Camilla decided to trust her instincts for once this time, and she slowly placed a finger on the book gently.
When she noticed that nothing was working out, she pressed on the small diamond hard but firm, and she heard a click sound.
The silver roots slowly retraced itself into the small diamond at the center, and finally, the book opened to the first content on its own.
Suddenly, she felt a sudden connection to her unknown heritage throughout despite the shock.
The first page of the book that it turned revealed the name of the mysterious roots that binded the book earlier.
And Camilla, who couldn’t control herself as she remembered her silly self from earlier, chuckled.
The roots were known as “runes” in the book, which made Camilla question if she was a witch in disguise, which would not be far off from the truth itself, because she had heard about runes before but hadn’t seen them anywhere.
As Camilla went through the book, the expression on her face remained ever-changing, as she was amazed that she could read the contents of the book.
It was written in a strange language that she had never read nor come across in her entire life, despite being fluent with different languages across the kingdom.
As she was engrossed with reading the contents of the book, she lost track of time and failed to notice that someone was knocking at her room door at the time.
Julia, who couldn’t control her worried self any longer, pushed the door open and peeked in to look at what was keeping the owner of the room occupied, as it was unlike her to keep someone waiting at the door, even if she was busy.
Camilla, upon hearing the door open abruptly, flinched slightly.
Shoving the mysterious book aside under the dresser quickly, she stood up in slow motion.
Then she flashed a nervous smile at her mother, who came inside the room with a concerned expression.
“What can I help you with, Mom?” she asked calmly, trying to behave normally under Julia’s scrutiny.
Julia, after calming her thoughts that were already thinking the worst, patted her chest, turned to her, and asked,
“What were you busy with, dear?
I have been knocking for nearly two minutes,” she questioned.
Camilla, although surprised to hear that she had been knocking for that long, masked her expression to avoid giving anything away and suddenly blushed.
Julia, who was looking at her daughter’s shy expression, was stunned momentarily, then smiled.
“I’m really sorry, Mom.
I was carried away with admiring my hair that looked very beautiful in the mirror,” she blurted out of nowhere and kept her gaze to the floor in embarrassment, as the excuse sounded too abnormal for someone like her, and she cringed at her stupidity. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
“Oh dear, you are finally starting to show emotions girls your age show.
I understand, honey.
At your age, I would get carried away looking at myself in the mirror too.
No need to feel embarrassed.
I’m your mother,” Julia assured her in her loving motherly voice.
And Camilla immediately felt bad for lying to her.
“Let’s go downstairs.
We received an invite from the palace.
Your father is yet to open it—that’s why I came up here,” she said, lightly smacking her head as she almost forgot.
“An invite from the palace?” Camilla asked in curiosity, and Julia nodded as they made their way downstairs.
“There you both are!
I was beginning to think I had to send a car to bring you both down here,” Liam said in false anger.
“You need actual money to get one, and that, dear younger brother, you are too far behind in that area,” she countered while keeping her angelic smile on her face.
Soon, the both started bickering with each other, and Mark felt a headache coming just by listening to them.
“Calm down, children.
At this rate, you might burn down the house in our absence one day,” he joked.
“Why are you even surprised?
He would be the one to start the fire, Dad.
He doesn’t know how to even light a candle properly,” Camilla jabbed again.
“You—” Liam made to retort when Julia held him in place, making him huff at the partiality.
“Ah, that’s true,” Mark confirmed what she previously heard from her mom while they were still in her room.
“What is it about?
The kingdom rarely holds a ball during this time of the year,” Liam asked in confusion.
“Well, I would have to read to know, right?” Mark asked in a sarcastic tone, which earned a giggle from Camilla as Liam shot her a glare to behave herself.
Mark opened the box that was delivered to them and took out the letter which stated the purpose of the delivery they got.
“It’s an invitation to the palace to attend a welcome party hosted by the king to formally welcome Prince Thane of the Valtoria Kingdom here.”
“This isn’t necessary.
So why hold a party unless the Prince is here on a formal visit—to stay?” Camilla voiced her thoughts.
“Well, there is a rumor going around the ministers that the king plans to have a peace treaty by giving away his daughter in marriage to the Prince.
Although I heard the Prince came here to look for a wife, with the princess being the first option.
The princess is already spreading rumors about them being together to discourage any lady from setting their sights on the Prince, as she already sees herself as his wife,” Mark concluded.
“Woah, that was one hell of a way of explaining things in a detailed way,” Liam, being his usual self, disrupted the serious mood that was gained by Mark for his unique explanation that deeply satisfied their curiosity.
Camilla, who suddenly remembered the Prince’s existence again after forgetting him, reminded herself mentally to open the gift he got her on her graduation.
She couldn’t help but wonder if he was really playing around or serious about what he asked that night.
Her heart still didn’t skip a beat like how she read in the novels, despite remembering his romantic gestures, and she sighed mentally, remembering she was still with her family.
“What do you think, Camilla?
Who will win this battle of capturing the Prince’s heart?” Liam asked while holding his hand up to serve as an imaginary microphone.
“Give it a rest, Liam,” Mark said, coming to her rescue, and Camilla flashed a smile at him in gratitude.
The following week that followed after the graduation ceremony passed by in a blink, and soon it was the royal ball of the Lunaria Kingdom to welcome Prince Thane to their kingdom formally.