Unblemished Innocence

Chapter 3 - Proposition

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"Momma! Papa!"

Catherine exclaimed rather loudly and ran towards her parents who had their arms wide open for her. The showered her with kisses and mutters of worry and affection mixed together, earning a giggle from Cath.

Queen Matilda watched her son sharply as his gaze followed his new friend to her parents. Being a shy six year old boy, Stefanos didn't have any friends. All of the children his mother had brought to him to befriend was turned down by him; so seeing him be like this to someone was news for the Queen.

Queen Matilda then approached the Ginemoux family, who were clueless of her advance towards them. Catherine was the first who noticed the Queen, as she stared st the regal lady curiously. Realizing that their daughter's attention was not on them anymoer, they turned alrund and immediately bowed in respect of the Queen.

The said woman nodded for them to stand back up, and as they did, she spoke, "You are this little girl's parents, correct?"

Odelia and Aldwyn shared eye contact. "Yes, we are, Your grace." Aldwyn politely answered.

Queen Matilda nodded. "I'd like to give you a proposition. You see, my son, Prince Stefanos," Their eyes flitted tot he shy boy hiding behind the Queen. "is quite reserved and does not really mingle with children His age. Seeing as your daughter is the first he's taken a liking to, I'd like to offer that every year, they meet each other at our Kingdom. Of course all expenses will be sponsored by myself."

The couple gasped at this before taking a moment to answer.

"Your majesty, as lovely as this offer is... Might we ask, why?" Odelia politely questioned.

"As I said, Prince Stefanos is... Reserved. I was hoping that with a friend, his confidence will move up and he won't be much of an introvert anymore. Of course I would not force this upon you, it is still your decision." The Queen finished, giving them a while to process it all.

"Well... I think that it will be a wonderful opportunity, your grace. What do you think, Aldwyn?" Odelia remarked, turning to her husband.

Catherine, who had been listening in even though she had no idea what was going on, also tilted her small head backwards to look at her father.

"I agree, Odelia. It is a wonderful opportunity, and we will not pass on it. Also, we are honored to be of service to you, Queen Matilda." Aldwyn said, agreeing.

Even though they were not originally from the Kingdom of Aqua, they still had to call her -and every other royal- by their titles. It was common courtesy to.

Queen Matilda nodded with a small smile on her face. "Thank you. A royal letter will be sent to you when a schedule will be set. Their times together won't be longer than a week, at most."

Just as Aldwyn Ginemoux opened his mouth to reply, the doors opened and revealed the second batch of girl and boy, but unlike the former, this pair seemed to be quite hostile to each other.

Upon seeing her whole family there, a messy Àimèe ran up to them, and they eagerly embraced her as they had done to Catherine. After bombarding Àimèe with hugs and kisses, they then proceeded to scold her about her appearance.

Prince Ericson Stormorb had also received a scolding from the king, but what hurt more was the look of disappointment King Edmund had given him. He hung his head in shame, refusing to look at the monarch in his eyes for fear of what more it would show.

After a shake of his head, King Edmund walked out the drawing room, Ericson on his tail. Right before Ericson exited the room, his eyes accidentally caught Àimèe's, and with that, he left with a parting word that he mouthed to her.

"Chicken."

Safe to say, Àimèe was fuming once more.

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The ride back to the Manor was silent; each one of them were caught in their own exhaustion. Once the all of the royals had taken their leave from the drawing room, the couple explained to the five year olds about the deal.

Catherine and Àimèe were happy about it. Catherine because she gets to see her new best friend even if it's just a week for a year; Àimèe because she gets to travel around and see what Aqua Kingdom looks like.

The girls were nodding their heads, already half-asleep. Finally, the carriage arrived at the Manor, and they entered, each one of them carrying a sleeping toddler. They went up the stairs and into the twins' rooms. It was only one room now with two beds, but they had planned to separate the two when they become older. That is, if they want to.

Now, the room was a normal beige color, and their beds were both white silk. Not that it mattered for the only thing that is of importance as of now was that they sleep wonderfully.

After kissing their foreheads softly, the couple exited the room. Approximately seven seconds after they had left, an eye peeked open. Àimèe grinned and sat up, going over to her sister's bed to wake her up.

"Cath. Cath! They're gone, come on!" Àimèe said, shaking her older sister awake.

Catherine sleepily opened her eyelids and lazily sat upright. Well, barely upright since she was slouching.

"What? I'm still sleepy." She groaned and attempted to go back to sleep. But Àimèe wasn't having any of it.

"No, no, no! I gotta tell you about that mean boy that I met earlier!" She then continued to rant, "He was so rude, Cath. He scared me and then he called me a chicken. Do I look like a chicken? No. But he still called me one. He's way older than us. He's, like, eight. Which is a really big number. I mean, we're just five-"

And as she continued her rambling, she wasn't aware that her sister had slowly started to fall back to the bed, under the covers, and into dreamland.

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At a carriage, on their way to the port, Stefanos had started to question his mother about her motives in his friendships. Queen Matilda sighed and explained to him once again that it was so he would be out-going and not bashful anymore.

"But, mother. That just means that you're using them to make me different." Stefanos said, laying out his thoughts.

However, the Queen merely shook her head. "Stefanos, know this. Life is like a game of chess, and I'm this game, those people are merely pawns to help their king." She looked at him sternly, "Whether they like it, or not."

Stefanos could no longer argue with his mother, this he knew clearly, so the only thing he could do is to not let her use Catherine -or anyone else for that matter- as if they were some useless person.

Would he succeed in this resolution? Or would Queen Matilda get what she wants?

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Hey, hey!
Apologies, but I'll be doing a HUGE timeskip since they're only kids here, and barely half of the cast are introduced.

And yeah, up there are the parents and the Queen.