To Marry The Prince

"Prince Kairo, it is time to wake up. The Queen ordered me early this morning and she is asking you to come to her office in an hour." Fernan, the middle aged man who has been a butler of the royal family for years called out to the Prince who is currently sleeping peacefully while laying on his stomach. He stretched out his toned arm to pull the blanket over his head, trying to escape the sunlight coming from the opened curtain of his window. "Fernan, what time is it?" he asked in a weak voice. "It is six in the morning Young Master." Kairo took a deep breath and forced himself to sit up straight. His eyes are still closed, but when the Queen asks for him so early in the morning, he knows something bad is happening. "So, what are the reports this time?" Its almost a routine by now. Every two weeks, there will be a fake report about his poor manners, disobedience, rudeness, and even something about his parking. Basically anything that they can flame him for. His image as the Prince of Aztariya is totally in shambles right now. "Mistress," Fernan stated. "Mistress? I don't even have a girlfriend." "Well you see Prince Kairo, they were really creative this time. They revealed that you have seven girlfriends." Fernan himself laughed at how outrageous the claims were. Kairo can't help but roll his eyes and sigh. "Mukha ba akong may effort na magpalit ng girlfriend per day?" the Prince answered, shaking his head. He dragged his feet to the bathroom. There he splashed his face with cold water from the sink to help him wake up. A dreamy perfectly sculptured face smiled back at him in the mirror. Soft chuckles were heard as he playfully flexed and posed, examining his well toned abdomen. "Maybe I look too good, no?" He heard Fernan coughed from outside the door, then his weak laughing voice was heard. "Maloko ka talaga Prince Kairo, hindi ko lang alam kung gagana ang dahilan na 'yan kay Queen Olivia." "Huh? Anong maloko?" Kairo whispered to himself. "I seriously think that my visuals are the reason. Do I give off the bad boy vibes?" He continued to flex and examine himself with a serious look on his face, "Well that's a big problem then." Fernan can't stop laughing when he heard how Prince Kairo's reasoning and logic turned into a way for him to praise his good looks. When he heard the shower, he immediately turned to leave and go back to the Queen's office. Queen Olivia is in her early fifties but she looks at least ten years younger than her actual age. She sits elegantly in her spacious office wearing a black dress and huge diamonds on her neck, ears and wrist. She looks like a cool rich aunt from the dramas online. Her office room is filled with photographs of her and the late King Anthony. On the big glass cabinet, her tiaras and precious crowns were displayed. Those that she wore back when she's just a Princess up till when she turned to be the Queen. "Queen Olivia, the Prince is here to visit you." Her eyes darted from the article that she's reading on her tablet to the door when she heard Fernan announced the Prince's arrival. "Come in," she ordered. Kairo bowed down respectfully as soon as their eyes met. He could already tell that he's in deep trouble this time. The Queen is wearing hear thick reading glasses, and to him that means chaos. "Ma, what have you read this time," he said in a joking manner. But Olivia just raised her brow at him. "I'm sorry," Kairo said. He then sat down and changed his approach, "Queen, what seems to be the problem?" "What seems to be the problem?" pag-uulit nito. "Kairo, anong nangyayari? Bakit ngayon naman naging pito ang girlfriends mo?" "Come on, we all know that's fake," said Kairo. "I don't have that much time." "Kairo that's not the point!" Napairap ang Reyna, "You should point out how you can never do that.." "I can't? Was that a challenge? Actually if I really try to, I can. I just rather not because I have better things to do. I don't have enough time, too bad." Umiiling pa si Kairo habang tinitignan ang relo sa kan'yang kamay. He's joking to stop his mom from worrying too much. He can clearly tell that she's stressed and bothered. Luckily, after catching up to his humor, she laughed a little. "I know you, I automatically know that this is another one of those attacks to ruin your name," the Queen scrolled through her tablet and sighed. "Sadly, the public believes these more than our clarifications. Your image is none existent." Itinuro niya ang isang comment na nagpakulo sa kaniyang dugo. "Look! They're even suggesting Tyler to be the next King. Hindi pa nga ako nagsabi tungkol sa pagpasa sa iyo, balak na nilang ilipat sa pinsan mo ang korona." "Don't worry Ma, hindi ganoon kababaw ang pag-iisip ng mga tao. I'm sure they will be able to see that all of these are false." "Sige nga, paano mo maipapaliwanag? Even the official announcement from the palace does nothing. I don't understand how it means nothing to them. It won't make them stop spreading the rumors by mouth. This article can easily be taken down, but those who took a copy of it, what are we going to do? Huh?" Natahimik si Kairo dahil sa narinig. All of the Queen's worries are valid. She's been living as a royalty for so long, and she knows how the public acts towards news like this. "I have tried explaining myself before, nothing happened. What can I do now? I ran out of responses, mukhang hindi talaga titigil itong naninira sa akin." Kairo has made his official appearance to the public three years ago, on his 21st birthday. His whole life he's been living under a different name which is Hiro Mendez, to protect his life. He studied in a the neighboring country which is Zoraya. And he kept a simple, quiet and ordinary life. All those years, he's been doing good. But a week after his birthday, these baseless news articles started popping up. And it doesn't stop, it just get crazier each time. "By now, we can certainly say that Felicia is our main suspect. And if it is really her, we can't do much. Punishing our own bloodline won't help us I think. It might backfire and it may cause us more negativity," said Olivia. "You really think she's capable of doing this?" "More than that. Kung tama ang hinala ko, pipilitin niyang sirain ang pangalan mo hanggang sa mawala na ang tiwala ng mga tao sa'yo. It can force us to give the title of the crown to Tyler. Do you get what I'm saying?" Kairo unconsciously touched his nape while in deep thought. The only one that would benefit from him being hated by their own citizens would be Tyler. The crown can easily fall in his lap once Kairo is out of the picture. But something in his mind tells him that Tyler wont let this happen to him. The two of them has a very good relationship, he sees Tyler as his brother. Someone that he trusts. "Have some tea," Olivia offered. Hindi namalayan ni Kairo na may dalang inumin si Fernan sa pagpasok nito sa silid. Aside from the tea, the butler handed the Queen a letter. "Kairo, I am informing you, we need to stop this now. I am planning to take some actions, I need you to be prepared for anything." The crown prince nodded and sipped his hot tea. "So what am I going to do now?" he asked. "You are excused for now. You may continue doing your tasks, I will just call for you once that the decision is final." He stood up and respectfully bowed down. But before leaving the room he whispered, "Lasang d**o 'yong tea, 'wag niyo na inumin baka maging kambing kayo." The Queen's elegant demeanor changed as soon as she heard how disgusted Kairo is. She then turned to look at Fernan who was shocked at her laughter. Parang natauhan naman ang Reyna at bigla niyang tinakpan ang kaniyang bibig. "Apologies, I just saw his father in him. Ganoon din kasi siya mag-react sa lasa nitong paborito ko na tsaa." Fernan just responded to her by giving her a smile. When she moved on, the Queen read the letter on her hand. It is the response of the team that she has ordered to delete the articles. It was quickly handled, but the hate towards the Prince is terrifying. At this point, it can really change the whole kingdom and that would be unacceptable. "Fernan, I want you to gather all of the royal advisers. Handling the problem like this wont benefit us at all. We need an effective way to turn this around," she ordered. He quickly bowed down and turned to execute the order that was given to him. Kairo took his time walking back to the left wing of the palace, his place. The right side mansion is where the Queen stays. Everything is painted in white with accents of black and gold. All of the technical stuffs takes place to that side. While on his side, it is more for him and his hobbies. The left mansion connects through a long roofed hallway that has a view of the large garden, and pool at the back. He glanced at a purple butterfly dancing around the flowers, even if things are circling in his head, it made him smile. "Good morning Prince Kairo, may almusal po na nakahanda." "Thank you, but sorry. I'm staying inside my office for a while. Please don't bother me, unless it is important." Kairo answered one of the servants and walked straight to his office to continue on reading the files that he's tasked to handle. While Kairo is working hard alone, there's a whole different situation in the meeting hall. This is a huge room that can house up to fifty people and is used when there's an important discussions. But right now almost twenty highly intelligent individuals that work as professional advisers for the Queen are brainstorming. As if they were kids being supervised by a strict teacher, they work together in to creating a perfect plan that they need to present. All of the simple ideas like apologizing publicly, and sincerely talking to the people were thrown out of the window. The Queen specifically ordered, to turn her son's image around, which calls for a miracle. "Queen Olivia," one of the elder men called out. The Queen nodded at his direction, giving him a permission to talk. "What if we find a Princess from another kingdom that can marry Prince Kairo? If the princess is outstanding enough, maybe there's a chance." Although the idea was on the extreme side, Olivia gave an amused smile, "That wasn't to bad Mr. Cervado," she said. "But of which Kingdom?" Napahinto ang lahat sa tanong nito. "Fernan, do you have the information?" she turned to look at Fernan. He nodded. "As of now, in Asia there are only three kingdoms left. First we have our own, Aztariya. The second one is Zoraya and lastly, Saphniya. As of now, Saphniya doesn't have a Princess and Zoraya's Prince just got married." Olivia rolled her eyes and intensely stared at Mr. Cervado for a solution. "Does it have to be a Princess?" mahinang tanong ni Mrs. Casandra. A woman in her early thirties who is on of the younger ones in the group. "Any ideas?" Napalunok siya sa pagharap sa kan'ya ni Queen Olivia. "Queen, this is just my idea. I hope I wont offend anyone," she nervously said. "It's okay, let's hear it." "I follow a very known celebrity who is known as the Asia's Sweetheart. She's also the only one that has never gotten hate online. Her name is Aliyah Grace." Pagkasabi n'ya sa pangalan ay kaagad na nagkatinginan ang mga tagapayo. "We all know her, she's very popular!" one said. "She has a very good reputation and background. I have been following her for a long time," said another one. The Queen grabbed her tablet on the table and quickly searched for the name Aliyah Grace online. Her smile grew as she scrolled through tons of pictures and swiftly read the information about her. "She's the daughter of Raymond Kim?" Olivia asked. "Is that the Raymond Kim that I know?" "Yes Queen, the business tycoon," answered Fernan. "So she's from Aztariya huh, she also studied in the University of Zoraya." The more she reads, the more she's liking the beautiful angelic woman on her screen. "Schedule a meeting with Mr. Kim, I need to talk to him immediately." "When do you want it to be Queen?" "Ask him if he's free tonight. If not," the Queen stopped for a while then giggled. "Wait a second, he wont reject the Queen's invitation, will he?" her creepy laugh echoed. She can't contain the crazy idea that's in her head right now. Just as she thought, Raymond did not dare turn down the Queen's invitation. Staying from a five hour away province, he flew in a private helicopter just to meet the Queen in the palace for dinner. On the helipad at the top floor, he was greeted by a bunch of servants that are ready to assist him. Fernan walked up to him and the two casually greeted each other. Raymond Kim has been to the palace a couple of times before, he's one of the richest people in Aztariya and is often present for business meetings and invited in other gatherings as well. "Mr. Kim, this way please," Fernan guided him to the dining room. In there, the Queen awaits while sipping her red wine. She stood up and greeted him upon his entrance. "It's been a while Mr. Kim," the Queen said. "Queen, It's a pleasure to meet you once again," he politely bowed. "Enough of that, come and sit. I have something to talk to you about." The two enjoyed an amazing dinner, talking about some business progress. Raymond has informed the Queen about the success of on of their projects. Which is the business from the indigenous people that he guided. These people from the province produces creative art pieces, and decorative furniture to sell and export out as well. The Palace has also helped by funding their first products. "That's a relief, really. At least now they have a stable income, that's really a great news." "That is all because of your kindness Queen." "Actually, it was the Prince who gave me the idea." Natigilan si Mr. Kim sa pag-inom. "Prince Kairo did?" he asked. "He did, that was his first ever project. But he's not officially introduced at that time, he was only twenty," the Queen stated. "He sent me a photo that he found online, it was a beautiful nightstand made of wood. It was being sold for almost nothing but nobody was willing to buy it. He was in Zoraya that time, and he asked me to get that for him." The Queen giggled while reminiscing. "He convinced me that such talent should not go to waste, and that they deserve a chance. That's why I called you and your people at the time." "It is actually such a surprise to hear from you back then. My daughter has just shown me a picture of a night stand as well. It was carved so delicately, and I can already tell how much time it took them, it was being sold for five hundred coins that time." "Right, luckily now they can have a price that is equal to their hard work." They happily clinked their glasses and drank. "Ah, I got so distracted. I almost forgot why I called you here," the Queen said. Raymond adjusted himself, waiting for the next words that she is about to say. "As you may already know, my son Kairo has been wronged so many times in the internet. Now people have been demanding us to disregard him as the crown Prince," she sadly said. "Even if none of those are true, his image was totally crushed. And we only able to come up with a single idea." "Yes Queen?" "We need your daughter's help. If she could marry the Prince and become the Princess, there may be a chance for us to save the crown." Pinakiramdaman ni Olivia ang reaksyon ni Raymond. Pero wala itong sinasabi. "I know it is too much to ask, but I am very desperate right now. We need someone that can influence people to know who Kairo is. He's been wronged, the people needs to know." Mr. Kim gulped, took a deep breath and directly looked at the Queen. His eyes are filled with confusion and nervousness. "You want my daughter to be the Princess of Aztariya?" his voice trembled. "Yes, if you would per-" "My Queen, this is truly an honor. I would never refuse such an offer if you ask me. But Queen Olivia, I must say," Raymond hesitated. "Yes? Continue?" "This is not for me to act upon. It is a decision for my daughter." Napangiti si Olivia sa tugon nito sa kaniya. "I commend you for that, you are a great father. I hope to talk to your daughter as soon as possible then." "Thank you very much Queen Olivia, I will bring her here tomorrow night." "I'll be waiting."