190 2.2.15: The Story Behind the Ring

After validating the engagement, his father had suggested for him to take Violetta around the castle to show her around. Of course, his mother immediately objected but luckily, his father was there to control his mother and allowed them to get away quickly. They had wandered everywhere and ended up in the royal garden. Again with the garden; it seemed like everywhere they went, their destiny was linked with the flowers. The first time they had gone to garden, she had proposed a marriage contract. Now, they had ended up in the garden again, but on the day that their engagement was validated. He wondered if there were going to be anymore events happening in the garden.

The royal garden was ten times bigger than the Warrington mansion garden since it belonged to the royal family and was located in the royal castle. If anywhere were to go in there, they'd probably get lost and think they happen to be in a jungle. Not literally, but the amount of nature was overwhelming.

All types of trees and exotic plants were here, making it a treasure of some kind. Ambassadors from other small countries and even the other major nation, Ayrelie, enjoyed being toured in the garden since it was so aromatic. Even though the only way they would be able to get a tour was from the royal family since the royal garden was prohibited to anyone that wasn't a member of the royal family. This didn't mean that they couldn't bring anyone in, hence why Adriel bringing in Violetta didn't break the rules. Had Violetta went in the royal garden herself, then that would have generated trouble.

Currently, they sat on the soft, cushioned chairs prepared for them by the servants since the garden was purely for viewing and never for sitting. So the servants had to prepare something very quickly for the royal couple. It was a good thing that Adriel was in a good mood, otherwise, he would've been annoyed with his icy expression like always. Once the servants had prepared the chairs and table for them to use to rest, they had disappeared and left the two of them alone.

Adriel looked at her who had her head faced forward. Her eyes were clouded with complications that he could not understand. He didn't get why she was always thinking too deep and too mature for her young age. He called her out but didn't get a response since she was lost in her thoughts.

"Violet?" She snapped out of her thoughts and turned to him apologetically. He had been calling her repeated but couldn't get her attention, so he wondered on what she was thinking about so deeply that she couldn't hear him calling her.

"Yes? Sorry, I was distracted." She was honest and her honesty was refreshing, at least to Adriel who was accustomed to the sneers and fake smiles of pleasantry among the nobles.

"It's alright." Since they were alone, he didn't need to pretend to be enamored with her, so he was much more casual with her in tone and attitude.

"Of course. I know that my mother can be a little too excessive, but she has good intention and I hope that you don't come to hate her for it." He clarified. Which was true. His mother was a bit rude, but to her, it was all out of love and consideration for his future. That's why he had been given so many lists with so many people chosen by his mother, but even the daughter of the Warrington dukedom. The main reason being is the only daughter, Violetta, didn't have the status that his mother found approvable. Had the original and first daughter of the Warrington dukedom been alive, then Adriel was sure that his mother would've put her name on the very top of those lists he had been getting.

"It's alright." She said kindly. She didn't hold a grudge against the woman because she was doing purely what any mother would do for their child: look out for their best interest. And in the case of Adriel, the best interest was anyone but Violetta. Luckily, the Queen didn't have to worry much because the engagement was only temporary.

"No, really, you can be angry, don't bottle it in." He said helplessly which made her chuckle. Seeing her laugh so carefree, he couldn't help but laugh too.

When she saw him laugh, she was stunned because once again, it was like seeing him smile. It was mesmerizing. The crown prince didn't smile or laugh much, but when he did, it was a sight to behold.

"Your Highness is very humorous." She said with a smile. "Unfortunately, I have to disappoint you because I don't have anything 'bottled in' and speak my mind."

He shook his head, "Remember our agreement, don't call me 'Your Highness.' Call me Riel." He corrected her. He didn't like it when she referred to him so distantly while he referred to her more intimately by using her nickname. It made him feel like they weren't on the same page.

She blushed and nodded. "Sorry...Riel. I'll work on fixing that habit." He patted her head when he saw her genuinely trying to follow along, finding it very adorable.

"But are you sure that you don't harbor any grievances towards my mother?" He just wanted to confirm it now so he could get rid of it. He didn't want to deal with any problems in the future between the two. On one side was his fiancée—fake one but still in the eyes of the public, his fiancée—and on the other side was his mother. He couldn't imagine the horror of what it would be like if the two every clashed. His mother had tried to throw many daggers at the girl today, but fortunately, Violetta was smart and avoided them all. Although she did ask him for help, not that he minded. He enjoyed her depending on him to deal with these minor problems.

"No Riel," her answer was vigorous. "I promise you that Her Majesty didn't bother me as much as you thought she did. I don't hate her nor do I find anything wrong with her."

Adriel sighed in relief until he heard her next words, "Wait, yes I do! I have a big grievance against your mother." Even though he was glad that she had opened up to him about it, he was still disappointed that there was one in the first place to open up about.

"This ring!" She raised her hand and pointed at the simple ring, "How did the Queen manage to get it to fit? My fingers are still aching from putting it on and it rubbing harshly against my skin!" Hearing her 'grievance,' he knew that she was just teasing him.

He laughed and decided to tease her too. "Well, my mother's finger's were very skinny so it fit her easily. Let me examine yours..." he grabbed her hand and pretended to ponder over it as he looked at her hand. "I'm afraid your hand..." he didn't finish his sentence but she knew what he meant. Was he calling her fingers fat? She pulled her hand away and eyed her fingers with a newfound shock. She never considered them fat, but maybe he was right?

Seeing her concentrate on her fingers and seriously focused on them while thinking, he burst out laughing again. Never in his life had he been so comfortable with someone to laugh so carefree with them. In fact, he couldn't even remember the last time that he had laughed so easily like this.

She saw him laugh and was confused. "Riel, are my chubby fingers that amusing to you?" Hearing her response, he laughed even harder.

At that point, she realized that she had been played like a fool. "Not funny." She pouted, turning her head away from him. He stopped laughed and assumed the worst, thinking that she really was angry with him. He tapped her shoulders but she refused to turn around, so he began to feel bad.

She could feel him trying to find a way to appease her and turned around and laughed. "Fooled you!" Seeing how his trick had backfired and ended up with her tricking him, he didn't feel annoyed and just felt like she was too childlike.

"Alright, you played fair." He couldn't blame her since he decided to play a prank on her first.

"Now, can you tell me why this ring is so small?" Even the skinniest person at fifteen couldn't fit such a small thing around their finger. That's what she was figuring out when she was looking at the ring.

Adriel looked like he was considering on whether or not to tell her, but ended up doing it anyways. "That ring was resized to fit my mother's finger." How slim was his mother's finger to need such a small ring? It had to be resized to this size too!?

"My mother was only thirteen when she got the ring." She didn't miss the indication behind his words.

"The Queen was only thirteen when she got engaged to the King?" Wasn't the age of adulthood fifteen? So how did a thirteen year old get engaged?

"My mother is a princess from a small country. The small country didn't have anything to exchange to make an alliance with the GKY, so they offered their only princess." Hearing the story of the Queen, it was really tragic. The Queen had the exact same fate that she was trying to avoid. "In that country, the adulting ceremony is at thirteen, much younger than here. The previous King, my grandfather, felt sympathetic towards the young princess who was being sacrificed for her country and accepted to make her the crown princess. Since polygamy isn't allowed, she became the only wife of my father."

"At age thirteen?" She couldn't imagine marrying at fifteen, nonetheless thirteen! Imagine what she'd have to do at such a young age.

Almost like he could heard her dirty thoughts, he added, "The marriage was just a formality. They didn't do anything until my mother was years older. But, they still needed to validate the marriage, so the ring was resized to her small fingers. I couldn't get it resized back since the engagement was too sudden."

She nodded, "The story behind it is more interesting than I thought. Tell me, did you agree to my agreement because you saw your mother in me?" His mother had been in the exact situation as her, but was fortune enough to meet the King who looked like he took great care of her. Did Adriel agree because he saw her helpless and trying to avoid being sold off to marry a random person?

Adriel was embarrassed. "That was somewhat of a reason. I still firmly think the conditions you offered were very much beneficial and worthy of the contract." Even though he said that, she could tell that he was trying to make her feel better. So when she thought that she had accomplished something, in reality, it was just winning the sympathy of someone?

As much as she wanted to feel pity for herself, she couldn't. Sympathy was also a way of survival. If she had invoked sympathy in him to do what she wanted, then all the better. Sympathy was an emotion, so that meant her target had already felt sympathetic towards her. Now, the only thing that she needed to do was develop that sympathy into something else.

"I see..."

"Don't worry about it." Adriel said, grabbing her hand with the ring. "Since the engagement validation is complete and the documents are signed, I can just get the ring back and resize it for you."

"No need." She shook her head. "Since the ring is small, that means it'll be very difficult for it to come off. So, I won't lose it..." her sentence faltered, "And I'll keep it with me at all times..."