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...
The turnout for the opening of the research centre was amazing, there were many people who came out to show their support for the good cause and after that, Alex and Brianna got to go around and meet some members of the community as well as the staff members of the centre during the afternoon, listening attentively to what they had to say before they were taken to their mansion to relax before getting ready for the gala in the evening. An elegant 1960 mansion that was built just outside the city, on a hundred acres of land.
Stepping out of the vehicle, Alex and Brianna followed their father up the stairs to the front porch were another two guards were stationed just outside the set of doors, which opened as soon as they got to them.
"Welcome back your highnesses." A woman in a navy blue suit stepped forward and did a curtsey. She was in her late forties, petite in size with red hair and hazel eyes.
"Thank you Charlotte, how have you being?" King Stefan smiled at the housekeeper, or mansion-keeper in this case.
"I've been well, thank you." The woman replied, smiling at all of them.
Walking into the mansion, Alex saw that not much had changed since the last time he was there. It still had its era's dècor with some modern furniture around.
"Excellent. Could you please have some clothes brought here for us. There was a last minute change and I'm afraid that we weren't prepared for it." King Stefan told Charlotte, walking straight in the direction of the office.
"Of course your highness, what will you need?"
"Two sets of casual day wear, formal wear for the gala this evening and nightwear for each of us."
Charlotte nodded. "I'll get right on it."
"Thank you."
Brianna had disappeared as soon as they walked into the mansion and Alex could only guess that she either went up to her bedroom or outside to the backyard.
"Nothing has changed. Its still the same." Alex commented, looking around his father's other office before sitting down on one of the chairs.
Looking up and around the room, King Stefan nodded his head in agreement. "Yes. We have not been here for a while too, so your mother hasn't gone on one of her redo or grand makeovers, whatever you want to call it."
Grinning, Alex stood up and walked over to the window, looking out to the backyard where he saw Brianna walking around in the flower garden with something furry and grey in her arms. Frowning in confusion, Alex squinted his eyes at it, trying to see what it was then after a minute he realised what it was.
"Looks like Brie's made a new friend." He said aloud without removing his eyes from his sister who seemed smitten by the fluff ball that she cradled in her arms.
"What?" Their father replied.
"Brianna's made a new friend." Alex repeated before he heard the chair's legs gently scrap across the carpeted floor then his father joined him by the window, looking out.
"What's that in her arms? Is that a dog? How did it get into the property."
"It's a rabbit."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The King squinted his eyes too, to see the animal clearly. "...Oh your right. Your mother won't be pleased."
"If we get it vaccinated and cleaned, then it won't be a problem for her to keepit."
"Yes but remember that your mom unfortunately is not the biggest fan of wild animals. Her cousin brother was bitten by a fox when they were younger and died from the infection.
"Not all wild animals contract rabbis and besides, there are shots for that now."
"It's going to be hard convincing her to keep that rabbit."
"If anyone can convince her to change her mind, it's Brianna."
"That is true. I couldn't even get her to remove that horrible painting in our bedroom and it's been there for eleven years now."
"The one that looks like a banshee?"
"Yes. It's unsettling." The King shivered a little to make his point, prompting Alex to grin in amusement.
The remainder of the afternoon, Alex spent mostly with Brianna and the rabbit which she had named Bailey after finding out its sex and getting it vaccinated, after he had taken a shower and changed into the clothes that Charlotte had ordered for him; a navy blue lightweight crew neck sweater, knee-length brown trousers and a pair of sneakers.
"Do you think that I can keep him?" Brianna asked with a hopeful look in her eyes.
She made sure that Alex stayed and looked after Baylee so that she could change out of the dress that she wore and take a bath before changing into some comfortable clothes. A pair of black leggings, a pastel yellow knitted sweater and matching flats.
"You'll have to ask mom and dad about that." Alex replied and rubbed the rabbit behind its ears. "I'm going to the kitchen to get a drink, would you like one?"
"Yes please. Can you make me a strawberry milkshake."
"I was thinking along the lines of a juice box."
"Well you didn't specify." Brianna shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly.
Shaking his head in amusement, Alex walked off towards the kitchen to grab a drink and make Brianna's milkshake. The kitchen here in their city mansion was not as big as the one back in the palace but it was still bigger than a normal standard kitchen. Walking over to the double door refrigerator, Alex took out a bottle of water for himself and placed it on the island then collected what he needed to make a strawberry milkshake and got to it, and seeing that it looked good he decided to make one for himself too before joining Brianna and Baylee back in the living room.
"Thank you." Brianna smiled, her eyes lighting up when she saw the milkshake.
"You're welcome."
"Who was that girl that you bumped into yesterday?" Brianna suddenly asked out of the blue after a while.
With his eyebrows furrowed, Alex looked over at his small sister. "Graciella?"
"No. I know who Graciella is," Brianna shook her head. "The one that you bumped into just outside the back parlour. The tall girl with dark hair. I came back from library and saw you twos."
Avery's face immediately flashed in Alex mind. "Oh...her name is Avery."
"She's very pretty." Brianna commented before talking another sip of her milkshake.
Alex looked intently at his intelligent twelve year old sister then leaned back against the couch and began scrolling through his phone.
Yes, she is very pretty. He thought to himself with a grin.
