Chapter 9 — Tie Closeness

It was already morning when Diana woke up and found herself covered with a blanket.

"The last I remember, I was waiting for Rain before I fell asleep. Then who..." she stopped, clicking her tongue in realization. "Of course. Who else would it have been? It was Ivan." She glanced at the handsome prince sleeping on the bed.

Chuckling softly, she got up to freshen up. It was not mandatory for the royal family to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner together. It only happened when the king wanted some family time. Normally, everyone's food was served in their respective rooms.

She was sitting on the couch, scrolling through her Instagram when she heard a knock on the door. Diana thought it was one of the servants bringing breakfast. She said, "Come in."

Expecting a trolley filled with food, disappointment flashed on her face when she saw Raiden walking in the room. Instantly, she jumped off the couch.

"Good morning, Ms. Stevens."

"Your Grace, what a pleasant surprise!" she said, trying to keep a smile on her face. "What brings you here?"

"I thought of checking how well you are settling in here." His eyes scanned the entire room, trying to find something suspicious. Thank God, Diana woke up and already placed her pillow and blanket on the bed.

"As you can see, I am very well settling in here. Thank you for your concern." She put a tight-lipped smile.

Raiden gazed at Ivan. "He is still sleeping."

"Indeed, he is."

"Was he tired because of some 'occurrence' last night? I mean, you know, usually, it's the woman who gets tired, but here, it seems as if he was the one who got tired."

She abstained herself from strangling him. He was checking if everything was fine between them. He sensed that they had nothing called love in their relationship. Diana didn't correct him.

"It does seem so. Anyways, Your Grace, when are you going back to Sussex?" she voiced out the question she was itching to ask. The sooner this annoying person leaves, the safer and happier I will stay, she thought.

"What a coincidence, Ms. Stevens! I am leaving tonight with Floresa. You asked this question at the right time." He put his hands in his pocket. "Imagine if I replied that I would be staying till your wedding."

I would faint, her subconscious spat. Let the duke and his pesky ass leave early.

"That's sad." A sarcastic tone laced her words. "I really wished you would stay until the wedding." Or not, Diana wished to add those words, but she didn't.

Raiden arched an eyebrow in amusement. He knew that she hated him. "Don't worry. We will attend all the parties at your wedding. Who in the world would miss the royal wedding of Prince Ivan and his bride, Ms. Stevens?"

She hid a frown. "Sure. Hope to see you soon."

With a smug smile, Raiden nodded and got out of the room. Diana stomped over to close the door, but a servant brought the breakfast on the trolley. "Your Royal Highness, Ms. Stainer will be here after an hour. Her Majesty said to inform you."

"Okay," she responded. The servant bowed and disappeared out of the room, so Diana decided to eat her food. But as soon as she took the spoon, an alarm made her jump in fear. She dropped the spoon at the sudden sound. When she checked where it was ringing from, she found out that it was Ivan's phone on the nightstand.

"This is really loud," she muttered under her breath.

She took the phone and stopped the alarm. It was loud enough to reach Rain's room, but Ivan still slept as if the alarm never rang.

She decided to let it pass until the alarm started ringing again. "Not again!" She marched towards it, spoon in one hand, aggressively turning off the ear-splitting sound. "There must be something important which is why he had set off the alarm," she mumbled. She turned it off again and started walking him up. "Your Royal Highness, please get up."

He didn't even move an inch. He was still asleep.

"Prince Ivan?" she said as sweetly as possible. He hummed in response. "Please wake up."

Ivan turned to the other side, making her huff in frustration. "Ivan Candelstone!"

He jumped out of the bed. "What happened? Are you okay? Is the palace on fire?"

Diana placed her hands on her hips, glaring at him. Obviously, he was not a light sleeper like her. "Why did you even set up an alarm if you won't wake up when it rings?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "Umm... when did the alarm ring?"

She rolled her eyes and threw the phone in his direction. "Turn that shit off forever. You can tell me when to wake you up and I will do it."

"Fine. I guess I don't need this now. I will turn it on after two months." He was confused as to why those words left his mouth. Staying with Diana brought up the side of him he always wanted to hide.

"I will teach Rain how to wake you up. You don't really wake up without someone yelling at you. Even yesterday, I had to wake you up." She started folding the blanket. "The Duke of Sussex came a few minutes ago. He told me after I asked that he was leaving. But actually, he came to check on us."

"Shit." Ivan was about to go to the washroom. "Did he find anything suspicious?"

"No. I covered it up."

"Thank you." He smiled at her proudly. "Oh, wait, we never thank each other."

Diana walked towards his direction. "Just because we're being pushed into something we aren't accepting doesn't mean everything will change between us. What are best friends for if they cannot support each other in times of need?"

As he was about to reply, Diana's phone chimed. It was Aiden calling her because Ivan saw the contact saved as Babe❤. He sulked while stepping inside the washroom.

He removed his tee, then turned on the shower. "Why was he calling her? What if he insults her? I swear if he does that, I will ban him from coming to Europe," he grumbled while letting the water droplets glide across his bare chest.

***

Meanwhile, Diana forgave Aiden when he apologized for his behavior. He had always been insecure, so it was expected from him. "It's okay, Aiden. You must trust me. Even Rain is here."

They continued to talk for a while, But Rain burst into the room. "I hate that stupid Prince Jasper! He gave me a tour of the palace at night while I was on my way to Ivan's room."

Diana said her goodbye to Aiden and cut the call, giving her attention to the sulking Rain. "Why would he do that? I fell asleep while waiting for you last night."

"I am so sorry, Diana. It took me forever to reach here. Jasper wasn't leaving my side even for a brief minute. I hate it!"

"I guess he's always like that," she said, trying to console Rain. "Anyways, I have training today. It's the training on adjusting to the royal family and how to be a queen. I will teach you whatever Ruyeli, my trainer, teaches me so please try to be here every night."

Rain hugged her. "Thank you so much for doing this for us! I will owe you forever."

Diana patted her back. "You are welcome. Please, don't thank me anymore. I hate it when my friends thank me."

"Diana, do you think this will be a fit for to—" Ivan became silent when his eyes fell on Rain and Diana sitting together. He was wearing a white suit. "Hi, Ms. Summers."

"Ivan, baby, why are you being so formal? No one is here." She tried to wrap her arms around him. Ivan tried to dodge Rain's hug but stopped after seeing Diana's glare. "I missed you."

He didn't respond. After their awkward hug, he asked, "Will this be nice for today's meeting?"

Diana was about to answer when Rain interrupted, "Of course! You look so handsome in this suit. You just need a tie. Wait, I will bring the perfect matching tie for you!"

Diana laughed at her eagerness. Simply, she started serving the breakfast the servant brought. "Eat this after Rain helps you with the tie," with that, she took her MacBook and started to write a blog. She was a fashion blogger on social media. Diana loved blogging, and since she was also paid for it, it became her favorite job.

But Ivan wanted Diana to help him, not Rain. However, his girlfriend came back from the closet with a white tie on her hand. "White ties with white suits are the perfect combination!" she squealed and started putting the tie on him.

He gaped at the tie Rain chose. "Wait, I really don't know how to put on a tie. Can you do that, Diana?"

Diana looked at the tie and scrunched her eyebrows in disgust. She couldn't believe Rain had such a horrible taste of fashion. She wouldn't have interrupted, but the situation was related to style. After all, it was the couple's problem.

"I can do that. However, Rain, don't you think that white tie looks weird with a white suit?" She tried to put some sense into Rain's brain.

The girl handed the tie to Diana and shrugged. "No, it seems perfect to me." She scampered towards the breakfast trolley and started eating pancakes.

Diana got up and pulled Ivan to the closet room with her. "This tie would look horrible with this suit." Her eyes were wide with horror. "I cannot believe this."

She started to look for another tie. Upon rummaging in the drawers, her eyes fell on a black-tie that she thought would look perfect on Ivan. She took it out and stepped towards Ivan, helping him put it on.

Ivan knew how to wear a tie, but he liked the closeness he was having with Diana as she helped him with the tiny garment. He didn't like it a bit when Rain was struggling to get close to him. He had never even kissed Rain. In college, when they started dating, they used to cuddle a few times, but that was it.

"A little piece of advice: whenever you're wearing a suit and you need to choose a tie, choose a black one. Black goes with any color unless you are wearing a tux. Also, never wear anything that's the same color shirt as the suit."

Ivan smiled. Diana's fragrance reached his senses. It was very addictive. While she continued ranting about fashion, he looked at her soft luscious lips.

How would it feel to kiss her? he thought, then instantly shoved that thought off his mind. Stop. What was I thinking?

"Do keep that in mind. I won't always be here, but I will be talking to you through video calls like always. So don't worry." She pulled once more and was finally done with her work. "There! You look perfect."

"Diana, Ruyeli is here! A maid came to inform you," Rain hollered from outside the closet.

Diana looked at Ivan. "Have breakfast and spend some time with Rain before going, okay?" she ordered, then walked out of the room.

***

Diana let out a deep breath that she had been holding in for a long time. Her breath had hitched when she stood close to Ivan. She was thankful that Rain called her at the perfect time.

As she was walking down the hallway, she saw a ginger-haired beautiful woman heading towards her direction.

"Hello, Ms. Stainer," Diana greeted properly.

Ruyeli shot her a big smile. "You must be Diana, the one I will be training. You can call me Ruyeli; I will be your personal assistant as well. Even after you become the queen, I am permanent."

"Okay, Ruyeli."

Ruyeli scanned her from head to toe. "Wow! You are so beautiful, a perfect definition of beauty. And wait, are those dimples?"

Diana smiled at her. "Yes."

"Adorable. No wonder Suzanne told me to not take care of your style. Your fashion style is already stunning."

They started wandering around the palace. Ruyeli continued, "At first when Suzanne told me to be your assistant, I asked her what I needed to do. She told me to train you in different things. Like proper etiquettes, ball dance, and then seducing Ivan. She also told me to teach you the basic rules."

"You'll be teaching me how to seduce Ivan? Mom ordered that?"

"Yes. She praised you a lot. I was so eager to meet you. Who wouldn't be, serving the next queen?" She talked animatedly as they walked around the grounds. "Are you a fashion blogger? You seem familiar. I think I follow you on Instagram." Ruyeli squinted at Diana. "Oh my God! You're THE Diana Stevens! I am a big fan of yours."

"Didn't Mom tell you my full name?" Diana was confused at the suddenly excited behavior of Ruyeli. Though she didn't know her, she expected Ruyeli to be strict. As it turned out, the queen's second cousin was of good and chirpy nature. Diana knew it would be hard for herself not to get attached to the people in the palace.

"No. She only told me your first name. Maybe the queen wanted it to be a surprise. Now I know why." She paused and turned to face her. "Speaking of blogging, aren't you getting lots of comments about marrying the prince? How are you coping with them as you have more than a million followers?"

Diana heaved a disappointed sigh. "I am getting plenty of them, but there wasn't a single hate comment." She thought that if she at least got hate from her followers, she could wreak havoc and make people hate her. But every comment seemed to be good, supporting ones, much to her dismay.

Besides, she never posted anything about her friends or Aiden, which was why no one knew about her personal life. She loved to keep everything standard and professional.

"I wonder what kind of magic you have," Ruyeli said as she wandered inside a room. Diana glanced at the room and gulped.

"Why are we entering Ivan's room? I just left his room to see you."

Ruyeli rolled her eyes. "Ivan's room is your room too. So, your first lesson is to learn to say 'our room.' Got it?" she said sternly and added, "Besides, where will I instruct you if not in your room? At these times, Ivan would be busy attending a meeting. Suzanne told me. Your room is totally empty."

Diana bit her lips. She left Ivan and Rain inside together. She had no clue if either of them left yet. What if they were making out?

Without another word, Ruyeli opened the door and stepped inside.

"What the hell?"