Royal Prince's Fated Love

Chapter Nine

Princess Diana could not stomach the fact that anyone could humiliate her that much as they drove off. It was unfathomable for a princess of her stature to be demeaned to such extent as Prince Dan had done. In as much as he had been not the best in as far as romance was concerned , she had gotten used to his straight-talk so much that she could not imagine him walking away with some God-foresaken girl . She sighed as she turned to Candie .

" Do you think he is cheating on me with that stupid girl ?" She asked .

" What else could make him change his mind so suddenly ? When a man starts to avoid sharing more time with his fiancee , there's a ninety percent chance that he has someone he finds worthy sharing his time with . I'm not sure whether it is the same girl he is involved with , but I can conclusively say that there's definitely someone ."

" She must be the one! Did you see the way he reacted when I accosted him about giving her money at the supermarket ? What possible explanation could he give for insisting to drive her home personally? He obviously has something to hide ."

" But the girl appeared to be innocent . Maybe he has not made his intentions clear to her . She could have appeared to be suspicious when she met you if there was something going on between them . I suggest that you carry out further investigations to verify your suspicions ."

" You can be assured of that . I will get someone to tail her from tomorrow . Gosh ! She doesn't know what she is getting into if it is true . If push comes to shove , I certainly know how to shove . If Dan decides to make a fool of me , I will make sure that if he doesn't have me , he won't have her either ."

" I will reserve my comments ."

" About what ? You know you can count on me to be discreet ?"

" Well , they are just my thoughts . I don't see the reason why we sometimes try hard to stick to relationships that have all the symptoms of failing . A relationship has to be natured by love, which is a two-way traffic . If you love , you must be loved back in equal measure . Period !"

" I'm sure Dan loves me . It is only that his love is being diluted by that woman!"

" Then he must be having a funny way of showing it . Do you love him ? As a person , that is ?"

Diana took time to think about her answer . She searched in her mind for that something that had made her feel like owning him . Romantically , she had been secretly comparing him with her first love while in college and finding him wanting . Jimmy was the name of the guy she had enjoyed her sensual escapades away from the overprotective monitoring from her parents . Were it not for her parents' insistence , she could have opted to wed him instead . She now realized that the reason why she would do anything to stick with Dan was that their impending wedding was now the talk of the town . She was bent on claiming her title as the queen since he was the heir apparent . Moreover , she was not prepared to bear the shame of being stood up like a discarded item .

" What a stupid question ?" She finally retorted . "Would I be interested in marrying him if I weren't in love with him ? Besides , love can develop gradually after marriage ."

" You know what? A person who truly loves you can not cheat on you. In love relationships , when a partner starts cheating , it means that his or her love has shifted to that other person ."

" Perhaps you are right . I can't imagine how he could change at the twinkling of an eye . I'm going to teach that b***h a bitter lesson!"

" Won't that make you look stupid and desperate for his love ? I'm beginning to think that it is your easiness and possessiveness that is making him to take you for granted . As a woman , you have to play hard to get sometimes . Men enjoy the thrill of hunting , and you are making yourself an easy prey . Try to make him a bit jealous . Show him that you can do without him, or even that he is not the only fish in the ocean ."

" I don't know where you are getting to with all this philosophizing of yours ."

" Let's get one thing straight . Isn't he moving around with another girl? The only medicine is to play his game . Tit for tat is a fair game . He plays you , you get into the field and play too !"

" Sounds plausible , but you forget that a different yardstick is used to measure us women . My reputation would be more tainted than his even if he engaged in multiple dates . My priority now is to find out if he is really playing me ," she said as the driver drove into the compound of the palace. " Please, come in and assist me in explaining to mum about this sad development ."

They found her mum in the living room in the company of many of the palace maids , ostensibly working on the wedding preparations . She immediately stopped from what she was working on and expectantly looked at them .

" Why are you wearing such sad faces ?" She asked . "I'm sure you must have had a long day ," she added while gesturing to one of the maids to serve them some beverages .

" You can say that again ," Diana started . " I don't think there is a reason why you should be breaking your backs by working on something that might never materialize ."

" What are you insinuating ?" The Queen asked , taken aback . " Can you leave us alone ?" She asked the maids .

" Dan is not keen on having the wedding as scheduled ," explained Candie . " He insists on deferring it to an unstated later date ."

" Why on earth would he do that ? Is he still pissed with you for what happened on that day , or what ?"

" He wouldn't volunteer his reasons , but I'm determined to find out sooner , or later ."

" Find out about what?" Her Mum asked , in desperation .

" Finding out why he is doing this, of course!"

" Do the King and Queen concur with him ? Can you try to explain in plain language what happened ?"

" Your Majesty ," Candie started . " Both of them are as surprised as they are flabbergasted . We had a conference with them and Dan stated so without mincing any words . He couldn't explain his reasons even when his father insisted ."

" How can he do such a thing to us ? How dare he tries to change everything at the eleventh hour ? Could he be hiding something ?"

" There's a possibility that he could be seeing another girl . We met him with the same girl I saw at the supermarket . From the way he behaved , there were clear indications that there could be more than meets the eye . That's what Diana meant by saying that she would find out ."

" Good gracious ! He is more of a moron than I thought . What do you know about the said girl ? I mean as in who she is and where she comes from ?"

" We hardly know her . However , she just got employed to work in his company ."

" Can you say with certainty that she isn't just an employee ?"

" She could be , but the way they are behaving is unquestionably suggestive of something more ."

" Well , let's wait to hear from his parents first . I would suggest that you leave it to me to find out about the girl ."

" No ! Stay out of my battle ," demurred Diana . " I can deal with it ."

" I'm not stopping you . However , I have to see the girl . Besides , I had already decided to get myself some new jewelry from the company . I'm going there tomorrow ."

" Suit yourself . You know what ? You might as well be the one to blame for all this . You made him look like a saint from the beginning."

" It is always easy to apportion blame after things have gone to the doldrums . If you may excuse me , I would like to brief his Majesty ."