Prince Charming's Beloved Wife

“I hereby declare that Alvina Asber is sentenced to life imprisonment in the Boltonite.” Alvina kneeled in the middle of the enormous Audience Room, and a mocking smile crept across her face when she heard the royal priest’s words. In just one afternoon, she had lost her throne and her. . . life. --- The Very Beginning It all began one fateful spring afternoon. Outside the palace, the birds were singing and the beauty of spring awakening could be seen everywhere.  In the north wing of the huge palace, Princess Alvina was getting dressed for the day.  She hummed a famous folk song her mother, the Queen, sang to her every night as she ran the wooden comb down her long, blonde hair. There was a knock at the door and she put the comb down. “Come in.” The door slowly opened and a middle-aged man dressed in a suit stepped in, “Your highness.” Alvina Asber stood up and smiled when she saw the man, “Butler Cherron, good morning.” “Good morning, your highness. I have come to send a message from Prime Minister Edward. He and the other ministers would like for you to proceed to the Audience Room straight away.” Alvina raised one eyebrow, “I certainly will. Allow me to change out of my nightgown first.” Butler Cherron pressed his hands together, “The ministers would like you to go immediately.” Alvina Asber tilted her head slightly before following the butler out of her room. The palace halls were dimly lit, and it was abnormally silent without any maids or servants walking down the halls. “Where is everyone?” Alvina asked the butler. Butler Cherron pressed his lips together before replying, “In their rooms, your highness.” Noticing the unusual difference in Butler Cherron’s voice, Alvina didn’t ask any further questions as she followed him down the hallway.  In a few minutes, they stopped in front of a large door. Butler Cherron knocked twice on the wooden door before slowly pushing it open. “Princess Alvina has arrived,” he announced to the people inside the room as he stepped in, opening the door wider for Alvina. Alvina placed her hands elegantly in front of her stomach as she stepped into the audience room in her nightgown. As she walked in, she noticed that there were more people inside than she had expected. It was still early in the morning, and her mother and father, the King and the Queen, were supposed to come back from their expedition  today. The next cabinet meeting wasn’t supposed to be until the King was back, so why were all of the ministers present in the audience room today? “Your highness.” The people inside the room stood up and bowed down slightly to greet her as she stepped into the room. “Princess Beatrice has arrived!” A male voice said from behind Alvina. She turned around to see her younger sister walk in wearing her nightgown. Half sister to be exact. . . “Concubine Laura has arrived!” The same man announced as a woman that looked to be in her late 20s walked into the room. She had beautiful features and from looking at her, no one would be able to guess that she was in her 40s already. She was also wearing her nightgown, but that didn’t diminish her beauty the slightest. Beatrice Asber walked over to her mother and grabbed onto her arm, “Mother, what is happening? Why are we here? When is father and Queen Diane coming back?” Laura Seux glanced at her daughter and shook her head slightly, “I’m not sure.” Laura Seux was the only mistress of the King of the Baldamia Empire. She had. . . somehow climbed onto the King’s bed and later became pregnant with his child.  The King originally wanted to execute both Laura and her baby, but the Queen, Alvina’s mother, graciously saved the mother and daughter by convincing the King to entitling Laura as a royal mistress. However, since then, the King has never entered Concubine Laura’s room even once, and he never acknowledged her whenever she was around.  Only when the baby princess, Beatrice Asber, was born, did the King visit the concubine’s room for a short moment to see the baby. Since birth, Alvina has been the more favored princess, whereas Beatrice was rarely acknowledged by the King. However, that didn’t hurt their sister relationship in the slightest. Beatrice Asber respected Alvina as her older sister, and Alvina treated Beatrice very well.  Beatrice walked over to Alvina and grabbed onto her arm, “Elder sister, what is happening?“ Alvina grinned at her sister as a sign of comfort, “I’m not sure.” The Prime Minister stood up from his chair and cleared his throat, “Your highnesses. Since all of you are present, I have something to announce.” The three of them turned to look at the Prime Minister, who opened and closed his mouth several times before reluctantly saying, “King Otis and Queen Diane are dead.” Beatrice gasped as she fell down onto the floor with one hand over her mouth. Her face paled as she looked over at her mom, whose mouth was also open in surprise. Alvina’s hands twitched slightly as her eyes widened, but she remained calm on the outside. Her stomach churned as she took a step back. “What?” She asked, her voice softer than usual. The Prime Minister looked down and sighed, “On their way back yesterday, they were attacked. Both of them perished. . . unfortunately.” “Unfortunately?” Alvina raised one eyebrow, “Aren’t the guards trained for situations like that? What were they doing?!” She raised her voice as she clenched her fists together. Her parents. . . dead? No way! That wasn’t possible! “Your highness, the assassins were very well-trained. They also seemed to have known about the emperor’s route and schedule, because the timing and location were all perfectly planned. . . There was nothing the guards could do.” Alvina took a deep breath, “Where is the survivor?” There had to be a survivor for the news to reach so quickly. He should know what happened. . . “Your highness, the survivor is receiving emergency medical care at the moment. I am afraid he can’t be at your service for the time being.” Alvina took a look at her “mother” and “sister”, who were still in shock and took a deep breath. “Where are my parents?” Her voice shook slightly as she spoke. “The King and Queen’s bodies are laying in the Grand Room at the moment.” Alvina turned around to leave, but the Prime Minister quickly stopped her. “Your highness, before you leave, may we speak to you, Princess Beatrice, and Concubine Laura for a moment.” Alvina reluctantly turned around, “What for?” “King Otis was not able to write his will before he passed away, and he did not make it clear who he would like his successor to be. His majesty also does not have any siblings or male relatives -” “So what may your plan be?” Alvina narrowed her eyes. She knew perfectly well that her father did not have any relatives. He had two brothers, who were both killed in war before they could get married.  The only people aside from the King and Queen that had royal blood in them were her and her sister, Beatrice.  The Prime Minister cleared his throat, “Your highness is still very young, and both children of his majesty are female -” “What is wrong with being female?” Alvina took a step forward as she raised one eyebrow. “Um -” The Prime Minister gulped and grinned awkwardly, “Your highness, there is nothing wrong with being female. It is just your highness and Princess Beatrice are both still young and unmarried, and Princess Beatrice had just come of age a few months ago.” The age for coming of age in the Baldamia Empire was 16 years old for females, and Alvina was two years older than her sister. “Prime Minister Edward, what are you trying to propose? I would like to go see my parents.” In other words, she did not have the time to waste on listening to him beat around the bush. The Prime Minister looked at the other ministers sitting behind him and took a deep breath, “Under the consensus among all the ministers, we have come to an agreement for I, Prime Minister Edward, to succeed the position of the emperor for the time being.” Prime Minister Edward raised his chin as he looked straight forward proudly. The late King did not have a prince or any male relatives to inherit the throne from him when he passed away, and he did not have the chance to leave a will behind since he was in good health and had no plans on passing away any time soon. Since he had no male relatives, the norm was for the throne to be passed onto the husband of the elder princess, but neither Alvina or Beatrice were married yet. With no other possible route, the Prime Minister, who frequently helped in making decisions with the emperor, was “promoted” to be the successor.  And he had no complaints. . . He was happy to be king - “No!”