Chapter 58: Chapter XXVII Kingdom Surprises-2

The actually dinner was lovely and had only two courses, luckily. Matilda refrained from making more commentaries after noticing that her mother had a close watch on her. Lewis told us of his experience with the Air Force, hilarious stories emitting form him about boot camps. I pitied anyone who had to deal with him. It was then that I noticed the middle child, the Viscount Jasper, had not said a word the entire evening. He was always a little strange, in my opinion. He was never open about anything and almost seemed terrified of his two venomous siblings. I could tell he inherited some of his father's paranoia and had developed self-esteem issues. I was very worried for him, honestly. The pudding was cake, naturally, and it was rose flavoured. Matilda made attempts to insult my favourite choice of flavour but ultimately lost after she expressed her love for the cake. The rest of the evening I shot her smug looks, causing her to not meet my gaze. Not once. I felt victorious. "Princess, before we retire for the night, we would like to present you with a gift," Princess Alice spoke, indicating to the darkened sky outside. Time seemed to flow a lot faster today than usual. It was Jasper who produced a small box, elegant black and gold detail on the site of it. He presented to me without saying a word, keeping his head low to not meet my eyesight. I took the box hesitantly and opened it, although it felt nerve-wracking because there were so many eyes on me. Inside was a ring, and from the looks of it, this was an extensively expensive ring. The diamond on top looked to be quite a few carats, but what caught my eye the most was the violet details on the side. It was absolutely beautiful. "Thank you so much. I will cherish this," I honestly thanked, bringing each of the family members into my arms. Jasper seemed a bit hesitant, but I held him a little longer before releasing his frail body. Matilda seemed like she absolutely wanted to chew me up when I hugged her, hissing into my ear. Princess Alice rallied her family and we walked them out of the palace. They could not spend the night because of their individual responsibilities for the next morning. One such thing was that Matilda had to attend a private school and had apparently not begun on a speech she was to deliver the coming Monday. I snickered behind my palm when I heard that, her eyes sending me her utter hate. I waved her away innocently. "She was an utter bitch," I heard from the lips of my youngest brother as we headed back to our rooms. I looked at him with a wide jaw. "Bartholomew!" I screeched unladylike. He rolled his eyes and scoffed in annoyance. "What? She was," I only shook my head at him, my expression agape. I headed back towards my room where I heard soft music coming from. It confused me momentarily until I entered. My laptop and a dirty bowl rested on my bed, boyband music playing from the speakers. I was utterly confused for a second until I spotted violet on the balcony. I closed my door and headed over. I spotted Sarina, her hair now loose and her feet bare as she danced around on the balcony, Toro as her dance partner. I laid myself against the door reeling, inspecting her gracious movements as she slow danced to a pop song. It was hilarious and I tried to keep my giggles to myself. Eventually she spun, holding Toro up into the air as he meowed in delight. The scene looked familiar, but I couldn't tell from where. Spotting me, Sarina stopped her movement and gave me one large smile. "I'm so glad you're alive," I laughed at her words, heading over to take Toro into my arms. I petted him gently, his entire body revealing how exhausted he was at the moment as he meowed unenthusiastically. "Aww, was the dancing a bit too much for you?" I cooed, heading back inside and gently placed him on his cushion bed. Sarina continued to twirl outside, almost giving me a heart attack as she topped slightly over the edge. "Hey, what time is it?" she called to me as I tucked Toro in. I looked over at the laptop's right-hand corner, spotting the numbers. "Uh. Quarter to nine," I answered, heading back towards her. She smiled brightly at me. "That means that as of about minutes ago, you are officially eighteen years old! Happy escape-from-the-womb day!" I laughed loudly at her words, throwing off my heels before walking onto the balcony. I sat against the railing and brought one of my feet up towards me and gently massaged my aching foot while I shook my head at her with a smile. "Thank you," "So," she said, heading towards me side and sitting next to me. She began to gently pull the bobby pins from my hair, allowing my hair to fall loose in pieces. "How was the dinner?" I groaned loudly. "I don't really like them all that much. Especially two of them," I said, taking my other foot to message it as well. She hummed in thought. "Pray do tell," I sighed. "Okay so... my mother has a sister and she is known as Princess Alice. She married the Duke Piers, but because my mother became the Queen, it means that their family turned into the side branch," she frowned for a bit before nodding, indicating she understood. "So that means that their children cannot be princes or princesses. Their children is the Earl Lewis, the Viscount Jasper and the Lady Matilda. Lewis is sarcastic and loves to tease people, especially me. Matilda is a little monster and is angry that she doesn't have a title," I explained. "Isn't 'Lady' a title?" "Yes, I guess, but anyone woman of high standing has that title. I mean, you have that title," her eyes bulged at this as she stood up, moving to put the pins away and silence the music a bit.