Royal Family: Behind the Curtains

By Mariam Gabunia

Rose has always dreamed about marrying a prince charming, but instead she married an evil stepmother. Rose was born as a Princess, but got exiled from royalty when she was a child. Marriage proposal from Prince Kit is a chance of returning to royal life, so she takes it. Unfortunately, what a 21st century Princess thinks of as a dream, turns out to be a nightmare. She desires a peaceful, calm family life, but the endless cycle of rigorous rules, strict demands, and media abuse makes her mental health suffer at its deepest level. What is worse, Kit, despite being as handsome and alluring as any fairy tale knight, has absolutely no desire to love his wife and makes her life more miserable than any evil stepmother could. Now, Rose has to choose what to do. Stay in the Royal Family and make an arrogant Prince fall in love with her or rebel against Royal rules and defy The Queen herself. Or maybe both…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mariam Gabunia
• Release date: Sep 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223326038

Mariam Gabunia

Mariam Gabunia is 22 years old psychologist, hypnotist, counselor, tutor and coach from Georgia. 

Book preview

Prologue   

Snowflakes of icy winter morning fell on the window sills and left tiny drops on silver covering. Rose sat on the floor with a pounding heart and accelerated breath. Her hands were shaking, but coldness had nothing to do with it. Anxiety and apprehension were freething her mind more than the breath of a February wind. Rose was never a courageous, valorous, and intrepid woman who could face the danger and accept the arduous obstacles of life without blinking an eye. On the contrary, she was the paradigm of naivete and paragon of gentleness. She could never imagine having a piercing gaze or acerbic tone towards anyone or anything. Only thing she knew was to be kind, polite, soft, and patient. Indeed, virtues of a soon-to-be royal. Marrying The Prince of Millenia was the greatest gift and the most strenuous challenge life has given to her and the only way she could think of to deal with it was love. She would love her husband with all her heart, show affection to the people of Millenia, and support every single soul in the palace if they needed help. Ancient writers often used to say that love is the force which makes rivers flow, mountains stand, and winds blow. If that feeling is so powerful how could it not assist her adjusting to the royal life?

She kept repeating those words all over again, but something from the depth of her soul was telling her that there was much more to royalty than love. There was something unfathomably complicated hidden behind the curtains. But what? What could go wrong with marrying The Prince and becoming famous? Rose tried to make her breath even and looked at the clock. It was time to get prepared. Princess closed her eyes and imagined the army of servants and maids waiting to help her get ready for the royal wedding. She stood up with trembling legs and shaking hands, sighed and opened the door.She needed to be strong, she needed to be brave, because she was just a few hours away from entering the realm of etiquette, protocols, plethora of rules, customs and traditions she had to follow! Rose descended the marble stairs of the palace with the greatest fear anyone could have. Fear of not knowing what was behind the curtains!

Chapter 1

The Day of a Wedding

Smell of roses and lilacs filled the air along with sunshine reflecting from splendid Millenian jewels. Pearl bracelets and diamond rings, emerald tiaras and ruby brooches. The wealth of the all-famous Royal Family was in fact undoubtable and Rose could see it now. Her hands were shaking as she slowly touched a sapphire necklace on her lithe, swanlike neck. The necklace was more than eight hundred years old and it once belonged to Princess Adrianna, first ever Princess of Bolduire in her own right. Rose’s future husband Prince Kit, current Prince of Bolduire was Princess Adrianna’s direct descendent and proud bearer of all her titles, including honorary member of Millenian Royal Family. Prince Kit decided to let his fiancee wear Princess Adrianna’s necklace on the wedding day, despite adverse objections from his mother. The necklace Rose was supposed to wear that day was one of the most expensive and beautiful jewelry pieces in the world. Only the large sapphire in the middle of a necklace was worth an enormous fortune, not to mention all the small sapphires on the sides and pure white gold, of which the necklace was made. Rose could not believe that she was considered worthy enough to wear such a precious piece of jewelry. To be honest, she could not even believe that she ended up marrying member of Millenian Royal Family, but here she was. Today was the day of a wedding.

Maids were waiting outside the door with lily flowers in their hands. It was an ancient Bolduirian tradition, according to which the bride had to walk on the lily flowers before the wedding and on violets afterwards. As explained in the books about Millenian traditions, lily was the symbol of willingness and violet was a symbol of love. Meaning that bride had to enter the Landor* willfully and leave it with the heart full of love towards the partner, to whom her fate was eternally bound. Rose felt the sweet aroma of lilies as she stepped on them and warmly smiled to the maids waiting for her. None of the maids dared to return a smile to their future Princess. Rose assumed they did not like her, but in reality the reason behind the maids' coldness was fear of familiarity in front of their Princess-to-be. Slightly disappointed bride continued walking down the long and luxurious hall of the palace. Grasping her fingers, and trying to concentrate on the silence, which was only interrupted by the sound of gentle footsteps. The hall was so long, that Rose thought it took ages to finally reach the stairs. Maids carefully took the veil and train of the wedding dress and waited for the bride to start descending marble stairs.

‘’My name is Rose Fiona Scarlett and I can do it.’’- her whispers echoed the walls, full of portraits and busts of Bolduirian Princes and Princesses.

‘’My name is Rose Fiona Scarlett and I can do it’’- she whispered again when voices of the crowd reached her ears.

-Your Serene Highness! - Chief valet of The Princely Palace approached her with a cold look on his pale face.- tens of thousands of people gathered to witness your last greeting before becoming The Princess of Bolduire.

Afraid of voice starting to tremble, Rose simply nodded and smiled as gently as she could.

-Please!- The chief valet opened his arm in the direction of the palace door, while gesturing to guards to open it.

‘’Smile beautifully, wave gently, move graciously.’’- Rose remembered three golden rules of meeting with a crowd. Rules, which every single royal had to follow. Prince Kit’s mother- Princess Melissa made it clear as bell that Millenian Royal Family could not afford a single violation of any rule. Pressure of being the perfect royal bride was alarmingly high, but Rose kept repeating herself that she could do it.

‘’My name is Rose Fiona Scarlett and I can do it.’’ -This time she whispered beneath her breath and walked out of the palace. The bride was greeted by the shining sun spreading its rays in the cold air of the Bolduirian mountains and the cheering sounds of the gathered crowd. People were clapping, whistling, and yelling her name. Almost all of them had flowers and posters in their hands. Rose managed to read several words. ‘’Congratulations’’, ‘’Happy’’, ‘’Joy’’, and ‘’Eternal’’. She took it as a sign of everyone congratulating her on the entrance into the happy and joyful eternity.

Luxurious, vintage coach carriage which had been built from blue, black, and silver gems, was waiting outside the palace gate. Rose could not help but gasp at the sight of shimmering stones and marvelous wheels. In front and behind the royal carriage soldiers were waiting on their horses to accompany the coach and escort their future Princess to the Landor. One valet opened the carriage door for her, and the other one helped her to sit inside. Meanwhile maids laid down the train of dress carefully on the carriage floor, which was as shiny and marvelous as the outside parts of the royal conveyance. Rose remembered all the beautiful carriages she had read about in fairy tales. The one she was sitting in was prettier and greater than anything she had read before. Rose only hoped that her fate would also resemble fairy tales.

Whole way from the palace to Landor was filled with happy people, cheering loudly to the bride and throwing lily flowers to her carriage. Even though the coach was not open, Rose was able to see smiley faces of her future subjects. Bride was waving gently and graciously, as she was taught by tutors and Princess Melissa. The Dowager Princess of Bolduire never seemed either welcoming or antagonistic towards her future daughter-in-law. Rose could not say whether Melissa was approving her son’s choice of a partner or not, but she had a strong feeling that the heart of a proud Princess was not going to be won easily.

‘’I am Rose Fiona Scarlett and I can do it.’’- whispered the bride once again as she continued to smile and wave to the cheering crowd, who seemed to like their future Princess a lot. ‘’Gentle, shy, and pretty.’’- These were the words most of the Millenian newspapers used to describe new-comer to the Royal Family. Rose knew that gentleness and beauty were among the qualities members of The Royal Family needed, but she was not sure about shyness. None of the members of Millenian Royal Family were shy. They were proud, rigid, reticent, sagacious, charming, mysterious, sophisticated, spectacular, confident.... But shy... definitely none of them.

The bride’s smile and wavering became automatic as she got lost in her thoughts and almost forgot about the anxiety she was feeling. Rose had an urge to grasp her white diamond bracelet, a gift from her paternal grandmother. Everytime she was feeling worried or frightened she used to clatch her bracelet and remember all the sweet hugs her grandmother used to give her. Rose always had a feeling that grandma Jane was the only person who truly and sincerely loved her. The only person who never cared whether Rose’s manners were suitable for The Princess or not. Grandma Jane made sure that her beloved granddaughter would have the joy and carelessness of childhood, because she of all people knew what it was like to be born and then to marry into The Royal Family.

Rose came back from her train of thoughts the moment the carriage stopped. Valet opened the door, bowed and offered his hand to the bride, who graciously accepted and stepped down on carriage stairs. Crowd clapped and yelled so loudly that Rose thought a hurricane and thunderstorm were coming. Maid approached her with a small, but beautiful and delicate bouquet of flowers. Another ancient Millenian tradition. Bride had to take a bouquet right before entering Landor. Royal brides were no exception. Only difference between them and commoners was the choice of flowers. Commoners could have whatever plants they wanted in their bouquet, but royal brides had to include at least three flowers, which were endemic to Millenia. Rose chose Rysse and Nei. Two purple valley flowers, whose beauty could only be seen in the lands of Millenia. Third one, the small white flower Carilla, was the most beautiful among them and the only place it could be picked up was the high mountains of Bolduire.

Rose clutched the bouquet, turned around, waved to the crowd again and thought to herself that this was the last time she was greeting people as a foreigner Princess. Next time people would have the pleasure of meeting her she would have been a Millenian Royal. Bride had to ascend stairs again before entering the Landor. She wanted maids to carry the veil and train of her dress, but according to another Millenian tradition, a way from carriage to Landor had to be walked alone by the bride. No one else was allowed to accompany her. The tradition was created in the 13th century, during the reign of Queen Katarina the Magnificent. Her Majesty saw the tradition of male family members escorting brides as an outrageous custom, which was diminishing women’s rights. Hence, The Queen made all the brides, did not matter royal or a commoner, entering the Landor alone. Rose started ascending slowly, afraid of stepping on her dress and falling. Everyone, including the gathered people and royal guard thought that the bride chose to move without hurry in order to maintain elegant posture. None of them could ever imagine that members of royal families could feel such a simple and human thing as a fear of failure.

Rose took a deep breath when she reached the top of the stairs. Walking down the aisle was just several steps away. She knew that everyone would stand up, turn around, and look at her with curious eyes. They would observe every single movement, every single step she would take. She had to remember not to look at them, and just look at her future husband- Prince Kit. Or to be more precise, the back of his husband. Another one of plenty of traditions brides, especially royal ones, had to follow. Groom was not allowed to look at the bride, until she reached him. In the deepest corner of her heart Rose had a sparkle of hope that her royal fiance would go against tradition, turn around and look at his beautiful bride with eyes full of pride, admiration and astonishment. Unfortunately, as it often happens, reality did not care to follow one’s wishes. The Prince of Bolduire was standing as still as a statue.

‘’My name is Rose Fiona Scarlett and I can do it’’- whispered the bride again as she started moving towards her future husband. She could hear her heart beating as she stopped in front of the Royal Family of Millenia, sitting gloriously near Prince Kit. Their faces were splendid and strict. Cold and welcoming simultaneously. Rose looked at her hands and curtsied as elegantly and decorously as she could. She was afraid to look at The Queen's face. Who, as a sovereign of Millenia had powers and authority no one would dream to possess. Rose had a privilege to meet her on multiple occasions and she assumed that The Queen was not charmed by her, but one can never really be sure when it comes to royals, especially if this royal is a monarch. Rose decided not to concentrate on what The Queen would think about her curtsy and continued walking down the aisle with tightly grasped fingers around her bouquet.

The Prince of Bolduire stayed still and did not even give his bride a side look as she stood next to him. Loud and pleasant voice of The Archiland made Rose shiver because she finally realized that today was the day of a wedding.

Chapter 2

Millennian Royals

The Prince of Bolduire was as strikingly handsome as Princes described in old fairy tales. Similar to the majority of his ancestors, his hair was curly and black as raven. His eyes were dark as a night sea. One could assume that The Prince was a paragon of pacificity just by looking at his facial features. No one could imagine any strong emotion crossing his pale face. Prince Kit was often praised because of his ability to remain calm in every situation and admired because of his serene beauty.

Rose could not help but let a shy smile of amazement slid her tightly pressed lips in sight of her future husband’s allure. The Prince did not bother to return even the slightest smile, nor did he show any sign of affection. Whole time when Archiland was reading matrimonial texts Kit was silent and looking at Rose shallowly. She could swear that Prince’s thoughts were not present. His mind was absent from the wedding ceremony and Rose could see that Kit did not wish to concentrate on whatever was happening to them. That was the first time Rose asked herself if she made a mistake by agreeing on Prince's proposal. She did not want to find an answer because it was too late to make changes. Kit and Rose had to make vows today and promise each other eternal love and faithfulness.

Rose would never forget Kit’s tranquill, steady voice as he said:

-I, Kit Dareon Arger Gideon Arnattode take, thee, Rose Fiona Scarlett as my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part.

Rose felt a pleasant shiver in her bones as hope of gaining Prince’s affection sparkled her heart. Lightened by enthusiasm she repeated the wedding vow without fear of her voice getting shaken.

-I, Rose Fiona Scarlett take, thee, Kit Dareon Arger Gideon Arnattode, as my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part.

Archiland warmly smiled at the seemingly happy couple and before preceding the ceremony, let the royal orchestra of Millenia perform a modernized version of an ancient love song. The bride and groom slowly turned around and looked at the wedding guests sitting in the long rows of Landor. Rose made sure not to let happy expressions leave her face while observing reactions of her present and future family members. Her uncle, Raul, The King of Ferrao, could not help but radiate the pride he was feeling for marrying his niece into the world’s most famous and powerful Royal Family. His wife did not look that excited. Queen Valentina was just looking at the bride and groom with a modest smile on her face. Same went for all of her and King Raul’s children, their spouses and grandchildren. Rose’s parents were glowing from happiness, but The Princess was sure that this feeling had nothing to do with hopes of her getting the life of her dreams and finding love of her life. Bride’s parents were happy for all the glory and fame their not-so-famous family would get as in-laws of The Prince of Millenia. Smile on Rose’s sister- Lily seemed more or less genuine. As for Kit’s family, Rose found their reactions too good to be true.

The Queen was looking in her direction like a proud mother, who enjoys the beauty and success of her daughter. Could that be true? Could one of the most influential humans in the whole world sincerely love the new-comer in her all-famous family? Rose decided not to let herself dream, because life taught her several times how painful disappointment could be. Rea Arnattode was known to be sharp, witty, and even sarcastic sometimes. Carrying the burden of being sovereign of Millenia made her mysterious nature even more puzzling. Rose always found it difficult not to mix the overwhelming pride in her brown eyes into the sparks of arrogance.

Amused look on King Nikolaj’s face was far more comforting for the trembling bride than any other members of the Royal Family. The King Consort has always been her favorite. Something in Nikolaj’s manners, style, tone, voice, and ways of communication was soothing. For Rose, the golden-haired King was certainly the most down-to-earth royal, and she considered that as incredibly hard to believe, given that he was the husband of the sovereign herself. Rose always wanted to thank Nikolaj for his humility, but never got a chance to do it.

Right next to The King Consort, was sitting Berengaria, The Crown Princess of Millenia. Widely considered as the most lovable and loving royal, who has ever been born in the blessed dynasty of Millenia. Royal, whose presence only was enough to feel overshadowed. Berengaria was the prettiest woman Rose has ever laid eyes on. She had never seen beauty like hers nor in the present, neither in the pictures or portraits of the past. Berengaria was a marvel from tip to toe. Effortlessly gracious and radiant. People could not stop falling in love with her. Their future Queen was as perfect inside as she was outside. Who would not feel pride for having The Crown Princess who had spent an unfathomable amount of money on charity and the well-being of her people?! The Crown Princess who was regarded as the fashion icon all around the globe?! Who could instill divinity in every common gesture and simultaneously being humble and down-to-earth? Rose was warned by lots of people, even by Prince Kit and Princess Melissa that she would be compared to Berengaria. If Rose would wear blue the next day all the Millenian newspapers would write an article about how the future Princess of Bolduire copied the style of The Crown Princess. Every single choice of outfit, every single step or comment made by Rose would be compared to Berengaria and people would always prefer the latter. Rose thought that she made her peace with it, but deep down in heart she knew she did not. Since the day she was spotted with Prince Kit, Rose was seeing the articles, posts, collages and edits in both: printed and social media about herself. People became obsessed with her. What was worse they started to diminish Rose’s physical and personal virtues by constantly comparing her to Berengaria, who was now sitting next to her father and was smiling at Rose so warmly and so honestly that the bride could not feel mere antagonism towards her and only thing she could feel was to dream about being as effortlessly perfect as her one day.

Berengaria’s husband, The Crown Prince Richard, who was looking at Rose and Kit with affectionate gaze, was loved and accepted by Millenian people, not only as the husband of their future Queen, but also as the loving, caring, empathic, and astonishingly handsome, blue-eyed royal. Being the husband of the world's favorite Princess was not easy, but Richard Arnattode managed to deal with an excruciatingly hard task quite successfully. ‘’The Crown Princess Couple’’, as the official royal website and people were calling them, was an ultimate triumph. From carrying royal duties excellently to creating the image of an exemplary family, Berengaria, Richard, and their two adorable children put an immense pressure on Kit and Rose. Because, either subconsciously or consciously, Millennians would expect the same or near the same from the royal-princely family of Bolduire.

The Hereditary Princess Alexina, three years old daughter of The Crown Princess Couple, was serving as a flower girl at the royal wedding. Rose found being present at the five hours long ceremony much too tiring for the three years old child. She even told it to The Queen, but Rea Arnattode answered her complaint by an ice-cold voice and told her that Alexina was the future monarch and she had to start fulfilling her duties as early as possible. So far, the little Princess was doing everything perfectly. She was sitting on a small golden chair with a basket of valley flowers in her hand and a flower crown on her golden hair. Her one year old brother- Prince Argillac was sitting in his father’s lap and adorably observing the ceiling of the huge Landor. Rose felt somewhat relieved by Alexina and Argillac’s presence because the little Princess and her brother were the only members of the Royal Family whose spirits were not touched by the customs, traditions, rules and expectations of being a royal. Rose enjoyed all the rare occasions where she had spent time with them, even though strict formality was always kept. Formality such as curtsying in front of little children. Tutors of royal etiquette made it clear for Rose that she would always have to make a curtsy to Alexina and Argillac, because it did not matter the age, they would always outrank her in the order of precedence.

Prince Shaun, younger brother of The Queen, was sitting next to Richard. Sagacious and sophisticated royal was said to be the best brother anyone could ask for. Despite the chance of marrying The Crown Princess of another kingdom and becoming The King himself, he chose to stay in Millenia and support his sister. There was no one in the universe, The Queen would trust more than her brother. Rose did not know whether the close bond between the monarch and her brother would be advantageous for her or not. It depended on The Queen’ choice. If she would decide she liked Rose, then Prince Shaun would do his best to support the new-comer, but in the opposite scenario, the brown-eyed and seemingly gentle prince might have become Rose’s worst enemy. Prince was mysterious enough to make it difficult for everyone to make any decisions about his inner self. He was carrying all the duties on behalf of his sister faithfully, but what was deep down his heart was secret to Rose. So far, she could only say that the sincerity of The Prince's warm smile was questionable.

Prince Shaun’s wife- beautiful Princess Lena was the most transparent and rebellious member of The Royal Family. From what Rose had heard, she was always up to changing or breaking the rules of etiquette. Princess Lena had opened and closed the car door herself several times, worn a short-sleeved dress on meetings, which did not allow such dresses. She had not worn hats, fascinators or gloves when she had to and sometimes, she did not even wear the tiara on royal balls. Social media was speculating about a series of warnings The Queen had given her. Queen Rea was distinguished by the strict demand of following the rules and freedom she was giving to Princess Lena could only be explained by the gratefulness and love The Queen was feeling for her brother. Whether Princess Lena was using the bond between royal siblings as an advantage or not, was unknown to Rose, but she found honesty and rebellious spirit of Princess quite pleasant, because at least she would have a member of a Royal Family, she could ask for honest advice and opinion.

Princess Adelaide, seventeen years old daughter of Prince Shaun and Princess Lena AKA The Prince Couple, was grasping her clutch tightly while grinning to the bride and groom. She seemed a bit worried but her dark eyes had the same pride and sparks of arrogance as the eyes of her beloved aunt- The Queen. Rea Arnattode loved her niece so much that the media even tried to raise speculations about The Crown Princess being jealous of her cousin, but people did not believe a single word of it. They just could not imagine any negative feeling or behavior coming from Berengaria. Rose was unsure about the rumors. Like other people, she too could not picture neither jealous and angry Berengaria, nor attention-seeking Adelaide who was trying to rip her cousin off of her mother’s love and attention. Rose thought that Adelaide might be as beautiful inside as she was outside. Somehow, The Princess was reminding her of Kit. Both: Adelaide and The Prince of Bolduire had the same raven-black hair and dark eyes. Same pale face and even same facial features. Similarity between them was surprising, even though they shared blood and ancestry after all.

Adelaide’s younger brother- Prince Allan was just fourteen years old, but looked even younger. Rose was hundred percent sure that happy grin on his face was nothing but sincere. Young Prince was a perfect combination of his parents. Prince Shaun’s facial features were harmonically mixed with Princess Lena’s eyes and hair. Rose knew she did not need to worry about gaining the young Prince’s approval, but she was worried about thirteen years old Prince Robert- Adelaide and Allan’s younger brother.

Robert