A Royal Disguise

Chapter 1 - In The Shadows

Chapter 1

In The Shadows

"Her royal highness, Princess Cordelia Monroe Dominguez! I can't believe you're still asleep!"

I groaned loudly as I heard that annoying voice of my private secretary and bestfriend, Faye.

Actually, she's not my official secretary yet. She's too young to be working for me but since her mom, Mrs. Frennie is on Maternity leave right now, Faye volunteered to do everything while we're still looking for her Mom's replacement.

"Ssshhh! Give me a few more minutes," I begged. We stayed up late last night, watching romantic movies and gushing about how handsome the actors are.

I treat Faye as my sister. Her mom always brings her here and since I'm homeschooled, she's the only friend that I've got. I'm genuinely happy to know her. She doesn't treat me the way everyone does. Madalas kasi ay tinatrato ako ng mga tao na para bang isa akong crystal na madaling mabasag. One mistake and their life will be crushed. Our young servants always look nervous when I approach them. Hindi naman ako mataray o palautos kaya nga nagtataka ako kung bakit natatakot sila.

Pero para kay Faye, isang normal na tao lang din ako at hindi isang prinsesang pinakaiingat-ingatan ng buong kaharian. Ni isang picture or videos naming dalawa ay walang nakakalabas sa media. I once told her fake stories before, just to see if she'll tell the media but it never came out in public. That's when I proved I could really trust her.

"Nah ah. You need to get up now! The party's going to start any minute! Hello? Four o' clock na po!" She reminded me. "Nakakapagtaka kung bakit wala pang gumigising sa'yo ni isa."

Padabog kong inalis ang kumot sa katawan ko at inirapan siya. She's so loud! There is no way I'll be able to get back to sleep.

Tatawa-tawa naman niyang binuksan ang kurtina ng kwarto ko bago umupo sa tabi ko. "May ikukwento nga pala ako sa'yo. It's about a cute boy."

Dali-dali akong umupo at ngumiti. "And?"

"He sent me a message last night. Basahin mo!" Agad niyang iniabot sa akin ang cellphone niya.

I couldn't help but giggle as I read their chats. Faye lives a normal life without people knowing she's friends with the Princess Royale. Walang nakakaalam na nakakapasok at nakakalabas siya dito, at nakakalapit pa siya sa pamilya ko, kaya naman sobrang saya ko tuwing shine-share niya sa akin ang mga nangyayari sa labas ng palasyo. I feel like through her stories, I can imagine myself being in her position.

"He likes you!" I teased her.

"Of course he does. Ganda ko kaya!" pagmamayabang niya.

Tumawa ako at ibinalik na sa kanya ang phone niya. "I wish I could experience that too. Paano naman kaya ako magkakaroon ng crush kung hindi man lang ako makalabas sa lugar na ito..."

All noble children around the world, especially those with titles, are not allowed to show their faces in public until their first official royal appearance. It's a tradition we must abide.

"Sus. Buti ka nga kahit nandito ka lang ay may love life ka na. E ako, wala akong kasiguraduhan na may mapapangasawa nga ako in the future?"

I pursed my lips. "Love life? May hindi ko nga kilala ang fiancé ko."

We may be in a modern world but when it comes to rules and laws, Costa Vira is still living in the medieval times.

When I turned fourteen, my Dad King Edward arranged a future marriage for me, his one and only daughter. I am destined to marry the first son of one of his friends from another kingdom. To make things worse, I have never met the guy even though we had sent their family numerous invitations to visit our place.