Chaos.
That's one word to describe what happened after that idiot Damon decided to open his mouth and give his little speech.

On one hand where the girls were screaming out of joy at the top of their lungs the guys were all pissed and were voicing their disagreement. Poor fellows. This was really unfair towards them.

What really got me shocked though was that Damon actually gave a thought to what I said. He bloody put it into action. Undoubtedly he was going to face many criticisms, many people questioning the Kings authority. How did he manage to convince the King though? From what I saw, King Rupert himself didn't know what his son was upto when he stopped him. So what did Damon tell his father that made him take such a massive decision in literally 10 minutes?

Damon, seeing that this was getting out of hands, spoke again. "I know this announcement has come as a shock to all of you. So to try to put at least some of your minds at ease I would be taking in some questions only if decorum is followed."

Instantaneously, the entire hall went quiet and many hands went up in the air.

"Yes, sir", said Damon to a man, who seemed to be in his 30's with his hand up, motioning for him to speak.

"Sorry if I sound blunt Your Majesty, but has this decision been thought over at all? From what we all saw His Majesty King Rupert himself didn't know about your decision until a while ago. How can we second this decision if it was taken so rashly in the first place?"

"Your concerns are valid, sir, but remember, no decision, when it comes to the people living in this country is taken rashly. The council has spoken about implementing this measure for quite a while. It was only a 'simulator', if you can call it that caused this to come into action today. Decisions taken by my family were supported in the past so all I ask from you is to show trust in us and support them again."

I knew I was the simulator he was talking about. But was this actually discussed about before?

"Yes ma'am", said Damon and an old lady got up.

"Son, these are traditions you are tampering with. Traditions that were agreed to and thought of by your own ancestors. If you don't trust the decisions of your ancestors yourself how do you expect us to trust you?"

Burn. That must've hurt.
Damon though seemed completely unfazed and answered almost immediately.

"Of course I trust them. They were my blood, but those decisions were made a long time ago. I don't mean to disrespect you ma'am but when these rules were made you weren't born yourself. How can you be so aware of the circumstances they made them in then? "

The old lady seemed dumbfounded so he took the expression on her face as a cue to continue.

"The times have changed." He said addressing to the entire audience now. "So have circumstances. We, as the rulers of this kingdom want our people to be in pace with everyone else around the world. If the entire world is moving forward, I wouldn't want my people to be left behind because of some customs. Not all traditions have changed, but some that have and that will be in the future are only for the betterment of this nation."

Some people even clapped after his answer but not many supported them. People were still a little apprehensive of his decision.

"There will be one more question that His Majesty will entertain," said one of the announcers.

"You there," said Damon pointing to one of the guys at the back. Only when he got up did I realise who he was. That was Vivian! Oh shit.

"I was a part of today's selection process. I was finally able to see the girl I had to spend the rest of my life with after so many years of waiting and I was happy after I saw her." I turned red, realising he was talking about me but brushed it off and heard what he was saying next. "I understand when you say that the future Queen cannot just be randomly chosen but didn't you say yourself that every pair is made after careful scrutinizing. Won't the future Queen be completely perfect for this title then if she too was chosen so carefully? We are the same age, Your Highness. All I'm asking is for you to understand what all of us," he said pointing to the other paired boys beside him, "would go through if you were to do this. Don't we deserve better? "

He had a point. A great one at that and I saw many people nodding to what Vivian had just said.
Damon just lost the little support he had gained, I thought to myself. When he answered though, he managed to leave me shocked for the hundredth time today.

"Vivian right? You were one of the first people who got paired today weren't you?" He remembered his name. Ha. I did not expect that. So didn't Vivian because he too seemed shocked but quickly recovered and bowed, "Yes, Your Highness."

"I completely understand for you to like the person you are paired with. All these ladies seem lovely, some of them standing out from the others," he quickly looked at me, smirked and then continued.

"But Vivian, because we are the same age I expect you to understand where I come from. Yes, of course all of you deserve better. In fact this is one of the major reasons why we took this decision. Everyone deserves a chance at love, and I wouldn't want to take that away from you. Being in love is a great feeling, something you would always cherish."

Something in the way his eyes lit up when he spoke about being in love made me think that he was speaking from experience. However there was some amount of hurt there too because of which I thought there was more to it. The arrogant, self centered, and cocky Prince, I thought, definitely had another side.

"Sure, if the person you are paired with is the person you are destined to end up with, it will all work out well. If it isn't though and if it's someone else, I wouldn't want old customs to stop you from being with them. Also, yes, my officials must have made an immaculate choice in choosing my wife no doubt. But now I ask YOU to think of ME as someone your age. Don't I deserve the opportunity to find love too? For a king and queen to rule people together, they need to actually be together in a much different way. My father was lucky enough to find such a great wife. What if I'm not that lucky? I wouldn't want the future of my people to get jeopardized and im sure so would you. Love, Vivian, doesn't just happen. It grows and you need to let it grow. Give your heart a chance this time, all you men, I'm sure you won't be disappointed."

This time there was an actual applause. A huge one. There were even tears in the eyes of a few. His words really seemed to strike a chord with the people.

He smiled, a genuine one and said, "Thank you for your time and patience ladies and gentlemen. Hope you would co-operate with us and help us in making this a success."

With that the entire Holden family got up and left. While everyone in the auditorium excitedly talked about what had just happened and almost all of them seemed to agree with Damon, I sat there staring into space. Damon Holden seemed like a mystery I couldn't rest without solving.