Accidentally a Princess

Chapter 8

Belle's POV

"Who are you?" I saw him frozen in his place. I am now in a deluxe room with everyone but the deafening silent air is very uncomfortable. Aeneas blinked a couple of times before composing himself and opened his mouth.

"Belle, it's me, Aeneas" He gave me a warm smile as he walked towards my direction but I gave him a frown

"Sorry but I don't remember people who lie to me" I shrugged before looking the opposite direction

"Belle, I only did that to protect my identity. I'm sorry" He sighed and looked down, feeling the guilt creeping in his heart. His gaze suddenly met down my foot where he saw the bracelet he gave me where I used it as an anklet. I immediately placed a blanket over to cover it. The woman behind him slowly walked towards my direction as well and placed her hands on his shoulder.

"Hi, Belle. I am Eloise Margreth Victoria McQuoid,  Aeneas' mother. Actually we came here to see you" My eyes met hers as she gave me a polite smile. She revealed a brown envelope which her butler gave her and handed it to me. I hesitated for a while but gave in and accepted her offer.

"If you've remembered, a couple of days ago, you and Aeneas met each other at a certain bar in town. Unluckily, when you both left the place, a paparazzi recognized him and took pictures of you two." 

I opened the envelope with a puzzled face and gasped when I saw a lot of pictures of me and Aeneas that night. One was when he held my hand while we walked, the other is when I placed his arms around my neck to support him while walking, us laughing together and a lot more.

"The news of our prince had created big chaos all over the kingdom. We tend to disregard issues but this is not a minor one because both your faces are very clear in the picture. Aeneas never dated a civilian and if we leave this unsettled, it would taint the name of the royal family."

"But how come he was recognized? He was still wearing a disguise in these" I asked with a confused expression. She then nodded with a smile.

"Great question. If you'll look at it rashly, it could be hardly identified as Aeneas, however, if you stare at it intently, he can be recognized. The only thing that you could call a disguise is his contact lense and attire. His hair, nose, lips are very visible that you could recognize him if you really know him." I looked at the picture closely and looked at the real person. Our eyes met and he gave me an apologetic smile but immediately avoided my gaze due to guilt

"So in order to settle this, we've thought of bending the information of the media. In simpler terms, Aeneas would deny the rumor saying they've got the wrong person. To support the excuse, we've looked for a person who is quite identical to him and fortunately, we've succeeded. Now, the next step is to find you. Not only us but the whole Assyria is looking for you to be used against us; the aristocrats, reporters, paparazzi and a lot more. "      She added        "Finding you is not easy 'cause the only clue we have about you is your face and name 'Belle' which we assumed to be a pseudonym." She paused for a while and stared straight into my eyes

"That was our original plan. However, things turned in an unexpected way"

"What do you mean?" I asked without removing the look of confusion on my face. She gently sat on my bed and held my hand

"Tell me, who is the father of the child that you are bearing, Belle?" My eyes widened at her sudden question but immediately bit my lips and looked away.

"I-I don't know" I whispered. Thinking that they may get the wrong idea, I suddenly waved my hand in the air. 

"No, I mean don't get me wrong. I don't sleep with every guy I met." I hastily denied and turned my head down. "My dad forces me to have s*x with him when he is drunk or high on drugs but he uses protection. Aside from him, I've only been with....." I paused midway and slowly gazed at the man behind her "...Aeneas" I whispered.