Selection of the Crown Princess
“What do you mean, Laura?” asked Stevan. Now he and Laura are in the car. He had tried to persuade the woman to chat with just the two of them. Luckily, Yola was willing to help him.
"We're not the same," answered Laura, who didn't want to look at Stevan's face.
Stevan didn't accept Laura's answer. "We are both humans, we also breathe oxygen, we too..."
“Enough, Prince!” Laura snapped, interrupting Stevan's words. Her eyes stared at Stevan's face, full of frustration. “You and I come from different families. You come from a noble family, while I'm just a commoner who has nothing.”
"What is wrong with it? There are no regulations that require noble families to marry into noble families, either. I love you. I want you to be the crown princess.” Stevan took Laura's hand and stroked it gently.
Laura lowered her face. Her heart felt like it was being cut into pieces. It hurt so much. "Why do you have to be a prince?" she said softly while shedding tears.
Stevan understood what Laura felt. He immediately took the woman into his arms. “I'm sorry, I wasn't honest from the start.”
Laura became increasingly sad. "We can't possibly be together. Since I was little, I have had the principle of living simply and calmly. A noble family must have a partner from a noble family too or come from a prominent family." She let go of Stevan's embrace. She tried to accept reality, even though it was very difficult.
“Laura, please. Don't be like this. I can't live without you." Stevan also shed tears. Laura is his hope and his world. He didn't want to lose that woman.
"Forgive me. Stay cool. We can still be friends and have a good relationship. Besides, I also owe you a debt." Laura smiled at Stevan, a man who can melt her heart. However, it is a shame that circumstances do not support their uniting. “You'd better go back to the palace. It was dark. Don't let journalists or other people know that the crown prince is visiting a woman's house at night. See you." Laura then got out of Stevan's car.
Stevan hit his hand on the steering wheel. He still couldn't accept it, Laura rejected him. Moreover, he knew that Laura also had the same feelings as him. “I won't just give up on getting you again, Laura. I will make sure our love is united."
Laura, who had just entered her house, immediately ran to her bedroom. “Laura, what's wrong with you?” Yola followed her daughter. However, Laura immediately closed the bedroom door.
“Laura? What's wrong with you?" Yola stood in front of the door. However, she immediately fell silent when she heard the sound of her daughter's sobs. She guessed that there was something special between Laura and Stevan. "Don't sleep late," she said in a loud voice, then left. She wanted to give her daughter some alone time.
It was getting late. Stevan has just arrived at the palace. He looked so gloomy. He headed straight to the king's private room. “King, let me in!” said Stevan when he was in front of the door to the king's private room. The servants around him were surprised to see his disrespectful attitude.
Not long after, the door opened. "Is this you, Prince?" asked Queen Yoana. Stevan immediately walked into the room. King Rico, who was reading a book, looked at his son in surprise.
Stevan just laid down on the sofa with his arms covering his face. King Rico and Queen Yoana approached him. They both looked at each other, confused to see their son, who looked frustrated.
"Who has hurt you, Prince?" asked King Rico, who looked at Stevan.
"Aakkhh!" shouted Stevan suddenly, stomping his feet. He was like a child whose wishes were not obeyed.
"His anxiety seems to be acute," whispered Queen Yoana to her husband.
Stevan immediately woke up and sat up, surprising King Rico, who was about to approach him. “Oh my God, you startled me.”
"Laura rejected me," said Stevan with a sad face as he looked at the king and queen. “This is all because the king revealed my identity.” Stevan sobbed. He was like a child when he was around his parents.
"Oh, God. It's a pity that my son has been rejected by a woman." King Rico was not sad, but instead held back his laughter. He didn't expect that his son could act like a child just because of a woman.
Queen Yoana immediately hugged Stevan, trying to calm her son. "The king can't do that. Have mercy on him who has tried to sacrifice his dignity just to shed tears."
King Rico couldn't hold back his laughter any longer. He was very satisfied to see his son suffer like he was now. “I really salute Laura. She should be given credit for succeeding in making you cry like this. She really deserves to be the crown princess."
Stevan immediately wiped his tears when he heard the king's words. “Is that true, King? You will make Laura my crown princess. Right?"
"Yes, I never go back on my words," said King Rico, making Stevan very happy and immediately hugging him.
***
The next day, Laura had just arrived at campus. As usual, she was still getting the attention of the students. She didn't care and assumed there was no one around her, so that her sanity was maintained. She deliberately wore ordinary glasses to cover her eyes, which looked puffy from crying all night.
Not long after, she arrived at her class. She saw her friends crowding Jennifer's seat. She felt too lazy to join and immediately sat down in her place.
“This is very exciting news. It looks like we should just watch it on television to make it clearer," said one of the students in the class.
"Agree," answered the other students in unison.
Jennifer immediately approached Laura. “Why are you so uninspired today? Maybe you already know that this morning the kingdom wants to announce the future crown princess."
"What?" Laura immediately looked at Jennifer. She was very surprised to hear that.
"So you don't know?" said Jennifer again, which was met with a shake of the head from Laura. “It seems like today there will be many women who will be heartbroken. Even though just yesterday the king revealed the real identity of the crown prince, now he wants to announce the future crown princess."
Laura indeed rejected Stevan's love. However, when she found out that the man had a future wife, her heart felt very unwilling. "It seems like this is my fate," she muttered softly.
“Hey, the show is starting!” said the students enthusiastically.
"What did you say just now?" asked Jennifer, who didn't hear Laura's words because the atmosphere in the class was quite noisy.
"Nothing," answered Laura lazily. She no longer had the spirit.
All the students in the class looked focused on the television, which was broadcasting live events from the royal palace. In fact, all television stations broadcast the same news. Luckily, their class didn't have lessons that morning because the lecturer was suddenly unable to attend.
Laura was initially reluctant to watch the live broadcast. However, she was very curious about who the lucky woman would be as a candidate for crown princess. King Rico starts to climb the podium. Laura's heartbeat accelerated, between being able to and not being able to know the fact that the man she loves will be owned by another woman.
"Good morning, all. Hopefully, you are all healthy and happy. This morning, I will hand down a royal decree directly regarding the selection of the candidate for crown princess." King Rico opened a folder.
The atmosphere in the classroom was very quiet. Even outside the classroom, it was quiet. There were no students hanging around. They all watched the live royal broadcast, as did the atmosphere in the lecturer's room. They were waiting for the announcement of the crown princess's selection. Laura subconsciously squeezed Jennifer's hand tightly because she was too tense.
King Rico took a deep breath before continuing his words. "With careful consideration, I, as king and father of the crown prince, chose her as the crown princess to accompany the crown prince through good times and bad. That woman is Laura Adalea, Yola Abrienda's biological daughter." At that moment, Laura's profile appeared on the screen.
"What?" shouted all the students in the class, who immediately looked at Laura.