Love Me Harder

Chapter 2

"Princess, the King and Queen have given me orders to explain to you the details concerning the ball which will be held within one month." he says as soon as he greets me.

"Oh, yes, Roger. Please." I smile and sip some of my tea. He pull up a chair and sit politely in front of me. He is the person in trust by the King to take care of me since he earns his throne. And of course, he's the one who's in charge for my ball. He has the same personality as the King, both of them are have thought that very outdated and too center on the rules. Those things makes them very annoying, sometimes.

"Princess, I must inform you of the list of the guests that you need to know. The guests will travel from 37 countries and from each country shall send a representative prince to join the ball. I'm ready to start whenever you are, miss."

"You can start now, Roger."

He starts by mentioning the names of the princes that are destined to come to my ball. To be honest with you, I really don't give a damn about that at all. I don't care what's his name or where he's from, but the thing that has interrupted me since this morning is will I found him during my ball? Because you see, I'm running out of time and in reality, I only have a couple more months to find him.

"What kind of themes you would prefer, princess?" he seemed to notice my ignorance. I can't believe that he actually ask this stupid question.

"I'm not too concerned about it. You can go ahead and choose."

"I'm afraid that you might dislike what I choose, princess."

"Well, you can ask Eve and Trudy. They seem to know more about me than I do." he pulls he's eyebrows up and begins to writing in the book which he always carries it everywhere he goes.

"Roger, can I ask you something?" I can't bear looking at him, so serious and seems like enjoying writing and planning my ball.

"Yes, of course, princess." he stops and focuses on me.

"Do you know any of the King's plans about my ball? If you do, please don't pretend like you don't know everything and don't lie to me about it." he should know about this because the King always informs him of his plans concerning me and everything is written down in his book.

"So far, the King hasn't said anything about the ball, princess."

"You don't need to keep secrets from me. Everyone knows that the King's wish will be fulfilled, sooner or later, and no one can't do anything about it. So why don't you just tell me now. There's no difference in telling me sooner rather than later."

Seems like my words gave him something to think about because a moment later, he flips some papers which are full of his writing and begins to read them. The King and Queen were 'silent' about this situation, although they shouldn't be. They never talk about the prince or whatever it is related with me.

"I, uh, i'm sorry princess, but..."

"Please, tell me. I need to know." I cut him. My eyes were on him but his were looking straight to his book. I'm quite positive he's hiding something.

He begins to turn the paper back and forth and his eyes move from the top of it towards the end of it, from left to right.

"I'm sorry," he sighs. "I can't do what you are asking me to, princess. I have made a promise to keep it a secret until that day. I'm truly and deeply sorry." I was right. Indeed, there is something hidden.

- - -

I've been standing in front of the mirror for an hour, checking myself over and over again to make sure that everything is right. I feel very anxious. The noisy commotion, people talking, cheering, laughing, the sound of heels hitting the floor, never-ending music, I can hear everything clearly from my room.

My heart is pounding as I remember that they all came here to my ball, for me. Plus the fact that there are 37 princes who are waiting for me down there. I'm so not ready. My fists are sweaty and my body is shaking. I don't know why I'm so nervous though. It's just a ball.

"You look very beautiful, my darling." I see the Queen's appearance from the mirror and my reflects working very quick causing my body bow politely towards her. She walks over me and stops while her brown eyes were looking at me. We both stand in front of a large, full-length mirror.

"You remind me of myself when I was in a younger age. When I was beautiful, like you. That was the time when I met your father, at my ball, celebrating my 18th birthday. That day was the happiest day of my life."

The more I listen to her, the more uncomfortable and nervous I become. What if I don't find him tonight? What should I do next? I can't live forever with someone that I don't love.

"Let us go down now. Everyone must be waiting for you." the Queen puts her arm around mine and leads me down the stairs.

The circumstances have changed. The sound of commotion is gone somewhere and no one is around. We walk to scour some of the hallways and stop in front of a large door that leads us to the ballroom. I'm not so sure about my actions but I nod anyway, urging the doorman to open the door for us. The door opens and in a matter of seconds, the only things that I can hear is the sound of my breath. My vision is blurry. It's so strange and unusual. I've never felt like this before. What is wrong with me?

We finally enter the ball room and walk in the red carpet that leads us to the little stage in the middle, which is prepared for me. The stage looks minimalist but also very pretty. Flowers and ribbons are everywhere. Applause and birthday greetings are the only thing that I hear on my way to the stage. I take a deep breath and try to shut my brain down for a while and force my lips to keep smiling. A guard greets me and shows me the way to the stage. My shaking hands take out a piece of paper and begin to read it.

"Good evening. Thank you all for coming to my ball." My lips freeze and I find myself unable to move. All eyes are on me. My eyes glance at the paper again, but it's like I am illiterate. This is crazy! I try to read it again but my vision blurs.

"I'm sorry princess, but are you alright?" the guard's words make my gaze go back to the guests. Everything is silent and everybody is looking at me, some of them are busy with themselves and some of them are whispering while their eyes are still staring at me. I signal at the guard with my hand to let him know that I'm fine. C'mon! All I need to say is some niceties and then I'm done.

"I would like to thank you for taking your time to come to my ball tonight. It's an honor to have you all as my guests. I hope you enjoy my ball and have a magical night." My suckish speech ends with a round of applause and the musicians begin to play their actions.

This is going to be a very long night.