Chapter 2 The King's Plan

• AURETTE EVIGHEDEN ROOSEVELT
• The small but shrill song of the birds filled the deafening silence of my room. Today is a weekday, which means today is my rest day. No teachers from different kingdoms will come here to the palace to teach me.
• I just finished my breakfast. I just ate in my room because the king and queen are busy in the palace right now. I don’t know what they’re busy with and I’m not interested.
• “Princess Aurette,” Wanda’s voice said on the other side of the door after she knocked. “The Queen summons you to the garden.”
• My forehead creased. What does my mother need from me? I thought she was busy? She doesn’t talk to me often, so I know what she has to say is important.
• I stood up from my bed and headed to the door. Wanda was still standing there, as if she was really waiting for me to come out.
• “Thank you very much, Wanda. I’ll go to the queen alone. Don’t come with me,” I replied, to which she immediately nodded.
• I walked down the hallway to the second floor and left Wanda in front of my chamber. Only Wanda could witness how my parents scolded me for things because she was the only one I was always with. The other servants of our state had no idea of how their beloved leader treated me.
• Even though Wanda is my personal servant, we aren’t that close because it’s forbidden. I would like to talk to Wanda casually and be friends with her, but that’s not possible because Wanda would still be considered a commoner who only works here in the palace.
• One of the laws of every kingdom of Yaunus is that the status of commoners cannot be considered equal to royalty. Commoners must bow their heads to us if they do not want to be punished. That is also the reason why Wanda cannot look at me straight in the eye.
• “Good morning, Your Majesty,” I greeted the queen politely and bowed as I arrived at the garden. I found her quietly sipping tea while watching the butterflies fly by.
• “Have a seat,” she said.
• I sat in an empty seat in front of her. When I looked at her, our eyes locked. I quickly looked away because I felt my heart stop beating temporarily. Every time I look into her eyes, I could only see hatred and disappointment.
• Do you really hate me that much, Mom? It’s been fifteen years. It’s been fifteen years since that happened.
• “How are your lessons, Princess Aurette?” She formally asked, sipping her tea.
• I gulped. “I t-think I’m doing great, Your Majesty.”
• She cleared her throat. “That’s not the answer I expected from you, Princess Aurette. You think? So you’re saying that you are not confident in your performance then?”
• I bit my lower lip. “T-That’s not what I meant, Your Majesty.”
• “No excuses. You are not just a princess, Aurette. You are a symbol of Ruilux. A leader.
• A future queen
• . Do not forget your place,” she said.
• I tightly closed my eyes and nodded. “I won’t forget, Your Majesty. I’m sorry, I’ll redouble my efforts.”
• She stood up elegantly, so I stood up too. She turned her back to me, so I bowed respectfully while holding my hand tightly.
• I thought she was going to leave completely, but she turned her attention back in my direction.
• “You must understand the weight of this crown, Princess. You cannot afford the luxury of mistakes. One wrong move and this will cause a massive destruction to our kingdom,” she seriously warned.
• “I understand,” I muttered bitterly. I have learned to swallow the bitterness even though it is threatening to choke me.
• When I finally felt that the presence of the queen was no longer there, I slumped down and sat down on the elegant iron chair in the garden.
• The words left by the queen are repeatedly playing in the back of my mind. My chest feels even heavier, as if I’m carrying the whole world.
• I have to protect the crown I don’t want. I have to study things I’m not interested in.
• I slowly took the crown off my head and stared at it. It had vine-like curves and sapphire-blue gemstones. The most striking feature was the large teardrop-shaped stone in the very center of the crown. There were also small stones that looked like leaves in the vine-like design of the silver tiara.
• I smiled bitterly. I, Aurette Evigheden Beecker Roosevelt, would carry it, whether I was ready or not.
• ༺｡° .ᘛ𓆩♡𓆪ᘚ. °｡༻
• “Where are you going, princess?” Wanda immediately asked me as I was about to turn the knob of my chamber door.
• I winced slightly. She really didn’t want me to lose sight of her. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. But I know she’s just doing her job, and that’s keeping a close eye on me.
• “I’m just going to the royal library, Wanda. I’m not going anywhere, don’t worry,” I told her and opened the door completely.
• “In that case, I’ll go with you, princess,” she insisted, which immediately stopped me.
• “No. Just take a break or talk to the other servants. I might have to stay there a while because I want to study something important.”
• I didn’t wait for her to say anything and just walked towards the stairs down to the first floor where the huge royal library of the Roosevelt palace was located.
• Before I could even get down, my eyes fell on a hallway that was a bit dark. I knew that hallway because there were pictures of the Roosevelts hanging there. At the end of that hallway, too, was my father’s office.
• Before I finally went down, I decided to go there to see the photos hanging there again. I can’t remember the last time I toured the entire palace because I was too busy with my duties.
• My lips curled slightly when I saw the photo of the former king and queen of Ruilux, King Gunter Reiss Roosevelt V and Queen Elyzabeth Prestcote Roosevelt. They were my father’s parents but unfortunately we never got to meet them but according to the conversations I overheard from other servants, they were very kind to their people.
• The photos of my father, mother, and brother Gunter were updated, but my photo with Aldwus, especially mine, remained unchanged. It’s still a photo of us when we were only seven years old in separate frames. Aldwus’ photo is at the bottom because he is five minutes younger than me.
• I took a deep breath and pushed away all the negative thoughts that were about to enter my mind. I closed my eyes and was about to continue my way to the library on the first floor, but my feet automatically stopped when I heard laughter. I didn’t notice that I was already close to the office of the king.
• “...Aurrette.” I had no intention of staying there any longer, but my ears pricked up with curiosity upon hearing my name.
• I slowly walked closer to the door to better understand and hear what was being said inside. I noticed that the door was slightly ajar, allowing noises to come from inside.
• I swallowed. I could feel my heart beating so fast for some unknown reason. I knew what I was doing was wrong. It was very wrong, but I didn’t think they would know if I was just careful.
• “I can’t wait for the upcoming alliance between Vulon Kingdom and Ruilux Kingdom, my queen,” my father said.
• I heard the queen giggle. “That’s why we need to be stricter with Aurrette in her lessons, because we can’t let the Cosux down. She will be the first official royal consort of King Korigo Kyrarax Cosux. We need this large alliance of their noble guards. We can’t let this opportunity slip from our fingers, my love.”
• My eyes widened, and I couldn’t help but hold my mouth open. I felt my hands tremble as my brain processed what I had heard. My breathing became heavy, as if at those moments there were palms completely strangling my neck.
• “I’ve wanted to get that girl out of my sight for a long time. It’s a good thing you stopped me from killing her before, now we can use her life. She’ll be out of our way forever, we’ll have a very strong alliance. We’re in a win to win situation.”
• That’s when my world completely collapsed. I was so shocked by what I heard and the mixed emotions that I barely managed to make a sound with the heel of my sandal, which echoed throughout the hallway.
• My eyes widened, and I quickly ran while holding my sandals and hid in the large vase just near where I came from. Fortunately, the clothes Wanda had me wear today weren’t too big so I didn’t have too much trouble.
• “Is there anyone there?” the queen asked coldly, echoing in the hallway.
• I held my breath and silently prayed that they wouldn’t see me here. When I heard the doors close, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
• I still can’t get out of my mind what I heard. I thought they were pressuring me to properly lead our people here in the Ruilux Kingdom. That’s why I’m trying to understand even though I don’t want this title.
• But from what I heard today, everything has become clear. They want me to learn everything, they are teaching me because they don’t want to be embarrassed in the Vulon kingdom, not because it’s for the good of our people.
• They’re shaping me to become the best version of myself to get rid of me.
• I smiled widely.
• Do I deserve this?