Olkledo. City of Nobility and Power. The independent Part of Italy. And their royals, The Romano family.
Valentina Romano. A woman living her life. Young , rich, beautiful, talented and noble. But her twin, Morana Romano, who lived quite far away f...
I turned around to see a carriage approaching us. A beautiful man stepped out of it followed by a beautiful lady. They were Prince Victor Orlov and Princess Sasha Orlova. The Prince walked towards us and greeted me. "Good morning, your highness" he bowed. "Good morning, Prince Orlov. How was your journey?" I asked him out of courtesy. "The ride was pretty rough with many obstacles but I'm more interested about what the man behind is doing" he said as he eyed Mr.Astor. "Oh, don't worry about it. It's just a minor inconvenience. We will take care of it. I wouldn't want the prince to think about something like that when he just arrived" I said. "I guess it's time for us to go inside, brother. We are making the princess stand in the sun for too long" Sasha said as she smiled at me. "Fine. We shall go inside" the prince said and left with the princess and our guards assigned to guide them to the palace.
"I'll take care of him, your highness. You can leave. You have to spend time with the royal family" Mr.Astor said. True. I have to spend time with the royal family right now. That's what the schedule says. But I want to skip it. "It's okay, Mr.Astor. You can leave him to guards. They'll take care of him. We can go back inside to the palace together" I said as I clapped for the guards to take over the spy. The guards came and took the man into their custody to investigate him. "I alone could have taken care of him, your highness. There's no need of bunch of guards investigating him for the information" he said. "That won't do. Father will be disappointed to know that my praetorian guard is not around me but running errands somewhere else"
•••
Everyone were gathered at the dining hall in the palace. Including the Orlovs.
"We're delighted to have you here, Prince and Princess Orlov" father said with a smile on his face. "His majesty said he couldn't be here as he was dealing with something serious in the kingdom. So I guess it's only the both of you. I hope my presence doesn't make you awkward" he said. "We are just as delighted to be here, your majesty. It's an honour to be in your presence" the Prince said. "Since my father couldn't be here due to political issues, we shall rise a toast for the everlasting friendship between the Orlovs and Romanos, shall we?" He added as he rises the champagne glass in his hand. We made a toast and continued the conversations about the political issues. Atleast father and the prince did.
I lifted my eyes from the food as I saw Sasha picking up cloves from her plate. She was quiet the whole time while my father was being all talkative with the prince who looked like he was trying to hide how uninterested he was. Sasha didn't look so well. She seemed very tired. Almost like she would faint in a minute. "My lady Sasha, you seem very tired. Do you need any assistance from the maids so that you can have some rest?" I said as I gestured the maids to look after her. "It's okay, my lady. I'm totally fine. I'm just a little tired but I don't need any assistance from the maids. Thank you for your concern" she said as she rejected help from the maids. She tried to pretend to be okay but she isn't so good at it.
I sighed and went back to eating my dinner. I took a piece of cake at the end as a dessert. Nothing beats the taste of the ricotta cheese on it. I turned my head to look at what the others are doing. Sasha was picking her food while the prince seem to have a problem with the turkey. As usual, father was exaggerating about the kingdom to the prince. I turned back to look at Mr.Astor who was standing at the door. Firm and alert. His eyes were wandering around. Our eyes met and he immediately looked away. No emotion in his face. Wow. Looks like we won't be getting along so easily if he's gonna act so nonchalant.
•••
"So do you take interest in art, Prince Orlov?" I asked him as my father left us alone in the palace's painting gallery to have a 'conversation'. Probably just to make sure we get along before they arrange our marriage. "Not particularly, your highness. But I do find them interesting" he said. We started walking around and then, I stopped at the sight of my mother's painting. "It's the late Queen" he said as he looked at the painting. The painting was the largest in the gallery. It was painted by the most famous artist of the time. My mother was a young woman by the time this painting was made. Father put this painting in the centre of the gallery out of love for his wife, my mother. Her eyes were sparkly. She had long brown hair which I got from her. I never got a chance to spend time with her but I knew she was an amazing person just by looking. She had love and hope in her eyes that I felt through the painting.
"She looks beautiful, doesn't she?" I smiled at him. "She does" he replied. "My mother died during the labour. She used to be a healing mage before. The magic was said to pass down through the bloodline. But I don't have it" I said as I admired the painting with my eyes. "So that makes your mother the last healing mage" the prince said. "That makes my mom special" I corrected him with a smile. He smiled back at me and we went back to admiring art.
Just as we walking around, I heard a pair of heels click in the back of my ears. I feel shivers through my spine. My hands and feet felt cold as I turned to look at her. Eyes widened. My body froze at the sight of her.
"What a great day to appreciate art!" Morana is here.
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