The Grand Plan

Chapter 10: The Royal Garden (1)

Just like every morning, Charlotte opened her eyelids even before Emma woke her up. Truthfully, Charlotte left her bed even earlier than usual.

Yesterday, she had a hard time sleeping. She kept on rolling in bed nervous about her second meeting with Prince Logan. It wasn't their actual second meeting, but more like Charlotte second attempt to win Logan's attention. She couldn't sleep well at night and woke up racing with the rising sun.

"Good morning, Emma," Charlotte greeted Emma while sitting behind her make up table.

Emma was a bit stunned seeing her mistress already dressed up beautifully. She brought the warm water to Charlotte and started helping her mistress styling her hair.

"Isn't it still very early?" Emma asked while fixing the flower ornament on Charlotte's hair.

"When you are going to war, you have to be ready at any time," Charlotte said with a nonchalant but also serious tone.

"The war has ended years ago."

Emma shook her head. Did her mistress eat something bad? Did an unfortunate accident happen in the meantime she hadn't seen Charlotte? Why did her mistress become even harder to understand?

"Is it ready? My request from yesterday?"

"Yes, it's in the study room," Emma answered.

"Good, thank you Emma," Charlotte smiled before dismissing her most trusted maid.

Charlotte spent most of her time in the study working. She didn't go anywhere except for the dining table for lunch. She even skipped breakfast although her mother had nagged her about it.

Right after lunch, Charlotte was getting ready to go to the Royal Palace. The day she had been waiting for! Finally, it's here! She could finally see the Palace East Garden on top of executing her revenge.

From the carriage, Charlotte didn't stop staring at the magnificent Palace that had stood strong for almost a century. There might be some renovation, but the historical feeling from the building hadn't completely gone.

Although this wasn't Charlotte first time visiting the Royal Palace, her heart was beating loudly. A part of her heart was excited to visit the place from her memory. Another was nervous about things that might happen. To tell the truth, most of Charlotte's time in the palace didn't give her good memories.

The palace guard that had already been informed of her visit quickly opened the gate. The maid in the palace escorting Charlotte to the drawing room. She sat there drinking tea until the door opened for Logan.

"Should I announce it, Your Highness?" the guard asked.

"No need," Logan answered.

Charlotte could hear the conversation outside the door although it sounded faint. Knowing it was time to meet Logan, she dusted her neither messy nor dirty dress and corrected her posture.

"Good afternoon, Miss Riverion," said Logan the moment he came into the drawing room.

Charlotte stood up, "Charlotte Riverion greets Your Royal Highness, Prince Logan."

"Please sit down," Logan smiled.

The maid came to pour another tea for Logan. When the maid came out, Logan started their whole conversation.

"Did you wait long?"

"I was enjoying my time here while waiting for Your Highness," Charlotte sipped her tea.

"Please forgive me, I had some important matters to attend before."

"It's alright, You Highness. I wouldn't want to rush a busy person either. Besides, I had fun looking at the paintings in this room."