The Prince's Soulmate - S01 E26

Story 5 months ago

The Prince's Soulmate - S01 E26

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 26

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BEAU

Age: 24

JACKSON

Age: 22

RAÚL

Age: 17

KRISTOF

Age: 16

JUN

Age: 13

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He headed downstairs, pulling me along with him when I stayed rooted in my spot.

Five guys came up to us curiously. Ashton just looked annoyed with the whole situation.

I felt like a hobbit as they crowded around us. They were all incredibly handsome. It was like looking at six runway models.

Even with their messy hair and casual clothes, they looked more majestic than I ever hoped to. What were they feeding these guys on?

I needed the recipe… for research purposes.

One of the guys stepped forward. He was tall and had dark brown hair and striking cerulean eyes.

“Hello,” he smiled at me. “I’m Beau.”

“I’m Elizabeth,” I responded with a small wave.

The rest of the guys milled closer to us and gave Ashton probing glances. Another guy with chestnut hair and green eyes introduced himself as Jackson.

“Is this your girlfriend?” a pale guy with platinum blonde hair asked Ashton.

“Something like that,” he responded with a sigh.

I whirled around and gave him a questioning look.

“I’m Elizabeth… not Nicole. Remember?” I whispered pointedly.

“Wasn’t your girlfriend blonde and annoyi-” an Asian guy started saying, but was elbowed by Jackson.

He was visibly the youngest of all the guys. Maybe in his early teens.

Beau smiled in realization, but it quickly disappeared. “She is your betrothed? You found her?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Hey, that's awesome!” he grinned. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I said unfortunately, didn’t I?” he stated, with a frown. “I’m not even sure, but I’m really hoping I’m wrong.”

“You were betrothed?” the platinum blonde asked. “I didn’t know that.”

“Well now, thanks to Beau, everyone does.”

“I’m your what?” I asked him.

He pointedly ignored me. I crossed my arms and resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

Beau flashed him a grin. “You couldn’t keep it secret forever.” He smiled at me. “I’m glad you’re okay, Elizabeth. After the incident… Anyways, it’s great now that you’re here.”

“Relax man,” Ashton groaned. “She doesn’t even know who I am.”

I turned to Ashton wondering if this was all some big prank. I shrugged and decided to play along. “Who are you exactly?”

“Just don’t freak out again, okay,” he said, looking me in the eyes.

“I’m kind of the prince.”

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

I stared at the six guys in front of me, all quiet. Waiting for my reaction. Probably waiting for me to bow before him.

I rolled my eyes. So this was a prank. How old did they think I was to believe something like that?

Ashton Rivera seriously would not leave me alone. Especially this past year, he took every opportunity he got to taunt me. I guess he was just irritated because I showed no interest in him whatsoever. Well, this put the icing on the cake.

Maybe Chance the Rapper was waiting to pop out and tell me I’d been Punk’d. I looked around slowly, to try and find a camera, but I couldn’t.

The situation was slowly starting to upset me, but it was also funny to think that Ashton thought I would believe that he was the prince.

A laugh bubbled from my lips and I couldn’t stop laughing as the bewildered and confused expressions on their faces grew. Ashton scoffed and scowled darkly beside me.

The guys glanced at me, then at Ashton, then back at me, then back at Ashton. It continued like that for a moment until Jackson spoke up.

“We’re telling you the truth, Elizabeth,” he explained. “You might think we’re joking, but we’re not.”

I grinned and gave him a ‘Really? You’re keeping this up?’ look.

“You have a pretty good reason to be confused. Ashton’s done a good job of hiding his true identity,” he stated reassuringly. He actually seemed to genuinely believe Ashton.

“Don’t tell me you believe this, Jackson?” I asked incredulously

“He is the prince. No joke about it,” he said in a low tone.

The other four guys didn’t seem eager to join our conversation.

This was crazy. No. This was past crazy.

“I’m not falling for it you guys,” I admitted with a smile. “We’re all regular citizens of this kingdom. I am and so are you. I think I’d know if Ashton was royalty.”

I stared at the six guys who remained motionless. Jackson made no effort to talk to me again, but redirected his attention to Ashton.

“Show her what you are.”

“No.”

“She’s your betrothed.”

Ashton growled lowly beside me which surprised me so much that I jumped into one of the guys standing close by. He raised an eyebrow at me and chuckled.

“You scared?” he asked with a hint of a Spanish accent.

“Of course not,” I replied. “I just want to go home.”

“Ashton decides when you leave, sorry,” he smiled.

“I thought this was a free country,” I protested.

He chuckled, very much amused and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

“Name’s Raúl,” he bent down to whisper in my ear.

“Are you confused about Ashton’s identity too?” I asked, half expecting him to get upset and defensive like the others, but instead he laughed lightly.

“Nah, I’m not confused, babe.”

I let out a breath of relief.

“I know he’s the prince.”

I groaned and he smiled at me. I was already beginning to like Raúl. He was easy to get along with.

“Ahem.”

I looked around to see Jackson, who was glaring not at me, but at Raúl with a disgusted expression on his face. Beside him Ashton’s eyes were dark, but blazing.

“Step away from her now,” Ashton growled.

“Your highness, I’m just talking with her. I’m not-”

“Raúl, now!” he hissed.

Raúl’s eyes widened and he dropped his hands from my shoulders and backed away from me.

“I was just introducing myself to her,” he argued. He muttered something in Spanish under his breath.

“What was that for?” I glared at Jackson, who was still shooting Raúl some distasteful looks.

“You’re Ashton’s betrothed,” he explained, but that went over my head.

“Alright, seriously. Why do you keep saying that?”

“Take her to meet your parents,” Beau suggested.

“That was the plan,” Ashton muttered, checking his phone again.

He turned to me. “Let’s get this over with.”

I sighed and followed him up the stairs. I really didn’t understand what he was trying to pull here. To claim to be the prince was absolutely absurd.

After a few moments, we came to a large, opaque door that looked like it was made out of glass.

He took a silver ring from his pocket and put it on with a frown.

“Ashton, I really don’t get why you’re doing this,” I sighed. “Do you really believe that you’re the prince? The only resemblance you have to him is your hair… and your name. The prince is abroad, studying. I’ve known you my entire high school life.”

He ignored me. He barely knocked once when a booming voice on the other side said to come in. Ashton shot me a somewhat worried look and nervousness snaked its way into my stomach.

This is nothing to be nervous about, I mentally encouraged myself.

Ashton pushed the glossy doors open and ushered me inside.

The interior of the room was arranged just as luxuriously as the other rooms we had passed. In the center of the room was a large mahogany desk neatly stacked with mountains of papers.

The man sitting at the desk had tan skin and jet black hair, like Ashton, and vibrant green eyes. Even through his suit, he was visibly muscular. His strong jaw was set and his eyes seemed to pierce right through me as I stepped apprehensively into the room.

In the left corner of the room, a woman sat on a sofa writing in a book. When we stepped in, her attention quickly drifted from the book to us. A wide smile formed on her cherry colored lips. Her skin was lighter than Ashton’s and she had curly copper brown shoulder length hair and blue eyes.

She was so stunningly beautiful; it almost felt as if she couldn’t be real. She quickly set down her book and made her way over to us. Ashton’s dad also stood up as we approached his desk.

“Your majesties," he motioned to me. "This is Elizabeth."

25

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Chapter 26

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My jaw must have hit the floor as I stared at the two people in front of me.

"Y-your majesties" I stammered, hurriedly getting into a curtsey.

Okay, what was going on? Maybe they just looked like the king and queen. There was no way they could be the real deal. And there was no way they could be Ashton's parents. That just didn't make any sense.

Maybe they were one of those families that were so obsessed with royalty that they got plastic surgery to look like them. Yeah, that had to be it.

I glanced up to see his mom smiling at me. No, there was no denying it. She was the queen. She looked exactly like Queen Arabella. Ashton's dad, King Caden, wore an expression of satisfaction.

His mother's face lit up with another dazzling smile and she flashed an excited look at her husband. Ashton's father smiled and offered me his hand, which I shook. His mother embraced me in a warm hug, which kind of took me by surprise.

"It's nice to meet you both," I said as politely as I could.

I sent a confused look Ashton's way but he didn't look at me. Instead, he was texting on his phone.

"I have been wanting to meet you ever since Ashton mentioned he found you!" she smiled happily.

"We're very happy for both of you," his father said with a slight smile.

I turned around and sent Ashton yet another confused look. Found me? We've been going to the same school for years.

"To introduce myself, I am Queen Arabella DeLorentes," she laughed. "But you already know that."

Ashton shook his head irately and ran a palm over his face. "Will both of you stop it? She has no idea what you're talking about."

His mom's eyes flashed to mine, and on seeing my confusion, her smile faltered. Her husband gave me a questioning look and sighed in disbelief when he saw how puzzled I was.

"You haven't told her?" he asked angrily. To this Ashton scowled.

"Then... do you know why you are here?" his mom asked me.

"Um-" I glanced at Ashton, but of course he wasn't looking at me. Great.

"No, I'm not exactly sure," I answered softly.

His mom gasped dramatically, covering her mouth with her palm. His father gave him a disapproving look. I could tell he was getting angrier by the second.

"Ashton," he began while trying to keep his voice level. "You brought her here without telling her anything about this?"

Ashton's jaw clenched and his eyes hardened. "I told you I didn't want this. I brought her here to change your mind."

His dad brought down his fist onto the desk with so much force that I jumped in shock. His mom's eyes flitted from Ashton, to me to her husband.

"Your majesty, calm down. Ashton will figure this out the right way," she said. She gave Ashton a stern look. "You will sort this out."

Ashton scoffed and rolled his eyes. I glanced around the room feeling awkward. They were discussing me, but I couldn't understand what they were talking about.

I hated situations like this. The awkward moment when you're at someone's house and they start arguing with their parents, and you're just there like, That's an interesting wall.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Ashton leaned against the door and folded his arms over his chest.

I decided to say something. "Um, so should I..." I pointed my thumb towards the door. I didn't feel like listening to any more of the conversation.

"No, do not go," his mom pleaded, her face filled with worry.

"This was a mistake," Ashton muttered.

"You never grow up do you?" his father said darkly.

"Damn it!" Ashton snapped heatedly "Just give me a break!" His midnight blue eyes clouded over with anger.

"Kings don't take breaks," his father retorted.

"Well, I'm not the king, am I?"

"Not yet."

They stared each other down for a while before the king turned to me.

"Um..." I started. "Are you really the king and queen?" I asked uncertainly. I glanced nervously at Ashton.

His mom smiled at me again. "Yes, dear, we are. We will prove it to you in a second. Please, make yourself comfortable."

I moved to the seat that she gestured to and sat down stiffly. Ashton leaned on the wall beside me. He glared at the ground and his mouth was set in an impenetrable frown.

"You're probably wondering why we didn't meet on official palace grounds," his father started.

I nodded slowly. If they were who they said they were, they would be at the palace in the Royal Realm. Ashton had said this was his home.

"Well, for one it would have caused a certain level of commotion if the prince arrived with a girl. A commotion that isn't necessary right now. Secondly, the prince isn't supposed to be in the kingdom."

"You're saying that Ashton is really the prince?" I asked dubiously. "Ashton Rivera... my classmate?"

"Ashton DeLorentes," his dad corrected. "Rivera was just the last name he used for cover."

I was having a really hard time wrapping my mind around that. Ashton was just not the type of guy you would think of as a prince. Well, in a way he was. Like the way his presence commanded attention and authority. And he definitely 'looked' like a prince.

But his attitude was rotten, at least to me anyways. And he was a player. There was just no way...

"To prove that we are who we say we are," his father smiled. He un-wrapped a parcel that was covered with a purple and gold fabric. Inside were the royal signet and stamp.

His mother gracefully removed her crown and sat beside me. It was made of the purest gold and was set with precious stones. She held it up to the sunlight and I stared at the inscription which glowed when it came in contact with the rays of light.

Το βασίλειο του χρυσού δεν θα εξασθενίσει ποτέ

(The kingdom of gold will never fade)

I gasped, glancing between them in utter speechlessness. They were the real deal!

The king nodded. "Now that that's been taken care of, let's get down to business."

He sat down at the table in front of us. "I know this must come as a shock to you."

Yeah, a colossal one.

I looked over at Ashton, who was staring out the window, still visibly upset. I couldn't believe he was a prince. Much less the prince.

I wished I had paid more attention when dad was talking about him. Granted, there wasn't really much to know about him other than that he left the country when he was little. The royal family was extremely private and full of secrets.

"But, Prince Ashton," I almost choked over those words. "Shouldn't he be abroad studying? That's what we were told years ago."

"Yes, that was the story," the queen nodded. "But that is all it was. A story."

I frowned as my mind tried to piece together everything that was happening.

"Let me start from ten years ago," The king suggested. "Ashton had just turned eight and the government was plotting to dismantle the monarchy. Their main targets were the heirs to the throne. So we announced that we would be sending the princes out of the country to study.

"But instead, we hid them where no one expected them to be. Right here. Ashton went to a public school and his brother has been homeschooled."

I nodded slowly. "But why didn't you give Prince Ashton a completely different alias? His name kind of stands out."

"He was given another name," the king frowned. "But as you can tell, he has a bit of a rebellious trait. He defied our orders and went with his current name. Fortunately, after Ashton was named, people started naming their sons after him, so it wouldn't have been out of the ordinary to find a random boy named Ashton."

"That is true," I admitted. I hesitated a bit. My next question was one that had been on my mind ever since I got here.

"Let me guess," the queen smiled. "You are wondering why you are here."

"Yes."

By this time, Ashton had more or less finished his brooding and had sat down on the couch as far away from me as possible.

"Well," the king began. "You are to be Ashton's fiancée."

I stared at him, waiting for the punch line to that joke. As the seconds ticked by, I realized that there was none.

"I'm sorry, you must have the wrong girl," I said. "I'm not royalty or anything."

"I know that," he mused. "To be more precise, you are betrothed to Ashton."

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