Fed up with their strong-headed, rebellious son, the King and Queen of the Kingdom of Terrigal come up with a plan for him to settle down by sending invitations to all the eligible young women of the land, to contest for his love, much to the Prince...
Hearing alarm ring, Avery rolled around in the large comfortable bed and blindly reached over to the bedside table on the right and searched around for it before she felt it, raised her head off the pillows and through sleepy eyes turned the alarm off. Breakfast in the palace was always served at seven am sharp and instead of having a maid or butler wake her up, she rather wake up herself. She saw herself as merely a guest in the palace and didn't want to take advantage of the people who worked there. She didn't feel right doing that.
Rolling onto her back, she stared up at the high ceiling of the bedroom, waiting for the grogginess of sleep to go away before she got out of the bed and freshened up for the day. Last night, she, Audrey and Hailey went over to Linda's bedroom just for some quality girl time before bed which turned out to be much fun that she expected. Pranali couldn't make it because she was feeling tired and went straight to her bedroom as soon as dinner ended. Just then, she recalled what she saw last night. The Prince carrying Graciella. Were the rumours about him true, that he was a womaniser because the position in which they were signified that.
Brushing that thought away in annoyance, she finally got out of the bed, drew the curtains apart then made her bed and padded over to her bathroom. Some of the bedrooms shared a bath and the others had their own, and she was lucky enough to be given a bedroom with its own bath unlike Audrey who had to share with Fiona, who said that it was a nightmare. Apparently, Fiona hoarded majority of the bathroom with her toiletries and makeup, leaving only a small section for Audrey.
Untying her dark brown waves from the bun that they were in, she ran a hand through them to get rid of any knots that may have formed while she was asleep as she walked into the bathroom. Satisfied with her hair's knot-free condition, she brushed her teeth before undressing and stepping into the shower compartment for a bath. While she stood under the warm water, images of the Prince and Graciella in his arms flashed across her mind and she quickly shook her head to get rid of them. Why did it bother her. She hardly knew them and their relationship, so who was she to judge.
Turning the cold and hot tap off, she reached outside of the shower compartment and took her towel off of the hanging bar, and wrapped herself with it before she stepped out. Checking her phone on the bedside table, she saw that she had roughly twenty more minutes before she went down for breakfast so she proceeded to get ready, wearing a white top pairing it with a floral printed pale pink skirt that stopped just a few inches over her knees, a light, beige cardigan and beige flats before she ran her brush through her hair, smoothing it. After she applied some moisturiser, cologne and wore her watch that her grandmother gave to her, a vintage brown leather band watch, she exited her room with her phone in hand, heading across the hall to Linda's bedroom.
Standing at the door, she knocked twice and waited for an answer but after a minute of completely silence, she knocked again hoping that Linda heard her this time. Yesterday after their first etiquette lesson and during lunch, Madam Eunice had informed them that the Queen had planned a special task for them to do today straight after breakfast.
"Come on Linda." Avery mumbled to herself and knocked a little louder this time.
"Yes?" Came Linda's groggy voice from behind the door, and she knew automatically that Linda was still in bed.
"It's me, Avery!"
A moment later, the door opened with a sleepy face and dishevelled haired Linda who.
"Morning, what's wrong?" She let out a small yawn.
"I came to remind you about the task that the Queen has for us today."
This seemed to have immediately woken Linda up completely, as her eyes widened into saucers and she ran her eyes down Avery's form. "Wait. What is the time?"
Avery lifted her left wrist to see the time on her watch before she answered. "It's ten minutes to seven."
Without saying anything, Linda bolted away from the door in the direction of her bathroom, which she didn't share with anyone too. Giggling at the way Linda ran off, Avery stepped into her bedroom and went straight over to the windows and began drawing them apart, letting the beautiful morning sunlight stream into the huge room. When she went over to the window on the other side of the bed and drew the curtains, she looked out and saw the Royal family walking to one of the Roll-royces. The King, Princess and Prince were all dressed up formally than the Queen, but she still managed to look immaculate in the forest green calf-length stealth dress that she wore.
Watching them, the Queen each kissed her family member on the cheek before she stepped away from the car as the Prince was about to get in after his sister, but Avery didn't expect him to stop and look up her way, this completely caught her off guard and she jumped back away from the window, cheeks burning with embarrassment of being caught by him. Why is this happening to me, she thought to herself.
"How many more minutes left before breakfast is served, Avery?!" Linda called from inside the bathroom.
Glad for the distraction, Avery checked her watch once more. "Six more minutes!"
"Thank you!"
By the time they made it downstairs, all the other contestants and Madam Eunice were already there and seated in the dinning hall.
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"Ladies!" Madam Eunice said aloud, with a strained smile. She definitely wasn't happy that they were late. "I'm glad that you've finally decided to join us."
"Pardon us Madam Eunice. It was my fault." Linda spoke up beside Avery.
"I expect this not to happen again...take your seats."
Without saying anything, Avery and Linda rushed over to the last two empty chairs and sat down. Feeling eyes on her, Avery looked up to see Graciella seated right opposite her with a coy smirk, obviously mocking her then she looked to Michelle who sat on her right and they both grinned at each other, finding the embarrassing situation funny. Looking away from them, Avery redirected her attention back to Madam Eunice as she cleared her throat.
"As a reminder, her highness Queen Sofia will be joining us later on for some exercises that she prepared specifically for you. Therefore, you must listen carefully and be attentive to everything that she tells you, as they will help guide you to complete the other tasks that will be coming up. This is a example of what is to come, think of it as a practice." Madam Eunice said in a loud and clear authoritative voice before the breakfast was served.
