Chapter Twelve

Emma

Emery and I are standing next to each other as we watch the celebration going on in the castle—a private reception. We watch as people talk and laugh with full of grace, enjoying the cuisines that has been chosen by the queen to satisfy each of the guests.

When I turn to look at Emery, I see that his eyes are tired and a little bit droopy but he manage to stay and act like he's happy; trying to make everything seem real, ''You're tired.'' I say, causing him to look down at me.

''You can say that,'' He replies.

Seconds before I can say a word, a woman with dark blonde hair starts to make her way towards us. Her lips are curved up into a small smile and once she has reached us, ''Emery, remember me?'' She asks and I look up at Emery, trying to seek for his reaction on whether he remembers her or not.

It seems like I'm the person who stands in between while I watch them look at each other. The look on her face shows hope—that he probably remembers her but the look on his face shows confusion yet he tries his best to hide it; wanting to make sure that everything's fine and not causing chaos.

''It's Brianna, remember?'' She asks, smiling.

Emery nods his head and smiling widely before agreeing, ''Of course. We met, uh—'' He glances at my direction for a few seconds but then he changes the topic, ''How are you? It has been awhile.''

Brianna doesn't seem to notice that Emery does not remember her at all as she continues the conversation. For some reason, I feel sorry for her yet I keep quiet, only smiling while listening to them, ''I'm alright. I can tell that you're doing great,'' She chuckles, ''It has been awhile ever since you left for Melbourne, eight years ago.'' She adds.

His eyes widen slightly, somehow remembering.

''I have always wanted to leave,'' He says.

She nods with a smile on her face before turning to look at me, ''You two are a match made in heaven. Congratulations, Emery. It's nice to finally get to meet you again,'' She says, earning a smile from me and a nod from Emery—I'm pretty sure he's still lost in a world of his own. I thought.

Then, she disappears into the crowd.

''You don't remember her, do you?'' I glance up at his face, seeing him shaking his head slowly with a slight frown on his face—I only respond back with a chuckle, ''She seems like she remembers you very well. How can you not remember?'' I ask.

''It was a long time ago, I suppose.'' He replies.

All of a sudden, a slow song starts to play in the background as a sign for Emery and I to have our first dance. I look around at the crowd, seeing that they already have their eyes set on both of us. My body starts to feel slightly nervous due to the fact that we'll be slow dancing in the middle of the ballroom even though it won't be on television.

Emery turns to look at me with a small smile on his face before giving me his hand. I raise an eyebrow at him as he clears his throat, ''I know we never practiced this but I'll lead you,'' He says.

My eyes wander around the ballroom as the crowd waits for us so I place my hand on his, loving how they are always warm while mine stays cold most of the time—probably because I'm with him. We walk towards the middle of the ballroom before stopping. To my surprise, Emery pulls me by the waist ever so closely that our faces are only inches apart.

I keep quiet, not wanting to disrupt the distance between us even though it's slightly uncomfortable.

''Does it have to be a formal dance?'' I ask, lightly near his ear so that the conversation would only be between Emery and I

''Does it have to be a formal dance?'' I ask, lightly near his ear so that the conversation would only be between Emery and I.

Within seconds, he places both of my arms around his neck while he places his around my waist, gently resting his chin on my shoulder—causing me to hold in my breath for a few seconds. We start to move side by side; realising that we're only swaying our hips a little bit, it's not even a formal dance.

''The vows were already formal, I can't have another formal thing going on.'' He whispers near my ear, causing me to chuckle lightly. It's true, due to him being royalty, everything seemed to be formal—planned and arranged, it's quite bothersome. It wasn't casual, at all.

''It feels weird being the centre of attention,'' I mutter under my breath but still loud enough for him to hear, clearly. Then, he twirls me around once before holding onto my waist again, now we're face to face; making it easier for us to have a conversation.

''It will always be that way, just so you know. Since our wedding was shown worldwide, everything we do is their business too, now. No matter how unrealistic it sounds, we are and will always be the centre of attention.'' He replies, looking straight into my eyes while I look into his.

Remember I said that his eyes were tired and droopy, earlier?

It makes him look sexy.

We end up looking at each other's faces, only remembering our features. Honestly, I still feel a little bit uncomfortable when I'm around him, especially when we're this close but I try to slide it away and just enjoy the moment—enjoy our moment. Without me realising, he has already pulled me closer towards him so that our bodies would collide.

Then, he leans in so that our lips would brush against one another before completely pressing his lips on mine. I respond back with the same rhythm which is slow and meaningful—somehow, our kisses meant something to each other but we manage to only prove and show it through smooches.

We stand in the middle as we share the same kiss we shared a few days ago; not the kiss we shared a few hours ago, where it was shown in public. For some reason, I want to know what's in his head whenever we kiss; does he have everything all mapped out or does he just go with the flow?

Is he naturally this good?

We both pull away, brushing our noses before I feel him pecking onto the side of my cheek, slowly as he pulls back; looking at my face. I open my eyes to find him staring at me, only at me but as my eyes wander around, he starts to cup onto my face, ''Don't. Don't give a damn about them,'' He breathes.

I look back at him, agreeing.

My heart beats at an unstable pace once I see him licking his lower lip which causes me to feel my cheeks heat up immediately. I wonder if I'm the only woman he kissed ever since we knew that we're engaged to one another? I wonder if he have kissed someone else? I keep on wondering.

The music stops playing, only for us to realise that we've been standing here for quite some time. The crowd are whispering something to each other but they don't seem like they're spreading anything negative. Everyone starts to appear in the middle of the ballroom, dancing and having fun to their heart's content while I watch them with a smile on my face.

I learn one thing about marrying a royalty, you've got to keep on smiling. I sigh.

When I turn to look at Emery, I see him talking to a few men but he would glance at my direction for a few seconds while I just eye him from afar. With another sigh, I exit the ballroom and slowly making my way towards the hall that I've come to know—the hallways that I've been going through for the past few weeks of being here.

I enter my room, letting another sigh of relief before closing the door behind me and finally sitting onto the bed—even though I know that the queen has already asked me to go and move into Emery's room in the other hall but I remain myself here, not wanting to jump into things when we're just slowly getting to each other.

Besides, I don't even want to be there.

Not now.

After changing into a pair of clothing that I would be comfortable in, I head straight towards the bathroom; realising that I wasn't supposed to leave the ballroom and Emery there, people might be wondering and asking but I'm too tired. I can't even see the differences between pretending and reality.

Am I pretending to be happy or am I truthfully happy?

I look at myself in the mirror, seeing the same pale woman looking back at me—her eyes are a dark brown colour, the only thing that's enhances my feature is my lips; they're naturally pinkish. Once I exit the bathroom, I immediately lay onto my bed; feeling waves of relief due to the fact that I'm exhausted.

It doesn't take me long to finally drift into a deep slumber.

''Your Highness,'' I hear someone say.

I open my eyes to find two servants looking down at me with a smile on their faces. I quickly sit up straight before running my fingers through my messy hair as I look around, realising that they must've stood there for quite some time—probably not wanting to wake me up.

''My apologies, Your Highness but the queen requests that you get ready. She wants to meet you,'' One of them say, smiling before placing a pair of jeans with a shirt and heels on the bed. Then, they start to stand near the window, letting the sunlight passing through.

Once I'm fully satisfied with how I look, I immediately get out of the room to only bump into Emery as soon as I stepped out of the door—causing me to back away slightly while both of his hands are on my waist, preventing me from falling.

''You scared me,'' I breathe.

''Sorry, didn't see you coming.'' He replies before letting go of my waist.

Without me realising, I am already eyeing his outfit, seeing that he is in his casual—a pair of slacks and a shirt which he has raised the sleeves up to his elbows. He looks back down at me, ''How did you sleep?'' He asks while I continue to eye his features, realising that there are dark circles under his eyes.

''Good, I guess. What about you?'' I ask, feeling a little bit concern.

To my surprise, he starts to laugh humourlessly—earning myself a frown. Then, he points at the dark circles under his eyes, ''This proves well enough of how great I slept,'' He replies. I try to hold back my laughter but I fail once I notice that he's actually plain serious about not getting enough sleep, ''They won't stop singing and everything was just—disturbing.'' He adds, rolling his eyes.

''I didn't hear any singing,'' I mutter.

''You were dead asleep, what would you hear? Even if a bomb dropped and explode the whole castle, you would still be in your slumber, not even slightly awake. That's you,'' He assures, running his fingers through his hair, messily trying to fix it.

''I'm surprised. We've been married for less than twenty-four hours yet you know me so well, I'll praise you for that. You easily read me like an open book, well done, Emery.'' I respond sarcastically which is true, we barely know much about each other but he has assumed me as the type to sleep like the dead.

''I assumed you'd be sleeping like the dead,'' He clears his throat.

''That's what I thought. By the way, why did they call me Your Highness? Is there something going on that I don't know?'' I ask, completely wanting to know the answer while Emery looks at me as if I'm stupid or have lost my mind. Then, he shakes his head, sighing deeply.

''That's the dumbest question I've heard,''

''What?'' I furrow my eyebrows.

''Look, sunshine, just so you know,'' He leans in closer towards me so that our faces would be inches apart, ''Once you're married to me, you are known as the princess. It's not because you're royalty but it's because you married into title—so it means, you have gotten the title that I have. However, you would not be a princess in your own right. Clear?'' He asks.

''Not quite—'' I raise my index finger but he walks away, leaving me with a question that I haven't finished asking. I still stare at him even though only from behind before running towards him until we're walking side by side.

As we turn towards a different hallway, we immediately stop walking once we see the queen.

''There you are,'' Genevieve says.

''Uh, I'll get going—'' Emery starts to speak but his mother interrupts him.

''No, you're staying. You both are staying. Come along, children.'' She says, with a smile on her face but the tone of her voice shows how she is serious; which leads to Emery and I, following her towards one of the rooms available.

Emery sits onto one of the chairs before me and we wait for the queen to finish talking to one of her trusted chauffeur—then, he leaves the room after nodding respectively. I eye the room before landing my eyes on Emery, who seem to be zoning out every couple of seconds.

''What happened last night?'' She asks.

''Emery,'' She continues, causing him to look at both Genevieve and I in confusion, leaving the queen sighing deeply, ''Why weren't you two in the chamber I've assigned?'' She asks the question that we've been wanting to avoid; the rooming.

He clears his throat, ''I couldn't find it.''

Genevieve chuckles, ''Don't be plain stupid, Emery. I know that you two were trying to avoid sleeping in the same room but there's not much that you can do. You're married, sleeping in the same room and on the same bed is required or the servants and everyone else in the castle might start spreading rumours. We don't want that, do we?'' She raises an eyebrow after putting on her glasses.

''Well—'' Emery starts but his mother continues to interrupt.

''—anyway, there will be horse riding today. Since you two aren't leaving for your honeymoon in a few days, you shall get involved with the public as much as possible until then.'' She says, placing down her journal.

''Horse riding?'' He questions.

''Yes, have you forgot how to?'' She asks, looking straight at her son but Emery keeps quiet, only looking out at the window, trying to avoid answering more of her questions, ''You will be teaching Emma how to ride a horse, remember, it's a public event, don't act foolish, Emery. Be the happy couple that you both are,'' She smiles at the end.

''We're not a happy—'' He begins.

Once again, interrupted but this time by Evelyn entering the room, ''Mother, I need to see you.''

''For god's sake, Evelyn, I was talking!'' Emery turns to glare at his older sister but she ignores him, only to leave Emery letting out another sigh—while I stay still, watching him acting like a child.

''You just gotten married,'' Evelyn states.

''So?'' He asks back, raising an eyebrow.

''So, don't be all moody. It's probably because you didn't get something last night but it's okay, little brother, we all understand how you won't be getting anything anytime soon.'' With a chuckle, she sits right next to the queen and it surprises me to see Genevieve smiling widely at her daughter's statement.

Emery rolls his eyes in annoyance.