ROYAL CONTEST

3| CHAPTER THREE

CROWN PRINCE OWEN'S POV

All the ladies have arrived and I have to meet them. I've been trying to figure out what to wear since the morning, but nothing has satisfied me.

I've never met these ladies and have no idea what their fashion preferences are, I'm afraid I'm going to f**k up. Excuse my language.

They say first impressions count, and I'd like to make a great one that they'll remember, but I don't think it'll be possible given my lack of experience.

Perhaps I should've sought some assistance? No, that's humiliating! A whole prince of Harrington! Asking for help regarding what to wear? No, it's not going to happen.

If my father found out, he would kill me, and I don't want to take any chances. Personally, I have no reservations about asking for assistance, but my father is strongly opposed to it.

Over the years, I've learned to pay attention to whatever he says, which has helped me keep a positive connection with him. Our father-son relationship isn't the best but...

I'm going to leave it like that.

I arrived at the royal hall after finally selecting what to wear. When we have relatives over, we hold every family function or gathering there, and since it is by far the largest space, we opted to utilize it for the introduction.

I'm going to meet and get to know each and every one of those ladies.

My parents were already waiting for me when I arrived, and they didn't seem pleased that I hadn't come on time.

I looked at the wall-mounted watch and gasped when I noticed the time. I'm almost twenty minutes late, which is unprecedented.

I'm not sure why I didn't look at the clock while I was still in my room. I was relieved that the ladies hadn't arrived yet. My mother, father, and two cousins were the only ones present.

"Crown Prince Owen Harrington greets the Emperor and Empress of Harrington Empire. My apologies for being late, it will not happen again. I did not mean any disrespect."

I did the formal greeting of our empire and then bowed my head as an apology for being late. I've never seen myself doing that because I've always been on time for everything.

"You don't need to apologise. You're my son and since I know you, I know you will never be late unless there's a reason. You can rise, it's embarrassing for a crown prince to be bowing his head. Even for his parents."

"Thank you, father." My mother just smiled at me.

"It is very hard to see the Crown Prince of Harrington these days. I, Clara Harrington, the second princess of Harrington Empire greets His Highness, the heir apparent to the throne of our land."

I slightly bowed my head as a way of acknowledging her greeting and turned to my other cousin.

"The fifth prince of Harrington Empire, Justin Harrington greets the Crown Prince of our empire." I did the same thing, I slightly bowed my head and took my seat next to my parents.

Even as a child, no matter where we were, I've always been next to my parents. I am actually the only person who is allowed to sit next to them and also voice my opinions whenever they are talking.

My father has always told me that it is how it's supposed to be and that it is for me to learn how to handle the empire's matters.

It didn't take long for the ladies to join us at the royal hall. They all wore long dresses that covered their feet except for the last person to enter.

She was dressed in a white tank top and short black tights. I didn't pay much attention to that, though, because as soon as she joined the others, I was hit by her scent.

I'm not sure what happened to me when I saw her, but it was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. My animals seemed to want something similar for the first time in years.

They wanted her, and I'm not going to lie, I want her just as badly as they do, if not more. Her scent overshadowed every other scent in the hall, including my parents, which I had always felt was the strongest.

When my mother noticed that I was distracted, she called my name. I whispered an apology and turned away from her. My father requested that they make an introduction. I wasn't paying attention to what they were saying.

The only thing that was in my mind was her. I've never been in love before but if this isn't love, then I don't know what it is.

I don't need a competition to help me decide who I want to spend the rest of my life with. I already know and no matter how long this competition is going to last, it will always be here and no one else.

When it was her turn to speak, I found myself standing up from my seat and making my way to where she was standing.

Being this close to her, I can hear that her breathing is faster than normal. I don't know if she is nervous or scared.

"You must bow your head when the crown prince of this empire is in front of you! How dare you stand there like you're in front of your parents."

I don't want to argue with Justin today so I just raised my hand to dismiss him.

"What's your name?" She looked at me, her eyes filled with surprise.

"My name is Alyssa Ntuli, but I use both my mother and father's last names, so it is Alyssa Montgomery-Ntuli. My greetings to you Your Highness."

She's not from here, I can tell. Her accent says it all. She is beautiful. In fact, that is an understatement, she is the most beautiful girl I've ever laid my eyes on.

"You're welcome to Harrington Empire, Alyssa. I must say, you have a beautiful name." Her heartbeat increased again. She said nothing, she just looked down at her feet.

"Where are your manners? The prince just gave you a compliment!"

"Who asked you to speak?! I am the one doing the talking and I don't appreciate being interrupted by you. I am still the crown prince of this empire in case you have forgotten. Not you, Justin."

"My apologies Your Highness."

"Let this be the last time you will open your mouth while I'm still talking. Whoever disrespects me disrespects me, not you. I know how to deal with it myself. Only I have a right to tell them what's right and what's wrong. Get that into your head."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Ladies, today you'll be joining His Majesty, me and my son for dinner. Princess Clara will show you where the dining hall is." They all bowed their heads as a sign of respect to the empress and followed Clara to the dining hall.

"Owen, a word please." My mother called me when I was about to leave.

"Mother? Is there something wrong?"

"Not entirely but if I don't say anything then I'm afraid this is going to continue."

"I'm lost."

"I don't like the way you spoke to your cousin in front of strangers. He is a prince of this land and even though he is inferior to you, you shouldn't undermine him in front of outsiders."

"So what you're saying is that my son must allow Justin to walk over his head?" My father asked the exact question I wanted to ask.

I hate making people feel like they're inferior but I also have my limits. I am the future emperor of this empire and if I don't show people that I hate to be disrespected, they will think I enjoy it.

"Don't get me wrong Your Majesty, I didn't mean it like that. I'm not saying he should let Justin undermine him but he should've at least waited until those girls left before saying what he said to him.

"How do you think those girls will treat Justin after what happened? They will treat him with no respect and we won't be able to do anything about it."

"He should've thought about that before talking while I was still talking. What you're saying doesn't make sense, mother.

"You're saying that I shouldn't undermine him in front of outsiders but you don't understand that if I just stood there and did nothing or maybe wait until those girls left, that would mean that I have allowed him to undermine me and my authority in front of those same girls.

"It doesn't matter how you want to put it but I do know that I would rather undermine him than allowing him to undermine me.

"I have had enough of Justin! He needs to be reminded that there is only one crown prince of Harrington Empire and that is me, not him.

"I thought you knew me, mother. You know I wouldn't just talk to someone like that unless there is a reason behind it. Justin was provoking me and I gave him what he deserved.

"I'm not going to apologise for that. I will still do the same if I get the chance. Excuse me."

"You can go." I thanked my dad and left. I don't have the appetite anymore but I know I have to join them otherwise it will be disrespectful.

"I think everybody saw that you're interested in her. I don't blame you though, she's beautiful and I like her brown skin."

Where did she come from? And why is she not with our guests?

"Aren't you supposed to be in the dining hall?"

"It's boring. Those ladies are not saying anything and I think they're afraid of saying something in front of me. Everybody knows that I'm the only person who is close to you."

"Don't flatter yourself."

"It's the truth though. I'm kidding, I just thought they weren't comfortable with me being there so I just gave them space. Now that you're here though, I can go back."

Clara loves travelling and because of that, she rarely comes home. We used to talk and play a lot as kids but things changed as we grew up.

She had her first boyfriend when she was fifteen and I remember how we kept it a secret because we didn't have an idea what my mom and dad would've done if they found out.

She would sneak out just to see him and I would cover for her. One day she came back crying because the fool decided to cheat on her. I had to comfort her but even though she got over it, she still hated what he did.

I thought she wasn't going to date again until eight years back when she was seventeen. She met Scott and they fell in love at first sight. She wouldn't stop talking about him and I thought it was cute.

She made me want to fall in love because I also wanted to feel what she felt but I knew I couldn't do it even if I wanted to. I remember how I wished I was also a girl because I would just fall in love with any guy that I wanted and not one of the twenty girls my father chose for me.

"What are you thinking? You seem to be miles away from here?"

"Nothing much. I was just thinking about how things were when we were younger."

"Everything was so simple at that time. Remember when we broke Justin's father's vase?"

"How can I forget?!" I thought my uncle was going to bury us alive. We actually wanted to hide it but before we could, Justin saw us and told his dad.

My father told him that he was going to pay for it or maybe ask the person who made it to make an exact copy but my uncle said it was okay because it was a fake one.

The original was broken by my aunt, the first princess of Harrington. I was so happy when I found out.