ROSE WALKED QUICKLY TO HER ROOM. Entering her room, she laid on the door and placed her hand on her chest. She smiled. She didn't know she could pull it off. Rose was glad to see the shocked look on Alex's face by her actions. It felt good to win for once. Rose 1 Alex 0. She chuckled.

"Where have you been?" Rose screeched, surprised by the voice. She looked around and spotted Aria by the chair next to her bed with her arms crossed. Her shoulders sagged in relief.

"Jesus, you scared me Aria!" Rose whined.

Aria shrugged. "It's not my fault." She said, "You were to lost in your daze to see me sitting here."

"Oh right." Rose laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of her head.

Aria uncrossed her arms and sat up, "Well, I came here to wake you up since you sleep like a log," Rose scowled at her, "but you weren't here which was really strange. So I waited for you. Where were you?" She questioned.

Rose shuffled her feet, racking her brain for an excuse. "I went for a walk." She lied.

"This early?" Aria asked further.

"Yes, I mean...I had trouble sleeping, so I decided to go for a walk." Rose said. She bit her lip, feeling guilty of lying to her friend. She didn't know why she could just tell her the truth. What kind of friend was she?

"Oh I'm sorry Rose. Do you need some sleeping pills? They could help." Aria asked, concerned.

"No, no, I'm fine. I just need some rest." Rose replied, not wanting her to worry anymore.

"I'm afraid you can't do that now." Aria said, "You'd be joining the Royals for brunch today."

Rose's eyes widened. "What? Me? Why?" She questioned, clueless as to why she must be there.

"I have no idea. His Majesty's order." Aria said.

Rose frowned. She felt uneased by the idea of being surrounded by the Royals. She knew she didn't belong there. What would his Majesty gain out of this?

"You better start preparing." Aria said, snapping her out of her thought, "I heard she-devil and her family are almost here." Her face scrunched in disgust.

"Who?" Rose asked.

"Sophia Whittaker. The Prince's fiancé. She and her family are coming to visit or should I say 'stake their claim'." Aria rolled her eyes.

Rose's face fell. "Alex-" She paused, clearing her throat, "I mean, his Highness is getting married?"

"Yes, I mean, the rumor has been going round lately. I heard the wedding will be done before his coronation." Aria said.

Rose felt her heart dropped to her stomach. This just made things a lot harder. She didn't know why but she didn't feel happy about Alex's engagement. It gave a bitter taste in her mouth just talking about it.
Rose internally groaned.

Another fucking obstacle. She thought.

"Earth to Rose." Aria snapped her fingers, bringing her out of her thoughts. "You keep spacing out on me." She said.

"Oh sorry." Rose apologized, "Just thinking about what to wear."

"No need to worry about that! I've sorted that out for you." Aria smiled excitedly, pointing to the bed.

Rose looked at where she was pointing at and saw a dress laid neatly on the bed. She picked up the dress and admired it. It was a knee-length dress with flower patterns on it. It was casual yet pretty.

"Wow, where did you get the dress?" Rose asked.

"Once a month, we are allowed to go to the market at the village square to buy what we want." Aria said "I saw the dress and couldn't help but buy it. Even though we can't wear it within the palace, I wanted to keep it in case I ever needed it. But you need a dress so..." She shrugged.

Rose felt guilt creep to her chest. "Oh no, I can't accept this." She shook her head, "You bought this with your hard-earned money. Please keep it." She handed it back to Aria.

Aria didn't budge. "I'm not taking it back." She said firmly.

"But-" Aria cut Rose off. "You can return it after today if you don't want to keep it so stop acting stubborn and wear the darn dress Rose." She rolled her eyes.

"Okay, okay. Don't bite my head off." Rose muttered, pouting her lips. She would surely return the dress, no two ways about it.

"By the way, did you get bitten by an insect?" Aria asked.

"What? What do you mean?" Rose frowned, confused.

"You have a huge purple mark on your neck." Aria pointed towards her neck.

Rose traced her fingers on her neck and hissed. It felt a bit swollen. What could have-

Her eyes widened. Shit! She jumped up and ran straight into the bathroom. She checked the mirror and saw a huge mark at the place connecting her shoulder to her neck. She gasped.

"He gave me a fucking hickey!' Rose hissed. How would she cover it up now? She hoped Aria also bought some concealer because there's no way she could hide this.

A knock resounded from the door. "Rose? Are you okay? You seemed frightened." She heard Aria speak from the other side.

"I-I'm fine. I just need a second." Rose answered. She opened the bathroom drawer and scrambled through the items inside. "Concealer, concealer, concealer." She mumbled, frantically. Luckily for her, she spotted the small bottle at the corner. She picked it up and sighed in relief. "Thank God."
Rose went out of the bathroom and dangled the concealer in front of Aria.

"I was looking for this." She said, smiling.

"Oh, I kept those items in the drawer in case you needed them." Aria said.

"Bless you, Aria. You're a lifesaver."

Aria chuckled. "Well, it is what I do." She said smugly. "Let's get you ready. You have a gathering to attend to."

***

Hi readers! I'm back with another update!!

It's short I know. I'll try to make the next one longer. I've not been able to update because I've been down lately. I feel better now!

How was the chapter btw? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below! Don't forget to vote too if you liked the chapter :)
If you're confused as to when she got the hickey, please refer back to Chapter 11. Thank you!

Till next update!

P.s not edited