1711, Aethiel Palace, Kestramore City

TWO WHOLE YEARS had passed since that night, and while Julian did encounter Catarina many times after that, she always ignored him and pretended as if he never existed.

She had grown even lovelier as time passed, but after being treated like thin air for two years, Julian began to slowly forget about her. His affections remained, but he no longer thought about her as often.

"I have come here to warn you," his elder sister Demitria hissed as they walked to the dining hall for breakfast. "Mama is searching for a bride for you."

"Oh ?" he replied, feigning interest. He knew that the day would come soon, especially since he had turned twenty-one last month. "Who will it be, then ?"

Demitria's dark blue eyes were instantly filled with enthusiasm. "That's the thing that concerned Mama so much. There are no princesses left for you to marry.

Now, here's the fun part. She intends to pass a decree for every noble house to send a daughter. They will be put through tests and trials until we can find the one most suitable to become a queen."

"More playthings for you, then ?" Julian chuckled. Princess Demitria was a notorious prankster, and only God knows what she has in plan for those poor ladies.

After breakfast, the Queen's summon finally came, and Julian grudgingly headed to the tea room, where his mother spent most of her time in. His sister, curious as a cat, had also come along.

Sitting on the chaise was the strikingly beautiful queen, her long, curly dark brown hair coiffed in a delicate updo bedecked with diamonds, her golden skin so radiant that it glowed in the morning sun, and she possessed honey brown eyes that were similar to Julian's, but unlike her son, her gaze has lost its warmth.

"Judging by your expression, I assume your pot-mouthed sister has already informed you about this ?" she said sternly, her voice cold and aloof.

Julian heard his sister inhaling sharply behind him, and he knew that his mother was treated Demitria poorly for being unable to marry well.
He realised that he had been very grim-looking for the past hour, so he immediately changed his expression to that of curiosity and wonder.

"Informed me about what, Mama ? I don't understand," he quickly retorted, feigning ignorance.

Queen Isabel let out a sigh as she lifted up her hand and signalled her children to sit down, and began to explain the same thing that Demitria had previously told Julian.

"Only six of the twelve noble houses will be able to send a candidate.

House of Andrade and House of Ferreira's daughters are still young, House le Grande's only daughter, Elise, passed away last summer of consumption, while House Del Rosa's only daughter Octavia married Charles, son of the Duke le Grande two years ago.
Both House d'Augustine and Arellano have no daughters, only sons. That leaves us with House of Breckenridge, House le Prince, House le Comte, House of Blanchard, House of Olivier, and House-"

"-de Fontaine," Julian subconsciously murmured, causing the Queen's curious gaze to land on him.

"Well yes," she uttered. "But Julian, I have a candidate set aside if you do not want to go through all of this."

Of course, after hearing that Catarina would be among the ones chosen, Julian obviously wanted to proceed. But before he could tell her this, Queen Isabel raised her hand, and her maid quickly ushered two women inside the room, much to Julian's surprise.

"Julian, Demitria, this is Lady Dinah Finley, the wife of my late brother, and their daughter, Eleanora," she says, gesturing to the pretty and petite gold-red haired girl.

Demitria frowned at this. "Your brother ? Mama, you haven't seen him for years, how do you know that they aren't just pretenders ?"

Her concerns were quite valid too, since Queen Isabel came from common origins, having entered the palace over twenty years ago as a palace maid and leaving her family behind.

After tasting wealth and glory as the wife of King Guillaume, Isabel forgot all about her common brother, Christopher, who raised her up after their parents passed on.

She had the urge to reunite with him only a few months ago and sent her servants to locate him, only to find out now that he had died, leaving behind a widow and an orphaned daughter.

Queen Isabel was rarely kind to anyone, but she had a soft spot in particular for Eleanora, who had the same vivid green eyes as her late brother. Being washed over by guilt, she wanted to repay her brother by marrying his daughter to the most eligible bachelor in all of Ravaeryn, her own son.

"Do not question me, Demitria," she hissed, causing the usually bright and playful princess to quiet down. Isabel turned towards Julian, and said, "It would make your Mama very glad if you would marry Eleanora, and make her your consort."

Disgust flashed on Julian's face, and without any regards to Eleanora's feelings, he exasperatedly said, "Mama, if what you said is true, if she is truly the daughter of your brother, that makes her my cousin. I will not marry my own blood cousin, Mama!"

Demitria, who had been closely observing her mother had expected her to lash out upon hearing Julian's reply, but instead, the queen was rather calm.

"Don't fret, Julian. For now, think about it. I won't force you," she said in a low, sweet tone, which Demitria found quite odd.

She turned around to look at the plump, middle-aged woman who claimed to be her uncle's wife, and she could see that Dinah was smiling eagerly. However, what Julian said next completely wiped off the smile from her face.

"I won't be thinking about it. Please proceed with the original plan, Mama, so that I can choose a suitable bride that is not my own bloodkin."

"You are consumed by your emotions," Queen Isabel interjected. "You should think for a few days before coming to a conclusion."

"This is out of consideration, Mama. If you intend to make a lucrative match for her, the Prime Minister's son, Alessandro is still unmarried. Even Cousin Nicholas is unwed, if you want her to marry into royalty so badly."

At the mention of Nicholas's name, Queen Isabel's face turned into various shades of red. "You ungrateful child !" she shouted, hastily standing up, but Julian had already walked out of the room, not wanting to be in his mother's presence any longer.

While he was horrified by his mother's intentions to wed him to his first cousin, he was rather pleased to know that he will surely see Catarina again, and she cannot ignore him forever.

As he mounted his white stallion, Sutton, he contemplated whether he should ride off to Lorewell and inform his best friend Rafael of this news.

However, the skies were rather grey that morning, so he decided to ride into town instead. After giving a tip to Claude, the stable boy, Julian rode off to Kestramore City, the very centre of Ravaeryn's arts and trade.

Julian had wisely wore the clothes of a commoner, and he blended in well with the people, allowing him to go around anywhere as he pleased.

Kestramore City was quite a sight to behold, with stores full of silks and textiles, peddlers selling handmade goods, and carts full of fresh produce. After wandering around the city while tasting the food sold by the streets, Julian realised that it was already late in the evening.

By the time Julian arrived back at the palace, he was certain that everyone had taken supper and went to bed.

Even Claude the stableboy was curled up fast asleep on a bed of hay. Julian left Sutton in his stall with hay and water before stalking off, and he noticed that it was particularly dark that night.

There were no guards nor servants to be seen, and the torches hanging on the walls were dim and at the verge of dying out.

That was very odd, Julian thought.

Usually there were soldiers guarding every entrance, but now there was nobody.

Unease began to fill his veins, and he grabbed one of the torches hanging against the walls.

He proceeded down the hallway, wanting nothing more but to return to his chambers and sleep.

Then, he saw her, at the end of the hallway, dressed in nothing but a flimsy white nightgown, her gold-red hair falling down her back in gentle waves and stretching down to her ankles.

It was his so-called cousin, Eleanora. Her eyes were full of fear, yet she forced herself to smile, and she looked as if she were in great pain indeed. Slowly, she took a step forward, her lips trembling as her smile wavered.

"Your Highness," she spoke, her voice low and sweet. "I've lost my way. Can you take me back to my room ?"

Julian frowned as he subconsciously took a step back. He already had an unfavourable opinion of her before, and now his dislike only grew even more.

"No," he said curtly. "I find it interesting that you would assume that I'd know where your room is. Now, please excuse me."

He tried to walk past Eleanora, but as he passed by her, she reached for his arm and held onto it tightly. "It is so cold, Your Highness. Will you not hold me so that I'd feel warmer ?" she cooed, which fueled Julian's disgust even further.

"You're insane !" he shouted as he tried to push her away, but Eleanora was already stuck on him like a leech.

"Let go of me, I beg you! Please, I don't want to hurt you!"

Wet tears began to soak through the sleeves of his shirt, and he looked down to see Eleanora staring up at him, her face full of remorse.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered softly, and before Julian could even comprehend that, a heavy blow struck the back of his head, and everything around him faded into darkness.

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