The Bookworm Meets the Prince

by Klarika Nuque

  “I don’t understand all of this. Why are you asking Luke all of a sudden? Ryan is a great boy, Andrew, and he knows all the royal matters. I mean, he is as ready to be the royal adviser as you are ready to be king. I really don’t see the problem here,” Diana insisted. “I seem to recall you saying that he has potential; what happened to that?” she asked wanting this issue resolved.

  “I think the issue is the fact that Ryan also has a crush on Lizzie, and it’s making my dimwitted brother nervous she might wake up from the spell he put her on,” Andie said to her mother in jokingly manner.

  “Andie, we both know that isn’t the main issue here,” Drew said in a tight voice, making me wonder what Drew meant exactly. He did want to tell me something about Ryan’s problem the other day.

  Diana looked shocked for a few seconds, seemingly deep in thought as her forehead suddenly creased.

  “I see. Well, we’ll settle this issue some other time as I don’t think this is a good time to discuss this matter. Lizzie should enjoy her first dinner with the family, and we will make her feel every bit welcome like we did for Margaux. Let’s go and eat,” she said, being all formal all of a sudden and looking intently at Drew. But when she looked at me, I could see warmth again, so I simply smiled at her.

  “Good evening, everyone. Lizzie, glad you’re here,” Ryan’s voice suddenly stops the current discussion about him.

  He was also wearing a suit that made him look half-decent. I always knew he was a good-looking chap, but I never really gave him much thought, especially since he was the irritating toad I hated from the time I met him. But now, he looked like he had transformed himself into someone trustworthy, trustworthy enough that the queen would be willing to fight for his future position here in the palace.

  I didn’t like this one bit, in all honesty. I preferred the Ryan I knew, the one who’d smirk a lot and show off his player side. This version of him was scary; he had turned into a person you wouldn’t want to cross or at least deal with. He looked like he could manipulate anyone to think the way he did, and this was quite a dangerous position for me to be in.

  He was currently giving me all his attention, and he wasn’t even afraid of Drew seeing it. I didn’t like it one bit.

  “Ryan, my boy, here you are. Aren’t you glad that everyone is back here now?” King George said, approaching our group. He had a silly grin that made me wonder why he was treating Ryan as such. It was like he was more excited to see him more than Drew.

  “Well, duty calls, Uncle, and as you all know, I’m always happy to serve the royal family,” he said in a way that set all my alarm bells off. Something just wasn’t right.

  “Well, honestly, this is quite a shock. I didn’t know I would see you this soon, Ryan. I really hoped you’d be in school longer,” Drew said with a confused smile as he extended his hand. Ryan, on the other hand, was a little too happy that Drew didn’t seem to see him looking at me every so often.

  Andie just gave him a simple nod to acknowledge his presence.

  “Dinner is served,” a palace employee announced.

  We all moved inside the dining room and took our respective seats. I was made to sit beside Ryan and not Drew, much to my annoyance. The king was seated at the head of the table, the queen was to his left, and Drew was to his right. Meanwhile, Alex sat beside Drew, Margaux was beside Alex, and Andie sat beside the queen. In short, I was seated in between Andie and Ryan.

  I tried talking to Andie as much as I could to avoid talking to Ryan altogether, but Andie was currently busy talking to Margaux about a certain Sarconian designer. Drew, Alex, Diana, and the king were talking about the political climate in Sarconia, so I was left eating my food and trying to not pay any kind of attention to Ryan.

  “You do know you can’t avoid talking to me, right? They only just served the appetizer, which means we still have a long time to talk, or would you rather have this awkward moment where we pretend not to know each other at all,” Ryan said.

  I tried to not give him any kind of attention, but then I realized I had to investigate why he was here.

  “What are you really doing here? Drew doesn’t even know you were coming,” I asked him.

  He smirked like he’d usually do when he was up to something. He then looked at Drew, who was in the middle of a heavy debate with his father and brother.

  “He’s going to be busy especially since he stopped doing his royal duties for a few months when he went rogue. He has to play catch-up and assure the people that he’s still worthy of being called the next king of Sarconia. A ruler is only as good as the rest of his kingdom, you know,” he said.

  I shook my head, not really understanding what he meant.

  “It’s quite simple, Lizzie. I’m here to help the future King of Sarconia,” he said though his eyes showed something else.

  “I’m new to this whole royal business but even I know that you don’t have enough experience to have that kind of position,” I said

  “You really don’t know anything about this royal business. So, as the next royal adviser, my first advice for you is to stick with what you know. Drew hasn’t been here for the past few months. He doesn’t know anything that’s really happening, and he’s about to get the shock of his life. You’re playing a very dangerous game just by being here, sugar. No worries though, I’ll still be here waiting and holding you close when everything turns into a pile of shit,” he said in a low voice that only I could hear.

  “Why are you really here? To ruin and discredit Drew? Why would you do that?” I asked. He revealed something to me, and I was not sure how to think about it.

  Why would you reveal your plot? Aren’t you afraid it’ll be ruined? Unless you know it’s so foolproof that nothing can ruin it even when you tell someone about it, I thought.

  “Personally, I like Drew as a person, but the thing is, he has something I want badly, and let’s just say I don’t like that he ruined my chances with her,” he said, looking into my eyes. He was really not over my rejection yet. This was bad. I should talk to Rissa or Jam about this.

  I looked at my food again and shifted my glance at Drew, who was still talking animatedly to his brother. Looking at them right now, I wouldn’t say that they weren’t close. They were talking, laughing, and bonding. I wondered what happened to make Drew say that they weren’t close. As I was doing this, I could feel Ryan’s gaze at me.

  “You should just move on,” I said, convincing myself that saying it might make a difference.

  “We both know that isn’t happening,” he said with so much finality, it scared me.

  Suddenly, a voice caught our attention and halted our conversation.

  “Did you know that a party will be thrown for Lizzie? It’s her introduction to Sarconian society as Andrew’s girlfriend, and Ryan has even agreed to fix every last detail of the party. Andie is also willing to help,” the Queen said.

  “How lovely,” Margaux said, looking at Ryan and me. I wondered if she liked Ryan or not.

  “Well then, everyone will soon meet the love of my life, and it should be a grand affair. Ryan and Andie, all I ask is you spare no expense on this one,” Drew said while looking at me for the first time since dinner started. He looked so happy for some reason, and I didn’t want to ruin it, so I smiled at him, trying to not show any of the discomfort that Ryan was giving me.

  “I, for one, am excited to see how this party turns out,” the king said, looking at me in a friendly way.

  I was not sure why, but I had a really bad feeling about this party now. They were planning something, I knew it. But then, I didn’t think Andie would be part of it if it was something bad. I’d just have to be observant.

  “Thank you for finally giving your support,” Drew said to the King.

  Support? That man told me a few hours ago I could never be enough for Drew and now he was telling Drew he was giving his support? Something was definitely not right.

  Chapter 22

  Their Evil Schemes
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  I was not sure where the days had gone. I had been so busy the past few days that today was probably the only day I had enough time to take a deep breath and actually look at the Sarconian view from my bedroom. I had been finishing every requirement I needed to submit for graduation, not to mention the royal duties which were forced upon me. Suddenly, I had a schedule to put up with. I had to go visit a charity, attend a library opening, have a photoshoot with Drew for a magazine I’ve never heard of but was apparently big here in Sarconia, and many other things I wouldn’t have done back home.

  I had been so busy, the party was fast approaching and I was not a step closer to finding out what the king and Ryan’s plans were. It was something that had kept me feeling uneasy every so often. Also, I didn’t have the chance to talk to Drew about what Ryan had revealed to me. I was still torn about it.

  Should I tell Drew? What if that’s exactly what Ryan and the king are planning? To make us so nervous, we’d crack under pressure? But if I don’t tell him, that would put us in even more danger because he won’t be able to protect himself.

  Sometimes, I’d wish I was back to my boring life where my biggest worry was the book ban.

  “Lizzie?” The voice came with a knock on my bedroom, breaking my train of thought. As I look at the source of the voice, I saw Andie waiting for me to invite her into by the semi-opened door.

  “Hey, come in. Is there anything you need?” I asked as I motioned her to come in. I immediately invited her to sit down at the couch by my bed so we could talk about why she was here.

  “I just wanted to make sure you’re all ready for the party next week. Everything has been set up perfectly. Rissa, Chad, and Jam’s flights will land a few hours before the event itself, giving them just enough time to get ready. Your parents are trying their best to re-arrange their schedule, but are still unsure if they’ll be able to make it. So, while they’re not here to tell you everything will be alright, I am substituting,” she said in a bubbly voice I sure missed. She always spoke like that when we were back home, but she never did that when she was around the palace.

  I looked at her and genuinely smiled for the first time since landing in this country.

  “Thank you for being there, Andie,” I said.

  “It’s nothing. You’re the sister I never had and especially since I know you have been missing Drew the past few days. I can’t believe he still hasn’t shown you around the city, but I know the work he left behind for the past few months. He has some catching up to do, but no worries, I know that he’ll make up for it,” she said, making me wonder if there was a second meaning to her words.

  “I knew he would be busy when we boarded that plane going here. I just didn’t know he would be this busy. I barely talked to him since getting off that plane,” I replied. I had to admit that Drew not having any time to hangout had been a total bummer, but I knew what I was getting into when we went here. He had responsibilities that he needed to fulfill, duties to do, and more royal stuff he needed to see to. It’s just that I miss my boyfriend so much, the one who was always beside me and making me feel secure.

  “Well, I hope he wouldn’t screw this up. I love having you around here even if we barely hangout because of these silly functions we have to go every so often,” she said.

  “Your brother is a great guy, Andie, and I’m very lucky to have him in my life,” I said.

  “Just don’t give up on my silly brother,” she said with a sigh. That got me confused.

  “Why would you say that?” I asked, shocked by her statement.

  “He loves you, Lizzie. Truly, he does. The thing is, he’s going to be very busy now, and I want you to understand that his position is a demanding one. I saw it from our dad, and trust me, he’s a great king, but he was never a great dad. I just don’t want you to give up on Drew like how our mom gave up on our dad. She simply accepted that he will never be a good dad to the three of us, that him being a good king was sufficient. I want you guys to be happy, and with that, I want my future nieces and nephews to be too. I want them to have a dad like we never had,” she said.

  “In that case, I won’t give up on him,” I told her, and she beamed happily.

  “Look, I just don’t want you to let him take things for granted like what our dad did to us,” Andie said.

  I nodded at her and contemplated if I could tell her my dilemma. If I couldn’t tell Andie then who could I tell them to besides Drew? So, I decided that if I couldn’t talk to Drew, then I’d better talk to Andie and ask for her help. I couldn’t let them win. I was not giving this up without a fight.

  “Andie, I have to tell you something…” I told her everything I knew, and we finally did some digging around.

  ---

  “Why would Dad do this? Yes, I knew he was a purist, but this is just beyond comprehension,” Andie said while drinking coffee as we were finalizing our plans for the party at the garden.

  We had been researching and thinking of what their next move was for the past few days, and we did uncover a few things. Tomorrow’s the party, and so far, we had found out that Ryan and the king hired a few people to do some background checks on my family and me. Well, unfortunately for them, they didn’t find out anything. I’m not saying we were a perfect family, but we didn’t do bad things.

  Then he hired someone to do an exposé that I was originally having a relationship with Ryan and two-timed him for Drew because he was the crown prince. Fortunately, we found out before they run the story, and Andie was able to buy them out on the story. It was sad we had to do it, but we did.

  Then they took an old photo of Drew and Cath for another scandal they were spinning, saying they were getting back together after Drew learned of my supposed indiscretion. It was also a very convincing picture if I say so myself. I mean they were close together and had big smiles.

  As for their final plan, they were supposed to embarrass me during the party over how little I knew about Sarconian politics and history, thus making me appear unfit to rule beside Drew. Okay, maybe on this aspect I should have done more research on the country, but I did know everything about Sarconia… or most of them since Andie made me study a freaking ton.

  We also found out some other pretty vile things they were planning, but I’d rather forget about them. It was quite hard to comprehend that someone could hate you that much just because you are of a different nationality and social standing.

  “I don’t know, Andie. It’s just that he really does hate me for dating his son,” I said while munching on some chocolate biscuit. In all honesty, I had already stopped caring about what the king thinks about me. I just couldn’t please everybody.

  “Yeah, but I can’t believe my father is capable of doing something like that. There is that rumor about Alex; he wanted to break things with Margaux, but dad wouldn’t let him. I didn’t really believe the rumors, but maybe there’s truth in it,” Andie said like she had an epiphany or something.

  “There was also that instance where he kept pushing me to date the Duke of Embridge, but he was quite a loser, so I dated someone else, who then said that I really wasn’t worth the trouble,” she said.

  I thought I saw a tinge of sadness in her eyes; whoever she dated that time, she must still like him.

  “That had always bugged me, but now I guess Dad got to him,” she said, obviously exasperated about the whole thing. “Can’t say I blame the guy. Dad probably scared him to death with a scandal. His family is very careful with their family name. They were not exactly royalty, but he was richer than an ordinary duke,” she said with a bitter note.

  “Hey, is it too late to talk to him?” I asked.

  “I don’t know if I can talk to him again after realizing this. For Pete’s sake, he’s my dad, he’s supposed to support my happiness,” she said.

  I laughed a little, as she did not comprehend my question. It might also be her tactic to avoid answering in the first place.

  “I was actually talking about the guy you date
d,” I pointed out.

  “Oh, him? I don’t know. I really haven’t heard from him in a long time,” she said while avoiding my eyes. It made me think maybe I had some meddling to do in my spare time.

  ---

  On the day of the party at exactly six-thirty, I was scheduled to enter the main hall with Drew as we’d be officially announced as a couple in their land. That’s thirty minutes from now.

  I was getting nervous inside my room. I hadn’t really seen Drew since that brief meeting a few hours ago when we practiced how to enter the main hall. I hadn’t really talked to him in the past few days as he was busy with royal duties. Rissa, Chad, and Jam were now at the main hall with the other guests. My parents couldn’t make it since it was on short notice and they couldn’t cancel important business transactions. Andie was somewhere making sure everything would go perfectly well. So, I was left here with my thoughts and nerves.

  “You look very beautiful tonight, my dear Elizabeth,” a familiar voice said.

  “What do you want, Ryan?” I asked in an irritated voice when I turned around to look at him. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He’s supposed to be in the main hall as originally planned.

  Ryan suddenly entered my room like it was a normal thing and sat down at the couch. I was glaring at him while he simply smirked at me.

  “I want a lot of things, sugar—many things. The real question is, what do I do to have them. Do you and Andie think you already outsmarted the king and me?” he said.

  Once again, I was confused as to what their plans were. I hated the feeling that he was one step ahead of me, and I was left feeling like a total airhead. I couldn’t figure out their game plan.