“We’re here.”

As per my parents’ correspondence with the royals, it was agreed that we will hold the private engagement ceremony in the church near the Prince’s palace. After that, I will then spend the rest of my life living in the Prince’s home.

Speaking of, I still haven’t seen my fiance. My eyes were looking for any signs of the dark-haired prince.

“Welcome, I trust that your journey was well?”

Subtly flinching in surprise, I was glad that my instincts kicked in and immediately did a graceful curtsey to the Emperor and Empress of Stagglen.

“Thank you for the warm welcome, Your Majesties. Please be assured that our journey was well.” Father responded in a regal manner.

I’m still not used to the fact that I am a part of a ridiculously good-looking family. Right now, with the Emperor and Father shaking hands, I couldn’t help but compare the two.

Though both men are of similar age and built, I still favor my Father’s youthful blond-hair-green-eyed face than that of the Emperor’s serious dark-hair-blue-eyed one.

Suddenly, an impressive woman of chestnut brown hair and piercing red-violet eyes entered my vision.

“Is this Amelia? My, your daughter is very beautiful. She’s a miniature of you, Duchess Isabella...though she has Duke Louis’ eyes.”

My mother smiled at the praise and elegantly thanked the Empress.

“Oh, how rude of us. Come and introduce yourself, Caelum.”

The handsome boy standing behind the Empress stepped in front and gave us a perfect, regal bow.

“Greetings, I am Caelum James Tyronne de Kertesz Deschner, Prince of the Stagglen Empire.”

After a quick nod from my mother, I faced him and did another curtsey. “Pleasure to meet you, Prince Caelum. My name is Amelia Elizaveta Camille of the Ducal House of Barrett.”

The Empress actually squealed in happiness at our customary greetings - something that shocked even the prince as it was rather unlady-like especially from a woman of her status.

“Why don’t we all have tea at the parlor, and let Caelum and Amelia spend this time to get to know each other? Cae, show her the west gardens.”

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

It was basically an order.

Giving one last customary curtsey, we all parted ways.

Now that I’m alone with the prince, I subtly glanced at his profile.

Just like every typical novel male lead, the prince’s good looks is no joke. If I had a prince “type”, I’d definitely pick him with his dark hair, purple eyes, and tall physique. Well right now we’re still young, so there’s still a few years before Caelum’s full-powered handsomeness emerges.

“Shall we?”

He said that calmly but his ears were red. How cute.

Smiling, I took his offered arm and started our trek towards the gardens.

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It was so awkward.

I was waiting for the prince to start the conversation, but it seems like he’s adamant in keeping quiet. We’re so silent that we could actually hear the birds chirping in the distance.

Not being able to handle the awkwardness anymore, I tried for small talk.

“I’m sorry you had to be stuck with me.”

He looked from the corner of his eyes. “Not at all, if anything, I apologize for the hasty engagement. My parents were suddenly determined to marry me off…”

Huh. What a depressing thing to say. Our conversation was not part of the novel since I was the one who suddenly spoke first...and now I have no idea how to respond to that.

“To be honest, marrying your children off to resolve a problem is the worst solution ever. I wonder which idiot initially started this trend...if I do meet him, I won’t hesitate to yank his facial hair off!” Of course I knew it had to be a man - this world is patriarchal in nature.

The prince suddenly stopped. His head was bowed but I could feel him trembling.

“What’s wrong? Are you...laughing at me?”

Having been found out, Caelum let out a rather undignified snort and continued chuckling while attempting to calm himself down.

Did I say something funny? What a weirdo. Though his snort was cute, I can’t forgive him for laughing at me.

Noticing my frown, he finally stopped laughing. “I apologize, I didn’t mean to laugh at you. It’s just that...I’ve never heard a lady say an impolite word so easily.”

Ahh, right. In this world, every word is carefully crafted and monitored, and even a simple idiot is considered impolite.

“I’m sorry, it slipped off my tongue.”

“Don’t be, I appreciate your candidness. I rather like it than that of the typical conversations with ladies.”

Surprised, I turn to look at him. “Do you not like talking to societal ladies, Your Highness?”

There was a pause as we took a turn. “Conversing with a lady is not an issue, Lady Amelia, since it is required. The topics, however, is what causes me headaches. Surely, you understand that there’s a limit to the talk of fashion and weather. Some ladies also tend to latch onto me as soon as I’m within the area. It is rather troublesome.”

Wow, I can’t believe there are some girls already acting like vultures. I mean come on, we’re barely even considered teenagers. Kids these days sure are brazen.

We spent the next hour talking about random topics.

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“How do you like the prince so far, Mia?”

Mother asked as soon as we were escorted to our rooms.

Behind her, Father and Brother pretended to be busy while listening to our conversation. They should really learn subtlety ‘cause right now they’re failing miserably at it.

Ignoring them, I turned to Mother. “He’s really nice and polite. We ended up talking a lot about random things, even business. It was rather fun.”

I remember the prince’s surprised look when we talked about the issue with generating more income for the kingdom. He didn’t expect me to be knowledgeable on the issues with society, which is understandable. Most ladies were ignorant of what’s really happening in the kingdom...but my father believed that I had the right to know. Aside from the usual ladies’ lessons, I was also educated on topics suited for males.

“You discussed business and he didn’t mind?” Father asked.

“Not at all, Father. He was rather happy about it. Since we are technically married, I have decided to train myself to become a useful Empress. I don’t ever want to spend my days utterly bored in the palace.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll ask Ser Merin to come here and teach you.” Ser Merin was my brother’s former teacher. For him to say such a thing-! My brother sure is supportive.

“Oh? Charles, that’s rather generous of you. Louis, our children are rather impressive, don’t you think?”

Ugh. Mother is giving Father the heart eyes. Noticing as well, brother nodded at me in agreement and together we swiftly made our escape.

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