Sitting beside the Prince whose name I found out to be Estefan, was my sister who wouldn't stop talking about her newest contract with The Empire's Fashion house just to impress the prince and the family. The prince, on the other hand, looked like he would rather be anywhere else as he kept his face stoic and expressionless.
I leaned closer to Princess Esmeralda who I know is younger than I was and whispered, "Does he ever smile or talk? Cos he hasn't said a word since he got here.""That's how he is, he doesn't talk unless it's necessary and for the smile, I have never seen him do that," she whispered back and I nodded."Why don't we move to the dining table for dinner?" My mom stood up and ushered our guest to the dining room.Leah clung to Estefan as she continued to brag about the endorsement deals she has signed that year while I walked quietly behind them."This dish is amazing." King Estevan said as he finished his food. "Mrs knight, you are a wonderful cook."Thank you, your highness." She chuckled. "I would love to take the credit but I didn't prepare this, Rhea did," my mom said, making everyone's attention turn to me for the second time tonight."Wow, that's wonderful." He beamed at me. "It's really hard to see a woman of your status who is interested in cooking and other house chores."I smiled and looked down at my food to avoid everyone's stares."Rhea, if you are not too busy tomorrow, do you mind taking me out on a tour?" Esmeralda asked giving me puppy dog eyes.She chose the wrong person to make a such request from. "I would love to but I can't leave the house." I gave her a sad smile."Why can't you leave the house?" King Estefan asked before turning to my dad. "Don't tell me you still ground her at this age?""It's not like that, your highness." My dad shook his head. "Rhea has agoraphobia, that's why she doesn't leave the premises of the house and also the reason why we have limited staff roaming around the house."The King nodded in understanding but Esmeralda turned to me with a confused look. "What's agoraphobia?""Agoraphobia means Fear of crowd. I can't stay in a place with more than ten people, so I don't bother to go out.""So you stay at home every day?" She asked in surprise and I nodded. "Don't you get bored? I can't survive staying indoors for a whole day.""I've been staying in this house every day for twenty years, so I'm used to it." I shrugged. "I wonder what it would feel like to go out of the house.""Haven't you tried getting rid of the Fear? Like going for therapy?" King Estefan said with concern laced in his voice."I've tried to help but my dear parents refused to let me because they are scared that something bad would happen to their baby." Leah inputted."That's sad," Esmeralda said with a sad expression on her face."I honestly don't feel sad about it, since it has become a part of me." I shrugged and focused on my food as Leah changed the topic to something that doesn't involve everyone paying attention to me.Her story seems to captivate everyone except for the Ice prince. By Ice Prince, I mean Prince Estefan. I could feel his cold stare boring into my skin, so I looked up only to meet his amber eyes boring deep into mine. Feeling uncomfortable from the eye contact, I averted my eyes from him and tried not to look in his direction again even though I could still feel his eyes on me.All the organs in my body did a happy dance when the dinner ended and the Spanish Royal Family proceeded to leave. I wasted no time in bidding farewell to them and rushed back to my room; my comfort zone.In the next few minutes, I heard footsteps coming towards my room at a fast pace before I knew it the door yanked open as Leah rushed inside, squealing and mounted on my bed.Resting my back on my headboard, I gave her a bored look, pausing my actions on my phone. "What got you all excited?" I asked even though I had a feeling that her excitement has something to do with the Spanish Ice Prince."Prince Estefan gave me his personal card." She shoved to my face a white card designed with a Crown and Spain Flag."Did you ask for it or did he just decide to give it to you?""I asked for it. But the point is he gave it to me, that means he's interested in me, right?" She gave me a questioning look."Well, it's hard for him not to be since you bragged about yourself during the whole dinner."Was I too much?" She scrunched her face."Yes, you could have at least asked him about himself which I'm sure he wouldn't answer because he didn't say a word throughout the dinner. But you could at least try.""I know but when I start talking about myself, I can't seem to stop." Her shoulders fell."That's because you are so full of yourself." I shook my head. "You know, it shouldn't be heard of that I, who spent twenty years of my life staying within the four walls of this house, am teaching you how to relate with people.""I know, right? I'm such an idiot." She face-palmed herself. "But no worries, since I got his card, I'll get another chance to redeem myself." She smiled."That's good for you ." I brought my phone back to my face. "If you are done, you can leave now.""So disrespectful." She tsked. "Just wait and see how I make Estefan fall for me and make me his Princess, then you'll learn to respect me.""I wouldn't respect you even if you become the Queen." I scoffed."You just wait till when I get married to the Prince," she said on her way out.I couldn't wait for her to get married and finally leave this house. Sometimes it was fun to have her around but most times, it was annoying especially when she invaded my personal space.LEAH'S POV"That's beautiful, Leah. Now give me something cute," the cameraman yelled as I strike different poses, wearing a blue gown from the new fashion line that the Empire fashion house would be launching soon under the bright light of the studio as 7rings by Ariana Grande played in the background."Gorgeous. Now give me something sexy." He moved around to get the picture from different angles.Opening the slit of the blue gown I wore, I stuck my bare legs out and give him a seductive smile."Enchanting." He laughed as he kept taking more pictures.We were at it for three hours because I had to take more pictures in another five outfits. The job of a model can be stressful and time-taking but I wasn't complaining because I loved the fame and money that came with it."Okay, that's a wrap," the company's managing director said after I'd taken pictures with the last outfit. "Good job everyone, especially you Leah." "Thanks, Mr. Cedric." I smiled at him as I went back into the chang
LEAH'S POVStepping into the restaurant twenty minutes later, my eyes scanned the room and stopped when they landed on a familiar dirty blond hair guy whose attention was fixed on his phone. A smile made its way to my face as approached him slowly, taking in his appearance. He was looking devilishly handsome in an all-white outfit, making him appear like a big bad handsome wolf in sheep's clothing; a wolf I wouldn't mind being bitten by."Hi." I took the seat opposite him."Miss Knight, one of the things I hate the most is people coming late to an appointment." He glanced up from his phone. "I'm a man who strictly keeps to time and I don't appreciate others wasting my time by coming late." "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I got delayed a bit when I was about to leave the studio.""It's fine, I'm only letting you know in case of next time." He turned his attention back to his phone.Next time, that was the word that stuck in my head. It means that he wanted to hang out with me again. If
RHEA'S POVIt was another usual boring afternoon for me as I sprawled on the couch trying to finish another chapter of my book. I was in deep thought about how to construct the next paragraph of the chapter when the main door opened. My eye widened as I stood up to check who it was because I knew no one was supposed to be home that early. "Rhea." Princess Esmeralda came to view as she moved closer to envelop me in a hug."Esmeralda." I gave her a confused look. "How come you are here?" "I was bored out of my mind when I suddenly remembered that I have another friend who would be feeling bored like me, so I came over to keep you company." She beamed at me."Friend?" I blinked in surprise. That was the first time anyone would ever refer to me as a friend. I didn't even know what it was like to have a friend after being cooped up in the house for twenty years."Well, I think you are beautiful and nice, so I think we should be friends. That's if you don't mind that I'm three years youn
ESTEFAN'S POVStanding in front of the mirror to fix my tie, I groaned as I couldn't get the hang of it. Back at the palace, I always rely on my younger brother Esteban to knot my tie for me. He had been trying to teach me how to do it myself for the past seven years but I never paid attention since he was always there to do it for me which I was regretting at the moment.After trying for more than thirty minutes, I gave up and threw the tie on my bed beside my phone that has been ringing nonstop since I woke up. Ever since the lunch date, Leah has been calling me endlessly. I ignored her calls so that she would get the hint that I didn't want to talk to her but she wouldn't stop calling. Talk about desperation. A sigh escaped my lips when the phone stopped ringing and I stopped myself from punching the mirror in front of me out of frustration when the phone rang again. I checked the device screen and I exhaled when I saw it was my brother calling."Hello, big bro," my brother holle
ESTEFAN'S POVThe car stopped in front of the Knight Tech company which was a thirty floors building covered with blue transparent glass. My dad and I walked through the revolving door and made our way into the private elevator that was only used by the CEO but he extended the use to us.We stopped the elevator on the twenty-fifth floor and made our way to the conference room where Mr Knight's secretary, Jordan, waiting at the entrance. He approached us with a wide smile on his face. "Welcome Your Highnesses. Everyone is waiting for you in the conference room."He opened the metal door that led to the conference room and everyone stood up upon our entrance. The room was filled with the company's board of directors and shareholders occupying their places on either side of the conference table. Mr Knight sat at the head of the table while my father took the seat on his right with me beside him and some royal bodyguards taking their positions behind us. The lights of the room were turne
LEAH'S POVI sat in the spacious dressing room of the Empire fashion house with five other models, getting ready for the Empire's fashion magazine shoot that would begin in the next fifteen minutes. The door barged open making me swerve my head in the direction to see Shirley running toward me with an excited look on her face. She stopped beside me breathing heavily."What's wrong?" I turned back to the mirror, checking if my makeup needs any more adjustment."I think you should see this." She passed me her phone. Taking the phone from her, my eyes widened when I saw a picture of me and Prince Estefan in the restaurant on Twitter with people commenting if we were dating or not. My shocked expression turned into a smile when I scrolled further and I saw more pictures of the both of us plastered all over Twitter with some people questioning our relationship and others shipping us together. People already saw me as Prince Estefan's girlfriend, it was just a matter of time before he co
LEAH'S POVThe shoot took longer than usual because Kenzie always had something to complain about. If it was not about my dress being prettier than hers, it was about me being at the centre of every photo. She kept pushing me to the edge and it took all the willpower in me to stop myself from pulling all her hair out of her head. A sense of relief washed through me when the shoot ended and I was able to escape from the claws of those wolves in sheep's clothing. I got to the house around 4 pm to meet my sister in the living room watching a historical Korean drama as usual. "Hey." I slumped on the couch next to her, taking a handful of popcorn from the bowl on her thighs."You're back early." She didn't spare me a glance as her eyes were glued to the movie she was watching, not wanting to miss any second of it."Yeah. I had nothing else to do, so I came back home." I stuffed my face with popcorn. "What are you planning to make for dinner?" She picked up the remote that was sitting bes
ESTEFAN'S POVEarlier that day, my dad and I went to see Mr Knight to finalize the deal. As expected, his daughters agreed to the marriage and he was more than willing to give away any of them in exchange for the business expansion we were offering him which made the whole thing easy. Leah showed up at the company right after we finished signing the contract and invited me to eat lunch with her. She kept on going about how lovely it would be if we got married since people were already shipping us together and all I did was nod. She made sure to remind me that she would be wearing a purple dress for the party before we parted ways which meant she wanted me to wear a matching colour of the tie. That evening, I stood in front of my mirror all dressed up, trying to see if I would be able to knot the tie but I failed on every attempt. I was about to chuck the tie aside and go without it when a knock sounded on my door.I yanked it open without checking who it was and Esmeralda pushed pas