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 Posted: Sun May 19, 2019 2:06 am
genre: romance, drama, fantasy
theme: arrange marriage
pairing: prince x spy
inspired by: manhua - 九州天空城之凤凰阵
▼ a glossary of things so we can keep track of them
CHARACTERS:
tab main: controlled by the owner only
tab - Elizabeth Cromwell/Lillian Abbot - spy, fake princess
tab - ??? - prince of ???
tab npc: can be controlled by anyone
tab - Lady Josselyn - Elizabeth's Cromwell attendant/watchdog
tab - Foreign King - no name yet, king of ??? (place Elizabeth is sent to)
PLACES:
tab - Kingdom of Cromwell - Elizabeth/Lillian's home country
tab - Kingdom of ??? -
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Posted: Sun May 19, 2019 2:07 am
 A young girl, no more than seventeen years old, stared at her own reflection that reflected from the carriage window. Tender, pale skin, amber eyes, and long, silky blond hair frame her small face that held her large round eyes, button nose and ruddy red lips that had been chewed on quite a bit due to habit. Lillian Abbot... No. Elizabeth Cromwell, crown princess of the Kingdom of Cromwell, stared blankly out of the carriage window, her eyes dark and filled with nervousness. The prattling of the carriage as it jousted her to and fro in her seat did little to settle her already tense mood. Instead, it only made it worst as the frown she had been wearing since she had left the border of her home kingdom grew deeper, the creasing lines upon her brow growing more prominent with each passing second.
Ever since they had crossed the border, they had been moving almost non-stop, with little to no rest aside from changing for new horse at each town they passed. And due to the harsh way of travel, the young woman had been like so, her face drawn towards the carriage's window, her eyes distance and her thoughts and emotions full of discordance. She had much on her mind, of course, and her thoughts were full of nothing but uncertainty. Blackmailed into marrying some man she didn't know was not exactly at the top of the young girl's wish list after all. What was she to think of the matter then? Not much obviously as the king did not even bother to seek her opinion on it and any protest she made were just easily shot down.
"Wrinkles, your highness. You will get them if you continue to frown so," came the monotone voice of the middle-age lady sitting across from Elizabeth, Lady Josselyn, her supposedly childhood nursemaid and faithful caretaker. Jostle out of her thought by the voice, Elizabeth turn to toss the woman a glare and only received a chuckle in return. Caretaker? More like a watchdog, was Elizabeth's thought as she toss the woman another glance before turning back to look out the window. Any other princess would have a young lady in waiting as her companion. However, that was not so for Elizabeth. After all, there was no room for an inexperience maid where they were heading and for what they were going to do.
"Mind you- I'm no real princess. Why should I care if I have wrinkles," she simply retorted. Though with her current clean looks and well dressed attire, she would certainly pass off as one. It was completely different from the her of three years ago of when she had been nothing but a beggar on the street. Oh how she wish she could return back to those simpler time. Heaving a soft sigh, she turned in her seat and glanced down to his fingers that were clutching unto an sealed envelopes that were given to her by the Cromwell king before he had left. She had yet to read it, and truthfully, she didn't want to either as she dreaded the contents within. She felt that it would only bring unwanted tears of anguish to her eyes.
"How much longer till we arrive?" Elizabeth found herself asking and as if in answering, the carriage slowed to a stop and the carriage's door was being opened by the coachman. The man's announcement that they had arrived sent a new wave of unease through her and she felt like shrinking into her seat, hoping she could just disappear. Her unease only grew as Lady Josselyn stepped out of the carriage and silently waited for Elizabeth to follow, hands outstretch and beckoning her to take. 'I can do this. It's not like I'm going to get married to some evil monster or something... right?' Shaking her head of such an outlandish thought, she took the hand and stepped out. Immediately, she was greeted by the small group of elegantly dressed maids and many more unfamiliar faces.
"Welcome, Princess Elizabeth Cromwell," the maids all said in practiced unison and gracefully curtsied. Smiling, they then retreated a step back, opening a pathway for a finely dressed middle age man to come forward. Elizabeth immediately recognized him as the current king of this foreign kingdom and promptly gave a perfect curtsy. She was bent very low, her head almost practically touching the ground whilst her white and purple gown settle around her like open flower petals. She was like a beautiful lily flower in full bloom.
"Greetings to your royal imperial majesty. Blessing to the sun and may you live for thousands and thousands of year," came the practiced line that had been crammed nonstop into her head for the past three years.
"Rise, rise, there is no need for such formalities between use." The voice that spoke was deep and it was followed by an equally deep chuckle. Following his worlds, she slowly raised her body and lifted her head to gaze at the man. Before she could say anything however, the man continued: "You are as the rumor says, Princess of Cromwell. After all, I have heard that they call you the 'Flower of Cromwell' within your kingdom. Your beauty is definitely befitting of that title. It is a blessing to have you as my daughter in law." He words sounded sincere but he hide truth within lies.
Hiding her nervousness and keeping her calm, she offered him a refreshing smile and said: "Your flatter me, your majesty, but I feel that I am only a simple clover compare to the exotic flowers of your kingdom."
A thunderous laugh followed her words. "Interesting," came the kings reply. He seemed to want to say something but then changed his mind and said something else instead: "There will be a banquet held tonight in your honor, Princess of Cromwell. I hope to chat with you more at that time. But for now, I have other matters to attend to." And without even waiting for her reply, he turned and left. It was only then did Elizabeth notice that there were actually more people here. While the king was here, his presence alone was enough to make everyone around him invisible. Were they the princes? If so, she glance around, trying to see if her husband to be was there as well. One would think that he would have come to greet her, right? Before she could pinpoint him, however, she noticed that one of men in particular gave her a very hard stare, his eyes carrying an undisguised hint of disgust and ridicule.
"The Flower of Cromwell?" The man spoke just loud enough for her to hear. "Ugly." A few people around him began to softly laugh.
Elizabeth was not sure what sort of reaction or response she should give and could only stare back at the man in confusion. Should she make a retort? Guessing from Josselyn's stern gaze, she suppose she shouldn't. She suppose it wouldn't be very princess like. It wouldn't do to accidentally break her cover so soon.
But really, what in the world did she do to earn such hostility? she wondered and repeatedly blinked her large amber eyes. All she wanted right now was to rest. Why won't these people just let her do that? There maids were obviously neglecting their duties by not immediately leading her to her room when the king had left. There was no need to make her stay here and 'entertain' these spoiled princes. ooc; took a while to think of something. hope this is good enough for a starter.
edit: ive been editing the post a lot all night. sorry for all the notifications
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Posted: Sun May 19, 2019 3:13 pm
Fingers tapping on the ivory desk that was sitting in front of him, a piece of wood had been chipped out almost no more than a few seconds ago, and his nails had been bitten down to nothing more than short ends. He heard a knock on the door and turned to watch it open, a young man in his late 20's though with the gray tips in his hair and his slightly drunken expression he looked much older than he already was. "Your bride is here, my dear sweet younger brother. I have to say I almost wish I was the one getting married but then again, I'm not the crown prince, and even I was I wouldn't marry for some treaty, I would marry for love." The annoying laughter that was followed was almost too much for the younger prince to bare as he stood up almost tripping over the pile of books that laid at his feet. "You know if the other kingdom were to find out how weak and sick you get sometimes, they would probably cancel the treaty but then again the entire kingdom would probably have to go to war at that point," he spoke loudly as if not caring if anyone else could be listening in. "Spies are so common nowadays, its hard to believe that she managed even to show up." his brother said, laughing loudly once again. That was it! He stood up and walked out of the room stomping down the hallway and tugging a hand through his long black hair, and he was rather straggly looking for a prince with deep-set steeled colored eyes, and light skin. Finding one of the rooms that he used to hide in as a child, he pushed the door and stepped inside, not realizing he found his way into the place which the princess was staying at.
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Posted: Mon May 20, 2019 9:27 pm
In the fifteen minutes that Elizabeth had arrived, she had yet to even leave the front entrance. Was she not the crown princess coming here to marry a prince? If so, she definitely didn't feel like it. Although she knew that this marriage was simply for show and that at most, Elizabeth Cromwell was simply political hostage, a security measure placed here for the sake of her kingdom, this treatment was very unexpected.
She recognize a few faces from files that had been given to her to study but due to being both physically and mentally exhausted, she pretend to not know and chose to ignore them. Facing the maids and giving them her most polite smile, she asked to be taken to her room. Somewhat unnerved by her uncaring attitude, the maids quickly move to pick up her luggage that had been unloaded from the carriage some time ago and made to lead the way. No one stopped them, seemingly aware that it wouldn't do to cause a scene here. There would no doubt be more opportunity in the future, like during the upcoming banquet for example. These were the thoughts that circled within their mind. Of course, Elizabeth was oblivious to their plotting and even if she did know, she still wouldn't have cared. People like them weren't hard to deal with. She had seen plenty like them during her time on the streets. Nobles sitting on their high throne and thinking they were above the world. With just a little knocking and they would easily come tumbling down. Probably the only reason they didn't dare to do anything now was due to the fact that the King himself had actually come to welcome her.
The maids lead her down a long hallway and for a while, Elizabeth enjoyed seeing the different architecture and splendor that greeted her eyes. It was completely different from the simplistic style of Cromwell. But after what seemed like the tenth corner turn, annoyance was slowly creeping up over building exhaustion. Why in the world was her room so far and why did they have such long hallways? Only after three more turn did they finally came to a stop before a set of large double doors. As she was expectantly waiting for them to open the door and bring her luggage inside, they did the complete opposite instead, dropping her luggage and quickly walking away without a word. Being treated like such, anyone would expect a pamper princess like Elizabeth Cromwell to throw a tantrum and cause a scene. How unfortunate for them that she was not the real Elizabeth Cromwell. No. She was Lillian Abbot, a person who knew how to hold grudges and bid her time.
A smile appear on the girl's beautiful face. What should have looked charming was instead very eerie. Lady Josselyn, who was also very annoyed with their treatment but chose to say nothing, noticed Elizabeth's smile and inwardly sighed. Having spent three years with her, she understood the smile very well and could only offer a silent prayer for the maids and the future peace of this castle. Acting out her job as the princess's personal attendant/caretaker, Lady Josselyn reached over to push open the double doors.
Surprisingly, what greeted the two was a dark and unlit room.ooc; sorry been busy with graduating stuff.
question- how many brothers would your character have?
and which prince would you be: the first, second, third, etc?
feel free to pm me or discord me @L-Terra#3528 for future plotting
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