Her Majesty The Queen

Trouble

"Where were you?" King August stood at the front of the castle's door.

"Papa..." Velvet stuttered as she was completely tongue-tied "I was outside with Quartz."

"Did I ever give you permission?" King August replied

"Papa, I was just..." Velvet stuttered

King August looked at Quartz and said "Is it you boy?" Giving him a cold stare.

"Papa it was me who forced him to come with me outside!" Velvet held her father's hands and bent slightly "I forced him to." Velvet repeated, now looking at him with a straight face.

"You're majesty, it was my fault, Velvet did nothing wrong."

Velvet looked at Quartz, still holding her father's hands, hoping that he would believe her. She frowned at Quartz and signaled him to stop.

"I told her to come with me at the town, knowing very well that she's not allowed to do so." Quartz gave a straight face, hoping that the king would believe him with his serious face, hoping that the king would not scold Velvet.

"Both of you are in the wrong here, both of you are to blame." King August said "Quartz, you can go home now, I'll send a letter to your father regarding your behavior, he can discipline you since I have no right to do so." He continued and is now looking at Velvet
"Young lady you are not allowed to go outside for 2 days. The garden, the manor, everything outside is out of bounds. You are expected to be seen in the castle or in your room." The king told her while walking away as Eva went to Velvet to send her to her room.

Quartz was still there, looking at Velvet. Velvet was walking away but turned to Quartz and waved him goodbye.

It was the first time for them to be caught red handed. But not the first time to escape the castle. They both knew that they deserved it but didn't have regrets.

They were silent, walking towards Velvet's room and finally, they arrived.

Velvet went straight to her bed and looked at the stars above.

"Princess, I always give the king information about what you are doing and sometimes, false information, in times when you and Quartz go outside the castle. But this time, I gave you my trust that you are in the garden with Quartz because I was given work to be with other servants since I am always with you. And the Queen expected you to be with the children of Elzenberge." Eva said while brushing Velvet's hair who is blankly staring at the window.

"So it was you Eva, the reason I don't get in trouble?"  Velvet asked "Thanks... you don't have to do it for me anymore."

Velvet was still blankly staring outside so Eva gave a bow and left.

Velvet is laying down on her bed, feeling tired.

I wonder what Quartz is doing... is he punished? I hope King Lance doesn't hurt him... nah he won't, he loves his son.

Velvet finally drifted off to sleep....

Velvet finally woke up, hand on her new necklace.

Oh... thank god it's still there, I wonder how Quartz is doing.

"Your majesty, you're not planning on dozing off the whole day right?" Eva asked her.

Velvet looked around and saw Eva near the door. "Eva! Good morning!"

Eva sighed and looked at the princess in disbelief "Princess, it's 1:43 in the afternoon so that's a good afternoon to you." She then went into Velvet's room, preparing her dress and tidying up her jewelries and make up. "Your majesty the king didn't give you assignments despite the fact that you're supposed to be in the castle."

Velvet laid down and replied "Yeah, that's good. I suppose I can continue sleeping."

Eva looked at Velvet with disappointment and said "You still need to socialize your majesty, princess Elise is here so why don't you hang out with her?"

Velvet turned to Eva and said "Me and Quartz went to a diner yesterday, then there were rumors about the Elzenberge family coming here in Angelic. I suppose I wanted to tell them that it's not a rumor because I was just talking to them in the garden but you don't wanna blow your cover right? So I just listened. There were rumors about Princess Elise being an obnoxious snob and you don't wanna hang out with someone like that right?" Velvet then continued to stare at Eva in hopes of her agreeing.

Eva sighed again and replied "Princess, those are rumors, you would have to get to know her."

Velvet sighed and did not reply instead, she stared at the ceiling.

Until...

There was a knock on the door.

"Velvet, Elise was looking for you, why don't you talk with her?" Queen May asked

"Mom..... Mamaaa...."
A/n: mamaaaaa uwuuu

"Mama, I just woke up..." Velvet said and groaned.

"Then take a bath, get dressed and talk to her." Queen May suggested and left

"Ugh fine" Velvet replied

"Your majesty, the girls will be responsible for your bath, I will let them know about your arrival." Eva said and left.

Velvet lazily walked towards the bath.

After an hour, Velvet is finally ready with her pink floral gown, customized white and pink heels, white gold bracelet, her Azalea flower necklace and slightly tinted lips. All these for her to meet Elise, whom she is not looking forward to.

"Princess, why don't we replace that shabby necklace with this handcrafted white gold necklace?" A royal maid suggested while holding the said jewelry.

Velvet looked at the necklace and thought of it as a beautiful piece but did not want to wear it, she was not pleased with the maid's suggestion especially since she picked the necklace herself. "That may be handcrafted by a famous designer, and I know how much effort he put into that but, I would very much prefer this necklace that is made by the people of my empire, thank you." Velvet replied, leaving them in awe.

Velvet thought of the people who carved her necklace and the lady who applied magic on it, she wanted to wear something from the humble people of her empire and of course, the necklace is a gift from Quartz.

When she was finally away from the royal maids, she mumbled angrily and said "Why can't people leave me be?" And then she continued to mumble.

"Velvet!" A voice of a man echoed the corridors

Wide-eyed, she searched for the man behind the voice.

"Velvet! Straighten that back! Do not slouch!"

Velvet looked at her back and said "Papa..."

King August was walking towards her and said "I told you, do not slouch." He repeated these words calmly.

Velvet straightened up and looked at her father.

"Alphonso and Elise are in the great hall. I don't know why but they seem to prefer bigger spaces, I thought they would want to talk privately but that's not the case. Get to know them and do not fight, we need to maintain a good relationship. You're the future queen of this empire, I think you should know our bond with the Elzenberge empire is something we need to maintain especially since we are part of the 5 main kingdoms of this continent." The king said "Now, do not disappoint me." He continued and patted Velvet's shoulder and left.

Velvet did not understand why they should maintain a good relationship with the Elzenberge empire or kingdom, whatever you call it, because the Angelic Empire is the strongest of all, so strong that they don't need economic or political help. The four kingdoms however, supports one another economically and even accepts benefits from the Angelic Empire, but nevertheless, Velvet did not seem to care about talking about her opinions, she wants to be heard when she finally grows her powers.

Velvet then walked towards the great hall.