Alessandra was surprised as he only patted her head like a child. She stepped back as he asked her to. "I apologize, your majesty. The excitement got to me. Thank you so so much." She said as she bowed for him once again before Amelie knocked. She stepped further from the Crown Prince, putting the books on his desk once again. "I will pick them up later." She added as she opened the door for Amelie.

She looked at Adrian with a huge smile that shone with appreciation and admiration.

Adrian gave Alessandra a small smile before he turned to Amelie and gave her a curt nod. He walked past the two women and headed for the sitting room, his thoughts turning back to the conversation he had with Adam about arranged marriages. He clearly remembered how Alessandra had sounded offended when he had announced that he didn't mind having no love in his marriage. While he knew that it was his responsibility to follow his father's commands, he now felt a slight twinge of... Disappointment? Strange that I would feel this about my arranged marriage, he found himself thinking a little perplexedly. He tried to push the thoughts and the feeling away but it nagged at him.

Amelie opened the door for him and he stepped into the sitting room. At the sight of the crown prince, Princess Hye Jin immediately stood up and gave him a bow. She flashed Adrian a pretty smile that showcased the small dimples near the corners of her lips. Adrian gave her a polite bow of his own. He smiled and extended to her his arm to take. "Shall we proceed to our little tour of Whitehaven, Princess?"

The princess looked delighted at how charming Adrian was. She nodded and then curled her arm on Adrian's. "Thank you, Prince Adrian."

Adrian looked amused. Hye Jin was pretty and polite but he wondered how she really was underneath the perfect facade. "You may call me Adrian and I will call you Hye Jin," he started. "It would be good not to be too formal and familiarize yourself with your future husband. And this tour would familiarize you with your future kingdom," he finished in an as-a-matter-of-factly tone.

Hye Jin gracefully lifted a hand to her mouth to cover it as she giggled shyly. "I am looking forward to spending the day seeing Whitehaven... Adrian," she said as she looked up at him.

Alessandra would have thought me self centered for saying that, Adrian found himself thinking and then blinked when he caught himself. He smiled down at Hye Jin and tried to focus his attention on her.

Hye Jin turned her attention to both Amelie and Alessandra, her perfect eyebrows arching in question. Although she looked haughty, her voice remained refined and calm. "Will the two of them accompany us?" she asked, obviously thinking that the two women a hindrance.

Adrian glanced towards Alessandra then at Hye Jin. He should probably have Alessandra stay and just let Henry accompany them. But strangely enough, he wanted the handmaiden close to him. "Amelie is my mother's handmaiden. She will be staying behind," he started. "Alessandra will be coming along with us to tend to both our needs," he finished in a tone that was final and left nothing open for argument. "Come. Henry should be waiting for us in the carriage. He is my personal guard and will be accompanying us as well," he said as he started walking.

Hye Jin nodded meekly but gave Alessandra another pointed look before she turned and walked away with Adrian.

Alessandra returned Adrian's smile with a larger smile of hers. She scanned the crown Prince carefully as he nodded curtly at Amelie and stepped ahead of both women. She felt slightly warm inside-- Adrian made her feel special; He really did treat her differently than any other handmaiden around court. It must be the months of taking care of him and not leaving his sideShe thought with a fond smile. She actually liked taking care of Prince Adrian more than she probably should, no matter how tired and exhausted she was, running on little sleep and little food with lots of reading and talking in between: She still loved their time together.

Alessandra followed closely behind Adrian, realization of Hye Jin's presence hit her, for a weird reason it bothered her. She didn't feel comfortable with the idea of the arranged marriages from the beginning, and she just-- She couldn't see anyone taking care of her prince like she did. She instantly mentally scolded herself as a blush crept on her cheeks. She must have grown too used to being by Adrian's side. She kept her distance as they walked into the sitting room. She smiled pleasantly at the foreign princess, while letting her eyes scan and analyze the future wife of Prince Adrian carefully-- Something just didn't settle in right.

Alessandra mentally shook it off as silly possesiveness over her newly formed routine that was bound to go back to place or change eventually with or without the presence of the foreign Princess.

Alessandra raised an eyebrow in surprise-- She had not expected him to be that direct with his future wife. She found it almost offending the tone he carried and the way he said it, but she instantly averted her eyes away from the royal couple. The princess obviously found it amusing and endearing, but Alessandra couldn't help but feel her blood boil, possibly for more than one reason, as she tried to bite her tongue back.

Alessandra found the next question by Hye Jin even more offensive. She inwardly rolled her eyes-- Just like Adrian, she, too, looked down on us. She thought as she felt tears sting her eyes a little. Why was she so offended by them? She was already used to Adrian and had learned to keep her mouth shut, but she felt like a little child that had been robbed of joy and teased about it. She shook away the thoughts-- they were nonsense. She just served Adrian. Nothing more.

Her eyes widened a little at Hye Jin's pointed look. It was already happening-- She was no more the only female in prince Adrian's life, as she had been for the past few months as he healed. She gave her a sweet smile before following closely behind.

''Arrogant. Perfect match.'' She mumbled as she walked closer to Adrian rather than Hye Jin.

The day went by smoothly as Adrian showed Hye Jin around WhiteHaven. Adrian had been the perfect gentleman while Hye Jin played the perfect shy and demure future queen. Once or twice, Hye Jin had been unpleasant to Alessandra but Adrian had always distracted her from making a big fuss about it.

They were at the central park when Henry finally broke the silence and leaned his head slightly towards Alessandra. "She looks beautiful but I am not sure I like her," he whispered and then looked at her face, a thoughtful look on his face. "I don't think you do, either. Do you think she is fit for our Prince Adrian?" he asked, his eyes twinkling with amusement. He had been constantly at both Adrian and Alessandra's side that he had guessed that the young handmaiden was beginning to look differently at the crown prince.

Alessandra was at the edge of bursting at Hye Jin with her several trials to offend Alessandra, let it be a look or a word. She had physically bit her tongue to distract herself from the princess that was also her future Queen.
Instead of focusing even further on Hye Jin and everything she disliked so far with more reasons to dislike her, Alessandra enjoyed the tour of WhiteHaven as she really didn't get the chance to see it.

Alessandra looked up at Henry; She had grown to his presence and even liked having him around, not only because then she was assured that no harm would come to Adrian but alwo because he was generally a good person. She was more than glad when Henry announced his dislike of Hye Jin; I am not the only one!

"Is she fit? Of course. A far away kingdom, stronger connections. She is beautiful, she seems to already be crazy about Prince Adrian." She noted then paused.

"Do I see her fit? Absolutely not. She is a snake. A hypocritical snake. I definitely am not comfortable with having her around." She added as she huffed out a frustrated breath.

Henry chuckled at how fervently Alessandra described the Princess that had her arm linked through their Crown Prince's. "A snake? This is our first time laying our eyes on this foreign princess yet you've already labeled her as such," he looked around. "It is a good thing that there are no royal guards around. If they heard this conversation, I fear we might not be treated pleasantly," but despite his warning, he continued on. "I am, however, more curious about what you think of her FOR Prince Adrian," he emphasized the word for. He lowered his voice further. "What I am saying is, are you not at all jealous?"

At the mention of the royal guards, Alessandra frowned; She did do many things that should have gotten her beheaded at the least. She smiled as Henry continued on the conversation anyway, but at his elaboration, all emotions faded off her face as she blushed deeply at his question. She laughed a little humorlessly. "jealous? Ha. I? Not at all---- Maybe just.. You know I have been the only female around the Prince lately, a new one is not always welcomed, especially not rude, arrogant ones." She answered honestly as she shook her head a little, the feeling of disappointment growing in her-- Was she jealous?

Henry listened to Alessandra, gave her a knowing look and then stayed silent. He turned his attention to the royal couple.

"When my father told me about this marriage, I could not contain my excitement on both meeting a handsome prince..." Hye Jin lowered her head and looked shyly at Adrian through her lashes. "...and being able to finally see WhiteHaven. I have only read about it in books, seen it through paintings. I never imagined it to be this beautiful,' she praised.

Adrian chuckled at Hye Jin's praise of him. He looked around, pleased that WhiteHaven was to his future wife's liking. It was truly magnificent. With a smile on his face, he looked back at the princess. "I, myself, have never been to Gyeongsang and like you, Princess, have only seen it through paintings and books. I imagine, however, that it is bigger and more magnificent than WhiteHaven."

Hye Jin shook her head. "Gyeongsang is vast but we do not have the splendid harbors that you do. Seeing the ocean is a treat for me," she said as she turned a whole 360 degrees to take in the scene. "I'm sure, though, that my kingdom will delight you, Adrian. Perhaps we can visit it before our wedding? she suggested.

Adrian turned with her and his eyes fell momentarily on Alessandra. Her cheeks were flushed, probably at something Henry said. He glanced at Henry. He had a smile on his face. Is there something going on between the two of them? he thought as his eyes settled back on his handmaiden.

Hye Jin had been chattering about the scenic places she planned on taking Adrian to when she noticed that the Prince was distracted. She frowned and followed his line of gaze. Her frown deepened when she saw that it was Alessandra that he was looking at. She cleared her throat and raised her voice a little louder. "Do you not think that 6 months is a little too long to wait to be wed?" she asked, making sure that her voice carried over to where Alessandra was standing.

Adrian blinked and then turned back to Hye Jin. He raised an eyebrow. "6 months is just enough time to familiarize ourselves with each other. Do you want to push forward our wedding?" he asked, his attention again fully on the Princess.

Hye Jin smiled up at the prince. "We can always familiarize ourselves with each other even after we are wedded," she giggled shyly. "I merely want to assure myself of my place by your side," she stood on tiptoe and pressed a light kiss on Adrian's cheek. Her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink at her bold actions and she immediately lowered her head again. "I like you," she admitted shyly.

Adrian looked surprised at what the Princess did. He chuckled. "I am glad that you do. I can not imagine how difficult it would be if my future queen did not like me," he said.

A small frown crossed Hye Jin's lips at Adrian's response. She was hoping he would say that he liked her too. She did want him to like her too but at the moment, it was more for the sake of Alessandra. A woman of her low rank had the guts to even look straight back at her prince. It made her angry. She replaced the small frown with a charming smile as she looked back up at Adrian. "I hope in time you will find me likeable too."

Adrian returned the smile. "I am sure I will."

Alessandra was also admiring WhiteHaven as she thought of her conversation with Henry. Was she jealous? Or was it really the shift that bothered her? Was she jealous that Adrian was treating Hye Jin like a human being from day one? Of course, Alessandra inwardly scoffed, she was a princess and his future wife. If he didn't treat her well, it would be his doom on so many levels. She sighed softly. He seemed to take a liking to Hye Jin as well, so that was a bonus. Alessandra couldn't help the feeling of disappointment and jealpus grow in her; She quickly shook away the thoughts-- She was happy for her Prince! He must be excited for such an event in his life.

She looked up to find Adrian's gaze on her; The blush on her face grew deeper as she gave him a fond smile of reassurance that he was definitely doing well, as if he really needed it, but Alessandra did so anyway. She was confused as to why he didn't return the smile or even move his eyes off her that was of course until Hye Jin interrupted him by seeking his full attention once again.

Less than six months?!

Alessandra cleared her throat and looked up at Henry eith a look that clearly said--- I don't like this.

Henry looked at Alessandra and shrugged as if to say that it was something he definitely had no control over. He tilted his head slightly towards her. "I imagine it would be enough time to tell the Prince how you feel about him," he said in a low voice. He winked at her. "Of course, that's just my humble opinion," he added before he walked away to follow after the royal couple.

The day went by smoothly.

At sundown, all four of them returned to the castle. "I suppose a congratulatory greeting is in order," a voice called out as soon as Adrian and Hye Jin entered the castle hallways. Adam stepped out from behind one of the pillars and smiled at his brother and his future wife.

Hye Jin immediately gave the younger prince a polite curtsy as he joined them. "Delighted to have you home, Adam. This is Princess Wang Hye Jin of Gyeongsang," Adrian introduced.

Adam smiled at Hye Jin and then raised an eyebrow at Adrian. Beautiful, he mouthed to his brother. "I am Adam Havensworth, Princess, second prince of Whitehaven," he reached out, took Hye Jin's hand and pressed a kiss on the back of it.

"I am pleased to meet you, Prince Adam, Hye Jin said as he flashed Adam one of her charming smiles. "This Kingdom is truly blessed to have two very capable and handsome princes, she added.

"And it is fortunate for Whitehaven to have such a beautiful future queen," Adam gave the princess a lavish bow before he grinned and invited them to join him in the dining hall for supper. But before he walked away, Adam's eyes searched out Alessandra. When his eyes fell on her, a wide smile spread across his face. "Let me just say hello to Alessandra," he said and then excused himself.

Hye Jin's jaw fell open as he watched the younger prince make his way to the handmaiden. What sort of kingdom was this that both princes seemed to fawn over a lowly handmaiden?

Adrian wasn't particularly pleased of Adam giving Alessandra attention but he refrained from looking at her. Instead, he looked at the Princess on his arm. "Shall we proceed to the dining hall then?" he asked.

Hye Jin turned back to Adrian, smiled and nodded.

Alessandra gasped at Henry's comment as she stared at his back. "Henry!" She mumbled as she relunctantly followed behind Henry and the royal couple.
* * *

Alessandra was exhausted to say the least after the tour around WhiteHaven, but she marked it as a nice day as she got the chance to go out and explore WhiteHaven.

At the sound of Adam, Alessandra turned and instantly a wide smile spread across her face. She excitedly watched Adam as he greeted Hye Jin, giggling slightly at how he so openly commented that Hye Jin was beautiful-- She was indeed, but the idea of her still made her very uncomfortable.

Alessandra straightened up and smiled even wider as Adam turned toward her. She glanced at Hye Jin's shocked expression and in a way, it brought her down. Similar to how Adrian used to think, Hye Jin must think that Alessandra was not worthy of any attention. The tears stung her eyes, but she smiled up at Adam anyway.

"Welcome back! It had been a little long, hasn't it? Have you done well? Glad to have your majesty back in court." She excitedly said.

"The trips I made all went smoothly. I believe Father would be pleased at how much I was able to accomplish these few months that I was gone. It is, however, good to be back. How have you been?" Adam smiled as he spoke. "Have you missed me? he asked, his voice strangely louder than when he had started speaking.

Adrian stopped in his tracks when he heard Adam's question. Hye Jin looked up questioningly at him but he just shook his head. He immediately resumed walking and was out of ear shot before he could hear Alessandra's answer.

Alessandra smiled proudly as she nodded. "I am sure he is! I bet Prince Adrian would be too." She commented with an assuring nod. At his next question, she blushed deeply as she blinked a couple times, unaware of his higher tone. She giggled slightly, nervously. "Of course, the whole court did! You are such pleasent company." She answered as she averted her eyes, obviously embarrassed with such a question. "You shouldn't keep the guest waiting." She adviced as she started walking toward the dinning hall.

Adam chuckled. He walked towards the dining hall but instead of overtaking Alessandra, he fell into pace with her. He reached out into his pocket and withdrew a simple leather necklace with a golden flower pendant on it. "Here. I brought you a little something from my trip down south," he dangled the necklace in front of her before placing it into her hand. He smiled at her but didn't wait for her to say anything as he walked forward and entered the dining hall before she did.

Alessandra smiled slightly as he preferred to walk in pace with her better than ahead of her. She actually felt like she was a human being around Adam. She looked up at the necklace in awe. "Your majesty I can n--" She started out only to be interrupted by him handing her the necklace and walking away. In a way, she was esctatic he remembered her, yet she was nervous about accepting such a gift from the prince.

She held the necklace in her fist and hurried behind Adam, soon falling back in pace with him as he headed for his seat. "I really can not accept this gift, Prince Adam." She mumbled as she looked up at him.

Adam raised an eyebrow. "Why not? I heard it was rude not to accept gifts freely given," he said smoothly. He took a seat and glanced towards Hye Jin who was staring at both him and Alessandra. Hye Jin's frown immediately turned into a smile when she caught Adam looking at her.

Adrian remained silent at Adam and Alessandra's exchange. He avoided looking at them but instead began conversing with Hye Jin about her kingdom.

Alessandra opened her mouth to speak but relunctantly closed it again as she glanced at the gift. "Thank you." She mumbled and took a deep bow to Adam before walking away from the table and closer to where Henry stood.

The King and the queen was not present during dinner but nevertheless, it was interesting, full of stories mostly from Adam and some from Hye Jin. Adrian silently listened to both of them and voiced out a few comments here and there. But the crown prince was mostly silent the whole time. He rarely smiled and often times looked deep in thought.

"You've been terribly silent the whole time, Adrian. Are you still not feeling well?" Adam asked.

"I am completely recovered, Adam. Do not worry yourself over it," Adrian replied. There was an unreadable look in his eyes as he glanced at his younger brother for a few seconds before he turned towards Hye Jin when she started speaking.

"Oh, were you sick before I arrived?" she asked, an exaggerated look of worry on her face.

Adam looked at Adrian but when it didn't seem like he would answer, he took it upon himself to narrate the story. "My brother was a victim to an ambush several months ago that left him almost dead. It took a while for him to get back on his feet."

"Oh, my. I should tend to your health then," Hye Jin said.

There was a momentary flash of anger in Adrian's eyes but it was gone as soon as it appeared. "As I said earlier, I have completely recovered. There is no need for pointless worrying,"

"I have brought along with me oils that would help you relax and strengthen your body. Should I bring it to your room later, my prince?" Hye Jin persisted.

Adrian sighed. "Do as you wish, he said and then stood up. "If you will both excuse me." Without saying anything else, he stepped out of the dining hall and headed towards his room.

Alessandra had grown tired of standing around, so she had come in and out of the dining hall a few times. She set the gift Adam had given her in her room and had returned as Adam narrated what had happened with Adrian few months ago. She sighed a sigh of relief, glad that her Prince was now fully healed as he claimed. As Hye Jin offered to tend to his health, Alessandra felt anger boil through his-- That was her duty, her work. She rolled her eyes as she evn offered to pass by his room later. Didn't she know that was inappropriate for first day meetings?

Alessandra was glad as Adrian stood up to take his leave. She bowed to Adam
and Hye Jin before following closely behind Adrian, when they were surely out of hearing distance, she smiled at her prince.

"What do your majesty think about your future Queen?" She asked in a friendly tone with an underlying tone of disappointment, knowing his answer was most likely positive.

Adrian didn't slow down. "Beautiful and perfect. I wouldn't expect anything less for an arranged marriage," his voice didn't sound at all friendly. His thoughts were on how happy Alessandra looked and sounded when she saw Adam. It annoyed him that he felt irritated and bothered by it. He knew that she always liked Adam more than him. Adam was friendlier, approachable and a lot more likeable. It didn't bother him before. Why did it now? And what it irritated him more was the fact that he was thinking about it.

He pushed open the door to his room and walked into it. He didn't bother asking Alessandra to draw a bath for him like he used to. Instead, he walked straight to the bathroom, went in and closed the door behind him.