Olivia POV

A knock on my door makes me immediately sit up on my bed.

Lots of women rush in to once again pick out another stupid royal dress for me to wear and help me dress, even though I don't need it. Sometimes I hate life as a royal. I know I should be grateful, as my uncles have told me many people would kill to be in my position but it doesn't make me any happier.

Of course, I love being able to serve and help people but this castle is a reminder that I'm only here because my parents are- well, dead.

I grew up with my mother, father and my brothers- my twin brother Luke, and the other set of twins who are five years younger than us, Lewis and Liam.

We grew up living in the village, disguised as normal people while our uncles, my mother's brothers, lived in the castle.  They had agreed that when Luke and I were old enough we would move to the castle to be trained as "proper royals". This was because at the time, the war was so awful that it was the only way to keep the heirs to the throne of our kingdom safe. My parents were killed because of an "electrical accident". The whole house was set on fire and they were trapped. The four of us (my brothers and I) were at the market at the time, so when we got back the house was burnt beyond repair.

I don't know the truth about what happened, but something makes me believe it wasn't an accident. Uncle Felix has told me it is because I want justice for my parents, and maybe he's right. He's right about most things.

We did the only thing we could think of and turned to our uncles for help. We moved into the castle- Luke and I thirteen and Lewis and Liam only eight.

They told us they would be training us early for the royal life.

My family are extremely old fashioned, which is why even though I am older, they believe that the first born male of the Maxwell family shall be King. Of course, if no boys are born in that generation then it falls to a woman. I think it's because if Luke were to marry, and he probably will, future generations of the royal family will carry the Maxwell name. Something along those lines. I don't really ask questions anymore.

My Uncle Felix is my oldest uncle and is the king of our side of Earth. We don't really have a name for the sides, weirdly enough. Not that we talk about theirs, anyway.

Uncle Jeremy is my fathers twin and is the second-oldest out of all my uncles.

Next is my Uncle Leo who's a year or so younger than Jeremy. Neither of them have children nor a partner.

My Uncle Marcus has two children, Lydia and Theo. His wife died giving birth to Lydia, who is the youngest out of the two.

Also, my grandmother Dahlia. She's all my uncles and my father's mother. Her husband died before we came to the castle, so I never really knew him.

My four uncles have taken great care of us over the years and I couldn't be more grateful for that.

My siblings and I look remarkably similar to our families, our parents especially. Lewis and I have my father's light brown hair and both of their dark brown eyes, while Luke and Liam have my mother's black hair, and again, dark brown eyes.

As I mentioned, my father and Uncle Jeremy were twins, which is a very common thing that runs in our family. I don't know much about my mother's side.

How does that even work?

I close the doors quickly as the maids finally exit the room, sighing with relief and snapping out of my daydream.

I took a look at myself in the mirror. I have a long, floor length dress that is coloured a dark grey and a black bow wrapped tightly around my waist. I also have even darker grey heels and a small silver necklace that Luke had given me for my - well, our birthday around my neck.

I turned to the side. I need to stop eating so much, I think, pushing in my belly with my hand, I'm a princess!

I knew I wasn't the skinniest, my legs and stomach especially were a little bigger, but that's just how my body was naturally. I remember my mother being a little curvier too.

Lucky for me, the dresses hid my legs and I always had some sort of jacket, bow or accessory to cover my lower stomach. The men in my family- nearly all of my family are men- never understood my insecurities so I usually pushed them to the back of my mind.

It seemed that I didn't have a very busy schedule today which was a first in a while. I opened the large doors and exited my room, quietly closing them behind me.

According to my brothers I have a "posh walk" which I can't blame myself for, Uncle Felix had always gotten annoyed at my poor posture before.

"Liv!" Lewis called out to me from the other end of the hall, jogging towards me.

"Hey," I pulled him into a quick hug before we walked together to see my uncles.

"Are you busy today?" He asks me.

"Hopefully not, but you never know with Uncle Felix. He likes to keep me on my toes," I laugh.

He gives an understanding nod. I take his arm to ensure that I do not trip over my dress, a habit he doesn't seem to mind. I've tried my hardest over the years to avoid embarrassment as much as possible. I definitely don't have the grace of a princess.

My twin and I are now nineteen and Luke and Liam fourteen. Yet, for some unknown, unfair reason, all three of them are taller than me. Either all of them are freakishly tall or I'm just freakishly small. Probably a bit of both.

At least Liam and Lewis' training is much more relaxed than ours. Due to my request of course. I want them to grow up without worrying about all this stuff as much as possible.

When Luke and I turn twenty-one Luke will be crowned King, and I couldn't be happier for him. I know he's worried but I trust that he'll make an amazing King.

We can hear some shouting so we pick up the speed until we enter the dining hall.

"Marcus! You're going to make us late!" My Uncle Felix yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing through the castle.

"Uncle Felix, is everything alright?" I asked, taking my arm slowly out of Lewis'.

"Yes, yes, fine. Listen, Olivia, we have some business to take care of at the wall. Keep an eye on your brothers for me, will you?" He asks and I nod.

The Wall was built years and years ago to separate out two kingdoms. There is a gate that is heavily guarded on either side of a building directly in the middle, in case our families need to meet up for business-related matters. I'm not sure it had a name, but we just called it the "Centre Building". How creative.

"Is there anything we should be doing?" I ask him as he hurried out the room to meet my other uncles.

"No, just," he pauses as one of the guards speak to him before turning back to us, "I don't care what you do but stay out of trouble!"

The giant doors of the main entrance slam behind them as they rush out the door.

Lewis laughs, "you know what that means, right?"

I give him a confused look, "I don't think so."

"Hide and seek!"

"Seriously? Isn't that a little old now?" I roll my eyes.

"Not when you've got a massive castle like this!" He can barely contain his excitement.

Liam and Luke enter the room, "so, we heard our uncles are out for the day," Luke smirks.

Lewis runs towards them pushing them out the door, "Olivia, count to thirty!"

I roll my eyes and cover them with my hands as I begin to count.

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"Ready or not, here I come!"