was to attend a party and make one of the biggest decisions of his life. Zayn wondered what Genevieve was going through. After all, Matilda was her mother.

Zayn's thoughts were interrupted by a light knock on his bedroom door. He turned away from the window and walked towards the tall door to open it. Meeting his eyes with the unexpected individual that stood in front of his door, his mouth fell open in surprise.

"Hi Zayn." Aria waved her hand with a flirtatious smile pasted on her lips which were colored red with lipstick. She wore a beige trench coat with black stilettoes, which Zayn found odd. In fact, her being here with the ball only hours away was quite strange. "Can I come in?" she asked while running a hand through her blonde locks and bringing them over her shoulder.

"What are you doing here Aria?" Zayn asked stepping out of her way so she could walk in.

"It's nice to see you too babe." she turned around kissing him on the cheek with a hand holding the other side of his face. Satisfied with the stain she left on his cheek from her lipstick, she grinned widely.