"Princess Anna! Hurry, your mother is waiting for you in the dining hall," Louise, my personal servant, and nanny since I was born say as she makes up my bed.

"Okay, Louise. I'm trying!" I respond as I stumble to get my heels on. I look at myself in the mirror one last time to make sure I looked decent according to my mother's standards of "how a princess should look."

I need to look my best especially since we've been having so many people in and out of the castle decorating and preparing for my twentieth birthday celebration. I should be excited but after my celebration, will come my unwanted coronation. I open the door to see Susan, my scheduling assistant waiting for me at the door.

"Princess," She bows.

"Susan. What is my schedule today?" I say returning the nod as I walk past her and towards the stairs nodding to everyone that walks by.

"Well, after breakfast with your mother, which I assume you're heading to as we speak, you have your French lessons"

"Is that all?" I ask knowing it wasn't.

"Of course not. A Princess's work is never done. After that, you have an outside walk around the palace to wave to the people, then you have your archery lesson and before you even ask, yes, Lord Oliver will be there" She says as I smile. I then tune her out and start thinking about Oliver.

Lord Oliver was my only friend despite Louise and Susan. Well, one that was around my age. We grew up together. I always thought we would be more than friends but I think Oliver only saw me as a friend but in a sister-kind of way. Plus, my parents want me to marry someone from official royal blood. Preferably one of the top families that had their own Kingdoms. Personally, I wanted to marry for love. I wanted to know that the man I would marry would know me well. I wanted him to be my lover and my friend.

"Princess, are you listening?" Susan asks as I nod.

"Okay. What did I say?" She says with her hands on her hips.

"Lord Oliver will be accompanying me for my archery lesson" I state.

"I said so much more after that" She scolds me as she looks at me. I give her my cutest princess smile that makes almost everyone melt.

"That doesn't work on me. Try something else. I used to help Louise change your diapers at times. I know you very well. The both of us practically raised you. There's nothing cute about that smile. Your cuteness wore off ages ago"

I look at her and shrug. I said almost.

"As I was saying, you also have fencing lessons with Sir Simon, then an hour to wash up and change for a late lunch and tea with Lord Oliver, the princess of Lyria, princess of Hanbridge, and princess of Telula," she lists. 

"Is that all? And I thought I had a busy day" I smile politely as Susan rolls her eyes at my sarcastic tone, "Very funny, princess"

"Wait, did you just say lunch and tea? And what's Telula?" I ask looking at her.

"Yes, lunch and tea. You eat lunch and you drink tea. Once the lunch and tea starts, please, for the sake of your mother's heart, behave," She glares.

I roll my eyes, "And Tulip?"

"It's Telula and it's a small kingdom on the east side of Kavington, by the water. It the Kingdom that looks like a little island with houses and people from your bedroom window," Susan clarifies.

I nod as I stand in front of the big doors to where my mother was.

"Is that all, Susan?" I ask tiredly already.

"For now, yes, but I heard that you may be taking place in the grand visiting room later on today. A select group of people was invited so that they can give you gifts, their prayers, requests, and wishes in hopes that you, our future Queen will be able to accept the duties of protecting and providing for the people of Kavington"

"Well, I'll be honored to fulfill those duties, but as Her Royal Highness, Princess of Kavington, not Queen," I respond.

"Too bad. You're going to be Queen. It's your rightful duty and place, now go. You're late and you don't want to keep your mother waiting"

"I wouldn't mind keeping her waiting, actually," I state.

"Go," Susan scolds.

I roll my eyes as I turn to the door guards, "Open, please and thank you"

The door guards open the door as I walk in.

"Darling!" My mother, Her Royal Majesty, Queen Rosalinda of Kavington calls.

"Hello, mother," I smile as I gracefully Princess walk to where my mother was sitting. Gotta walk like a Princess to avoid hearing her nag.

"Door close," My mother orders as I am halfway down the walkway. I take my seat after I curtsy and receive my "okay" nod from the Queen.

"How are you, dear? Did you sleep well?" She asks as the breakfast arrives and is placed on the table.

"Yes. I certainly did. Did you sleep well, mother?" I ask kindly.

"I slept well. Thank you," She smiles as I nod.

"Shall we say grace?" My mother asks.

I nod as we both close our eyes and
she begins to pray over our breakfast, "Lord, thank you for another day of life and blessings. Thank you for Your grace and for our health and strength. Thank you for the food that we are about to receive, Amen"

"Amen," I repeat as I open my eyes and take a nibble of my toast. Yes, a nibble. You have to eat "politely" and "beautifully." 

"Okay. I'll get to the point. Your birthday is next week and after that is your coronation. You will be taking my place and your rightful spot as Queen of Kavington. Your father is so proud of you and will be back from his small mission trip tomorrow, but we had a discussion last night over the phone and we feel it'd be best if you had a husband" My mother says after taking a graceful bite of her fruit.

I choke on a bite of my grape as my eyes grew wide, "I'm sorry. Can you repeat that, please?"

"You will take your rightful spot as Queen," she replies knowing that, that's not what I was referring to.

"After that," I state annoyed.

"Your father will be back tomorrow"

"After that, involving the discussion you both had"

"You'll be getting married"

"That's what I was referring to! Who will I be marrying?" I yell.

"Do not use that tone with me, young lady" My mother scolds.

"How can you and father discuss something like this without asking me?" I question.

"Since when do we need your approval from the decisions we make?" She laughs.

"Umm. When it involves my life!"

"Well, it's not just your life, it's the life of our people. We're doing what's best for them. There are a few people who know you don't want to be Queen and they fear that you will not take this seriously. Their lives will be in your hands. They think you'll be more serious if you had a husband. A lot of people are preparing for your coronation, but your coronation preparation starts with you getting married," my mother explains.

"I don't want this, mother. Well, at least not yet. You know that I love Kavington with all of my being but you and father are still healthy. Stay King and Queen for a couple of more years" I pout.

"We would, but you're of age now, Anna. You need to fill your rightful duties and give us heirs for the Kingdom" She states.

I sigh disappointedly. I was saddened by the fact that not only did I have to be Queen, but my own people were not confident in me. It had come to the point, that I now have to marry someone I've probably never seen nor do I love.

"Look Anna, your father and I know it's hard to marry someone you do not love, but we've picked someone who is loyal, reliable, strong, and can help you. Plus, he's a Prince and will make a good alliance for our kingdom as well as his own with you by his side. He is the second Prince of Delton and his older brother is the rightful future King of the Delton throne with his wife. His coronation is in a couple of weeks as well. We even talked to his parents, who are good friends of ours and they think it's a wonderful idea. You used to play with him and his brother when you guys were younger. We've talked about it for quite some time. He's coming sometime today and staying until your birthday celebration. He is then going back home for his brother's coronation and then will come back to marry you. We've decided to push your coronation back a week so that you and Liam can bond a bit more and can spend time together. You will both be going to the lunch and tea with Lord Oliver and the other Princesses as well as hearing the requests and wishes of the people, as the future King and Queen of Kavington"

"This isn't fair," I pout.

"I know, but it's what's right for our people. It's always about them. What we do and how we do it is always for them. We make sacrifices," She states.

"Princess, it's time for your French lesson," Susan states awkwardly as I could tell she overheard the conversation.

"Excuse me, mother," I say as I gracefully stand up and head out the door. I felt bad walking out on my mother, but at the same time, I didn't. I was also grateful that Susan saved me from this unbearable conversation.

"You okay, Princess?" Susan asks once we were down the hall.

"Did you know about this?" I ask her.

"It was something that was going through the walls, but you know the petty gossip that happens in this Castle. People can never mind their business. I ignored it"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think it was true. If it wasn't from the Royal's themselves or from the Royal messenger's, I don't listen to it"

"This is a disaster," I whine.

"You don't know that. Just give the boy a chance. You were all great friends years ago"

"I barely even remember what he looks like," I state.

"I heard he's very handsome"

"So, puberty him hard then? I don't remember too many cute boys through my royalty childhood" I state looking at her.

"Well, in a few hours you will see for yourself," She winks as I roll my eyes trying not to smile.

———————————————————

"Bonjour, Anna!" Jean, my French teacher says.

"Bonjour, Jean. Comment allez-vous?"

"Je vais bien, merci! Et toi?" Jean smiles.

"Ehh. Bien" I return the smile weakly.

"Bien? Pourquoi pas très bien?"

"Trés bien," I unintentionally say more sadly than happily.

By the way, I felt his eyes on me, I knew he could tell that I was upset and trying to hide it.

A princess never shows negative emotion. She remains firm, dutiful, gentle, friendly, and must never slouch... but this time, I couldn't help it.

We spent the whole French lesson talking about my problems in French so, I technically used my time and lesson wisely. It turns out, he too, had heard the noise through the wind about my future suitor. It was a shame that I was the only one kept in the dark until today.

"Scusa. Uhh, sono qui per il mio amica, for our archery lesso- oh! Jean, it's you. Bonjour!" my childhood best friend, Oliver says awkwardly and then cheerfully as he pops his head in.

"It's my French lesson today, not Italian, Oli," I laugh.

"Oh! Excusez-moi. Je sui-"

"Oli, let's just go," I laugh cutting him off and pushing him towards the door.

"Au revoir, Jean!" I wave as he waves back with a smile.

"You really should stop skipping your language lessons, Oli. You're slacking," I say pinching his cute cheeks.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," he smiles and rubs his hands through his blond hair.

I used to have a huge crush on Oliver a few years ago until he mentioned having a thing for the Princess of Lyria. The day I decided to confess to him, I caught them kissing at my 16th birthday ball. It hurt, but then I just told myself it wasn't meant to be and that Oli and I were better off as friends. Our friendship was and still is important to me, but with time, my feelings faded away. Don't get me wrong though, he's still super attractive, but since I'm supposed to be meeting my "fiancé" today, I definitely don't have time to think about what Oliver and I could've been.

"Uhh Anna, everything okay? I was talking to you and you weren't responding," Oliver asks concerned as I come back to reality and start waving to a few of my people outside of the Castle gates.

"Her Royal Highness, Princess Anna! Lord Oliver!" Someone yells.

"Hello. How are you?" Oliver and I ask with a smile and a wave.

"I'm doing great!" She smiles back as we continue to walk.

"Sorry Oli, but yeah, everything's fine. It's just been an overwhelming day," I say as I continue to wave to other people as we walk towards the outdoor archery area.

I grab a quiver, extra arrows, and a bow.

"Overwhelming? You just got up like two and a half hours ago. It's only eleven in the morning," Oliver teases.

"Well, considering my birthday and coronation is coming soon, I now have to get ready for my wedding," I state as Oliver shoots his arrow. The news caused him to jerk backward as the arrow slings above the target, through the bushes, and into the lake. A couple of guards run to go fetch the arrow.

"What?" He yells in shock with the same wide-eyed expression I had. I'm kind of glad he didn't know but if he did, I knew he wouldn't have kept it from me.

"Yep. His Royal Highness, Prince of Delton the Second. I'm surprised you haven't heard as fast as news travels here. It's like every inch of this place has ears," I state annoyed, but starting to get a bit amused at how shocked his face was.

"Well, I mean, I would say, 'This can't happen', but I knew this day would come eventually just not this soon. We haven't even met him yet," He states.

"We?" I question with a smirk.

"I mean, yeah. I am your best friend. I should have the right to meet him and grow a bond with him before he marries you. I need to make sure he's good for you," he explains as I aim the bow for the center and score a perfect shot.

"Yeah, well, apparently he and I used to play together. So, maybe we all used to play together. I just don't remember, but I guess you can try to grow your bond today because he's on his way and he's staying for a while so that we can bond," I say pulling back the bow and aim.

Oliver just stares in shock until I knock his bow and arrow down to the ground.

"Hey!" He yells.

"Well, if you're going to just stand there and not practice with me, you might as well not stand statue-like with a bow and arrow in your hand. It gets numbing after a while," I tease as he frowns and picks up his bow and arrow.

"She's right, you know?" I hear an unfamiliar voice of a very handsome man as he approaches us.