Current Day.

"Okay, that's your last shot for today."

Abel was barely even concentrated on anything the nurse had said, he barely even knew when she took the needle out of his skin. He had his entire mind focused on the television, looking as amazed as ever.

The royal engagement.

It was the most beautiful ball he had ever seen. Too bad he had to miss the last one because they had no TV and even if they did, there was no way he would have watched it later on since the king had demanded that every tape and record of the previous ball was destroyed and removed permanently from all streaming platforms before he even got the chance to see, to see the face of the mysterious fiancée of the prince.

There had been speculations, a lot of speculations about who the Queen had chosen as wife for the prince and a lot of citizens had come up with their own theories, the engagement ball was supposed to be the face reveal, the day the entire country saw who it really was especially for citizens that lived downside. The identity of the Queen-to-be was no news for everyone else in the country besides them, they always got the news later than everyone else. He was so busy being sick to even keep up with the documentary or be an active participant in the fan groups he was in.

He exhaled.

Finally, there was going to be another issue of the royal magazine with an extra member of the royal family. He couldn't believe how late he was on all the other issues especially the documentary that aired all through the engagement week. He had been too busy trying to get better that he didn't even get the chance to watch that either.

Ever since they moved from crystal lake, Abel didn't have any connections to his past or the lives they lived before that. It was like his former life was completely done away with, there were no traces of him and he never went back either.

Being in the hospital was all he ever knew. It was all he ever did the past few months and so, he had no idea of what happened on the outside.

"Thank you so much nurse," Mickey became his mouth piece after she saw how busy and engrossed his eyes were on the television, with a huge smile on his face.  The lady smiled.

She retraced her gaze to the television and then back to Abel before she turned back to Mickie.

"Looks like they royal family has for themselves a very loyal fan."

Micky rolled her eyes.

"You can say that again." She said. "He lives for them. And the prince, a day doesn't pass by without him talking about how much he loves the prince. He has been looking forward to this moment for months."

"That's great, my daughter has a soft spot for the royal family too." The nurse smiled. "I mean, don't we all, we can't exactly help ourselves can we? They are too glorious to not keep tabs on." She turned to Abel and gave him a pat on his head. "You're in luck today, Paris Vutron is an angel on sight. The prince made an excellent choice."

"Oh," Abel clapped his hands immediately the piano started to play. The smile on his face grew even wider. "It's her, it's her." He pointed at the television. "It's the prince's fiancé."

"Woah," Mickie turned too. "Is that really her?" She watched attentively as the camera zoomed in on Anne-Marie slowly. "Wow, I love her dress, she's extremely beautiful too." She turned to Abel. "I can't believe we're only seeing her just now."

The smile on Abel's face turned to a frown slowly as the camera zoomed in even more on her face.

"Huh?" He froze, pulling his hands slowly to the bed. "Marie?"

Mickie frowned. She turned back to the television immediately too just to see what he was talking about.

"Mickie," he had his eyes glued to the television. "I'm dreaming right?" He asked her. "It can't be, she can't be the one. That's not Marie in there is it?"

"Anne-Marie?" Mickie looked at the television carefully, she needed to see what Abel was trying to say. Was he really trying to say that the lady in the blue dress was Anne-Marie? Their Anne-Marie? Was he implying that the prince was getting married to Anne-Marie? She squinted her eyes at the striking resemblance.

The confused nurse turned to Abel just as Mickie turned to him too.

"Aye," she groaned. "That's impossible. That can't be our Marie."

"Why?" He frowned. "She looks just like her-"

"You really think Marie would get an invitation to the royal engagement ball, talk more of marrying the prince? Anne-Marie? You think she'd even make it to the selection process compared to all those other girls from rich families? The Queen would rather die than let that happen. Don't let her hear you or we might lose our heads."

The nurse raised her head to Mickie.

"Who is-"

Mickie shook her head as she traced her gaze to her.

"Pay him no mind. He just misses his older sister. He thinks she's the one on TV. I'm sure that medicine you gave him is just messing with his head."

The lady smiled.

"But I'm sure it's her." Abel whispered to himself.

"Maybe it's just a striking resemblance Abel," the nurse told him. "Paris Vutron gets that a lot."

He turned to her.

"Paris Vutron?"

"Yes."
She nodded. "She's the only daughter of the prime minister, Oliver Vutron."

"I thought that name sounded familiar." Mickie said. "Don't mind us, we're not really into politics so we just know these people by their names. The prime minister is quite popular though, and from what I heard, he's close to the King. I heard about his daughter but I didn't know she was engaged to the Prince."

"The Vutrons and the royal family have been allies for years, the prime minister has also helped in offering good advice to the King in ensuring the security of the nation. He's doing a very good job especially since he helped keep the country safe from Caleb and the people of Niyagra. I guess the royal family chose the Vutrons so they could finally merge both families together, either ways, I'm jealous of Paris Vutron, she's been able to achieve a lot at such a young age. I wish I was born into affluence like her when I was younger."

"Paris Vutron?" Abel took a deep breath and tilted his head so he could have a better look at the television. He watched how Anne-Marie and Aiden had already started to dance. What was this feeling inside of him, that feeling of assurance and why couldn't he shake it off?

"I thought your sister travelled to a far away country?" The nurse bent a bit so she could ask him.

That was exactly what he thought too.

"Don't listen to him," Mickie said. "I'm sure it's just a striking resemblance like you said. Our Marie is a lot different from this girl. She has long black hair and chubby cheeks, she's even more beautiful. Abel just misses her, that's all."

The nurse smiled and stood to her feet. She gave Abel a soft pat on his head.

"You both need to get some rest." She told Mickie. "I'd be back by evening to give Abel another shot."

Mickie pursed her lip and then nodded. She understood perfectly.

Abel frowned. He narrowed his gaze on the television. Why was he feeling that way? He knew what he was looking at, he knew what he saw. Was he really exaggerating? Was that really not Marie?

Mickie was right. It couldn't be her.

There was no way Marie was ever going to find her way to even be in the presence of the royal family talk more of getting engaged to the prince. It wasn't possible. It could never be. Maybe it was just the make up. He exhaled.

Where was she anyway?
Where was Anne-Marie and why had she never called or texted or reached out ever since she left.  He exhaled. All of a sudden, he felt all the energy in him leave him. He missed her, so much, everyday and couldn't help but wonder if she still thought of him.

"Come on Abel," Mickey told him. "Let's dress you for bed."

*************************************************
Anne-Marie felt so light headed, the engagement ball was over but the after party still went on, the pavilion was half filled with really close allies of the royal family.

She needed a breather.

There she was, taking a long walk down the hallway, rubbing her head as she listened to the rhythm of her racing heart that went on and on since the ball. She could think of nothing else but that kiss. Everytime she shut her eyes, she was back to that hall, with his hands wrapped around her waist and then she remembered how he pulled her close and pushed his face towards her. Her face went red just thinking about it and her heart beat six times faster.

Even though she had changed into a more comfortable dress, it was still difficult to walk without almost falling to the ground thanks to her constantly trembling legs.

She froze when she got to the exit of the hall leading to the west wing of the palace. She exhaled, raising one hand to rub her forehead and the other to her abdomen.

"Why did you do it Anne-Marie? You should have stopped him."

She couldn't believe how she let him kiss her like that. And why was she getting red anytime she thought about it? She could feel how stuffed her heart was just thinking about it, she felt so suffocated like she couldn't breathe.

"You've never had to lie about what you want from me, or anyone else. You've never had to lie to get anything you wanted. You're honest to a fault and even as bad and scary as it seems sometimes, it's what I admire about you, sometimes, sometimes I wish you'd never change."

She exhaled, thinking about the words he said to her made her shiver a bit. She was nervous, anxious of how she was doing the exact opposite he talked about, how she was the opposite of what the real Paris was. If he knew, if he knew just how much baggage she was hiding, if she knew just how much she was keeping from him, he was never going to see her the same way again.

She was just like them, like all those people he talked about, those that lied to him and his family just so they could get what they wanted and at that moment, she felt like she was the worse of them all.

Why? Why did she suddenly feel sad for him? Why was did she suddenly feel sad for holding the truth from him?

"Yes your highness, I already called the Secretary General of the sovereign nations." She froze when she heard a familiar voice followed by footsteps in her direction, a lot of them. "I already informed him that you'd be in time for the summit."

It was him, Aiden, her eyes widened as she watched him approach her with his secretary right beside him, briefing him on his next line of activities while a few, ministers walked right behind him, the court ladies and royal guards followed. She swallowed hard.

What was she going to do? She couldn't face him, she couldn't let him see her, she was still so embarrassed. What on earth was she going to do? He was barely even looking, he had his eyes focused on the lady beside him with his arms wrapped behind him while he listened to everything the young lady in her mid thirties said, nodding to show his approval.

She turned around quickly, pretending to check the wall for God knows what. She was nervous, nervous to let him see her after what happened.

"This is so stupid Anne-Marie," but she couldn't help herself. She had to let him leave first, she couldn't bear eye contact with him, not at that moment. She felt a cold breeze pass through her spine when she felt him walk past her, his human convoy tagging right behind him. She could feel a clench in her chest as she slowly turned when she was sure they were far from her.

He didn't notice? He really didn't notice?

She squinted.  Was he really so caught up in whatever that was going on to not notice her? Why was he in a hurry anyway? Their engagement party had barely even started and he was already off to God knows where. Why? She was curious. He was dressed in a suit so she knew it had to be another formal event.

She found her legs slowly leading her to walk behind them, she wanted to see, to know why he had to leave, where he was going. She tagged along silently, watching as they walked out of the place, she walked out too to meet the loud whirling sound coming from the jet a bit far from the palace. She could see how there were two men in military uniform, standing at attention the moment Aiden started to approach the jet and right in front of it was Asher's father, in his uniform too. They were escorts. They had to be.

Anne-Marie squinted her eyes as she watched how Aiden approached the minister and how they started to talk. She couldn't really hear anything they said, she wished she could. She turned around when she noticed a presence approach her from behind. She grabbed on gently to the hands of the court lady, preventing her from taking another step forward. 

The court lady turned immediately with a look of surprise on her face.

"Lady Vutron?" She whispered after a gasp before she hurriedly went on to bow slightly to show her respect.

"Did I frighten you?" Anne-Marie let herself smile crookedly, "forgive me." She said in a hurry, without even waiting for an answer. She took a quick look at Aiden before she turned back to the lady.

"Why is the Prince leaving?" She asked her.

The lady blinked.

"The Prince?"

She nodded.

"Prince Aiden was asked to represent the king at the twenty third peace keeping conference of the Sovereign nations in Berlin. It's tomorrow so he has to be in Berlin before the conference."

"Oh." Anne-Marie slowly let her go. So that was where he was going? That was why he was in a hurry. She knew about how though being a Prince according to the customs in Breton was. She knew how responsible the Prince was in the affairs of the country, and Aiden, Aiden was the crowned prince, and so accepting the duties of the king delegated to him was a part of his training and test towards being a great king and it was quite impressive how well he was doing.

In Breton, the affairs of the country came first as a natter of importance to the royal family before anything else, even school. For a young prince who happened to still be in high school, it was amazing how Aiden still managed to maintain perfect grades even with his schedule that never really gave him time to study.

"Lady Vutron!"

Aiden froze and so did Anne-Marie as she quickly turned to the guard behind Aiden who had noticed her and was now waving to her. He was a part of Aiden's personal guard, the youngest too, she could recognize him from how he smiled. He only knew how to smile. He smiled too much even for a member of the royal guard, if only Elijah could learn from him.

Aiden slowly found himself turning towards her direction. Anne-Marie's eyes widened when her eyes met his. He was staring right at her and it started to make her heart flutter again. He looked so perfect in a suit and he still had his hair in a bulb.

Aiden turned fully to her and counted about three seconds in his head before he slowly started to find his way to her. There went her legs again, trembling like she had seen a ghost. She took a step back when he got closer. Her cheeks were flustered, Aiden could see it. He stopped for a second so he could take a good look at her. God, she looked so beautiful as always.

He scoffed, pushing back his laughter.

"Are you that excited to see me?" He asked her. Anne-Marie had no answer. He drew a sharp breath. "I actually thought you came to say goodbye but why do I feel that's not why you're here?"

"Y-you're leaving?"

"Mnn." He nodded.

"Right now?"

Aiden hesitated. Wasn't it obvious?

"Mnn." He nodded again, he had to answer anyway.

Why? Why did her heart feel so heavy at that moment? "When would you be back?" She wanted to ask him with all of her heart but whenever she opened her mouth, she couldn't bring herself to say those words, but he knew, he could see how exactly she was struggling to speak. He exhaled and then raised his hand to her head, he gave it a few soft pats.

Anne-Marie raised her eyes so she could look at his hands as they caressed her hair gently. For some weird reason she was suddenly becoming to get calm again.

"Don't worry, I won't be gone for long." He lowered his gaze to her so they could find her eyes before he let himself smile again, exposing his perfect set of mesmerizing dimples. He was starting to smile at her often and it made her so speechless. "Don't think about it too much either," he went on. "We could talk about it when I'm back."

Talk about it? What did he want to talk about? The kiss? Was that it? It had to be it.

"Your highness."

The voice of one of the guards brought him to a pause immediately. He knew his time was up. It was time to leave. He frowned and then returned his gaze to Anne-Marie right before it met with the necklace around her neck.

"It suits you." He told her. "More than it ever did anyone."

He was referring to the necklace that once belonged to the former Queen. Anne-Marie had almost forgotten she still had that on. She swallowed hard as she watched how his smile widened as he rubbed her hair then dropped his hand.

He turned and started to walk back to the jet before she could even say anything. Anne-Marie watched him, she watched how his perfect long legs led him back to the jet and how graceful he looked. He froze from taking another step.

He couldn't leave, not like that. For some reason, his body refrained him from taking another step. He was nervous, really nervous. Why did he suddenly not want to leave?

"Your highness?" He heard one of the guards call him again. They were probably running out of time. He needed a second, just a second to take a view of her in again. He slowly turned to where Anne-Marie was standing, her gaze focused on him.

Anne-Marie swallowed hard when his eyes met hers. She saw how he watched her for a few seconds before a smile spread its way across his face. He winked at her and she felt all her energy leave her before he turned back to the jet and walked in. The guards and minister followed and slowly the door started to close.

He was leaving, he was really leaving. Anne-Marie found her legs taking a step to the jet before she stopped. What on earth did she think she was doing?

He was going to be back. He definitely was.

She watched how the jet started to move little by little until it was levitating into the air. She let her eyes go up to the skies with it.

He was leaving and for some reason, it felt like he had left with the depths of her. What was wrong with her? What was that feeling of sadness she felt?

"Lady Vutron?"

She snapped out of it immediately as she quickly turned to the court lady who was still standing beside her.

"We should go inside." She said. "It's getting cold outside."

Anne-Marie forced a smile on her face before she let the court lady lead her into the palace.