Chapter 6: The Wrong Room

"Here is my room." Ivan gestured to a large door before opening it. Diana couldn't help but gawk at the beautiful space.

She stepped in and saw a king-size bed on one side. At one corner, there was a big television, small couches, and a door that probably led the way towards the washroom. A huge space sat in the middle of the room. One could dance, roam, or even lie on the floor.

There was a long balcony near the couches. Another door was there, for what, Diana couldn't guess the reason.

"That is the closet room," Ivan mumbled. Diana sized up the distance of the closet room from the washroom. She thought that taking clothes from there to the washroom would probably be a nice morning walk, sarcasm added.

"I will be taking a bath now," Diana said before she walked towards the closet door. Her clothes were nicely arranged, just the way she loved. Ivan sat on the couch, and taking a guitar, he started strumming it. Playing the guitar was his hobby, after all.

"Have you decided on what to tell Rain and Aiden? They will freak out," Diana asked as she walked towards the washroom.

Ivan heaved a sigh. "I wish I knew what to tell them."

"What's bothering you?" Diana stopped and glanced at him. He gave her a confused look.

"How'd you know that?" he asked.

"That something was bothering you?" she said. "No need to get confused. It's just that you play this specific tune when you're bothered. You played this when we were facetiming, and you were worried about what Rain would answer to your proposal."

Ivan shot her a small smile. She knew him very well. "I just can't believe my own mother would do this. She knew everything, yet she made this decision for us to stay together."

"She is trying to do the best for the kingdom by thinking like a queen right now. One day, she will realize her mistakes and accept Rain. I am telling you."

"I hope so, Diana. I am really looking forward to that day. What's bugging me is that I know my mom won't stop here. This is her first move. She will do everything to bring us together—" he was interrupted by Diana.

"In which she will fail miserably." She headed towards the washroom. "Your mother can never bring us together, Ivan. We are best friends, and we will remain like that forever."

Diana stepped into the huge washroom. There were separate rooms for each; jacuzzi, shower, and others she didn’t know the function of. She wandered around, looking for the jacuzzi, but mistakenly stepped into the shower. The whole washroom turned into one gigantic maze.

She tried to get out, but the door was auto locked. When her eyes fell on a switch, she pressed it, thinking it would make the door open. But as soon as she placed her finger upon a switch that was on the right side, hot water started pouring from the shower.

"What the fucking hell!" she yelled as she tried to cover her face with her clothes. The boiling water was hitting her sensitive skin. She knew it would burn and have blisters if she didn't get out soon.

While playing his guitar, Ivan realized that he forgot to tell Diana about the complications of the washroom. Without a second thought, he went inside. His eyes grew bigger when he heard Diana screaming.

Ivan looked for her in the jacuzzi room and the changing room, but it was empty. Finally, he barged into the shower, hot water sprinkling him. He saw Diana covering her face with her clothes.

Rapidly, he turned the switch off. "Diana?"

"Turn it off. My skin is burning!"

Ivan pulled the clothes from her face. "Hey, I turned it off. Are you okay? I am really sorry for not telling you about the complicated washroom." His eyes fell on Diana's arm. It turned red, proving that her skin burned slightly due to the hot water.

"It's okay. Just show me the direction and I'll—argh!" She hissed when he touched her arm. "Are you trying to kill me, dude?"

"You have sensitive skin. How come you never told me?" he asked, pulling her towards another room.

She rolled her eyes. "You were a real-life prince, yet you never told me. How is this relevant? And where are you taking me?"

"To the sanitary room. Every type of medicine and first aid kits are there. I am sure I have a cream that will remove the pain and redness of your arms."

Diana gaped at his response. A normal person would just have a first aid kit and a stand for shampoo and other items. But he had a separate room for this.

Wow! Perks of being a prince and living luxuriously, she thought.

When they reached the room, Diana was amused with the way everything seemed organized. Ivan took out an ointment and pulled her hand towards him as they sat on the white couch inside the room.

"Let me put the cream on. It will be hard for you to apply by yourself." Ivan reached for her arm.

Diana wanted to protest, but he was right. She wouldn't be able to apply the ointment thoroughly by herself. She had always respected him for his caring nature; he was cute that way.

He started spreading the ointment on her bare arm. "After ten minutes, you can go take a bath. The redness will go away, and you won't even feel any pain. I thought this cream was useless, but I must restock it a lot now since you have sensitive skin. I will try to keep more medicine for you."

Diana was looking at him, probably admiring him while he added, "If you have other health issues, tell me right now. I will arrange the emergency medication here beforehand. Do you have others?"

He looked at her when he got no response. Her brown eyes were gazing at his green ones, deeply surveying him.

He swallowed. "Diana...?"

"Huh? Oh!" She was out of her trance, shaking her head. "Umm, I'm sorry for not telling you about that. I don't have any other medical issues. I've had sensitive skin since I was a kid."

"Okay." Ivan completed applying the ointment. He got up and placed it back in the vanity. He was extremely organized with his things. "Come, I'll give you a tour of the washroom and show you the jacuzzi room."

He extended a hand towards her. Diana got up and placed her hand over his. He showed and explained the details of every room inside the washroom. Diana made sure to note it down in her mind; after all, she had a sharp memory.

"And this is the jacuzzi." Ivan opened another white door. The doors were white; the very reason why Diana got confused in the first place. It was very similar to the others.

She looked around the room and her eyes fell on the switch. "What's with these similar white switches? And how do I open the doors from inside?"

"The doors are auto-locked. And—"

"Then how did you enter the shower room when I was inside?"

Ivan chuckled. "Only I know the password which can open all the doors from outside of my room. So, I typed it on the small device outside the door. There is a small device on every door. Remember, the password is 4521."

Diana nodded her head, giving him an impressed look.

"So, as I was saying, these switches are very easy to decode. Starting from the right side, pressing this switch here means hot water, the one next to this means cold water. You can adjust the temperature with that meter over there."

She followed Ivan's gaze to the meter in the corner where he pointed his index finger at. Then she said, "Okay."

"The switch at the left unlocks the door so you need to press this one and the door will be unlocked," he finished explaining the details to her.

"I am really an unlucky girl. I pressed the right switch. Why didn't I try the left one first?"

"Probably because you wanted to enjoy hot water pouring on your body like they were pearls falling from the sky."

Diana glared at him and playfully smacked his arm. "You should have warned me about this maze of a washroom. Now, I need to get another pair of clothes from the closet room and again come here. I will definitely lose my weight from all the walking I'm doing."

Ivan laughed, hearing her jokes. "I promise I will give you a nice tour of the entire bedroom so that you don't have to face any problem."

"What about the palace tour?"

"It will not be possible in a single day, but I'll show it to you slowly; one by one. We have two long months," he said casually. He was sure that everything would be okay while living with Diana, but who knew that fate and heart would join hands at throwing them at each other?

Diana had set the temperature and they got out of the washroom. Ivan started playing his guitar again while she took out a new navy-blue jumpsuit.

"After you're done, we will call them," Ivan mumbled. Diana nodded and went to have a long bath, knowing he was talking about Aiden and Rain.

Finally, it was time to video-call the other two. Diana freshened up. Her brown hair was down, cascading in wet waves. She sat next to Ivan on the couch, waiting for them to pick up the call.

"How did the meeting go?" Rain asked as soon as her bright face popped on the screen, her blond hair swinging from side to side as she moved closer to the camera.

"Why are you two together?" asked Aiden. He didn't like his girlfriend sitting next to another guy, but he was trying hard to control himself.

Ivan frowned. Why was Aiden always talking to Diana in that tone? he thought.

"The queen decided that Ivan and I should live together," Diana let out. She started explaining how the meeting with the royal family went.

"This is unbelievable!" Aiden breathed in anger. "Why the fuck are you even following her orders? Can't you just say that you have a boyfriend and come back here?"

"It's not that easy, Aiden," Diana said sternly. "Even if I had the courage to say that the queen has the power to ruin my mother and humiliate us in front of the whole world. She might even ruin you."

"But living together is too much, guys," Rain pointed out. "I know that Diana said that she would escape on the wedding day. I trust her on that, but will you live together for two months without complications?"

"Exactly! Who knows? The next thing we know you two will be falling in love slowly and want to get married for real?" argued Diana's boyfriend.

"That won't happen, Aiden," Diana snapped. "What is wrong with you? Ivan and I are just best friends. We will just live together, we're not crossing any other boundaries. You have to trust us."

"Ivan, how would you feel if I was living with my male best friend?" Rain asked hypothetically.

Ivan shrugged at Rain's question. "I would be okay because I know you love me. There is nothing to feel insecure about."

Diana looked at him proudly. Ivan was never insecure. He strongly believed in love, and he knew that without trust, love was just a four-letter word.

"But I would feel extremely jealous, just the way I am feeling right now." Aiden glared at him through the phone. "You are sitting next to my girlfriend, and you will be living with her for two damn months!"

"What's the worst that can happen, Aiden?" Diana was disappointed in him. "You have to trust us, there are no ifs or buts in between. Trust me or not, that's up to you. I am not the type of girl who will prove my loyalty second by second." She had cut his call off from Ivan's phone.

Ivan and Rain became quiet. Diana got up from the couch. "Both of you talk. I will just read on Wattpad."

She sat on the bed and plugged her earphones in her ears to listen to some music while scrolling to look for a nice story on Wattpad. She saw a story named, 'Marrying My Best Friend.' She decided to read the story as she felt it was related to her current situation.

After reading for half an hour, her cell phone chimed. She noticed that it was a text from Rain on her Instagram.

Rain_Summers: Plz do something so that I can stay with Ivan. I trust u and him a lot. But the queen hates me! She won't let Ivan meet me if u don't do something. Plz, help us with our complicated love life. Plz. I will owe u a big one if u help me, Diana.

Diana instantly replied to her message.

Diana_Stevens: Give me some time. I will do something during dinner today. Don't worry.

She smiled seeing Rain's text. Ivan was still on the couch, doing something with his phone. When he got up, he saw Diana smiling at her phone; her dimples making her look cuter than usual. Seeing this, even he couldn't help when a small smile played on his lips. He loved her smile. It was unique.

Ivan cleared his throat and said, "Diana, if you are done reading a story, it's dinner time. Jasper texted me to take you to the dining room now."

Diana got up from the bed. "I didn't even finish reading half the story but never mind. I'll just read tonight before sleeping. Who will be in the dining room though?"

"There will be my parents, Jasper, Aunt Floresa, and Uncle Raiden."

"Ugh," she groaned when she heard that Raiden would be there. "Do I look presentable?"

Ivan looked at her from head to toe. She was still wearing the navy-blue jumpsuit which fit her perfectly. As her blonde-brown hair was down, she looked even more beautiful.

"The only presentation I care about is food right now. So does my family. Trust me. They won't even care what you wear in the dining room because everyone will be busy eating."

Diana laughed. "Let's go."

They got out of the room. While Ivan tried to act cool, he was busy thinking about what was going in his mother's mind. He was afraid of the queen's next move. After all, she wouldn't sit idle until Ivan started liking Diana. That would never happen, Ivan thought.

On the other hand, Diana was thinking of how she would help Rain. She peeked at Ivan, whose eyes were fixed straight to where they were walking.

I have to bring Rain here so that Ivan's tension lessens. He is stressing too much, she thought. But how will I bring Rain to the palace?