3 CHAPTER 3

"That's all the lesson for today. You three are such excellent students as always, especially Princess Ramira. Please remember that we will have a long examination next week before starting our class."

After saying those words, their instructor finally said goodbye and leaves the library. Ramira leans her back on the chair and rolls her neck. Sitting on a chair for four hours straight really made her body feel stiff for a bit. While rolling her shoulders next, Geradine has finished gathering his things and stands up from his seat.

"I still have classes to attend this afternoon." Geradine said. "Ramira, do you want to come with me?"

"No, it's fine. I will just visit dad in his office later." Ramira replied while piling the books she used in their lessons.

"Alright. Just don't disturb father too much."

"Hey! I am disturbing him!"

"If you say so."

When Geradine snaps his fingers, a glowing magic circle with blue flashes of lightning appears on the floor. Soon, Geradine disappears from their sight leaving only a few sparkling specks of dust in the air.

"Being the Crown Prince must be really hard, huh." Ramira mutters to herself.

Aside from the classes Geradine is taking with his twin sister, he has a lot of separate classes teaching him all the things he needs to become the next king of their kingdom. As the eldest son of their family, Prince Geradine has the responsibility to become the next person who will lead and protect their kingdom. He started taking his extra lessons two years ago and all of his teachers are praising him saying he will become an excellent king in the future. As his twin sister, Ramira feels proud and happy for Geradine.

"If you're jealous of Prince Geradine, why don't you declare that you'll fight for your right to the throne and join him on these lessons every day?"

Ramira turns her head around and glares at the person who said those words. It was Theo, their cousin from their father's side. He is sitting one seat apart from Ramira but she can still see the teasing smile plastered on his lips.

"Stop making a joke like that. It's not funny."

"I am not trying to make a joke, Princess Ramira."

"Psh."

Theo Parvil, the only son of Marquis Parvil, is considered one of the talented young men in the Verdandi Kingdom. He has jet-black hair that matches his pale skin. The most distinguished part of him is his eyes that can be compared to the beautiful green fields in their kingdom. Most of the people who see him for the first time are always noticing his eyes first that possess a different charm.

Fortunately or not, he is also their older cousin. Theo is someone that Ramira cannot easily get along with. He always has a comment about everything she does. His words are full of teasings and jabs that Ramira is finding herself wanting to punch him most of the time. But she will always calm herself down thinking it's not good to see a princess like her beating up a person especially if he is their cousin.

"But good work for today. As always, you are so smart that our teacher can't help but become speechless and praise you about it at the end of our class."

And there are also times like this when Theo will sincerely admire and praise her for the excellent things she does. Ramira can always hear the sincerity in his voice every time he praises her without any teasing words in it. This is why she cannot seriously hate her cousin. He is just like Geradine who likes to bicker but still treats her so preciously.

"Thank you—"

"If only you can behave just like those princesses you read in books." Theo said before letting out a sigh. "What a pity."

Ramira slams her book on the table before glaring at her cousin. Forget it. Maybe she really has to hate this cousin of hers and slap him with the book she's holding just to take revenge for all the teasings he gave to her. Ramira can just bring him the best healer in their kingdom in case she injured him too much.

"Shut up! I don't need your opinion." chided Ramira.

"You really can't control your temper, princess. Maybe that's the reason why Prince Orpheus has to call off his engagement with you."

Ramira paused what she is doing when she heard that. Theo is looking at her with a teasing smile on his lips and waiting for her reaction. She remained standing like that for a while before grabbing her things and walking towards the door.

"Where are you going—"

"I hate you." condemned Ramira before closing the door with a bang.

Ramira doesn't want to continue talking with her rude cousin. To be fair, it was not Prince Orpheus who decided to call off their engagement. It was his parents who made a final decision to it. King Teriza accepted it in a heartbeat saying they don't need those people in their lives.

Prince Orpheus Valdemir, Crown Prince of Kravil Kingdom, was supposed to become Princess Ramira's husband once she reached her adulthood age. When she first met him, Ramira was entranced with his beauty. She heard that people is calling him the golden prince. And after seeing him in person, Ramira finally knows the reason why.

Prince Orpheus has golden hair that looks like silk. His skin is well-tanned despite being exposed to the sun because of his swordsmanship training. He also has honey-colored eyes that look like a precious gem when hit by the sun. If someone will tell Ramira that Prince Orpheus is the sun's child, she will probably believe them.

Prince Orpheus is three years older than her. When they first met a year ago, Ramira can feel that he was treating her like a younger sister. On their first meeting, they didn't feel any sparks or attraction to each other that often describes in books and romance novels. Ramira admires Prince Orpheus because of his physical appearance, but that's it.

She doesn't feel anything special with the prince. But Ramira didn't think too much about it. Contrary to everyone's thoughts about her, Ramira is not naive to believe all the fairytales she had read in the past. She really listened well to her father when he said true love is something that you cannot feel in an instant. Just because you are attracted to someone doesn't mean you are already in love with them.

After their first meeting, Princess Ramira and Prince Orpheus decided to become friends. They are in a political marriage to make a good connection with each other's kingdoms. Even if they cannot find themselves loving each other, at least they can become good friends. It was actually Ramira who proposed that idea and Prince Orpheus accepted it without any problems.

Since then, their relationship became smoother. Every time their families meet in official gatherings, they do not have to feel awkward. They can naturally greet each other and exchange stories about the things they did in their lives. To say that they have truly become friends is not a wrong statement.

Princess Ramira becomes comfortable with him and Prince Orpheus feels the same. If their relationship continued to progress in a good way, maybe they can actually fall in love with each other. If that happens, then their marriage once she legally becomes an adult will become more meaningful for the both of them.

But one rainy afternoon, their kingdom received an official letter from the king of Kravil Kingdom. The words written in the letter were short and easy to understand. It was simply stating their intention to call off the engagement between Princess Ramira and Prince Orpheus. They only gave a vague reason saying their royal family doesn't want to pursue the marriage with Princess Ramira anymore.

King Teriza and Prince Geradine were both mad after reading that letter. They feel offended thinking that the Kravil Kingdom is just dismissing Ramira that easily. Because of it, King Teriza announced to their kingdom that he is permanently cutting their good friendship with the Kravil Kingdom. The king will not tolerate those people who will treat his children without any care and sincerity.

And just like that, the blooming relationship of Princess Ramira and Prince Orpheus has ended in an instant.