Chapter 3

✧ Bitter Rivals ✧

The sun had already rose, and once again the two major households in the kingdom of Vandleade begun hustling and bustling for the upcoming event. Yes sir, the event that every single person in the kingdom was looking forward to the most. The crown prince was finally returning back from the war which had occupied him for 5 years. All the folks of Vandleade, be it young or old, rich or poor, had a huge smile fixated on their faces. After all, the anticipation of seeing him was so great that the streets were overflowing with merry citizens everywhere. Each and every shop, stalls and establishments were swarmed with gleeful individuals. Now you'd think with everyone being so overjoyed with the crown prince's return, his own two fiancés from the Gentileschi and De Luca house would be thrilled to a far greater extent. However, that was not the case at all…

"Ow! Please- Be careful with my feet!" Eliana exclaimed, appearing to be immensely exhausted, mentally and physically both by the caretakers torture.

"Oh. My apologies Madam. It seems I got a little carried away with the shoe fitting…" The caretaker apologized as she took off the shoe from her feet slowly, this time with more care.

"Are you sure just a 'little'?" Eliana rubbed her footstall, while gazing upon the caretaker who seemed to be in high spirits today.

The caretaker smiled brightly and nudged the annoyed girl's shoulder. She wore an expression which definitely meant that her next words were to affect Eliana in some way or another.

"Well, I'm not the one who should be getting carried away today, Milady. It's supposed to be you…since you know…your prince is now back, safe and sound~"

Eliana's eyes flew up in shock and she scoffed at the words that left the caretakers mouth.

"MY prince? Hah, you're forgetting that I'm not his only fiancé. Besides, I'm positive Lady Flavia is way more excited for his arrival than I am-

This made the elderly woman's cheeks flush red, and she immediately responded to it in a sharp tone.

"Hush! Not another syllable from you Milady! That name is not to be pronounced in this household at any costs, and you know that very well. Such a monstrous sounding name too!"

Just then a sudden knock on the door was heard which led to the caretaker pause her rant and attend to the person behind the door. Eliana watched her leave, with her cheek resting on the palm of her hand.

"Monstrous? Wasn't that exaggerating a bit? I personally find the name quite pretty…"

She sunk lower into her seat and for a short period of time stared at the ceiling with the gentle snuffles and rhythmic rise and fall of her chest.

"But then again- Lady Flavia might think of my name as monstrous too…"

The dead silent room with no one around naturally made Eliana fall into her pit of deep thoughts and the girl lay back on her chair with her legs dangling over the edge as she continued to stare at the ceiling above.

"That's right. I keep forgetting that I'm in the world of a freaking NOVEL. All of these, everyone around me was a character before. If only the prequel was about the CROWN PRINCE and not his GRANDMOTHER. Ughhhh! It's so annoying…! Like, what help does it provide me with knowing the grandmother's love and ruling history?? I wish I had really read the actual novel and not its prequel… Now I'm just clueless about any of the events that are about to happen and it honestly…sucks…"

Eliana's hands reached out to a pillow and she buried her face in it once she got a hold of it. She was extremely regretting the fact that she had read the novel's prequel in her previous life without reading the novel itself. The information she had gathered from the prequel didn't apply to the current events happening with her at all. So much had already changed since Lady Magnolia, the crown prince's grandmother, started to rule. Just then, an idea instantaneously popped up in Eliana's mind. Removing the pillow from her face and straightening her posture, she began to speak in an assertive manner.

"Okay! Let's see what little I know so far about the families and characters in this novel. According to the sequel, this kingdom has only bore females as the heirs before because there were no boys being born. Yes that's right! So when the crown prince was born after a girl, the kingdom was in a shock. A happy shock though. Howeverrrr, since the crown prince's sister was born before him and was obviously older than him, it made her the rightful heir to the throne. The De Luca house was against this decision and believed it would be wrong to still let women rule this kingdom even after a male heir was provided…..wow talk about being sexist. Anywho, the Gentileschi house disagreed with the De Luca's and expressed their opinion that the princess had every right to rule. Yesss! That's the house I am from! You tell em Gentileschi! Wait- No- I'm getting distracted."

Eliana's quick eye then spotted a pen, which immediately led her to the decision that she should probably jot all of this down for future purposes, and so she continued to remind herself of the information she has so far obtained while recording it on a piece of paper.

"Ah right, this is where the seed of bad blood between the De Luca's and Gentileschi's sprouted and, of course some bloodshed was caused due to their disagreement. In the end, Magnolia (the infamous grandmother) decided that both the siblings would have a chance to become the ruler…sadly, in the crown prince's case, only if he is able to get married when he reaches the age. Woww, sucks to be him. Obviously, in spite of each other, both the De Luca and Gentileschi house, put forward their only daughters to be the crown prince's fiancés and this is where the never ending rivalry of Eliana and Flavia began! Poor girls…to be put in such a tough competition since childhood…"

The girl surveyed through the page on which all her words were written down and after some time of observing, she shook her head.

"All I can say is…these families have issues… and unfortunately, I will be dragged into them whether I like it or not! Hahhh….but I'm only doing this for my Wena. I know, if she was to witness me in such a situation, she would want me to keep going and try my hardest! So…for her…I will do my absolute best! I'm ready for this!" Eliana flashed a beaming smile and brought her fist up, indicating her fiery spirit.

Suddenly, the door flew open and a crowd of maids alongside Eliana's caretaker marched right into the room with content aura surrounding them. The caretaker grasped Eliana's shoulders and led her to the vanity, before placing her down on the chair.

"W-Wait! What are you doing Martha??"

"Oh! Don't ask Milady! The happiest news just arrived from the royal palace! There is a congratulatory ball being held tonight for the crown prince's return! The whole household is just delighted by this enlightenment! We have to get you looking your best for him tonight! Thank the lord, you will finally get to see him after so many years! Jasmine, quick dear fetch the ball dresses from Milady's wardrobe!"

Eliana's mouth froze along with every muscle in her body. It was as if she got electrocuted with 4000 volts and her soul had departed from her. So suddenly? He had just arrived to his kingdom and already he is making guest appearances at balls? What kind of a sociopath is he, was what Eliana thought at that moment.

"I…I take it back! I am SO NOT ready for this!"