4 The ballroom

The flaming sun shone on Margaret's face and woke her up. Rose entered very first in the morning and rushed her up to get ready, she didn't have a minute to herself. It was her first day in Greyland after all.

"Do you have something arranged for me, Rose?" She asked as she got out of bed. She immediately went in front of the mirror and looked at herself. Rose came out of the dressing room with the dress of the day, which she then laid on the bed.

"Not really, Princess! His Majesty suggested you look around the castle and feel at home." Margaret walked into the bathroom to freshen up before putting on the dress her court lady had prepared.

"Did he say that? If so then that's what I ought to do." Coming out of the bathroom, Rose quickly pulled her in. She picked up the dress from the bed, ready to help her put it on.

"I'll try to find something for you to do, princess." She strongly tightened the corset as she spoke. "It – shouldn't – be – that – hard." Margaret struggled to say each word as her court lady enforced the laces of the dress.

Right after she was dolled up, a strong knock was heard. Rose went to open it after making sure the princess was well covered. Stunned by who it was, she immediately curtsied. The queen dowager entered with a straight face while Margaret was still facing the mirror having no idea who stepped in. Grace cleared her throat, making the princess turn. She was shocked by her presence in her room but still curtsied. Grace's face said it all, she didn't fancy the bride, and Margaret understood. She's a stranger who suddenly appeared out of nowhere to marry her firstborn. She's an intruder but, no matter what will happen in the future, she's still going to be her daughter-in-law.

"Princess Margaret!" The queen dowager said, looking distraught by something. She didn't have time for any sort of pleasantries.

"Your Highness! - May I ask why you're here?" There was total silence in the atmosphere, no one moved. Grace asked the maids and guards in front to leave them alone to discuss. She repeated herself twice, with the second being a strong yell before they moved away.

"May we sit?" Grace suggested, pointing her fingers to the princess' bed. Margaret couldn't refuse the offer and so she nodded and gently sat on the bed. Their movements were identical, hands on their closed thighs, looking at each other.

"Princess Margaret, you seem nice and stunning." Those words weren't said with the kindest tone a person could use.

"Thank you much, your Highness, same to you." Margaret tried to ease the atmosphere by sending back the compliment.

"But - I don't want you to marry the king. I want to be straight with you, I don't fancy you." She blurted out those words at the princess, showing no takebacks.

"Oh - Well then, I'll have to make you like me. You must know more about me to be able to judge me. Believe me, Your Highness, you'll grow to like me." Margaret kept her smile, unbothered on the outside but screaming on the inside. Her soothing smile captured the attention of Grace, she smirked a little and suddenly became serious again. Margaret saw that tiny bit of change in her expression before it faded.

"For now, I can't do anything to stop you from marrying Francis but I'll be keeping an eye on you, I'm just letting you know that I'm not a very huge fan of you, Princess Margaret."

"A wise person once said, Your Highness, 'Never judge a book by its cover' and I live by it. - I'm not insinuating anything. I'm just saying that I may be a surprise to you, a good one maybe. Right now, I understand why you don't appreciate me but in the near future, you may, and I don't want this conversation to be an obstacle to that."

The queen dowager didn't fall for her speech, she stood her ground and gave back with her little speech before she left.

"Anyway, I've made myself pretty clear about the situation here, now be a doll and a good girl while you're here. - I don't tolerate anybody who tries to use my son for any reason." She got up from the bed and walked towards the door. Margaret stopped her and told her that she understood her point of view but she wasn't going anywhere. This was now her life. Grace smiled and said; "We'll wait and see." She then left.

Margaret got up from the bed, put her hands in front of her, and got out of the room, nearly stumbling on Rose, who was standing in front of the door. They first went to the ballroom, an enormous ballroom, bigger than the one in Randel. Magical. Margaret started moving around in circles in the empty dance hall, her dress turning around with her, her shiny blonde hair floating in the air, her hands lifted up northeast and west, turning with her.

While she and Rose were there having fun, someone was watching them in secret, that person seemed to be spying on them, looking at their every move, strange looking. Margaret briefly spotted him while she was dancing with Rose, where he was, it was dark and so only a peak of him could be seen. Margaret didn't suspect anything, it could've just been a pass-by. Who knew?

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One of the most powerful and decent realms in Greshia, Tornille, is known for their good skills on the field, they've never lost a battle for centuries, mainly because they never actually fight big wars. Their power is there because they aren't out there to fight. They justify themselves as being pretty peaceful, a huge reason why King George allowed his daughter to visit the prince.

Prince Louis Ray Robinson doesn't have the duty usual heirs have, he's already taken upon himself the role of his father even if it's yet his time. He has no features of his father but quite a few of his late mother. He took her ambitious dark eyes and black curls and most importantly, he has a birthmark roundly shaped behind his left ear, a birthmark that has once been seen before.

The morning started as usual as it could be with the prince having his daily breakfast.

"Is Princess Margaret's room ready for tomorrow?" He said as he was wiping his mouth with the napkin. The maid stood in front of him with her hands behind her and responded.

"The princess won't be coming, Your Highness." He dropped his napkin on his lap and put his attention on her. "Princess Margaret is currently elsewhere, haven't you heard, my prince?" She looked at his expression, showing that he had no idea. "King George announced that the princess will soon be getting married, a few days ago." His jaw dropped.

"Married? To whom?"

"I heard she was getting married to King Francis of Greyland, so she couldn't come to visit you." Prince Louis got up from his chair and proceeded to leave the dining room but then stopped.

"Can you tell the king that I'm headed to Randel for a few days, I'll be back soon." He demanded.

"But your Highness, the princess isn't in Randel anymore. She left for Greyland." Before he could hear her words, he had left the dining room for the realm that had nothing awaiting him. He got on his horse, ready for his journey.

※

Meanwhile, far away from the three realms. Another princess is trying to rule hers with her father. She's seen to be unapproachable, unreasonable, and fearful. Princess Emma Beischel of the dark realm of Corsia is the one. Like any other day in their land, Emma took it upon herself to scold a citizen who bumped into her by accident. She was interrupted by her messenger who came and whispered some sort of news to her ears.

"What?" She said out loud.

Her voice could be heard from afar, her anger was extreme. She walked fast to her room, strongly shut the door behind her, and began to brush her things from the table, threw a vase on the floor, and walked towards the mirror. She looked at herself, and anger was written all over her face. "Never" She yelled, as she threw her fist at the mirror and shattered it.

"Is everything alright, Princess?" The guard in front of her door opened the door and gently asked.

"Leave me alone - Now!" The guard didn't question her and left. She came back to her senses a few seconds later and picked up a cloth to wipe off the blood on her fist, she then sat on her bed and began to shed tears. "I'll not let this happen." She spoke to herself as she wiped them off.

※

In Greyland, Margaret and Rose are done with their tour and so the princess decided to walk around a little bit. Somehow, they found themselves at the market. People were staring at her, and everyone she passed by was gossiping. Rose wanted to leave but Margaret wanted to be like everyone else and be able to walk around the market as a normal person would. She wasn't a normal person.

"Isn't this fun, Rose?" The court lady looked around, feeling unsure.

"It's quite dangerous, Princess. I think we should go back to the palace, the king may be looking around for you."

"He probably isn't, why would he? Come on, let's stay for a while, I never go out anyway." She caved in and allowed them a few more minutes. "Just for a while, then we leave."

They roamed around for a while, making Margaret as happy as she looked, seeing different things outside of the palace. One of the king's guards was also there, he spotted them and suddenly went running.

"Princess, we should go. I think I just saw a royal guard, he may have seen us."

"Really? Oh My Gosh! Hurry, let's go."

She started running for her life, they were unaware of how the king handled issues like this but she was used to being deprived of going outside and so they both assumed that the king also had the same rules. They tried their best to enter the palace without being spotted but it didn't work, a few servants saw them on their way, but it was too late for them. In the hallway, the princess was still running, Rose was a little behind because of how fast she was. As Margaret was on her way, she bumped into someone.

"I am so sorry but I have to go, I -" She didn't see who she had bumped into and rapidly moved to the side to continue running to her room when suddenly she was grabbed by a hand, it was a strong grip, she felt stuck. Her heart started to beat harshly, she quickly turned around to see who this unmannered person was, the one who grabbed the hand of the future queen of his home.

"What is wrong with you? I'm the - "She was confident but then she stopped out of shock.

"- You're my promised." The king said, with a blunt expression.