Chapter 7
In the original story, Rosalia was the typical damsel in distress, who always needed her handsome prince in shining armor to come to her rescue.
After the spark both felt at the prince's birthday party, he invited her to dance the first dance of the night, setting aside Valeria, who was crying alongside her parents and the Emperors, but they could not make a scene in the middle of the celebration. They would speak in private with their son for causing such an offense to the Delacroix family.
The prince, even knowing what his actions would cause, could not help but dance and stay close to Miss Salvatore all night; he felt bewitched by her beauty, her fragility and her smile made him desire to be with her and never separate again.
On the other hand, Valeria, tired of the looks, comments and mocking laughter, went out to the palace garden to get some air; she felt humiliated, she could not understand how a girl of low status in just one night had obtained the prince's attention, something she always sought and could never get.
Lost in her thoughts and turned into a sea of tears, she bumped into the back of a young man.
"I… I… I am sorry. It was not my intention, with your permission."
"Wait, Miss, are you alright?"
The stranger was used to young ladies bumping into him "by chance," but upon seeing the state the young woman was in, he knew that this time it was indeed an accidental encounter.
"Yes… no… The truth is, I do not know."
Valeria said, only to drown in tears again. The young man looked at her worriedly, so he looked for a place where she could sit and calm down a bit before going back inside.
"Miss, try to calm down please. How about we take a seat on that bench and if you want you can tell me what is happening to you? My sisters say I am good at listening and giving advice."
The young man did not understand what was happening to her, but seeing how vulnerable the young woman in front of him was, he could not help but feel a little pity for her.
Valeria, a bit doubtful, accepted to take a seat next to the stranger, as he did not seem to be a bad person.
"Alright."
"Do you want to tell me? Perhaps that way you can unburden yourself a bit. My sisters say I am good at listening and giving advice."
There was a long silence until Valeria decided to speak.
"Today I realized that I am never going to be happy."
"May I ask how you came to that conclusion?"
"I am engaged to a man who does not love me and from what I saw today I believe he never will. He was dancing all night with another lady without caring what I thought or felt."
"I see. And you love him; is that why you are in this state?"
The young man felt a little disappointed, but realizing what he was thinking, he quickly removed those thoughts from his head.
On the other hand, the young man's statement left Valeria pensive, wondering if she truly loved him, but before she could answer his question, the young man spoke again:
"My advice would be for you to look for someone who reciprocates your feelings; you are young and pretty, I do not see the reason why you are tying yourself to a person who does not have even the slightest consideration for you."
Valeria, upon hearing the words of that young man, felt as if a bandage fell from her eyes. It was true; she had many qualities to be suffering for someone who did not know how to value her. She remained in silence for a moment thinking about everything the boy had told her and he, seeing her like that, added:
"I hope my words serve for something. With your permission, Milady, I retire."
He made a slight bow and left.
After that, Valeria remained sitting on that bench for a while longer, until she decided to return.
Upon reaching the hall, everyone looked at her with different expressions; some were of mockery, others of pity, and some others of satisfaction. She, being the daughter of the most powerful Dukes of the empire and being the Emperor's goddaughter, had always felt superior to the other nobles. She had always behaved in an arrogant and narcissistic manner, with the exception of her parents and the imperial family.
Without caring about anything, Valeria walked with a firm step and her forehead held high; she had no reason to be ashamed. She crossed the entire hall and reached her parents, who were furious at the prince's attitude.
"Father, mother, I think it is already time to return; I do not feel very well."
"Of course, darling. Let us go say goodbye to the Emperors and return to the Duchy."
Renata could see clearly that her daughter had been crying, but she did not want to say anything, because if she mentioned anything her husband might lose what little sanity he had left.
They reached the Emperors and the Duke was the one who spoke first:
"Majesties, we have come to say goodbye. As you will understand, my daughter is not well and to tell the truth, neither are we. This is something I will remember in the future."
One could feel how furious Duke Delacroix was. The Emperor, who knew him better than anyone, knew that if he did not let his friend go, blood could run, so without more he responded:
"Do not worry Maximiliano, go in peace. I will not forget this either and I promise to take action on the matter."
And without more, the Delacroix family withdrew from the party.
In the carriage, no one spoke, and when they arrived at the duchy, Valeria practically ran to her room. Her father wanted to follow her, but the Duchess held him back.
"Leave her, Maximiliano; it will be best to let her rest. We shall speak with her tomorrow."
The Duke, not entirely convinced, agreed, but this would not stay as it was. As soon as he had the opportunity, he would speak with the Emperor and the Crown Prince, and he would make it clear that no one messed with his daughter...
In the weeks following the event, Valeria was the talk of society; there was conversation about nothing else but how the Crown Prince danced all night with the daughter of Baron Salvatore, thus standing up his fiancée.
Many were in favor of Diego having made that slight toward Valeria, as many nobles did not much like the idea of her being the future empress, since Valeria was known for being conceited and narcissistic; a few others felt that Valeria did not deserve such humiliation, for despite everything, there was no one in the empire who did not know how in love Valeria was with Prince Diego.
As the weeks passed, the gossip began to cease, but there was a rumor that gained more and more strength: that while Miss Valeria waited for her fiancé to apologize to her, he met every day with Miss Salvatore to have tea or take strolls through the capital or the palace.
When this rumor reached Valeria's ears, she left her room in a fury, asked her maid to have the carriage prepared, and departed toward the palace.
Upon arrival, the guards, recognizing the crest of the Delacroix family, let her pass without any inconvenience. When the carriage parked in front of the palace entrance, Valeria did not even wait for her maid and headed to the Crown Prince's study to demand an explanation.
On the other hand, in the Prince's study was Sir Bastian, one of his advisors, who—as the Prince had been delegating his obligations to him for two weeks while he enjoyed the company of a certain lady—was currently doing his work. Suddenly, someone was heard knocking at the door. He gave authorization to enter, and it was then that he saw a totally furious Valeria. Without waiting for Sir Bastian to rise from his seat to greet her correctly, she asked:
"Where is he?"
The Prince's advisor trembled before that young lady who at this moment seemed like a demon, but he managed to calm himself and responded.
"He is in the garden attending to a visitor, Miss Valeria. It would be better if you returned another day when the Prince can attend to you."
"Ha… as I suspected. Thank you, Sir Bastian, continue with your work."
Having said this, Valeria left for the garden, and upon arriving, she encountered a scene that finally drove her mad. The Prince had his arm around Rosalia's waist and, furthermore, they were slightly leaning in; they seemed on the verge of kissing. Seeing this, Valeria began to applaud as she approached the couple.
"Bravo, I congratulate you… But just look at the scene I have come to find."
"Miss Valeria, it is not what you think… I was going to fall and the Prince caught me; do not think things that are not true."
Rosalia justified herself, extremely nervous about the situation in which her new friend's fiancée had found them.
"What are you doing here, Miss Delacroix? I was not expecting you today. Regarding what you just saw, it is true; I was only helping her."
Diego responded, also a bit nervous, because if this incident reached the Duke's ears, it could bring him trouble with his father.
"No, stay calm… I am not thinking anything, I am only seeing. And do you know what I see, 'Miss' Rosalia? I see 'My' fiancé alone in the garden embracing a 'lady' hidden from the entire palace… Yes… that is what I see. And I do not only see, but I also hear. And do you know what else I heard? That you visit 'My' fiancé every day and take strolls through the capital and have tea alone. Now, I ask you, 'Miss' Rosalia: is it the way of a lady of good birth to go around embracing—and who knows what else—a young gentleman who is already engaged?"
Rosalia turned red with shame, her eyes welled up, and she ran away.
"Miss Ross, wait… Look what you achieved, Valeria. How could you say all those things to Miss Salvatore? I am going to go look for her, and I expect you to apologize."
"You stay here. This is it, Crown Prince Diego Monterrey. This is as far as I tolerate your slights, your contempt. I did everything to be liked by you, to at least be friends. But what do you do? Nothing. I was waiting for you to visit me; I thought that after everything that happened at your party, you would apologize for having made me the laughingstock of the entire society, but no. So this is it, Crown Prince Diego Monterrey. If you do not begin to give me my place as your fiancée and respect me as such, I will tell my father to withdraw his support from the crown."
Diego did not expect that reaction from Valeria; she had always been submissive toward him. Failing to fully process the information, he responded:
"Are you threatening me?"
"No, I am only warning you that I will not be anyone's object of ridicule."
Without saying anything more, Valeria left, leaving the Prince confused but, above all, furious. He knew that the Duchy was very important for the country's economy, and not only that, but it had a greater military force than the emperors themselves.
Someone else had heard everything, and that was the Second Prince. He came out of his hiding place and said, catching his brother's attention:
"Oh brother, I thought she was going to eat you alive. I had never seen her like that."
"How long have you been there?"
"I heard it all, and I regret to tell you that she is right."
"Whose side are you on? Between Miss Salvatore and me there is nothing more than a friendship. It did not seem fair to me that she treated her that way when we were not doing anything wrong."
"Brother, I saw you too, and I believe that if Miss Valeria had not arrived, you would have kissed her. And regarding your question, of course I am on your side, but fix this before it gets out of hand and reaches our parents' ears…"