I was in my trance of thoughts when the door swinged open . The maid - I mean Olive entered the room with a elderly man who has a suitcase like thing in his hand . I guessed he's a doctor cause he didn't have Black hair like Iris for me to presume him as Duke Meckelov. 

The Doctor looked old , he had wrinkles over his face and wore round glasses which gave him an owl like appearance . 

"Milady , Are you awake ?" Olive asked

"Yes" I said , trying to converse as less as possible . 

The doctor greeted me and seated himself in the chair besides my bed . He asked some questions and i answered them trying not be suspicious . The doctor concluded his checkup in some time prescribing some tea for stress and anxiety . I really couldn't believe that this body was fine cause i presume the real Iris to be dead or probably in my body as Kiara. Whatever . For now I had to focus on saving my neck from that crooked crown prince . 

As the doctor left , Olive approached me as i thought for excused I may have to tell her for my her prior awkward behaviour .

"Milady , How are you feeling ? Are you dizzy ? Is there any pain ? " She seemed genuinely worried . 

" No , I'm okay . I just had a Nightmare . The nightmare was so realistic that it was hard to tell the difference ."

"Oh" she sounded awkward with the current situation .

"Anything else ?" I tried to conclude the conversation . but to my surprise she did had something to say .

"Oh Yes !! You have to go to the palace today , for a tea party organised by the Crown prince . I thought that we may have to skip cause of your health but now it doesn't seems to be a matter . Right?"

"Yes?" I was dumbfounded . I had to do What?! Meet the crown prince ? Today ? I knew i had to meet him but so quick !! 

To my misfortune , Olive took my 'Yes' as an positive answer and started preparing for the bath. Well , the sooner the better !! I thought started getting ready for the trip to the palace . 

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THIS IS HELL!! To the people who think that wearing a saree or lehenga is problematic . Try wearing a corset !! Because I have to meet Royalty . I had to wear an Victorian era dress with a corset that was so tight that even breathing was a struggle and not so comfortable heels which did not use comfy material as the one's in 21st century . And for you information , I was never a  Make-up person , but this makeup used over my skin made me feel itchy and irritated . 

How do women bear with this ?!

I entered the royal palace and i was greeted with two knights in front whom i presumed to be my escorts . one of the knights bowed in front of me and held his hand towards me . I received his hand and he led me inside the Royal palace . 

I was nervous and my heart was beating against my chest . I took a deep breath and entered the garden where the tea party was being held . I left the knight there  and headed towards the round table surrounded by flowerbeds where three people were seated .

I noticed the silver haired flinching as i approached the table and the two men glared at me as if my presence was annoying . I didn't have to struggle to recognise both of them .

The man with blonde hair and blue eyes was the crown prince Alexis de Van Elendel . And the other man with crimson hair and hazel eyes was Jason Waltun , the knight that saved the maid and led the real Iris to death . And the lady sitting between both of them was , Yuriel , the maid . Yuriel was indeed beautiful with silver hair and violet eyes . It seemed as if an angel had graced upon earth . But beauty doesn't justifies what Iris suffered . 

The men were still glaring at me . Why did you invite me if you didn't want to see me . The answer was simple . The crown prince was a cowardly scoundrel . The Emperor was in Iris's favour and the crown prince could not afford to anger the emperor . 

At this moment , if it were the real Iris she would have been anxious about why the Crown prince was angry . But now it's me and 'Naah b*tch i don't give shit about your bug size male ego '

I would love to say this on his face while showing him my middle finger . But that would cost me my neck and I'm here to save my life . 

The party started . And throughout the party both the men kept on ignoring Iris , I mean me . They acted as if i didn't exist . 'As if I give a shit , b*tch off ' . The men kept on attending Yuriel as if she were some kid who needs someone to take care of her or she was some angel who needs protection from the evil. The crown prince probably did this to make Iris jealous but to me this literally seemed like some cheap PDA of a 14 years old amateur lover . 'GOD ! If only there was something like YouTube in this era and some YouTuber could roast this man for being a cringe ' I thought . 

The tea party ended with some desert that had name too complicated for me to remember . Truthfully , The dessert was the only part of this whole tea party that was wholesome . The rest felt like a bad scripted 16 century act written by a illiterate man . 

Alexis stood up from his seat and was heading towards the hallway when i called him 

"Your highness" 

He turned around clicking his tongue as if something displeasing had happened 

'I don't wanna talk to you too , you bastard !!  I yelled at him in my mind .

" We need to talk" I said as politely and straightforwardly I could . 

He stared at me for a moment and I wonder what the hell he was thinking

" Why?" He asked .

  

'God I really want to throw something on his face and ruin that arrogant mouth ' 

" You would know when we do talk " I said trying to look as composed as possible .

"Huh ? Follow me " He said as if brushing it of .

Whatever. I followed him and he led me to a room probably his study . He asked the lady in waiting to bring tea but i stopped him . I really couldn't bear with this tea cause no matter how I changed . I was still Kiara inside and as Kiara I loved the desi chai made in every indian household . But the tea here was blant , without milk and above all no sugar ! It was worse than drinking green tea . 

He looked shocked when I interrupted him . Cause Iris would never interrupt him . He asked the lady in waiting to leave and looked at me . His gaze still had annoyance in them .

"Speak" he commanded 

He sounded as if he was doing some favour . 

Without a second thought , I spoke my words 

" I want to break off the engagement , Your Highness ".

  

It took him a moment to process what I just said 

"What ? What did you say ?" He seemed shocked . As If he never expected his little kitten Iris to go against him . 

" I want to break off this engagement , You Highness " I repeated in a clearer and calmer tone .

"Are you out off your mind ! , Iris de Grace Meckelov " . He called me by my full name trying to display his authority. But it was not going to effect me .

" No , Your Highness . I'm fully aware of what I'm saying right now " i knew he would react like this . But why was he looking so agitated shouldn't he be happy that now he can be with Yuriel.

"Fully aware ? Weren't you the one who said you loved me . What happened now huh? " He said in a sarcastic tone , mocking me .

'This man wants Iris to love him even after everything he'd put her through . The audacity of a b*tch ' I scoffed unintentionally.

" Because .. I don't love you anymore . Your highness . It's over now " I said looking straight into his eyes . I had to say he has pretty eyes .

"What ? Don't love me anymore ? That's not possible . I know this is some other play of yours , Iris . Stop with your act and act more mature" He said arrogantly .

" This is none a part of any play , your highness . I'm doing both of us a favour . I know you love Yuriel and i don't love you too . So won't it be better to end things instead making thing more difficult ." I lashed back at him 

" Your really don't love me , huh? I know that's a lie . And do you really think you can break of this engagement just like that ? Do you think Duke Meckelov and the Emperor would agree to this ? " He stated . 

'Yeah ! This was the real issue . You can't confront your father because you're a coward who is scared that the Emperor may dethrone you from the crown prince position . So don't you dare think of me as the same . I would not stay engaged to you no matter what !!' 

" I can do anything , Your Highness " I told him looking into his blue eyes . 

"What?" He said in disbelief . 

"I WILL end this engagement no matter what ! " I concluded i conversation and walked out of the room without glancing back at him . 

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