THE BLOOD ROYALS Book 2: Long Live The Queen!

Chapter Forty One: Strapped

Carperia
Renée's POV
"... it's only been days since Chea Niva bid farewell to his Royal Majesty King Cathan and the Golden Palace is already making headlines. The subjects are talking about the mysterious woman repeatedly photographed next to the future King." QM smiled rather pleasantly. "Sources say she was first spotted with him at the airport after the crown prince landed in Carperia on the evening his father passed away. She was then repeatedly photographed with the royal family from the moment she arrived in the same car as the crown prince and the Queen Mother. She spent the whole funeral next to the Queen Mother making us wonder if she's close to the royal family or if she's closer to the crown prince."

"It was only a matter of time." I chuckled.

"At the commencement of the gun salute we didn't have to wonder about who she was there for when she took her place next to the crown prince. The pair were photographed holding hands through the salute ceremony and the pot bubbled harder when the crown prince broke tradition by putting the flag given to him in her hands." QM placed the tea cup on the table.

"What tradition?"

"I'll read on." She cleared her throat. "Chea Niva is steeped in tradition that sets the kingdom apart from its neighbors. One of those traditions is that the flag given to the royal family upon the demise of a family member should only be passed on to a fellow family member. When the flag was out in the mystery woman's hands, it sparked curiosity across th kingdom. Who is this woman? Her identity may be unknown but one thing is certain. The crown prince is in a relationship that is pretty serious. Will Chea Niva be in celebration over a royal wedding soon?"

She folded the paper and dropped it on the pile.

"People be talking!" I chuckled nervously.

"Here is the icing on the cake. I hate this magazine because half of the things they say are lies. You can never know when they are telling the truth. But what they published on the section dedicated to the royal family caught my attention."

"What does it say?"

"...an inside source has revealed that the crown prince proposed to an unknown woman during the Color Festival in Kerala, India. The source shared that the prince got on one knee in a small boat and asked the unknown woman to marry him. The source added that the ring on the unknown woman's finger is nothing short of glamorous, topping what he out on the late Thalia Zahai, deceased daughter of  the Duchess of Daa Haan. While Thalia got a glamorous proposal,our mystery woman got a couple of millions more on her ring. A royal wedding is definitely in the horizon!"

She dropped it on the pile.

When I came in to see her this morning at around 9am, she was already halfway through the magazines and newspapers from around the kingdom. She had me tied to a chair and she offered me tea.

This is not the normal tying to the chair. Her bodyguard has used multiple scarfs to tie around my chest and waist. She says my posture needs fixing.

"A source?" She raised her eyebrow at me. "Either Barlowe is a gossip monger or you've been singing."

"How do you know it's not Reli?"

"Because Reli is a very private man."

"Fine! I was a little excited and I told some people." The make you and hair people. Lexy was especially curious about the details.

"Who are these people? Do they work for the palace?"

"If they do?"

"We will have to fire them Renée. Anyone who works in this palace even if it's changing a bulb signs an NDA. When an NDA is broken, it's a court case and we make sure they never work anywhere again."