Trapped in Royalty

3. Princess treatment

"I thought you would try to do something funny this morning. Something along the lines of trying to escape with your daughter. But of course you are smarter than that" he whispered beside me, and I couldn't help but let out a scoff.

Of course, with the men he showed up with last night, it doesn't take a smart person to know that he would have some of them spread around the house in any case I tried to run away. Which, of course, I considered, but the fact that I had nowhere else to go and with barely enough money to sustain us, I had no choice but to stay there.

"Mommy! The mister is taking me to school in a fancy car!" Symphony said excitedly.

"Symphony what did I tell you this morning?!" I snapped at her for the second time this morning.

"But mommy!" she started to whine, but I quickly cut her off.

"Quiet now. We are taking the bus, as you always have," I said, pulling her by the arm away from his side.

"Please Jacqueline," he blocked my way. "I insist," he added persistently.

I looked at Symphony, who looked at me with pleading eyes.

I could just take my child and leave after giving him an earful and telling him to leave me and my child alone. But this isn't just any man. He is the king of this nation, and I am a nobody.

Suffice to say, it was better not to start a war I had no chance of winning, but I wasn't going down without a fight, so I took a step forward until I was close enough for only him to hear me.

"We are taking Symphony to school and nowhere else," I whispered determinedly.

His reaction caught me off guard as he smirked and gestured with his hand for us to get in.

As I got into the car, I couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu. That moment 7 years ago when I blindly got into one, not knowing I would be sealing my fate, but the fact was that, back then, I had a chance, and now I didn't.

He, on the other hand, kept trying to engage Symphony, and being the chatterbox she was, she couldn't keep her mouth shut, telling about her Nancy and all her friends at school, but I was more than glad when the car finally stopped in front of her school.

"Thank you for the ride," I grabbed Symphony as soon as the chauffeur opened the door and we both got out, but much to my surprise, he put his legs out, attempting to get out of the car.

"What are you doing? People are going to recognize you!" I whisper-yelled at him, looking around and hoping that no one was looking our way, but apparently, that was too much to hope for.

In a small town where there aren't many cars, you can imagine that a royal ride would definitely catch people's eyes, as everyone stopped to stare. Passersby, some teachers and parents drop their kids off at school.

"Hahaha," I let out an awkward laugh as I said loud enough for anyone to hear. "Fancy car, right? I totally don't know him. Hahaha. Just getting a free ride y'all. Hahaha."

"Mommy, but I thought mister was your friend," Symphony looked at me confused.

"I think it would be best if you didn't embarrass yourself like this," he said into my ear, and I almost jumped, startled.

"Don't you have kingly duties to do?! Your highness?" I said the last part more quietly, so Symphony didn't hear.

"You wouldn't have any idea what kingly duties entail anyway," he said, putting on a huge smile, which caught me off guard, until I followed his gaze and saw whom he was smiling at.

"What are you doing?!" I asked, feeling more frustrated than ever. "Just leave already!"

"Nice to meet you Mr. Principal," he completely ignored me as he greeted Mr. Homer.

"Sir, your ma.. Hi..." Mr Homer fumbled his words as he stood conflicted between bowing, curtsying and shaking the hands of the king. "I mean mister. It's such an honor to have you in our humble school preschool."

"It's my pleasure, Mr. Homer," he replied, shaking hands with Mr. Homer, who looked like he would faint any time out of immense glee.

"Miss Jackie, Symphony dear. You are welcome," he greeted us warmly. "All of you, your... I mean sir. Please do come in."

"Of course," I nodded, not once letting go of Symphony, until I saw her enter class and sit down at her desk, cheekily waving to me and then his highness just as they were about to start class, Mr. Homer ushered us to his office, which looked extra clean today, telling me that this meeting was planned.

"Please have a seat here, your highness," Mr. Homer said, pulling out his chair, which looked different from the one I saw yesterday.

Now that his highness was in the office, it looked inconveniently small, as he went and sat on the principal's chair.

Moving back to stand in front of the desk, Mr. Homer, pulled another chair for me to sit. Next he stood and bowed his head respectfully.

"Your majesty, I know you didn't want any special attention or any compliments, but please allow me to express gratitude for the hefty sum you donated to this school. Your donation will allow this school to thrive fairly for many years to come. But I must insist, a donation like this needs a name on it, but when I received the donation, it said not to name it after anyone in the royal family."

"Oh nothing really," his highness placed one leg on the other as he said smugly. "As for the name, I will let you know about it later."

"Of course your highness," Mr. Homer bowed again. "As for the parents you asked for," Mr. Homer shot me a glance before he continued. "They are here as you requested, and they are willing to cooperate."

"Bring them in," his highness ordered.

I was confused, as Mr. Homer walked out, but just as I was about to speak out my mind, the door opened, and the two parents walked in, their heads down as they fidgeted, all manner of smugness gone from them.

All of a sudden, they went on their knees in front of me.

I sent a shocked look towards his highness, but he looked unfazed. Slightly angry I might say.

"Miss Jackie," Mr. Crane was the first to speak. "Yesterday, we spoke very badly of you yesterday. Please forgive us."

"We were careless to speak to you the way we did. Please forgive us," Mrs. Crane said tearfully.

Not wanting to prolong this situation any further, I decided to speak.

"It's alright. I didn't hold a grudge against you anyway. I know I would be more than angry if another kid punched my daughter to the point of losing a tooth and bleeding out," I said empathetically, and the two looked at me, a sliver of hope in their eyes, but I wasn't quite done yet. "But going ahead to insult my person and bringing up my daughter's lack of a father figure was totally uncalled-for, and I find that part to be unforgivable," I said sternly and the ray of hope was gone from their eyes, replaced by fear with all color draining from their face as they glanced at his majesty, whom I didn't feel the need to look at to find out his reaction.

"It's totally my fault for bringing it up in the first place when we could have taken care of things as adults," Mr. Crane said, and his wife nodded in agreement. "And as the head of my family, I am willing to take responsibility."

"Then, are you willing to accept any punishment as per the constitution of the country?" His majesty said coldly, and even I, who wasn't on the receiving end, felt goosebumps all over my body, talkless of the parents that seemed like they would faint at any moment so much that I felt pity for them.

"I am willing to forgive you," I said, and the two almost let out a sigh of relief. "But hold your breath," I said, and they actually did. It's safe to say that I was quite enjoying the moment. "I hope you take this as a learning point. Not that we hope for the same thing to repeat in the future," I finished, and upon realizing that that was my only condition, they let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you. Thank you, miss Jackie," Mr. Crane heaved out a sigh.

"We will certainly teach our daughter to do better," Mrs. Crane added.

"I do hope so," I said dismissively, watching as the two parents got up, almost bowing as they left the office.

I let out a sigh on my own. Even though I never hoped to be apologized to or have those that wronged me bow at my feet, I have to admit it felt quite refreshing.

A set of eyes drilling on the side of my face made me turn and face him while he looked at me expectantly, but I wasn't ready to say what he wanted to hear.

"How did you even know what happened yesterday? Did you come here to flaunt your power and show me what it's like to be royalty?" I raised my eyebrows.

"No. I just think that you did a great job raising your daughter on your own for someone to talk down on you like," He said coolly, and I couldn't understand the weird feeling in my chest, which felt quite familiar, taking me back to the time 7 years ago when I first met him, and he made what was a bad night that had my hopes crushed become not so bad after all as he treated me more than any person of my caliber would expect from a man like himself. But then, that would also mark the time when my dilemma all began.