Ruling With You | Jenlisa [COMPLETED]

Chapter 3

  "Arrangements for the funerals should be finalised soon, and ready for the end of the month, Your Majesty," Jessica said, and Jennie closed her eyes at the title. She wished that everyone would just call her by her name, as they used to, but now when her name was used instead of her title, it always preceded by Queen. It was all a bit too much for Jennie, and it had barely been two weeks.

"Thank you," Jennie said, giving Jessica a slight smile, before she hesitated. "You should probably know that I'm planning on leaving. I was going to go to Moon Palace until the funeral."

Jessica's eyes widened slightly, and she shifted forward in her seat. "Moon Palace? You haven't been there since ..."

"Since mother and father died, I know," Jennie finished for her, "but it's where I grew up, and I need some time away from all of ... this," Jennie said, waving a hand around the room in a vague gesture, "to think things over."

"Jennie, if I may ... I think it would be best to stay here and help plan everything and make sure that everything is as you would like. Queen Lillian is still here, and you should spend as much time with her daughter as possible to ensure that your relationship looks natural when you have your first public outing. Moon Palace is a three-hour drive, and it's too far for us to reach you quickly for your opinion."

"They're called phones, Aunt Jessica," Jennie told her with a lopsided smile, "and I can still plan from the palace. I just ... I'm still waiting on Wendy to get back to me about the contract, and Lisa and I have discussed what will happen if we can't break the contract, so we've already made some preparations." 

 Sighing slightly, Jessica pressed her lips together in a grim line, looking at her niece with concern. "You know that I love you as if you were my own daughter," she told Jennie, who nodded, "and so I tell you this only to let you down gently, but ... you shouldn't get your hopes up about breaking the contract. If you need some time to adjust to this arrangement, then by all means, take a week to go to Moon Palace ... but I wouldn't expect good news once your lawyer friend finishes looking over it."

Looking slightly disgruntled at Jessica's lack of optimism, Jennie seemed to deflate slightly. "I just don't understand why they would do this. It's not how things are done anymore, and they were never part of an arranged marriage. Did grandpa suggest it?"

"No, they made this decision themselves," Jessica told her, accompanied with a pitying look, "and it was to protect you. They made it just before they died. It was originally going to be to the Prince of Norway, and well, you told them that you liked girls and boys, and it turned out that so did the Princess of Thailand, and they reconsidered. They wanted to strengthen your position, without jeopardising any lines of successions, and an arranged marriage would help ally ourselves with another nation. They had no idea you'd become queen, of course."

"Well it's ridiculous," Jennie huffed, fiddling with the cuff of her black dress, "and completely primitive."

"You'll find no argument with me," Jessica assured her with a smile, "but perhaps you should invite Princess Lisa to accompany you on your trip. I know you're trying to sort through it all, but if you want to make it believable, a week in the mountains ought to help give you enough fuel to spark the rumours ... if  Wendy doesn't find a way out."