ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇᴅᴇᴍᴘᴛɪᴏɴ ❅ 𝕽𝖔𝖞𝖆𝖑 𝕮𝖍𝖗𝖔𝖓𝖎𝖈𝖑𝖊𝖘

❝𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 9❞

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TRUTHFUL THOUGHTS

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K06 ‖ A Royal Vengeance: Famous Destinations

𝕽𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝕲𝖚𝖎𝖉𝖊:
Italic words — the thoughts of a character / a foreign language is spoken
Bold and italic words — a lie, only when Princess Caitlyn's around
Bold, italic and underlined words — the timeline of memories, past, hallucinations etc.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Year 2039
Private Residence of the Royal Family, Saudi Arabia
[ 44 hours left in the game]

The sky was an expense of sapphire blue, dotted with feathery white clouds as the radiant rays of the sun casted a golden glow upon the earth. What a glorious day to wake up to in Saudi Arabia.

Walking down the hallways of the palace, ice-blue eyes of the Norwegian princess carefully traced the exquisite hand-carved wall details as the soles of her shoes clicked against the mosaic floors. The attention to detail was truly awe-inspiring, giving visitors a mesmerizing feel of traveling through time.

Her musings were interrupted when she reached the open air dining space.

As soon as she stepped out into the morning sun, Princess Ishtar of Qatar greeted her with a hug, much to her surprise. 

"Good morning!" The Qatari princess greeted her before pulling away from the hug. "How was your sleep? Was the bed comfortable enough?" She worried as the younger girl looked rather gaunt.

Caitlyn felt betrayed by the concealer she applied this morning. Looks like she should have gone for a blush after all.

She gave the princess a soft smile. "Good morning and thanks for everything," she said. "I had a great sleep last night. Everything was to my liking." A little white lie won't hurt. Besides, both her and the prince had done more than enough to accommodate her when she dropped in on them unannounced. "I'm just thankful I don't need to sleep in a hotel room."

"Of course not," said Ishtar. "We're happy to have you here. Come, let's have breakfast."

Ishtar led the younger girl over to a large dining table loaded with so much food that Caitlyn doubts the both of them could finish.

Breakfast included what Caitlyn recognized as foul, balila, flatbreads prepared in a saj oven and served with Zater, white goat cheese and labneh. There were grape leaves, falafel, fresh honeycomb, homemade dates jam, eggs, and even pancakes, waffles, pastries and fresh fruits, green and black olives. Servants were making a thick cream cheese made by draining yogurt through cheesecloth on the spot and then drizzled with olive oil, to eat with pieces of bread from hot loaves. There was Turkish coffee and sweet tea to be chosen from as their beverage.

In the far corner, there was a live band playing soft tunes, enhancing the whole breakfast with a touch of Arabia.

Caitlyn was stunned. Ishtar excitedly dragged her to sit at the table while servants started pouring sweet tea into Caitlyn's teacup. A chef was stationed at the end of the table, ready to prepare the breakfast eggs on request which enhanced the whole experience of an Arabic breakfast.

Caitlyn helped herself with pieces of bread dipped in cream cheese and olive oil as she listened to Ishtar talk.

"I was worried when his highness told me you have a small appetite," she said. "But, I didn't know what you like since Prince Arafat left early before I could ask, so I prepared everything. Oh don't worry," Ishtar added hurriedly after seeing the younger girl's horrified expression, "The untouched food will be given to the servants. I try not to waste food." Ishtar's eyes crinkled as she smiled behind her niqāb.