Villainess Loves

Part 19

"Lady Annelise, we've arrived." Henry's voice sounds from outside the carriage. I look out the window to see the incredibly majestic royal castle of Elden. The Elden kingdom is one of the more powerful kingdoms in the world. Certainly, we could topple smaller kingdoms if we wanted to, but then our enemy kingdoms would band together and attack us in fear of our expansion.

Henry is standing outside the carriage entrance. Mary takes his exposed hand and safely exits the carriage. Uh. I stare at his extended hand. Should I take it? I slowly reach out hesitantly, but Henry quickly grasps my hand and gracefully brings me down the carriage.

For a moment, a whiff of his fresh scent hits my nose and I stiffen slightly when I'm pushed against his chest as he brings me in closer and lowers me down safely.

"Are you alright, Lady Annelise?" Henry asks, still holding my hand.

"Oh! Yes! Thank you!" I shake him off and run up to Mary, who's walking up to the main entrance.

She looks at me funny, then smirks.

"My lady, your face is very red. Have you not held a man's hand before?" She chuckles. I cover my cheeks in embarrassment. Hey! I've never held hands with a handsome man before! Prince Orion doesn't count! I've seen him in his preteen years! He was still good-looking though!

"Shut up." I grumbled, walking along with her to the grand entryway. She laughs.

"Welcome, Lady Annelise Thornweather. We've been expecting your arrival." A smartly dressed butler bows before me as a pair of finely dressed knights opens the royal castle door.

"It has been a while. Has Prince Orion arrived?" I ask. The butler nods.

"Yes, he will be meeting you in the drawing-room shortly."

I nod then look at Mary.

"Go fetch my stuff and get us some tea and snacks," I said. She nods and helps Henry and the rest of my servants with my bags. They won't be staying over and they'll leave once I'm settled in, only Mary and Henry are staying. The royal family will assign me some servants to help Mary in serving my needs.

I sigh in my head. Oh boy, let's do this.

I follow the butler to a quaint but welcoming room. He gestures for me to sit and I follow, the couch is just as comfortable as I remembered.

"Prince Orion will be coming shortly. Do not hesitate to call if you require anything." The butler bows. I nod and wave him away.

I cross my legs and wait. If it's him, it won't be long. He knows to not let me wait.

In a few minutes, I heard a rush of footsteps leading to my room. The door opens with relish and a bright blue-haired bishonen runs in.

"Annelise! Are you really considering breaking our engagement?!?! What would Father say???" Prince Orion questions as he sits on the couch across from me.

"Uh yeah. I know you like that maid. The king's opinion doesn't matter." I said. He blushes and frantically waves his arms.

"What?! You already know about Bella?" He brushes his hand through his hair nervously. Wow, you're too honest, man, the first thing you should have done was deny it but instead, you openly admit it AND tell me her name? Granted, I already knew but! Bruh, this is why Annelise got all villainess on you!

"I didn't mean to hide it from you! I, um, just didn't get the opportunity to tell you! I was truly planning on telling you!!" Prince Orion says.

"Sure, I don't mind-" I smack my hand on the table in between us. He jumps.

"Like I would say that!" I harumph. He winces.

"I don't see you for like a full month and you're already knee-deep with another woman! You're the prince of Elden! You should have told me wayyy in advance! What, you were going to tell me at Prince Caelum's welcoming party? In front of a whole entourage of aristocrats who love to gossip!" I exclaimed, crossing my arms. He looks shocked.

"What- how did you know?" He says. I smack my face.

"Prince Orion, I'm trying to scold you, but you're the prince of Elden, shouldn't you try to be more, I don't know, smarter? What person openly admits to his affairs? You're lucky I'm your fiance, or some other noble's daughter would be super offended at your honesty." I sigh. He smiles sheepishly.

"Ah, I'm really sorry I didn't tell you. But Annelise, how did you even find out? I tried to keep it somewhat a secret to preserve our image. Only a few servants know and um, my mother." He puts his hands together and bows his head in apology.

"Let's just say my women's intuition is good," I shrug.

"But! I'm not here to talk about that!" I clap my hands together.

"Are you willing to end our engagement?" I ask.

"Yes!" Prince Orion immediately says.

I felt a wave of sadness and frustration from his quick response. I may have been the one to initiate it, but I did like Prince Orion and before my memories returned, I was actively planning for our future together. Yeah, we didn't spend THAT much time together, but our engagement was my entire life. The king set this up when we were 12 so I've been his fiance for over 4 years. Yeah, Prince Orion left for three of them to go and train with his grandfather after the incident, but still.... I.. I just thought he felt at least some of the things I did.

"Annelise? Are you alright?" Prince Orion tilts his head and looks at me worriedly. I didn't feel good. This was supposed to be a trip to ensure my future life, to allow me to enjoy the life that was given to me. But right now I don't really want to do this. To deal with this.