Chapter 67

MILA

Felix and I stood at the entrance of the banquet hall, greeting each guest with their required formality. I surprised even myself with my knowledge of when to curtsy, when to shake hands, and when to simply accept a bow from a lower-ranking noble.

Felix leaned over to me as another couple entered the banquet hall. “You’re doing fantastic. I’m so proud of you.”

My face flushed with the compliment. “You’re the one who educated me on etiquette. I suppose I should be praising you for all your hard work.”

Felix linked his arm through mine. “With you, my love, the work is never hard.”

In that moment, I truly felt like a princess.

My euphoria did not last long. The second I saw Nadine and Isabella enter the banquet hall arm-in-arm, I knew something was afoot.

I turned to Felix, panic seizing my chest.

“What is Isabella doing here?” I asked in a furious, hushed whisper.

He frowned as he saw her. “I didn’t invite her. I wonder if my parents did. Would you like me to have her thrown out?”

I shook my head, trying to banish all thoughts of Isabella and my sister forming some sort of terrifying alliance, and focus on meeting the dignitaries at hand.

“I don’t want to cause a scene,” I whispered back. “Maybe she’ll just ignore us.”

Despite my confident voice, my heart was doing backflips in my chest. I swallowed my fear and made my way over to a pair of duchesses from Wisteria.

I heard a snicker and I glanced up to see Nadine, lounging at a table, grinning at me wickedly.

“Enjoying the party, Mila?” she asked in a singsong tone. “The people seem to love you.”

“Can I help you with something, Nadine?” I said, staring her down.

“I was just sharing some of my favorite childhood stories of you with my new friends!” Nadine exclaimed, looking back at the table full of Fresonian nobility behind her.

“Mila was always so clumsy,” Nadine continued loudly, turning back to face the table. “When she was a child, we called her Messy Mila. She was always stumbling all over the place, being an absolute menace to our poor mother who was just trying to keep a clean house.”

That nickname had started from Nadine constantly spilling things and making messes and blaming them on me. My stomach twisted. I attempted to salvage the situation by smiling at the nobles.

“Yes, it took me a few years to master my coordination,” I said with what I could only hope was a charming laugh. “Thank goodness I sorted it out.”

The nobles stared at me blankly. One–who I recognized as one of Queen Rowena’s cousins–offered me a pitying smile.

“It’s honestly amazing that Mila managed to find a man at all, let alone a prince,” Nadine continued, a wicked glint in her eye. “She wasn’t exactly breaking hearts when we were younger. Ugly duckling, you know. In fact, she was the only person in our whole school not to have a prom date three years in a row!”

“Princesses should be choosy of their companionship,” Rowena’s cousin said mildly. I threw her a look of gratitude.

“Oh, Mila wasn’t the picky one,” Nadine said. “I’m not at all surprised that she dropped her panties for the first man to buy her a drink. It will probably be in the best interest of the kingdom to paternity check all of their future heirs. You wouldn’t want a mistake on the throne.”

I bit back a sarcastic remark and straightened my spine before striding away from the table. Maybe Nadine would stop once I was gone.

I could still hear her shrill voice carrying through the hall as I walked away.

I was on my way back to Felix when I heard sharp whispers behind me. I tried to ignore them, but then I heard my name.

Isabella was talking to a group of women around our age, fluttering a fan in front of her face and glaring at my pointedly.

“You don’t really think she was Felix’s first choice, do you?” Isabella stage-whispered. “He’s only marrying her because I rejected him. He’s been obsessed with me since we were children. She’s nothing more than a pathetic second choice.”

I cleared my throat, alerting the group to my presence. The other women jumped and at least had the decency to look ashamed, but Isabella merely blinked at me.

“Oops,” she said softly.

My vision went red, but Felix was suddenly there behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me against his side.. I supposed that his ability to sense my feelings might indeed come in handy sometimes.

“You okay?” he whispered softly as the ladies quickly bowed to him.

“Not really,” I said, as quietly as I could. “Nadine and Isabella are… causing some issues.”

It was as if speaking my sister’s name aloud summoned her from whatever depths of hell she had been lurking in. I looked up to see her smug face smiling at me at my pale face.

Felix’s face was one of stone cold rage when he saw Nadine and Isabella standing together.

“Ladies, would you give us a moment?” he asked, turning to the other women in a moment of forced politeness. “I need to speak to Lady Isabella and the princess’s sister alone.”

The other women scurried off. Felix took a step forward towards Nadine and Isabella, forcing them backward.

“How dare you attempt to humiliate the princess,” he said, in a commanding, frightening tone I had never heard him use before. “You have crossed a line.”

Nadine smirked. “We didn’t do anything, Your Highness. If anything, Mila’s just feeling insecure and being a whiny little bitch about it.”

“Is that right?” Felix asked. “Because I can assure you, I take the reputation of my future wife very seriously.”

Isabella rolled her eyes. “There’s no need for the dramatics, Felix. Mila simply cannot handle a joke.”

Felix stared at them intently. “You both are fools. It is not wise to make an enemy of a princess. Or a future King, for that matter.”

Both Isabella and Nadine’s faces drained of color. It was somewhat satisfying to watch.

“The two of you need to leave,” Felix said, in a whisper that sent chills down my spine. “Now.”

“But we were invited!” Nadine whined. Felix subtly signaled for security to come get them.

“And I am un-inviting you,” Felix said calmly. “You have hurt my bride-to-be too many times, and there is no coming back from that. You are both going to leave this party and never talk to Mila again.”

“But, Felix, don’t be ridiculous–” Isabella began, but Felix held up a hand, cutting her off.

“I’d watch what your next words are, Lady Isabella,” he said coolly. “Because starting today, you are hereby banished from the Fresonia castle.”

Her jaw dropped. I’m pretty sure mine did, too.

“But… but I live there,” she stammered. Felix shrugged.

“Not anymore, you don’t.”

I watched as the two were unceremoniously dragged from the room. Felix took my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“Was I too harsh on them?” he asked.

I shook my head. “You were perfect, Felix. A true King.”

The rest of the banquet went off without a hitch.

Princess Mila had made her debut.

NADINE

Security hauled both myself and Lady Isabella out of the ballroom, dumping us in the back alleyway of the hotel.

Isabella scoffed and straightened out her skirt. “How dare they! How dare he!”

I looked at her. “That bitch has him wrapped around his little finger. I guarantee that it was her idea to throw us out of the party.”

Isabella studied me for a moment, curiously. “Are you staying at the hotel?”

I nodded. Mother and Father had managed to scheme their way into a suite, the front desk lady practically bending over backwards to offer free accommodations to the family of the new Fresonian princess. But I had not yet had time to rejoice in that triumph, especially now that Mila dared to kick me out of her precious party.

She clearly thought she was better than me.

But she would never be better than me.

“I have an idea,” Isabella said slowly. “You are clearly the more beautiful sister, between you and Mila. Felix has rejected me plenty of times over the years, but he’s always had a soft spot for the ladies. Maybe if you can slip into his room after the party tonight, you could seduce him and break up the engagement.”

“Are you serious?” I asked, but the wheels in my head were already turning.

That prince of hers was rather easy on the eyes. I certainly wouldn’t mind having a piece of that for myself.

Everyone had always liked me better than Mila. There was no reason Felix should be any exception.

“I think it’s a brilliant idea,” I said. “It’s a plan.”