Torn Between Twin Brothers

Everyone except for Arria was tired after playing all day, so the children's table was eerily quiet when it was time for dinner. With Arria's arrival, they had to sit on a round table instead of a rectangular one because of their increased number. Therefore, the seating arrangement was a mess.

Jeffrey and Akira had no problem as long as they were sitting next to each other. However, Pearl, Ava, and Arria were unable to decide where to sit. James and Ashton were both waiting for Ava to sit down and planning on sitting on both sides of her.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out the way they wanted. Ava sat down next to Jeffrey. Therefore, only one of them could sit next to her. When both James and Ashton moved to grab the chair next to Ava, everyone stared at them. Everyone,  including their parents who was seated at the other table.

Pearl was unsure what to do next. She and Arria were only waiting for the twins to decide who would have the chair. But, instead, they were both just standing next to it and staring at each other without saying a word.

When neither gave way, Tanaga chose to intervene. He quickly got up and went towards the twins. He tapped James on the shoulder, "Son, let Ashton sit there." Then, he whispered so that the other children wouldn't hear what he just said.

There was nothing James could do but to follow his father. Sadly, he let go of the chair, moved towards Akira, and sat on the vacant chair next to her. Ashton sat down, and Pearl quickly took the empty chair next to him. Leaving Arria standing with a confused face while scratching her head, wondering as to what just happened.

Given that it was a round table and that everyone had taken their seats ahead of her, she had no choice but to sit between Pearl and James, who she had nicknamed in her head as 'Mr. Stone Cold Face'. She had wanted to sit next to her siblings, but now she had no choice, so she just plopped down on the last remaining seat. 

===

The dinner was awkward and quiet. Only the occasional conversation from Jeffrey and Akira could be heard. Ava played with her food mostly while sitting quietly, staring at the food on her plate. She couldn't wait for the dinner to be over so she could go back to her room and mope.

The parents at the other table were thoroughly enjoying their dinner while conversing with each other. The men talked about business while the women spoke about everything else. 

Ava just about had enough and was about to get up and excuse herself when...

"I knew I wasn't mistaken. Hello, everyone!" Greeted Prince Edmund, who was standing right behind Ava's chair.

Ava, who was startled for a moment before she turned to look up. "Oh, hello, your highness! What brings you here?" She asked with a smile, but the sadness in her eyes was visible.

Everyone on the table greeted Prince Edmund back, except for Arria, who had no idea who he was. Then they all went back to eating, acting as if they didn't see anyone standing there. 

The parents on the other table all turned around to see who approached the children's table. The mothers and Daniel knew who he was, but not Tanaga and Jeff. Therefore, curiosity got to them.

"Who is that young man?" Tanaga asked no one in particular while his eyes were on the other table.

"Yes, who is he? Why is he standing right behind Ava's chair?" Added Jeff with his brows knitted while trying to get a clear view of the young man.

Ann leaned over to Jeff's ear, "His name is Prince Edmund. He is one of the seniors at the Royal Academy. We met him before when we came here to drop off the children." Ann managed to reply.

"Hmmm, I hope that situation is not what it looks like from here." He then turned his attention to Tanaga. "Right, my friend?" Jeff asked with a mischievous grin plastered on his lips.

===

Ava sensed a cold reception for Prince Edmund, and she felt that it wasn't right to ignore him. So she decided to introduce him to her father, who had never met him. She slowly pushed her chair and got up. Once up, she ushered Prince Edmund towards the parents' table.

Standing right behind Jeff's chair, she introduced him to everyone.

"Prince Edmund, I would like you to meet my father, Chairman Jeff Go. Father, this is  his highness Prince Edmund, a fellow student at the Royal Academy." She humbly said before stepping back a little to give space to Prince Edmund.

Prince Edmund politely extended his hand for a handshake. "Good evening, sir! It's a pleasure to meet you!" His face was proud while standing straight, waiting for Jeff to accept his hand.

Jeff stood up and accepted the young prince's hand. He then introduced Tanaga.

"A pleasure to meet you, your highness; this is my good friend Chairman Tanaga Jones, husband of the beautiful woman sitting next to him." He was pointing at Ashley, who was grinning from ear to ear because of how the two men were acting.

Tanaga also stood up and extended his arm to Prince Edmund's hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you, young man! I mean your highness, Prince Edmund." He corrected himself right away.

After greeting everyone else at the parent's table, Prince Edmund excused himself to return to their table when a voice from afar was heard. Everyone turned their attention to where the voice was coming from.

The voice was coming from Lady Crystal, who was walking towards them. Next to her were Crown Prince Philips and another young girl. It was the girl that Arria bumped into earlier on the way to the beach. The young girl was Princess Rose; she was only 11 years of age and was the younger sister of Crown Prince Philip and Prince Edmund.

Prince Edmund finished introducing himself to the parents before turning towards the children's table, where everyone was eating silently.

Lady Crystal's eyes were bulging out of their sockets when she saw Ashton. It was not because she recognized him as the lead singer of EXODUS but as James's twin. 

"Wow! Who do we have here?" She commented while staring rudely at Ashton.

She then walked around and turned her attention to James, who had earbuds on both sides of his ears and was not paying attention at all.

"James, why didn't you tell us that you had a twin brother?" She asked curiously while standing right behind his chair.

James slowly took one of the earbuds in his left ear before speaking without looking at lady Crystal.

"Because it was none of your business," James said loudly and coldly. He then pushed back his chair, excused himself then left without a care in the world.

Crown Prince Philip didn't like the way James spoke towards his fiancee. Although he had no feelings for her, she was still his fiancee, and insulting her was the same as insulting him.. However, they were the intruders, so he decided to keep his mouth shut and watched from the sidelines.