Amelia

As I enter my royal chamber, I embrace Julie in a tight hug, my cheeks must have turned red like a tomato. I'm blushing for sure.

Julie gets stunned by my sudden hug and asks, “What happened? Are you okay?”

I pull away from the hug. My eyes shimmer, heat rising to my cheeks. Flashing a wide grin to her, I proclaim, “I said yes to him, for marriage.”

Julie's mouth drops open. She is stunned hearing that from my mouth. “What! Why? I mean…you said you don't want to get married to anyone,” she says in surprise. “The one who was saying an hour ago that she does not want to marry anyone, is now herself saying yes to marriage. That's unbelievable!”

I chuckle and turn slightly as I begin to tell her, “Yes, I said that I don't want to marry anyone at that time, because back then I hadn't met him. He's intelligent, powerful, and strong. I think I'll not regret marrying him. He won my heart.”

I turn back to her as I continue, “ And you know he threw the apple in the air, shot the arrow, and broke it into two pieces in one shot. I was amazed by that. I have been trying to do this for many years and always failed, but he did it in one go.”

Julie, staring at me blankly, gasps and walks toward me. As she takes my hands in hers, she smiles and says, “I am very happy for you. I hope that your relationship with him will fill your life with happiness.”

I flash a wide grin and nod. “I believe so.”

After coming here, I just wanted to become a prominent queen, so that I can stay here forever. Here, in this world, I can do whatever I want to, because I'm a princess. I have my parents. People respect me, they love me. I'm not alone here. Everything seems good here in this world, and now I've met a talented prince. After marrying him it will be much easier to stay in this world forever. I'll never want to leave this world.

Pulling me back to reality my mother’s and father's voices pass through me as they call my name, “Elara.”

Julie bows in front of them. I gleam, tears start brimming in my eyes as I run and embrace my father in my arms tightly.

My mother is watching us with her tearful eyes. I pull back and glance at my mother. She chuckles as she pulls me for a hug. Caressing my head, she says, “You made a very good decision. I am very happy that you said yes to this marriage.”

“I want to get my daughter married as soon as possible. After all, I have found a prince who will take care of her,” my father says.

My cheeks heat up as I chuckle and lower my gaze at my feet.

My mother nods. “Yes, now we will have to make a lot of preparations.” Her flustering takes the breath away. “Oh God, I am worried. How will we make all the arrangements in such a short time?” My father giggles at her worry.

“Mother, relax.” I take my mother to the bed and sit her down. “Calm down. There is no need to worry so much.”

My father stands beside my mother and puts his hand on her shoulder. “Yes, she's right. No need to worry.”

I turn to Julie and demand, “Julie, give me a glass of water.”

Julie nods and fills a glass of water. She offers me that glass. I render the glass to my mother to calm her down. “Drink this,” I say, glaring at my mother.

My mother lowers her gaze and drinks the water. Julie takes the glass from her hand. I take my mother's hand in mine and flash a smile.

“Everything will be done. Don't stress yourself for this.”

My mother chuckles. “It's my pleasure that I gave birth to a daughter like you.”

But I'm not your real daughter, mother. You might start hating me after knowing that.

As I manage to smile somehow and avert my gaze to my father, I ask, “Father, I want to ask you something.”

My father furrows his brows. “What do you want to ask out of the blue?”

I look into my father's eyes slowly. “Actually, I want to ask if…” I pause and gather courage to say. “Can I go out with Prince Sebastian?”

“What!” my father blurts out in amaze. I nod, struggling to catch a breath. My heart is beating fast. “I want to meet him.”

I don't know if he'll get angry or not.

He grits his teeth and glares into my eyes. "But you are still not married. You can't meet him."

"Your highness! Please, I want to know more about him and I also want to distribute some clothes and food items to the poor. There will be a veil on my face. Please permit me,” I insist, staring into his eyes.

My father gasps. "You are truly stubborn. Okay, fine. You can go but make sure to take care of yourself,” he demands.

I smile widely and nod my head. “Yeah, I will.”

My father permits me to go out to meet Prince Sebastian. My father has arranged my meeting with Prince Sebastian after a few days. I march to meet Prince with my court lady, Julie, and a few soldiers for security.

Prince Sebastian reaches there, riding a steed with his soldiers. He greets me. We both distribute clothes and food items to the poor and reach near a pond to spend some time alone. The whole Wantra looks mesmerized because of white Crape myrtle trees, the white clouds, and white mist all around the palace.

"Thank you," Sebastian says suddenly, looking at my face, breaking the ice between us.

Glaring at him, I furrow my brows and ask, "For what?"

Sebastian stops and glances into my eyes. As my face is covered with a veil, that's why only my eyes are visible to him. He gets stunned seeing my beautiful dark blue eyes.

"For saying yes to our marriage,” he says. As heat starts rushing through my cheeks, I lower my gaze.

Sebastian smiles. “Can I ask you why you said yes to me? Did you like something about me?”

I look again into his eyes. Both of us are looking into each other's eyes without blinking for a second. “Because you shot that apple,” I say.

Sebastian scowls. “What? Apple!” he utters in shock.

“Yes, I've been trying to do that for a long time. I can shoot an apple if it's placed somewhere but I can't when it's in the air. You did that very beautifully. I loved that.”

Sebastian lets out a sigh and smiles. “Well, you've liked it so I can teach you that.”

I widen my eyes as if I've heard something wrong. “Really!” I ask. He nods. I smile widely. Sebastian orders a soldier to take a bow and a few arrows.

I draw my bow to take aim as Sebastian instructs me to do. A soldier throws an apple into the air. I aim at the apple and shoot an arrow but it fails. I gasp.

Sebastian comes closer to me and stands behind me. “Let me teach you.” He grabs my hands from behind and teaches me how to hold the bow properly. “Hold a bit tighter. Okay,” he says. I nod. “And only look at the target, not the arrow or bow. Only target,” he demands.

“Only target…” I repeat his words.

Both of us get focused on the target apple and in a second, Sebastian, holding my hand from behind, pulls the arrow and shoots the arrow. In one shot, the apple separates into two and falls in the pond. I sigh in relief and my lips quirk into a grin.

I turn my face slightly to Sebastian and my breath hitches, as my eyes meet his. Sebastian’s breathing is fanning over my neck. He realizes the density of the situation, how close we are to each other. So, he takes steps back hurriedly and lowers his gaze, breathing heavily.

“I'm sorry. I wasn't intending to touch you like that,” he apologizes.

He's such a gentleman. I am impressed.

I shake my head and smile. “It's okay. I didn't feel bad about that.”

Sebastian looks into my eyes and grins, his tone earnest. "I’m relieved to hear that," he says sincerely. "I didn’t mean to cause you any discomfort."

I shake my head and smile, appreciating his considerate nature. "It’s really fine. I understand it was just an accident."

His expression softens, and he nods, showing genuine respect and understanding. "Thank you for being so understanding. I assure you, my intentions are always to act with honor."

We share a moment of mutual respect, the air between us now filled with a quiet acknowledgment of his gentlemanly conduct. I feel a renewed sense of admiration for him, knowing that even in such a tense moment, his demeanor remains both respectful and reassuring. I'm grateful that a gentleman like him is going to be my husband, not some other man.