Chapter 5 Bomb Drop 'Live Together'

Chapter 5: Bomb Drop 'Live Together'

The beautiful fragrance engulfed her as she entered the palace. The guards bowed, but she didn't seem to notice it. After all, her eyes were glued to the glowing white palace.

"I cannot believe my daughter will live here." As soon as these words left Merida's mouth, Diana stopped gawking at the palace and rolled her eyes. One of the servants took them to the living room.

The king, the queen, Ivan, and three other people were there. A handsome boy who looked a few years younger than Ivan headed towards Diana. His bright skin tone and green eyes showed that he was the younger brother of Ivan.

"Welcome, Ms. Diana. I am Jasper Candelstone," he greeted her and shook her hand. Even though he was trying his best to act politely, he had to let his nature out. "How can you even like my brother? Who approached first in your relationship?"

The queen glared at him. "Jasper."

He gave a cute smile. "Come and sit, please."

Diana and Merida sat on a comfortable sofa. Ivan was about to sit next to Jasper, but his brother betrayed him and pushed him towards Diana.

"Who are those two?" Diana quietly asked Ivan, indicating towards another couple who were in their mid-thirties. The blond woman was smiling warmly at them while the man with the black hair next to her kept a straight face. Diana could sense that he was silently judging her, emitting a serious aura.

"They are my Uncle Raiden and Aunt Floresa, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex."

She nodded and gave them a smile, showing her dimples. The uncle looked unconvinced, while the aunt kindly smiled back.

Diana had a feeling that the uncle was nothing but trouble.

"So, today, we called you here to fix the wedding date and meet our other family members," Suzanne spoke, looking at Diana, "You have met Jasper already. This is Floresa, Devin's sister, and this is Raiden."

"Nice to meet you," Diana said politely.

"You are more beautiful in person!" Floresa said in excitement. "You both look so hot sitting together. Oh my gosh! This is totally couple goals!"

Diana didn't speak further. Ivan leaned and murmured, "Floresa has a crack on her head. She was always like that."

"I really cannot judge your family by their looks," she retorted.

"How did you both meet?" Raiden asked curiously. But when Ivan was about to answer, Raiden cut him off, "I want to hear it from our to-be queen."

She knew it. Diana smelled disaster upon seeing the uncle the first time. She knew that he doubted their relationship. However, she had to act along with Ivan and be lovey-dovey. There was no other option left for her.

She took Ivan's hand and placed hers over it. "On Instagram. He accidentally sent me a meme instead of sending it to Jasper."

"How can one send it accidentally? Your username is different from Jasper's, right?" Raiden questioned.

Jasper laughed all of a sudden. "Actually, back then my username was Dic-" he cut himself off, clearing his throat. "Err, something starting with D."

"I typed 'Di' in the search box and sent it to the first person, thinking it was Jasper. Then I realized I sent it to Diana and before I could unsend it, she had already seen it. That's how our first conversation started," Ivan completed the story.

"So, your romance was online. Wow!" Floresa sighed dreamily. "Wait, does this mean you both never met in person?"

"Yes," said Ivan. "We were so surprised when we met each other personally at that restaurant for the first time."

"We were very surprised, to the point I feared I would faint out of happiness," Diana added. Before she could say anything further, the queen decided to interrupt.

"Okay. Now that you got the answers to your questions, we fixed a perfect wedding date. I even talked with Merida about it last night and she had no problem. So I want to know both of your opinions."

"When is the wedding then?" Diana inquired.

"Exactly after two months," Suzanne replied.

"We would have to arrange everything perfectly. After all, this is the first royal wedding of your generation."

"After two months?" Ivan mumbled, "We only have two months in hand?"

I'll go on a tour or go on a coma for two months. After time passes, it will be time for the wedding and I'll run away, Diana thought before asking, "Can't we have the wedding early? Like, after a month?"

She wanted the wedding day to come as soon as possible. The sooner it was, the sooner she could be free of the title 'Royally Chosen'.

"Eager much?" Jasper asked with a teasing look. His eyes fell on her hand, which her eyes followed; Diana was still holding Ivan's hand. Realizing it, she instantly released his hand.

Suzanne said, "We need to have the perfect arrangement. A wedding done in haste is never perfect. Besides, you will get the time to know and stay with each other personally this time. No need for virtual love anymore."

"What do you mean by staying with each other, Your Majesty?" Diana asked, furrowing her eyebrows. She didn't fail to notice the smirk on the queen's face.

Suzanne knew the truth of the relationship, Diana realized, biting her lip in distress. What could the queen be possibly planning? How did Suzanne guess the cunning moves they were planning inside their heads?

"Oh, honey. It was another surprise for both of you. Till your wedding, you shall both be staying together in the same room."

"Whoa! She will move in with Ivan here in the palace? Are you serious, Mom?" Jasper gaped at his mother. He was wondering how his mother could be so calm about it. This was not the mother he knew. The queen had always been strict about everything.

How could a simple girl change my mom's mind on everything? Jasper thought.

"What? We cannot live together!" both Diana and Ivan said at once. They looked at each other in horror.

Destiny was definitely playing a harsh game with them. They had barely even managed to digest the shock of the wedding and now they get another shock? How was this even possible?

Diana could easily escape the wedding and the plan was set. Even Ivan was okay with it. But how can they solve this new problem? They never thought that the queen would drop such a big bomb.

"It's okay. I have no problem, nor does the king, or Diana's mother. Living together will increase love and deepen your bonding." Suzanne nonchalantly waved her hand.

Ivan looked at his mother with hatred. She knew that he loved someone else. How could she make such a decision without telling him? Why was his mother against his own picked love?

Diana wanted to maintain distance from Ivan till the wedding. The more she tried to run away, the more she got pushed towards him. This was not good. If she started living with Ivan, her emotions might start losing control.

"You can start today. Merida will send all your stuff. Besides, we bought plenty of things for you. The maids are putting it inside Ivan's room as we speak."

"But I cannot live with him," Diana tried to protest. "After the wedding, I will stay with him forever. So before the wedding, I want to stay with my mother and enjoy my time."

"Diana, baby, you have to stay here. You have to be trained to become the next queen. You cannot come to the palace every day for training. That will be too tiring. It is better for you to stay here and get to know everyone." Merida patted her head. "We spent a lot of time together. It's time for you to know your in-laws and give them your time. Besides, I will call you and come visit you."

"But Mom -"

"I knew something was off with this couple. Look, they are not even comfortable to share the same room. Did you see that, Floresa?" Raiden spat out.

Diana hated that man. She helplessly looked at Ivan, who gave a small nod to her. She knew what he meant.

She sighed. "I will move in."

Even though she agreed, she was clueless as to how she could control herself from liking Ivan. Most importantly, she was scared about how Aiden and Rain would react after getting this news.