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After Prince Edmund and I finished our dance and sat down, the gifts began to flood in. It was the Prince’s conferment ceremony so naturally, people had to congratulate him with something.

As the future Crown Princess, I was accepting gifts with the Prince and exchanging pleasantries.

Then suddenly:

“Announcing Her Highness, Princess Selena Maelan Kahler de Edis.”

The noisy hall quietened down.

People had thought the Princess was late at first but after a while, they thought she wasn’t coming. Queen Rowena’s face had already been dark for a while and the King didn’t seem to care.

But now, the Princess was here. Extremely late and after the conferment ceremony was over.

“Greetings to Your Royal Majesty,” Princess Selena’s confident voice rang out. The King acknowledged her existence then she turned to the Queen, “Good evening, Your Majesty.”

The Queen’s face was still frosty.

Princess Selena suddenly laughed, “I’m sorry, Royal Mother. I was held up.”

Surprisingly, the Queen’s expression eased up, “Alright, have a seat.”

Princess Selena glanced at the seat but took no action.

Meanwhile, I was observing her. The entire scene was playing out just as I remembered.

Princess Selena was an oddball. She looked nothing like the King or the Queen even though it was the opposite for her brothers. It was said she resembled her great grandmother, Queen Freya. But even though she looked nothing like her parents, she took both of her mother’s features.

She had big, beady black eyes and her hair was crimson like her mother’s, but a better description would be blood-red. Her hair was cut in a strict bob and not a single strand was out of place. It framed her face, giving her a cute image that heavily contrasted with the aura of confidence she exuded.

Princess Selena opened her mouth and I could almost quote her word for word.

I would like to get engaged, Your Majesty.

“I would like to get engaged, Your Majesty.”

People were truly stunned now and began to whisper to one another.

Many marriages had been proposed to the Princess only for her to shut it down with fervor because the boy was too ugly for her. She claimed they had to look half as handsome as her father to be engaged to her. The childishness of that statement was obvious. Many noble families had given up and chosen to wait till she grew up and was more reasonable.

Yet, here she was now, asking to be engaged.

At 14, Princess Selena’s beauty was becoming more and more pronounced. There was already a line of suitors for her. The fact that she was very high in status added to her allure. If she married into any family, they were assured to go up a rank or even two. Unless it was a Duke family, then nothing would really happen.

So who did she want to get engaged to?

The Princess wouldn’t mention engagement without having someone in mind. However, she wasn’t rumored to be involved with anyone. The only males the Princess interacted with was her brothers and father.

Since they couldn’t think of anyone, many young lords in the hall perked up, thinking they might have caught the Princess’ eye without realizing it.

But the King Alexander interrupted at that moment, “Princess Selena.” In his hand was a golden goblet, which he was swirling meaningfully.

Selena’s face changed slightly as she bowed, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You arrive at the Crown Prince’s ceremony at your own time, yet you do not seem remorseful in the slightest.”

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I am truly remorseful,” she lowered her head and it was difficult to see her expression.

“Hm,” the King’s low voice reverberated through the hall. And a tense silence followed.

I noticed Queen Rowena’s expression had gone to her default mode: gentle and caring. I looked at Prince Edmund and found that his expression was blank. Then I looked at Julius and saw that he looked intrigued.

“Very well,” King Alexander finally broke the silence, “What is this talk of engagement?” Selena opened her mouth, but he didn’t let her speak, “Queen, have you heard of this?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Queen Rowena’s smile deepened, “But I would like to know what young man has caught my beloved daughter’s fancy.” Her gaze swept over the room, pausing at one spot before continuing on.

Because I was watching her so closely, I naturally noticed where she paused. My gaze moved there, and I saw a face I didn’t expect.

Rowan?

Huh? That doesn’t make sense. The person Selena gets engaged to is not Rowan. Why would the Queen look at Rowan?

“Well?” the Queen continued, “Who is this young man? Unless you want me to draw an engagement for you?”

A beautiful smile blossomed on Princess Selena’s face as she spoke her next words, “I would like to be betrothed to Sir. Isaac Whitehall.”

Silence befell the hall for the second time that day.

The Queen’s eye twitched while the King raised a brow. I heard someone clearing their throat loudly and didn’t bother to look. It was obviously Julius. The reason for their weird reactions was the ‘Sir’, that she just used. It meant that the man she just mentioned was the son of a Viscount or a Baron. It was akin to the Queen saying she wanted to marry a commoner.

“This Sir. Whitehall,” the King sounded amused, “does he have an ancestral name?”

Princess Selena tilted her head as though confused by the question, “No.” Her expression practically said why are you asking the obvious.

I heard a suppressed chuckle from Prince Edmund while Prince Julius burst out laughing without any care for his image.

An ancestral name was basically the odd sounding middle name that every high noble had. It was a name taken from one of the first generation ancestors of the family. And while it was rare for two people to have the same middle name, it did happen.

In my case, my ancestral name was Nitha. It was my great, great, great, great, great….you know what, forget it. It was some old lady’s name.

 “Julius,” Queen Rowena spoke sternly when the boy didn’t stop laughing. Slowly, the boy quietened down, and his laughter seized.

King Alexander put down his goblet. He looked thoroughly amused.

This was one trait of the king that was relatively easy to bring out. Most of the time, he was stern and cold but once he found something amusing, he was like someone else. And judging the little smile on Princess Selena’s face, she had been banking on it.

“So he’s called Isaac Whitehall...” the King grinned, “Where is this young man?”

“Your Ma—” the Queen began to interject but he raised up a hand to silence her.

Princess Selena’s eyes brightened up like she had been waiting for him to ask and waved her hand. A young man stood up in the audience, startling those around him. He had a mask on his face but as he walked to the platform, he took it off.

Immediately, there were gasps and squeals from all over the hall. Soon, he reached Selena and held her hand.

“I greet Your Royal Majesties.”

Then the man called Isaac bowed deeply and stayed in that position like someone waiting for a verdict.

A glance at the King showed he was holding back from laughing while the Queen looked exasperated. Now, there wasn’t anything wrong with Isaac Whitehall per se.

It’s just….

He was really hot.

No, seriously.

He was drop dead gorgeous.

If not for the fact that I’d seen this face for almost 5 years straight, I’d probably be drooling. And as a matter of fact, I had drooled in my last life. My infatuation with Prince Edmund didn’t stop me from appreciating a god in human form.

Ehem.

Needless to say, he was much more handsome than the King. Princess Selena was true to her word.