Chapter 20 — Priority Given

"Together, along with the blessings of His and Her Majesty, King Devin Candelstone and Queen Suzanne Candelstone, Prince Ivan Candelstone, the First Prince, and the future King of England, is going to marry the love of his life, the Royally Chosen—what is this, Diana? Why isn't your name here?" Suzanne questioned, giving her future daughter-in-law a stern look.

Diana didn't expect the queen to find out that quickly, so she was kind of unprepared. She had texted the contents of the wedding cards directly to the card designer, as told by Ruyeli. She wondered how Suzanne got the text. Maybe the queen had asked the card designer to forward Diana's text to Suzanne.

If someone else had been confronted, that person wouldn't have been able to cover up Diana's actions. But since it was Diana, she could handle anything. She said, "Don't you think 'Ivan weds Diana' sounds too plain and boring? Since it's a royal wedding, shouldn't there be something unique—something that stands out?"

Suzanne arched an eyebrow in suspicion.

Diana smiled and continued, "Plus, it will grab people's interest in finding out who the future queen is, thus more people will be supportive of the wedding. It would benefit the royal family, wouldn't it?"

Suzanne thought for a minute and nodded.

Diana smiled widely and said, "Thank you for understanding, Mom." Diana wanted to go for a hug, but she felt cramps overtaking her lower abdomen. "I'll take my leave now, Mom. See you later."

After Diana left, Ruyeli came out of the shadows and stood beside Suzanne. "Ruyeli, I want you to keep a close eye on Diana, Ivan, Jasper, and especially Rain Summers. They are up to something," she commanded.

Ruyeli bowed her head and said, "As you wish, Your Majesty."

Meanwhile, Diana was walking through the hallways, on her way back to her bedroom, when her abdominal cramps increased. She rushed to the washroom, ignoring Ivan on the way.

"Did she just ignore me like I wasn't even here?" Ivan pondered out loud, trying to think of what he did wrong while looking through the files on his hand.

After a few minutes, Diana came out of the washroom and sat on the bed. She clutched her favorite emoticon pillow close to her stomach and hugged it tightly, resting her chin on it while curling up into a ball.

Ivan raised an eyebrow at her. Diana scowled at him. He immediately understood what was wrong with her. It was that time of the month for her.

Whenever that time came, Diana would become very moody and cranky. She also mentioned to him when they used to chat that she used her emoticon pillow to place it over her stomach when she had cramps. Usually, Diana argued with him all the time during those periods. Anything—everything made her annoyed.

Ivan placed his file on the table and went out.

"Look at him. Leaving me alone in such a miserable state. Does he have no sympathy for me? Why did I even fall for him? He's clearly a jerk," Diana murmured to herself.

Few minutes passed by, and still, there was no sign of Ivan. Diana had hopes that he would come back to take care of her, but he didn't. She grumbled, "Cruel. Rain can have him for all I care. A guy who doesn't understand a woman's pain can rot in he—" her words stopped midway when she saw Ivan entering the room with a hot pack and a bag filled with junk food in hand.

He placed the bag on the bedside table and asked, "How are you feeling right now?"

"Miserable." Although she replied in a cranky tone, she was ecstatic inside. She was slightly touched. I thought only fictional characters did something like this. Diana couldn't help but grin.

Ivan chuckled and helped her lie down on the bed. He placed the emoticon pillow aside and pulled the blanket up to her lower abdomen. He hesitated for a second before pulling up Diana's top a little bit to adjust. He would be lying if he said that he didn't feel tempted to touch her bare skin.

Shrugging off the dirty thoughts, he placed the hot bag on her abdomen. "Now close your eyes and relax for a bit. I'll bring medicine for you."

Diana nodded and made herself comfortable.

Ivan brought medicine for her cramps from his personal drug store. When he was pouring water in the glass, Diana whined, "I don't want any medicines."

"Then would you rather live with the pain?" Ivan retorted.

She pouted and took the medicine, nonetheless. "I want to eat cake," she muttered.

Ivan sighed. "What flavor?"

She grinned, making her dimples pop out. "Chocolate," she replied happily. He was about to use the intercom before Diana spoke up, "I want you to make it."

"I've never cooked before." He gave her a blank look and ordered her cake. Then he said, "If you want a burned-up cake, fine by me."

"No, thanks."

Ivan found moody Diana unusually cute. The usual Diana was stoic and perfect, but this Diana was childish. Therefore, he would love to spoil her. "Do you want anything else?"

Diana wanted him to stroke her head but didn't voice it out. Although she was cranky, she couldn't have Ivan taking care of her.

"You should get ready," she advised, pulling the blanket up to her neck.

"Why?" Ivan arched an eyebrow.

"Flower selection," she reminded him. Diana, Ivan, and Rain were supposed to select flowers for the wedding.

Rain can go alone. Ivan shrugged off that thought as soon as it came to his mind. He couldn't be that cruel as to let Rain go alone, not to mention she would choose the worst flower out of all.

Ivan took out his cell phone and called Jasper. He let out, "Hello, Jasper. I can't accompany Rain to select flowers today. That's why I want you to go with her."

The more I try to distance myself from Ivan, the closer he gets. Why can't anything go according to my plan? Diana cried out inside her mind.

"Why?" Jasper was lazily reading a book in the study. Now that his brother assigned him a job, he was irritated.

"Diana is not feeling well."

"What happened to her?" he asked with concern, feeling rejuvenated suddenly.

"Nothing really. You know... girls' problem." Ivan scratched the back of his neck.

He said sternly, "Pass the phone to Diana."

Ivan felt suspicious since the two of them were never that close. Even though Diana did mention that in his two weeks' absence, she got close to Jasper.

Ivan reluctantly handed his phone to Diana, who was sulking. She placed the phone on her ear and said with annoyance, "What?"

Jasper chuckled, listening to her croaked voice. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Just don't let Rain choose the flowers all by herself, otherwise the guests will want to return home the moment they enter," she almost pleaded.

Jasper laughed. "Aye-aye, Captain."

Diana returned the phone back to Ivan.

"Hey, while coming back bring a small bouquet of white roses," Ivan whispered to Jasper, making sure Diana wouldn't hear. White roses were Diana's favorite flowers, after all.

"For whom?" Jasper teased. He thought it was for Rain.

"None of your business." Ivan hung up on him and frowned. Just then a pillow hit his head from the back. "Oww!" He looked down at the floor to find the emoticon pillow hit him.

"You idiot! How could you send Jasper as your stand-in?" Diana rebuked.

"Why? What's wrong with that?" Frowning, he picked up the pillow.

"It's your and Rain's wedding flower selection. You shouldn't be loitering around with me at these times," she grumbled.

"You come first, Diana." Her heart melted at his firm words, yet she maintained her angry posture.

"Whatever. Pass me the bag," she commanded.

Ivan chuckled and gave her the bag filled with junk food. He put anything he found in the refrigerator into the bag, such as potato chips, chocolates, candies, and orange juice.

Diana started digging in, whilst Ivan sat beside her and watched her eat in a messy manner. She was craving chocolate cake the most, so when it arrived, she gobbled it up, amusing Ivan.

After that, he threw everything in the trash and let her freshen up. Eventually, she fell asleep like a baby.

If I had gone to the flower selection, I surely wouldn't have enjoyed this day as much I have with Diana, Ivan thought to himself, stifling a laugh. He continued admiring her, and somehow, he also fell asleep beside her.

Ivan's peaceful slumber was disturbed by a knock on his door. He woke up and looked outside the window to find it was already dark. He stretched out his hands and yawned. His eyes fell on Diana's sleeping figure, and a smile automatically evolved on his lips as he removed a strand of hair from her face.

There was another knock on the door. Ivan frowned and went to open the door to find Rain and Jasper standing outside with different kinds of flowers in hand.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ivan inquired. He was glad for closing the door before falling asleep, otherwise, Rain surely would have choked him and Diana to death.

"We came to show you the flowers we selected," Rain chirped and invited herself in. Diana was already wide awake from the commotion. She was sitting up on the bed while hugging her emoticon pillow. "Diana, how are you feeling?" Although Rain was disheartened that Ivan didn't show up, she decided to not to let it get to her.

"Fine. Thanks for asking." Diana flashed her a smile.

"Oh, Ivan. I brought you the flowers you wanted," said Jasper as he handed the small bouquet of white roses to Ivan. Ivan wanted the earth to swallow him at that moment.

Why did he have to give him them in front of Rain and Diana? Ivan wanted to shoot Jasper in the head.

"Aww. Is this for me, baby? How sweet of you!" Rain was triumphant, even though Ivan didn't accompany her, he made sure to buy her a bouquet. Feeling bad, Diana's heart sank.

"No, uh. It's not for you, Rain," Ivan reluctantly said.

The grin on Rain's face dropped as she questioned in a serious tone, "Then who is it for?"