Chapter 1 ~ The Renowned Princess

CHAPTER 1 : The Renowned Princess.

The sweet smell of freshly cut roses wafted through her nostrils as the princess stirred slightly on her too comfy, queen size bed. With an aggrieved groan, the Crown Royal thought of catching a teeny more snooze before the royal maids came into her chambers for the usual morning routine.

But sadly enough...

"Good morning, your Highness." A courteous voice she knew too well, uh not-too-pleasantly, serenaded her.

It was the capable Elva Thompson, the princess's personal aide.

"Elva, in the name of all things spicy which you can't live without, please just five more minutes!" Natalia drawled and lazily turned over the other side of the huge bed, cuddling more into one of her countless soft throw pillows.

"I apologize, Your Highness, but there's a lot of royal duties to perform today and we're running out of time." Elva replied with the same professional voice which could fool anybody.

Well, not everybody though.

"No! I ache all over. I demand some more time to rest." The renowned princess declared with a pout, with her figure, which was in no way considered gracious at that moment, buried deep into her silky sheets.

"Excuse us for a moment." Natalia heard Elva murmur to the maids standing in formation but she still didn't bother turning around.

Unfortunately, her decision turned out to be a costly one because the next second, the bedsheets were unceremoniously ripped off her and the personal MAID began pulling the struggling princess over until they both crashed on the floor, giggling like little kids.

Natalia and Elva had been best friends since the latter was appointed her personal aide three years ago to assist the royal nanny when the princess turned 15.

And since then, they had grown inseparable!

Of course, they act 'Royal and maid' in the presence of others but behind closed doors?.... They play crazy!

Pardon our manners, she is Natalia Alexis Santiana. Princess of Empire Astheria and soon to be Empress when her grandmother, the reigning Queen passes on.

Woah!

Not that she prayed for her to go soon!

As a matter of fact, the Queen's the only blood relative the princess had left ever since her parents died on their return journey to the Palace on a stormy night over a decade ago.

And you guessed right. Because after that ugly incident, Princess Alexis was always doted on... even in her dreams!

Aged Queen Fiona adored her grand daughter and still treated her like she was five! Well, Natalia couldn't complain much because it was a vice versa contract.

Recently, the Queen's health had been detoriating. And despite her grand daughter's endless chasm of concern, the eighty year old still insisted it was an old friend, called old age, kicking in.

It frightened Natalia a lot because it seemed to be kicking hard and hot!

But nevertheless, her reservoir of optimism was greater than her fears.

Back to the present, Elva pushed Natalia off her and stood up, smoothening down her royal uniform which showed the rank of a right hand assistant.

Every maid, cook, guard and even the gardeners working at the palace had their special uniform. But in all, they had the noble symbol of Astheria on them, which was a sleek, silver sword embedded in the middle of a reborn phoenix bird.

"Nat, you have to be ready right now because your tutors are already on standby! Then after the theoretical, you have waltz class, music lessons, tennis practice, then..."

"Hitting you in the face with a tennis ball?" She asked with a flat look. Elva chuckled in a wicked way that said; 'You wish!'

"Then finally..." she continued; ''Madame Padme will tutor you on the royal etiquette required by the princess you, my dear lazy friend, are." She concluded and closed the work tablet she always carried around.

Even though she was only a year older, the pouty princess often wondered how Elva managed to act so capable while she, on the other hand, took a lot of effort to do anything right!

Natalia groaned.

"Not Madame Padme again! Even though she's so pretty, her accent confuses me so badly that I lose focus and just stare at her lips instead! I can't go through that torture again." The Princess also concluded and fell on her back.

"Sorry, cupcake. But you'll have to 'cause she's one of the best you'll ever find." Elva said and pulled her up. Natalia snorted grumpily.

"One of these days, I'll put her on a rocket and send her faraway from the universe!"

Elva's beautiful laughter echoed round the gigantic bedroom which in every sense defined the needs and taste of a wealthy princess.

"You mean IF that's ever possible!" She grinned. Natalia let out a small giggle.

"But for now, you're taking your morning tea before getting cleaned....thoroughly." Elva handed her a cup of tea from the classy tea tray she'd earlier brought in.

Natalia sighed and slumped back on the bed in her silky pajamas, her thick brownish blonde hair spreading over the pristine white sheets in a beautiful pattern.

Her glossy, huge brown eyes bulged when Elva professionally clapped her hands, signalling the maids' return with trays of God-knows-what-they-contained-this-time-around!

She sighed again making Elva give her that "You're not gonna weasel out of wearing a formal dress today again!" kinda look.

The Princess almost fainted! ALMOST, thanks to the bed she already laid on.

"This is gonna be a long, long day." She lazily muttered and looked out the window...

***

( Somewhere VERY Far Away. )

Hearing the bloody alarm clock going off for the one hundredth time that morning made HIM end his resolve, jostle out of bed, grab it, angrily stomp over the semi-dark room and with the poise of an expert cricketer, toss it out through the sunny balcony!

Feeling pleased with the momentary silence and for finally getting rid of the little monster... HE strolled back to his oh-too-comfy bed and plopped down on it.

Apparently, HE had that certain personality where video games played throughout the night was a better substitute to nightcrawling like the rest of his agemates did.

However, guess what??...

The aristocratic family's long time butler chose that exact moment to walk in and then thinking the ummoving figure was still very much asleep, rung the annoying little bell he carried around to graciously wake him up.

His ass!

"Good morning, young master De' Argent! I trust you had a pleasant night?" Butler Lee asked in his usual curt tone.

As expected, his greetings were answered with the usual, cold silence.

The young master had some personality issue relating to some...uh particular set of people. Well, with exception of his family of course and his two best friends, Jeffrey Campbell and Ricky Winterfield.

Being already used to his cold silence, the old butler went on to inform him of the family's presence at the breakfast patio, who were waiting for him to join them.

Blame the ''compulsory breakfast attendace'' on the young master's father as it was his excuse bonding with the family after ever rarely being at home, before disappearing again.

Fifteen minutes after the butler left, the young master grudgingly pulled himself off the bed and strolled into the walk in closet. In this certain large room stood another double swing door at the extreme end which led into the bathroom.

After spending more time in there, he returned back to the closet in a bath robe and stood before the vanity mirror.

Staring at his slightly visible eye bags made him remember how video games helped him stay off people. The young master wouldn't call himself a total recluse. No.

But he loved to a point of obsession, silence...

The one he got being alone in his own little world.

He looked at his magnetic mint green eyes which had never earned only a single glance and sighed again, before styling his silky, midnight black hair.

After putting on a random but hell-not-at-all-cheap pair of sweats, he slipped on a pair of comfy slippers, picked up his favorite phones and left the room with a trail of maids diligently following behind.

Arriving the breakfast patio, the young master met the set of people he'd had all intention of avoiding all day....lounging comfortably like they owned the place and doing what he hated the most...

A light frown automatically marred the beautiful face of Arian Antoine De' Argent.

"This is gonna be a long, long day." His subconscious gritted silently...

***

Enthusiast Jeffrey Campbell sat at the Argent's high class breakfast patio with moody Ricky Winterfield who he practically dragged out of his house early that morning.

Well, Jeffrey couldn't stand his knucklehead best friends waste a whole Saturday doing nothing but wallowing in distasteful "self-induced boredom" as he put it.

He was positioned next to Tommy De' Argent, Arian's baby brother who was a lot more fun. Tommy was a little before six.

Madame Rose De' Argent, who the boys loved to call Mom Rose, had Tommy late. Precisely thirteen years after she had Arian. Unlike his big brother, cool thing's Tommy was a mix of funny, mischievous and sweet.

And oh, they got along pretty well.

Ricky Winterfield sat quietly on the other side of the buffet table next to Mom Rose with his legs arrogantly propped up on the table. He had his typical bad boy frown on with puckered lips as he swiftly typed away on his phone.

Multi-billionaire French business tycoon, Sir Richard De' Argent, had left for work with his daily entourage a few minutes before they arrived. And now, Jeffrey was stuck helping willful Tommy finish up his odd breakfast of Éclair, doughnuts and strawberry jam.

Yeah.

Pretty much screamed LOTS OF SUGAR!!

"Jeffy, could you please feed me some apple juice? My hands are a little messed up.'' Tommy pouted, shoving his little palms across Jeffrey's face which were smeared with melted chocolates.

"...."

Chocolates too?

Little Tommy was the only one permitted to call the enthusiastic heir 'Jeffy' and he loved it because it made him feel like a big brother.

Being the only child of Sir Williams Campbell sucked because it got real lonely at the Campbell's mansion with his dad always away on business trips and his mom being late...

Madame Campbell, the beloved philanthropist, died giving birth to Jeffrey and since then, he and his dad have always had this cold, strained relationship.

Deep down, Jeffrey knew his father blamed him for his wife's death and seeing him everyday grieved him so much of the woman he loved and lost. So, work was the excuse to stay away from home.... From him.

And to top it all up, Jeffrey was a complete lookalike with his late mom!

Beautiful, right?

Jeffrey was inclined to stay away from home whenever Sir Campbell was in town. However, he never had to stay away long enough because his father never stuck around more than a few hours a week.

"Oh my God, Tommy! What have you done?! I've told you never to eat alone without your nanny. Speaking of which.... Nanny!" Mom Rose called out, breathlessly.

''Mom, don't worry." Jeffrey slipped back into reality and shared a pretty smile. "I've got this little runt under control." He reached over to get a serviette but Tommy wanted to do it himself, so he bolted ahead.

Er...unfortunately, he knocked over a glass of strawberry juice which was cool....until it spilled across the table and seeped into Ricky's new limited designer sneakers!

Which WASN'T so cool.

The entire table fell into a dubious silence noticing the face Ricky made when he felt the strange, cold liquid on him. But they lost it and burst into laughter as soon as the ex-moody heir gagged and flew off the table, futilely wiping it off like his entire net worth depended on it!

Tommy who'd been looking sorry joined in the wicked laughter, earning a dirty scowl from Ricky.

Mom Rose tried to keep a strict face as she scolded Tommy but the amusement in her eyes made them laugh the more!

"I must've missed the invite." His passive, lazy but enenchanting french accent wafted into their ears like music.

Yeah. Their best friend was cool too, depending on his mood. But sadly a fun sponge most times!

They all looked over and spotted the young master, Arian Antoine Dé Argent, at the bottom of the grand stairs, dazzling oppressively like a movie star...