Be My Princess

On Saturday morning, Josephine and Francis came to stand before the entrance of the East Wing when the Chimangat stepped in and held up the scroll he was carrying.

"This is a royal decree;

"In the lights of the investigation conducted by the Royal Intelligence Services in collaboration with the police to uncover the cause of the physical confrontation between Prince Angel and Prince Francis made known to the public by the illegal upload of a video recording of the above-cited altercation, it has been discovered that the crown prince has been the target of a conspirator whose aim was to cause him to lose his place on the throne.

"Further investigation requested by the High Council has come to prove that the royal consort, Princess Josephine, and her son, Prince Francis, are the instigators behind the following incidents and all the commotions that have derived therefrom:

"The illegal release of pictures of Crown Prince Angel in the company of Miss Natacha Irung on the last day of his official trip to Kinshasa;

"The breach of the secrecy agreement on the presence of Changadim Kat Sama at the royal palace;

"The secret procurement of an invitation to Prince Francis 26th Birthday Celebration for Miss Natacha Irung;

"The illegal record and release of the video showing Miss Natacha Irung's suicidal threat;

"And the illegal record and release of a video showing an altercation between Prince Angel and Prince Francis.

"All actions perpetrated in view to discredit the image of the crown prince before the entire kingdom.

"For having conspired against the crown prince and, thus, against the Throne and, by that, jeopardised the stability of the uRuund kingdom; by the kingly ruling, the royal consort, Princess Josephine, is condemned to permanent exile and is stripped off her royal status…"

Josephine felt as if her head had emptied up and her limbs had lost all vigour and took support on her son so as not to collapse.

The Chimangat continued without emotion. "As of the moment of the reading of this decree, Mrs Josephine Nsamb will neither hold the title of Royal Consort nor will she ever again be referred to as a member of the royal family.

"For having conspired against the crown prince, the Throne and the kingdom in complicity with Mrs Josephine Nsamb, Prince Francis, son of late Crown Prince John, is also condemned to permanent exile.

"However, Prince Francis will not be entirely stripped off his princely status. As a carrier of royal blood, Prince Francis will keep his princely title, but he will no longer beneficiate of all the privileges that ensue from a princely status within or outside the uRuund kingdom. Prince Francis will be entitled to the royal abode located in the United States of America he and his mother have previously occupied.

"As at the moment of the reading of this decree, the ensuing take immediate effect:

"Prince Angel is reinstated to his position as the crown prince of Ruund, and Mrs Josephine Nsamb and Prince Francis are to be escorted out of the kingdom, and are to never set foot back on uRuund soil for the rest of their life.

"This royal ruling will be heralded publically and recorded in the Annals of Ruund Kingdom and of the royal family.

"This decree has been dictated and sealed by Mwant Yav Angel II, King of Ruund, at this date and time, and has been approved by the High Council of Ruund."

Josephine was on the verge of unconsciousness and being fanned by her son when the Chimangat bowed and exited the East Wing while as royal officers walked in and started to pack up their belongings and royal guards came to stand next to them in wait to escort them to the airport.

Angel, who had come along with the Chimangat, had stayed standing by the entrance door while the royal decree was being proclaimed.

The idea he had submitted to his father had been approved by the High Council. Hence, to avoid having to disclose the true cause of the fight between the two princes, at the time the royal secretary would hold a press conference to publicise the royal ruling, he would state that the video was a hoax.

Angel's idea was to make it look like the video was, in fact, the recording of a fake fight acted following the instructions of Lady Josephine in yet another attempt to sully the image of the crown prince. So, under the condition that the king should not be lenient towards Francis in his ruling, the members of the High Council had agreed to keep the truth covered – just that once – for the sake of preserving the image of the Throne.

Throughout the investigation, Angel had discovered that the hacker Josephine had used all along was also a specialist in special effects. So with his collaboration – and in exchange for a lighter penalty, it had been easy to mount up another video showing two actors being made up to look like the princes and prepped for the fight scene in an exact replica of the Forest Palace's living room as evidence to present to the public.

When Josephine and Francis' belongings had been packed, the royal guards proceeded to escort them out, but as they reached the entrance door, Angel signalled the guards to stop.

He looked at Francis. "You know… if you had come straight up to me and told me that you wanted the crown, I would have gladly stepped down in order to give it back to you because I always thought that you were better fit for the throne than I could ever be. But now that I've been able to see how low you are capable of stooping just so you can satisfy your selfish desires, I understand why God has put me on the throne instead of you."

Without waiting for a reply from his cousin, Angel signalled the royal guards to carry on with their task. As the guards led Josephine and Francis to the car parked in front of the Central Palace entrance, Peter approached the crown prince.

"Karl Tshisol has handed me this to give back to Your Highness." He explained as he handed Angel what appeared to be an A4 notepad. "It was found in Prince Francis' belongings during the investigation, but it appears to belong to the young maiden."

Angel opened the cover. On the first page was written very artistically 'My Visual Diary' and signed in Kat's name.

"Prince Francis refused to reveal how he came into possession of this item." The guard explained when Angel looked back at him with interrogative eyes. "However, after a thorough review of palace surveillance footage, we have discovered that Prince Francis had gone to the West Wing late on the night Your Highness had spent in the South Wing for of the maiden's birthday."

Angel slightly frowned. Francis had started to act strangely towards Kat the very following day. He looked back at the drawing pad. Could it have been because of the content of the diary? What information was Francis so eager to get that he even risked sneaking into the West Wing so as to acquire Kat's personal diary?

Those two questions led the crown prince to leaf through the pad, and, three drawings later, he finally understood why Francis had been so adamant in his assertion that Kat had fallen for him. Peter's keen observing eyes spotted a faint smile tracing on the crown prince's lips as he leafed further.

The majority of the drawings was about him, and they were all titled according to the circumstances surrounding the captured moment.

'First Encounter' was a drawing of Angel standing in front of the Sama property; 'I Was Moved…' showed Angel playing the piano; 'Symbiosis' was a drawing of Angel riding Tornado…

There was again a drawing of Angel in which the serene expression in his eyes was very much in the foreground titled 'His Favourite Place'.

"The waterfall…"

Angel was really impressed by each drawing he was discovering. Kat did not have her drawing kit with her on all those occasions. How then had she managed to capture all of them on paper?

"She must have a very good visual memory…" He concluded.

On the following drawing, Angel's eyebrows creased. The drawing was titled '…'; so, Angel had to rummage through his brain in order to finally make out the scene depicted. It was a drawing of him sleeping… But definitely not from the night he had rescued her. From the angle it was captured…

Angel's face suddenly lit up. "So she was not asleep on that morning…" He thought with a smile.

A few drawings after, Angel stumbled on a page where Kat had drawn his face as if leaning and written 'Stolen Kiss… (I'm doomed!)'.

~ If I were to fall for you, then I'd be doomed. ~

The reply Kat had given him at the Forest palace when he had asked her what would happen if she fell in love with him immediately came back to his mind… Was the inscription in brackets in reference to that statement?

In the drawing, she had even succeeded at faithfully depicting the intent in his eyes when he had leant to capture her lips into a forceful kiss. Angel was somewhat taken aback. The anger and indignation he had read in Kat's eyes after she had pushed him away would have never led him to think that it was at that moment that she had come to the realisation of her feelings for him.

As he pondered over the matter, Angel was suddenly brought back to the answer he had received to his second question in the chapel. When he wanted to know whether he should seek for a way to hold onto the maiden or just let her go… When he thought the maiden had developed feelings for his cousin…

As he had repeatedly muttered that double question, another had raised in his spirit in response: "Are you 100% sure that she loves Francis?"

The fact that he could not answer that question with absolute certitude had turned out to be the answer he needed. Knowing with certitude whether Kat was in love with Francis or not was determinant in his decision either to hold onto the woman he had fallen in love with or to let her go to his cousin.

Looking at the drawing pad in his hands, Angel realised that he was receiving an answer to that third question…

…

Later that day, Angel was knocking at Kat's bedroom door. She opened the door and hesitantly made way for him to come in. Her hesitation was coming from the fact that, right after the hearing in the Throne Room, Angel had immediately dived into the RIS investigation so much so that they had gotten very little opportunities to even interact over a meal; making that the first time they would have an actual conversation since she had gone to see him in his bedroom on Sunday afternoon.

Angel walked straight up to the balcony and Kat followed suit; he took place on one of the chairs set there and Kat sat opposite him.

"Are they gone?" Kat asked.

The king had called for everyone in the private office to inform them of his ruling right before the Chimangat was sent to the East Wing.

Angel nodded. "Their flight has just taken off."

"So what exactly awaits them if they ever dare to come back to Ruund?"

"Imprisonment. But that's rather unlikely because they will always be under the same kind of surveillance I was when I was studying in London."

Kat raised her eyebrows. "You knew you were under surveillance?"

Angel faintly smiled. "I am the crown prince of Ruund…" He started. "Seeing how the Forest Palace is guarded while it's within the Royal Estate, how could they let me leave the kingdom without protection?

"University studies in a foreign country are, in a way, an opportunity for uRuund young royals to have a once in a lifetime 'out-of-the-palace' experience, but they cannot be left completely without protection. Though I never saw them, I knew that royal guards were always out there watching."

Kat nodded pensively. If Angel knew that there were guards watching over him, then he must have known that they were reporting all his movements to the king. Could he have purposely had an engagement ring made in a way of telling his father that he was serious about Natacha Irung?

The king had also announced that he would be granting Adolph Irung and his daughter the Royal Exoneration since they had made amend through their public announcement and by giving their full cooperation during the investigation. Was it a step towards accepting his son's feelings?

While Kat was still caught up in her cogitation, Angel placed something on the table and pushed it towards her.

"It was found in Prince Francis' bedroom," Angel explained to answer the question in her eyes. "It appears that he snuck into your bedroom on the night we spent in the South Wing for your birthday."

"He had noticed it one day when I did a sketch of him. I guess the fact that I refused to let him browse through it must have piqued his curiosity…" Kat said almost to herself.

"Didn't you notice that it was gone?" Angel inquired.

"With everything that has happened since my birthday, I didn't even think about my visual diary. I never draw on a restless mind."

Kat scanned Angel's face. Did he look at the content?

"Possibly…" she thought.

"I now understand why he was so adamant in his conviction that I have fallen for you…" Kat added, still scanning the crown prince's face.

Angel kept silently looking at her, not even a bit surprised by her statement.

"Definitely!" She concluded.

"So… tomorrow is D-Day." Angel finally let out.

"Yes… These three months have passed so fast…"

Kat then chuckled.

"What is it?" Angel inquired.

"It just that, at the time I moved into the palace, I imagined numerous outcomes to the Courtship Program… But none of them was even remotely resembling this one."

More than talking about what had happened with Prince Francis, Kat was referring to her falling in love with Angel. Thinking back at their first encounter, then their clash on her first night at the palace, she had always thought her options were either falling for Francis or going back home.

Normally, the appearance of Natacha Irung should have reinforced that conviction. But instead, it had ended up helping bring forth the feelings that she did not realise she already had for the crown prince at the time.

"I was really hoping that I would leave the palace without being found out." She added pensively before she left her chair and went to lean on the bannister.

As she looked at the beautiful landscape spreading before her eyes, she felt a heaviness gradually pressing on her heart. When Angel also left his seat and came to stand next to her, Kat looked at him. "Don't worry. I'm not about to go back on our agreement," she said when she noticed that he was looking at her with questioning eyes. "I hope Mwant Yav will be more inclined to accept the woman you love once I'll be out of the picture." She added as she looked back at the landscape.

Angel slightly frowned. Was he somehow projecting that he was still in love with Natacha?

"Changadim Kat…"

"Gosh! I'm going to miss this view…"

At the slightly chocked tone, Angel tried to look closer at the young woman's profile. But Kat quickly looked away.

"Excuse me for a minute." She let out as she motioned to go back in the bedroom.

No matter how hard she tried, Kat was utterly failing at holding back her tears; and since she did not want to let Angel see her like that, she wanted to take refuge in her bathroom until she would be able to regain her countenance. But the crown prince was quicker to grab her by the wrist and pulled her into a back-hug.

At the shock, Kat froze.

"Please, Kat… don't go…" Angel let out next to her ear.

"…"

Kat's lips had parted, but no sound was coming out because her mind was still racing in an attempt to understand the meaning of Angel's plea. At first, Kat wondered if she had heard right. And when her brain finally reported that the information registered was not erroneous, she started to wonder whether Angel was referring to her not leaving the balcony… or the palace…

Her heart was already set on the latter, but her mind was too afraid to even dare to hope it could be the case.

Angel slowly loosened his hold and turned her around to face him. With an awkward but endeared smile, he cupped Kat's face in his hands and wiped the tears that had finally rolled down her cheeks with his thumbs.

Kat slowly lifted her eyes to meet Angel's gaze and, this time, she read something in them… something that made her heart leap in her chest.

"Crown Prince Angel…"

Angel chuckled bashfully as he released her face and reached down to take her hands. For the first time, Kat was feeling that the crown prince had finally brought down the shield that always kept her from seeing through him.

"From the moment I became heir to the throne of Ruund, I have been trained to never show my emotions…" Angel started. "It is a prized quality for a king to be able to always present a strong front no matter the situation so the people can rely on his ability to make decisions that are not biased by his feelings. This is why the crown prince, more than any other young royal, is required to excel at that. But it can have the counter-effect of making it difficult for us to express our feelings in private…"

Kat was still not able to utter a single word. The scene playing before her was like a dream bubble slowly shaping itself into reality as Angel spoke; a bubble that she was afraid to burst if she dared to make a sound.

So it was in a bit of a daze that Kat read on Angel's lips more than she actually heard him say: "I love you, Changadim Kat."

Then Angel, still holding her hands, slowly went down on one bent knee. "It might be very difficult for me to tell you this as much as I should, but I will always find a way to show that to you…

"Changadim Kat Sama, will you be my princess?"