Chapter 1

As the carriage had gone through the gates Isabella knew that this would be her new home. “I don’t know they my father want this marriage; I understand that we need King Edward’s help for our Kingdom but through marriage, there’s got be a different reason he agreed to this.” Isabella sighs as the carriage had stopped at the front door of the massive but most elegant palace she had seen. Looking out of the window of the carriage she sees someone standing there as she looks. She sees a tall muscular gentleman in what looks like royalty attire, like a prince out of a fairytale book she had read. With blonde golden hair that you could swear it was gold, even with the slightly tan skin made his hair shine even more brightly. Standing there with his arms crossed with piercing gaze, she mumbles to herself. “That must be Prince Lucien, I thought he was still on his expedition.” Lucien sees the carriage arrive in front of the palace doors, “I don’t know why my father wants me to greet the Princess, she’s probably just another one of the Princesses who only want my looks and body.” Lucien, standing there with his arms crossed, did not want to be there, he saw the carriage stopped. Isabella nervously fixes her hair and dress before stepping out of the carriage, as the coachmen open the carriage door Isabella steps out carefully but elegantly. Lucien watching her stepping out, seeing a petite young lady wearing a dark navy blue ballgown, silver lace making her look like she had come down from the night sky. With porcelain skin and dark raven hair that looked like the night sky, her dress compliments her so well that even the guards could not stop looking at Isabella. As he watches her coming out, he feels his heart skip a beat as if he knew her somewhere. “But this was the first time they had met,” he thought to himself. Not realizing that Isabella had started to come up towards the stairs of the castle. Isabella, seeing Lucien for the first time, feels like she knew him, but cannot figure out were. In soft but shaky tone “H-hello Prince Lucien, I heard that you just got back from your expedition. I am happy to see that you are not hurt anywhere.” putting of her brightest smile she can put on. Lucien looking at Isabella with stern look that could pierce through her. In husky tone, “Happy to see me, are you?” looking at her wondering what scheming she is Thinking. “Yes, your highness, I am happy to see you are ok. I understand that you are not happy to see me, for neither of us want this marriage. But King Edward had made it clear for us to be married.” Isabella can feel Lucien’s rage hearing about the marriage, and how she was concerned about his health. He scoffs at her words, his eyes rolling slightly. He steps closer to Isabella, his voice lowering so only she can hear. “Do not act like you care about me being okay. We both know this marriage is nothing but a business arrangement for our families.” Isabella sees that he does not care about her, not one bit and could carelessly care for him. In her stern but elegant tone “I understand that but does not mean we have to lovey-dovey to each other, it is only for show for the Kingdom. But it does not mean we need to be enemies either.” Leaving Lucien standing there with a shocked look, confused because he never had a Princess talk to like that. He watches her leaving him in front of the palace door, “What just happened?” He thought to himself, still trying to understand who Isabella really is. Lucien follows behind Isabella, his footsteps echoing in the corridors. As both enter the grand hall, he grabs Isabella’s arm gently but firmly. His voice is low and serious. “Let get one thing straight, Princess. I have no intention of pretending to like you or being your friend.” Isabella, hearing what he had to say she looked at him with a serious face. “Then we both can agree, so things won’t be weird for us.” Yanking her arm away and started to walk towards the King and Queen. He watches her walk away, his expression thoughtful. He finds her attitude refreshing. He drops his arms down and relaxes his shoulders slightly. “This will be fun, let’s see how long she will last.” He mumbles under his breath. King Edward watching how both Lucien and Isabella had acted towards each other. He smiles and nudges at Queen Isolde who also watches what happened. “She’s different,” King Edward said in a joyful voice. The Queen nods in agreement smiling softly. “She’s not afraid of him.” Looking at both Lucien and Isabella, Queen Isolde in soft gaze seeing that their marriage will bloom. Isabella with a soft smile curtsy and greets them both. “Your majesties I hope you are having a wonderful day; may the gods bless you and the Kingdom of Estia.” She slowly rises, looking at the King and Queen with such a beautiful smile. King Edward chuckles warmly. “Princess Isabella, always so polite.” He glances at Lucien standing behind Isabella, his expression softening. Queen Isolde adds, “We’re glad you could attend Prince Lucien homecoming ball; it must be fate to bring both of you today.” Lucien remains silent, observing the interaction with a hint of surprise in his eyes because he did not even know about the ceremony. Isabella with her smile still on her face, “Of course, thank you for granting me to join the ceremony, may I ask when we will have the ceremony?” She patiently waits for the queen to speak, “We will have the ceremony in a week, so prince Lucien has time to rest.” Queen Isolde smiled at Isabella. Isabella nodded and started to move to side for Lucien could move in front of her, she felt her foot getting caught in her dress. She could not stop herself from falling, she falls forwards to the ground closing her eyes waiting to hit the floor. But she felt strong arm wrap across her waist, she found herself pressed against a hard chest. Realizing it was Lucien who caught her, the room fell silent, all eyes on Prince Lucien holing Princess Isabella. King Edward’s eyebrow arches impressed how he had caught her. “Lucien?” Isabella slowly opened her eyes looking up to see Lucien’s deep blue ocean eyes looking back at her raven purple hue eyes. She blushes and pushes away gently, as she fixes her dress. “Thank you Prince Lucien, for stopping my fall.” She looks over at the King and Queen as she pardons herself, she starts to walk out of the grand hall feeling embarrassed. Lucien watches her leave, his heart pounding in his chest. He did not expect to catch her, the feeling of small frame in his arms was unsettling. He notices the King and Queen exchanging amused glances. The King calls out, “Prince Lucien, a moment please.” Isabella, trying to find a place to calm down and fix herself, she come across a beautiful garden. She looks around and finds a big oak tree with a bench underneath. She sits down to catch her breath and collect her thoughts. “I can’t stop my heart from beating so loudly.” Still in disbelief she cannot believe that Lucien had stopped her from falling. She mumbles under breath. “I thought he didn’t want this marriage he made it clear that he didn’t want nothing to do with me.” Lost in her thoughts, meanwhile back in the grand hall. Lucien approaches his father; the King’s expression is serious but there is a hint of warmth in his eyes. “You caught Princess Isabella,” he remarks, “Not out of obligation, but out of instinct. Tell me son, did you notice anything about her?” Lucien looking at King Edward confused, “what do you mean father, all I see is another princess who just wants a handsome face and muscular body.” The King looked at him in disbelief, shaking his head. “Never mind, you’ll figure this out on your own.” Waving Lucien to go, “You might want to find her my son, you never know she might be the one you been looking for.” He chuckles as he watches Lucien walking towards the door. Back in the garden Isabella calms down and reassures herself that it was pure accident. She got up and started to walk back to the grand hall to apologize for her indecision, but she knows that they understand it happens. As she gets to the door she can hear talking, Isabella holding her breath. She can hear Queen Isolde voice softly. “She has not liked the other princesses he met. No fake laughs, no exaggerated curtsies….” King Edward chimes in, “And did you see how she blushed when Lucien caught her? Genuine. Not and act.” Isabella frozen were she stood, “They saw me, I don’t think I go in know.” Her face turning red from embarrassment shaking her head, “No, I can’t be like this I’m a princess, I need to be elegant.” Thinking to herself. The King and Queen continue their conversation, unaware that she is still listening outside the door. Queen Isolde in her elegant voice, “This arranged marriage is not so bad after all. Lucien needs someone real, not a gold-digging princess.” King Edward laughs softly, “Let’s hope our son realizes that too.” Isabella finally calms down, she slowly starts to walk away but then felt someone grabbing her hand. She was spun around, coming face to face with no other land Lucien himself. His eyes sparkle with amusement as he notices your slightly red face. “Eavesdropping, Princess?” His voice is gentle, lacking the usual coldness. She realizes he must have overheard the King and queen talking about him. “Ah I didn’t mean to; I wanted to apologize for my miss up.” She looked away from him, for she did not want him to keep staring at her slightly red face. She mumbles, “You probably wanted to see me fall, but instead me falling you caught me.” Still looking away, trying not to look at Lucien because she is already embarrassed by the fact he found her outside of the grand hall, where the King and queen are talking about them. Lucien titles her chin up gently, forcing her to look into his deep blue eyes. His expression softens. “You didn’t mess anything up,” he pauses “And I didn’t catch you because I wanted to see you fall.” His thumb brushes her red cheek softly, “I caught you because….” Lucien stops letting Isabella think what I might say. Isabella hearing his words, makes her heart beating faster, “Because what?” looking into his deep blue ocean eyes waiting for his response. Trying not to blush even more because she feels like his is pulling a trick on her, just to make her squirm. Lucien can feel his heart racing unexpectedly at her hopeful gaze. He leans closer, his face inches from hers. “Because I didn’t want you to get hurt.” His words are sincere, genuine emotions flickering in his usually deep blue eyes. “Even if this marriage was arranged…” he whispers, Isabella cuts him off in her soft voice “You would still catch me if we weren’t?” As they are in the corridors near the garden, they can feel the breeze blowing through. Blowing Isabella hair making it look like a river in the breeze and scent of roses. She feels like she is in a dream, one where she had been here before. Lucien’s gaze drifts to her flowing hair, the rose scent filling his nostrils. He catches a few stands, letting them slip through his finders like silk. “Even if I did or didn’t want this marriage,” he admits softly, “I would still catch you.” Isabella hearing Lucien’s words she could not help but blush, “Does this mean we come to terms of this marriage?” Looking at Lucien in her soft tone “I don’t want to be on bad terms or have mix emotions on where we stand.” Lucien smiles in his deep husky voice, “Yes I think we can agree we come to terms.” He paused “As you are my bride-to-be.” He smiles looking at Isabella’s beautiful rave purple hue eyes. Isabella was surprised to hear that he sees her as his bride. In a joyful tone, “And as you are my husband-to-be. Lucien’s heart skipped a beat hearing her husband call him her husband; he smiles at her holding her hand. He brings it up to his lips kissing her knuckles, Isabella blushes from his gestor, she gently pushes him away. Lucien watches her pushing him away, his eyes softening. He realizes that they are both slowly starting to accept this arranged marriage. His mother’s words echo in his head – “she’s not like the other’s.” He smirks from the thought he mumbles in a whisper, “Mother was right she is not like the others. Lucien watching Isabella looking over to the garden, Isabella looking back at him “I’ll take my leave for I know you must be tired from your expedition, I hope you enjoy your evening, Prince Lucien.” Isabella curtsey to Lucien, she turns away and walks down the hall to the garden.