The Four Princes Who Chose Me

Before Everything Changed

Aria had never known a life that was easy, but she had never considered herself unlucky either.

She had been raised in a small town far from the capital, in a modest house shared with her mother, Elara. They had never had much money, and there were times when every expense had to be carefully considered, but Elara had always found a way to keep Aria in school.

That mattered more than anything.

Aria had learned early that education was the one thing poverty could not take away from her. She studied seriously, worked whenever she could to help her mother, and had already begun thinking about what she would do after finishing school.

She wanted to continue her education, and she wanted a career that would allow her to earn enough money to give Elara a better life.

And she wanted, more than anything, to make sure her mother never had to struggle the way she had.

"You've been looking at those university brochures for weeks," Elara said one evening.

Aria glanced up from the papers spread across the table.

"I haven't chosen anything yet."

"You've been comparing them every night."

"Because I don't want to make the wrong decision."

Elara smiled. "You always think everything through twice."

"Someone has to."

"You're nineteen, Aria. You're allowed to make mistakes."

"Maybe other people can afford them."

The smile on Elara's face faded slightly.

Aria immediately softened.

"I'm not saying that to complain."

"I know."

Elara reached across the table and touched the corner of one of the brochures.

"Whatever you choose, don't let money convince you that you should aim lower."

Aria studied her.

"You really think I can do it?"

"I know you can."

There was no hesitation in the answer.

That was Elara's way.

She could be cautious about almost everything, but never about Aria's future.

It was one of the reasons Aria sometimes wondered whether her mother had once imagined a very different life for herself.

There were things about Elara that never quite made sense.

She had lived in the town for as long as Aria could remember, yet she rarely spoke about the years before they arrived. She had no close relatives nearby and avoided questions about Aria's father so skillfully that Aria had eventually stopped asking.

The capital was another subject Elara disliked.

Whenever it appeared in conversation, something in her changed. Her voice became quieter, her expression more guarded, and the conversation usually ended before Aria could learn anything useful.

Aria had noticed it for years.

One evening, she finally asked.

"Have you ever lived in the capital?"

Elara looked at her.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because you always seem uncomfortable when people talk about it."

"I'm not uncomfortable."

"You are."

Elara sighed.

Aria waited.

After a moment, Elara said, "Yes. I lived there."

"For how long?"

"A few years."

"What did you do there?"

Elara looked down at the papers in front of her.

"I worked."

"Where?"

There was a pause.

"In the palace."

Aria blinked.

"The royal palace?"

"Yes."

She had expected many answers.

That was not one of them.

"You worked there?" She asked with her eyes lighting up

"I did."

Aria leaned back, trying to picture her mother in a place she had only ever seen in books and distant stories.

"What did you do?"

Elara's expression closed almost immediately.

"I worked there. That's all."

"Did you know the royal family?"

"Aria."

"All right."

The firmness in her mother's voice told her not to continue.

Aria let the question go, but she couldn't stop thinking about it.

Elara had once worked inside the royal palace.

That single fact seemed to create more questions than it answered.

Why had they left the capital?

Why had Elara never spoken about that part of her life?

And why did the subject still affect her so much after all these years?

Later that night, Aria found Elara sitting quietly near the window.

"You really don't want to talk about it."

Elara looked at her.

"No."

Aria nodded.

"Then I won't ask."

Her mother seemed relieved.

"You have enough to worry about with school."

Aria smiled.

"Maybe."

Elara reached for her hand.

"You've worked hard for the life you want. Don't let anyone make you feel that you don't deserve it."

"I won't."

"And don't depend on people simply because they have more than you."

Aria frowned.

"Money?"

"Money. Influence. Power."

Elara's voice had changed again.

There was something behind it that Aria could not quite understand.

"Why do you always say that?"

"Because it's important."

"It sounds like something happened."

Elara looked away.

"Some things from the past are better left there."

Aria wanted to ask more but she didn't.

She squeezed her mother's hand instead and let the silence settle between them.

She had learned long ago that Elara could be gentle without being open, loving without explaining everything, and protective without telling Aria exactly what she was being protected from.

Aria had accepted that. At least, she thought she had.

But that night, after she went to bed, she found herself thinking about one thing she had never seriously considered before.

Her mother had once lived inside the royal palace.

And whatever had happened there, Elara still wasn't ready to tell her daughter about it.