The princess of Aries along with her entourage were welcomed in a grand manner in the West Kingdom. The only person missing being Lady Nam. The place was highly decorated for the ball that was happening in a few days. The great halls with high ceilings had beautiful chandeliers, and the marble floor glistened. Becky walked behind the Princess and her butler, along with the other maids and guards, admiring the place. The whole setting was quite small compared to Aries palace but the place looked expensive. The new King, along with his wife received Princess Sarocha. They seemed very excited to meet the princess of Aries. The new queen curtsied very low, Becky almost thought she was purposely exaggerating. The King bowed a little and Princess Sarocha mirrored the king. "It is an honour to have you, Princess of Aries, here in my palace. Welcome again." The king spoke in his deep voice. He looked around 40 and had a clean-cut beard. "You have lovely-looking ladies with you" He continued, looking at Becky.

Becky blushed a little at the unexpected comment.

Becky always stood out, not just because she was pretty but because her facial features differed from most mongoloid populace.

After the royals engaged in a quick formal conversation, the royal butler of the West kingdom proposed to show around the palace since the place was renovated and adorned with decorations, to which the Princess politely declined.

"Your Highness, perhaps, they want to get acquainted with the surroundings," Aries's royal butler told Princess Sarocha, hinting that the opportunity should not be missed. Princess Sarocha subtly nodded.

"You may take them. They would love to explore His Majesty's beautiful place" Aries Butler addressed West Butler.

The maids and some of the guards bowed before the royals before they began to follow West Butler.

"You," Princess Sarocha called out and everyone abruptly turned their heads towards the princess. Becky's throat ran dry when she realised the princess was looking at her. "Y-Yes your highness"

"All of you" The princess scanned her group swiftly. "Stay together"

___________________________

As the princess was the first royal to arrive, she was at liberty to choose the guest room of her liking. Not surprisingly, she chose the grandest room available. It took her men half an hour to check every nook and corner of the room for anything off or suspicious before the princess commanded her men to bring in all of her belongings. The princess put the newly acquired key to the large room on the bedside table and ran her hand on the very white sheets of the king-sized canopy bed.

"Change this" she spoke.

___________________________

The royal ball was going to be the next day and most of the royals and aristocrats from neighbouring and far-off kingdoms had arrived one after the other.

It was evening already and the royals were having conversations over tea with musicians playing music in the background. The place was very peaceful with a beautiful fountain in the middle and white roses all around with perfectly manicured hedges. There were also sculptures scattered around, making the place look like a place of dreams.

It was also the place where the royals would have a grand tea party the day after the ball.

Becky and the maids from many other kingdoms were tugged at the sides waiting to attend to their Prince and Princesses when needed. Everywhere she stood, she would overhear conversations concerning the princess of Aries. Some maids had pure admiration for the princess but others had some snide remarks for her. But mostly, it was admiration.

It was so easy for one's eyes to just land on the princess of Aries. Her beauty and charm were an eye magnet. Every royal and nobleman and noblewoman Becky saw was beautiful in their own way but she would not be lying when she said the princess of Aries was the most goddess-like. And it seemed, other people also took notice of that. She was always surrounded by people. Her beauty and power attracted people like moths to fire. Everyone wanted to be recognised by her. But everyone also seemed to keep their distance.

Becky saw the Aries butler walk up to the princess out of nowhere and say something. The princess stood and excused herself. When she turned from the crowd, her searching eyes landed on Becky. Becky and another maid nodded and set out of the group to follow the princess. Becky couldn't help a small smile as she followed the princess and the butler. For the past couple of days they had been staying at the West Palace, Becky and another maid, along with a couple of guards followed everywhere the princess went. She never got to talk to the princess much but somehow, her days were nice and she felt a little special because every day, the princess would ask her if she liked her meal and that she had eaten enough. That was the highlight of Becky's day.

It was the first time Becky saw the man or rather the crown Prince Saint of Neftai. He was walking towards them. He was tall and fair. He had a shaved face and had his hair neatly combed up. And he looked like the Prince Charming every girl dreamt of growing up. When he got near the princess, he bowed a little and extended his hand. He gently took the princess's hand and planted a small kiss on top.

"Good evening, my love. I have missed you." He addressed.

"Likewise" the princess answered.

"You look like goddess Venus," Prince Saint said, looking dreamily at the princess looking love-struck.

Right after, he shook hands with the royal butler and even acknowledged one of the princess's guards. Then he turned to Becky and the other maid. "Nice to meet you all"

Becky and the other maid bowed.

He was so down-to-earth and humble and sweet. Becky just couldn't believe her eyes. From what Prince Non had told her, she thought the crown Prince of Neftai was just another egotistical Prince. But she was wrong. In fact, she liked the crown Prince now that she had the chance to see him in person and she thought he would make the princess happy. That was all that mattered to Becky.

"Have you picked your room?" The princess asked.

"I thought I'd walk you to yours so that I can pick the nearest unoccupied room." Prince Saint smiled as he adjusted his arm so the princess could link arms with him.

It was a little odd for Becky to see but Becky couldn't help but agree they looked so cute together. Although she must say that the Prince, with all of his charms and good looks dimmed in comparison to the princess's beauty.

"Aren't they an absolute dream couple?" the maid beside Becky whispered to Becky as they began walking. Becky nodded a little.

They came down the stairs on their way back to the garden. Becky had never seen the princess that lively. Prince Saint was doing most of the talking and the princess would giggle and laugh softly. They were in their own world.

Becky could hardly hear any of the jokes Prince Saint made. She was overjoyed to hear the princess laugh and she was hearing nothing else. She missed hearing the princess laugh like that. Becky remembered all those times the princess would laugh at her silly jokes. Those memories were very precious.

When they reached the fountain, many royals stood to greet them and among them was Prince Chen, who was currently staring at Becky. It seemed Prince Chen arrived and had joined the group a little while ago.

Prince Saint bowed and exchanged greetings royal after royal.

Becky felt her spirit lift up at the sight of Prince Chen. She smiled at him, although a little discreetly. She missed him terribly, especially with everything she had been going through. She had so many things she wanted to tell him.

Prince Chen was far from smiling. He was concerned about how skinnier Becky had become. The last time they exchanged letters, he remembered Becky telling him that things weren't going as great with the princess of Aries. Becky knew why the Prince looked concerned but she tried giving him a reassuring smile.

Prince Saint shook hands with Prince Chen. He gave a smile and bowed at the princess of Aries. But the princess now stood, not reciprocating the greeting gesture Prince Chen extended. The princess of Aries couldn't quite comprehend in her head what she had just witnessed out of the corner of her eye.

Prince Saint put his hand around Princess Sarocha's waist to bring her attention back.

Princess Sarocha finally gave a little nod to Prince Chen before walking to her chair.

The royals sat and Prince Saint was already indulging in a hearty conversation. It was not the same for the princess. It was not that uncommon for people to pay attention to Becky. The princess understood that Becky looked different and that she seemed to attract a lot of attention. But something about how they looked at each other didn't sit right with the princess. She turned a little in her chair and glanced over at the spot Becky stood only to find it vacant. She stood when she did not see Prince Chen in his chair.

"Where are you headed?" Prince Saint enquired, excusing himself from the table as he got up to join his fiancée.

"I need to walk to the restroom. Do sit down and chat." The princess answered with a sweet smile.

"I don't mind waiting for you outside."

"I insist. Please stay here."

Prince Saint nodded and sat back down.

The maid quickly came to the princess.

"Where is Miss Patricia at?"

"She just went that way" the maid answered and in the distance, the princess could see said maid walking away, followed closely by non other than Prince Chen and it raised a subtle panic alarm in the princess's mind. She was not imagining things after all. 

"Do not follow me." The princess ordered the maid standing beside her. Who nodded vigorously.

The princess followed the duo who had managed to go to a quiet hallway. Not many people were around except for some. The had rounded a corner. The princess crossed her arms and silently stood. She couldn't go any further without having them find out she was following. She could hear hushed conversations and she was rapidly becoming frustrated as she couldn't decipher any of it.

"There's no point"

The princess heard the man say, his voice raising a little.

"I said I am fine." It was Becky.

"You clearly aren't and I won't let you go back. Look at you. I cannot bear seeing you like this. It is not worth it."

"I swear I will be fine. Please I need some more months." The princess heard Becky beg.

She felt a weird sensation cursing through her stomach and she felt sick.

She didn't recognise herself. What was she doing eavesdropping? She had never been put in a situation where she needed to eavesdrop. She left the place and strode back. When he passed through one of her guards who had been following her but maintaining a distance, she commanded him to immediately Miss Patricia back to the garden and warn her not to walk off.

The short wait was distressing. She almost lost her composure with every passing minute. It had been a minute since she had reached the garden and she was currently stood, facing the direction Becky and her guard would be coming.

"I really do hope you are okay" Prince Saint's concerned voice interrupted the princess's chain of thoughts.

"I am alright"

And sure enough, after three minutes of wait, the princess could indeed see her maid along with her guards making their way towards the garden. She could feel a little relief wash over her. Although it bothered her to no end not knowing what her maid and the Prince of some poor kingdom talked about.

It was making sense now. Becky's necklace, the letters that were being sent to Becky, which the princess had found out was from the north. It was all lining up.

Prince Chen was from a small kingdom from the north, the kingdom of Makati. There was another kingdom separating Aries from Makati. Economically, Makati was significantly poorer than neighbouring kingdoms but it had beautiful corals and they actually owned quite a lot of coral islands up in the north waters. The princess now had one more reason to dislike the Makatians.

"How dare he" the princess mumbled.

The princess suddenly felt the urge to leave the place.

She signalled one of her guards to come and told him to alert the other guards to keep a very close eye on the maids of Aries. "They should be where I can see them at all times."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"If you let them out of your sight," the princess continued, "none of you will live to see the sun rise again". The guard stiffened. "Yes, your highness"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Becky likes Crown Prince Saint now but she won't next chapter.

The princess will have a hard time hiding Becky from Chen 😌

Next chapter around 2 of March.

Note: So Ken Chan is Prince Chen. You know, I thought of calling him just Chan but that sounds like a girl's name in Japanese like Sakura Chan 😂 and I also didn't like the name Ken because Ken sounds like a Western Caucasian name and I am trying to make Becky one of the few characters with European blood😂 you get me, right? So, I settled with Chen 😂 Forgive me.

As for Nam, the princess didn't allow her to tag along. She is staying at the castle they stopped by earlier.

Makati is an actual place 😆

Thank you all for your votes and comments.  🤍 I asked for one vote and how dare you give me three. I am crying with joy 😭😭😭 With your support, I can update twice a month. 😆