The Royal Programme

Chapter 9

Hiya lovelies pictured above is the other dining area where the royals and suitors will eat lunch.

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Currently it was twelve in the afternoon and I was still debating on what to wear. After fifteen minutes searching my wardrobe thoroughly I found the perfect outfit. A beautiful, long, sleeveless dress which had floral prints on it and was made of silk. I paired it with a white coloured cardigan and pink wedges. As for my hair, I took the liberty of curling it and letting it fall down my shoulders freely. Once I double checked my appearance was decent I made my way into the dining hall.

The dining hall had been decorated beautifully, there were five rectangular tables seating up to eight people. Each and every table had fresh-smelling flowers in golden vases. Plates, napkins, cutlery and glasses were placed on parts of the table ready to be used. The seating order was arranged by my dear sister Natalia and Nik since he wanted specific people at our table. Sitting on tables near me were a handful of suitors who were dressed in casual clothes, they all gave me a smile as they saw me staring at them. I smiled back and quickly averted my attention elsewhere.

"Hey, where's everyone?" Nik said looking confused, walking in with Angel. He sat on one of the chair opposite me whilst Angel took the seat closest to me and gave a small smile.

"They're probably on their way. Oh and before I forget, I dismissed Jack. He's no longer a part in the royal programme, he just annoyed me. If Alex asks I'll just say he's ill, so you guys better agree with me." I said sternly.

"But he deserves to know!" Nik whined.

"He does indeed but not here in front of everyone, I'll explain it to him later." I shot back. As if on cue, Alex walked in with Natalia and Ahmed. Behind them was Liam and Elijah. Natalia must've invited Elijah since no one else mentioned that he would be sitting with us and Natti was still determined for him to fall for her.

"Deserves to know what? And where's Jack?" Alex said roaming his eyes around the room for his new friend.

Ahmed had gone slightly pale and a look of worry covered his face. "I haven't seen my brother since yesterday."

All the girls' eyes connected with mines, hinting at me to speak. "Jack's fine he's just ill. In fact I was the last one to see him today morning, he'll be fine trust me." I lied, easily. They all brought the lie as they started speaking.

The room started to get louder as the last of the suitors arrived in the dining hall. Elijah had taken a seat on my left, Angel was on the right. This surprised everyone as he willingly sat next to me. Everyone knew that unless I specifically said they could sit next to me, I was off limits. I could've protested but I'm not the one to cause a scene so I let it slip since he was fairly new and the look on Natti's face was priceless.

"Anyways, how are you all?" Nik asked, trying to let conversations flow. And it seemed to work, everyone started chatting animatedly to each other as I sat back and just lived in the moment. But of course, someone would want to talk to me too.

"Princess Nina we meet again." Elijah spoke causing the attention of everyone at our table to slowly turn silent and hear our conversations.

"Holy mother of Jesus, is that who I think it is..." Alex started.

"... yes. It's The Orphan." Ahmed finished.

"You take that back right now young man. That was rude," Natalia said defending Elijah. But Elijah was quick to explain that he was completely fine being called that since that was now his celebrity name. After that they all started talking about perfume as I had the time to talk to Elijah in private, sort of.

"Elijah, lovely to see you again." I said in a genuine tone. "What have you been doing whilst your time here so far?"

"I've been talking to some of the other suitors, spending my free time in the games room and lounging in the suitors pool," he stated.

Whilst the royals had their private pool there was another pool for the suitors to use, which was much bigger since there were lots of men that had to share the pool. Every time I walked past the room which led to the suitors pool. It was always loud, they sounded like they were having the times of their lives, which they probably were.

All throughout lunch Alex and Natti were staring at me and Elijah, they didn't even try to hide their shameful staring. I giggled at the sight in front of me.

"What's so funny Nina?" Alex and Natti chorused at the same time. When they realised that they spoke at the same time the gave each other a dirty look before they looked back at me expecting me to answer. Just before I could answer a butler came in, holding a piece of letter in his hand.

"Princess Nina, this important mail arrived for you," he spoke wearing a solemn expression. I thanked him and put the letter down on the table as I ate in peace. No one dared ask me anything about the letter. Just like that everyone became quiet again, even I was worried that this letter could contain some awful news. Instead of letting everyone sit in quiet I encouraged them to go back to talking and told them that they had nothing to worry about.

Amongst all the suitors I noticed Rafael staring intently at me with an upturned frown on his handsome features. It had been a week since I last saw him but every night his face popped up in my dreams. It was scary, he was everywhere. But as long as I stayed clear of him I reassured myself that I would be okay.

"Thank you for joining me during this wonderful lunch. I appreciate you all had to make do in such short notice so I'm glad you could all make it. I look forward to see all you all soon." I spoke clearly as I addressed them, marking the end of lunch. I grabbed the letter and started to make my way to my quarters when Liam walked besides me and asked if he could accompany me till the royal quarters to which I agreed.

"So Nina may I be bold to ask if you and The Orphan have known each other for long?" he said with jealously in his voice.

"Oh no, nothing like that. He was being polite that's it Liam. Don't worry, I'm still keeping my options open," I mentioned, throwing him a tiny wink as we neared the quarters. Once we arrived he took my hand, kissed it and beamed at me.

"In that case I trust I'll be seeing you later then princess." He declared and wandered off. I sighed in relief as I stepped into my room and rapidly shut the door. I still had the letter in hand. After making myself comfortable on the sofa in my room I tore open the envelope and began reading.

Dear Nina,

It's been rumoured that you're in Greece and you're staying in the palace with your siblings Nik and Natalia. I've never actually got the chance to meet you since Natalia was born but there is a lot I have to say to you, and it's really important. I specifically chose to write to you because I knew that you would understand whereas Nik and Natalia would probably think of this as a joke. Anyways during the night of your ball I will be here. The invitations have all been given out and I managed to get one. I will be wearing a silver mask and a silver coloured dress, I'm telling you this so we can finally talk during that time but you mustn't tell anyone anything that I tell you. Please don't think of this as a joke. Things will start to become clear soon, I promise. I'm one of your own.

Becky Tricks, your beloved aunt.

I was frozen to the spot. Despite the fact that everything written in the letter could be a lie. My gut feeling was to believe in it and so I did. And when Natti and Nik came by later I said it was just a letter sent from one of my many fans who wanted to know if I had chosen a suitor yet. I knew they didn't believe me but they decided to respect my privacy and didn't badger me about it.

However, the thing stressing me out was question lingering on in my mind.

Why did my parents never tell me about my aunt?

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What are all your opinions on this mysterious aunt? Do we trust her or not?

Who's excited for the ball later on? There's going to be lots of drama unfolding. Be ready.

Thank you for reading. Don't forget to vote, tag, comment and share this book to any friends and family who might be interested.