SWNOVELS Chapter 39
Two guards stood at the either side of the two large doors leading to the ballroom. When they saw us, they opened the door immediately, revealing the magnificent ballroom below the grand staircase.
The room was decorated with bouquets of red roses and streamers. People— to be precise— vampires, were sitting at the tables that were set around the large room. They were chatting among themselves.
King Bellamy took a seat on his throne that was positioned on a stage. Beside him sat King Ignatius, Prince Maximilian’s father.
“Prince Maximilian and Princess Mirabelle,” a man announced as I and Prince Maximilian stepped into the ballroom.
At that very instant, the noisy room fell into silence. Everyone looked up; their eyes were all fixed on us.
Nervous, I squeezed Prince Maximilian’s hand.
Maximilian stared at me and gave me an encouraging smile. “Don’t be nervous! Everything will be okay,” he whispered.
I nodded my head and offered him a smile.
We started descending the grand staircase. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, Prince Maximilian led me towards the stage. I took a seat beside my grandfather, and Maximilian sat down next to me.
King Bellamy rose from his chair and strode towards a microphone that was set on a platform at the far right side of the stage. As soon as he climbed on to the platform, the room lapsed into silence again.
“Thank you so much for being here tonight,” he began his speech, “Some of you already know why I throw this ball. And for those who don’t know yet, I’m going to explain it to you now.”
“As most of you have known,” he continued, “my only daughter, Princess Claribelle had left my kingdom to study at human world almost a century ago. In the human world, she fell in love with a human and they got married secretly. After their marriage, my daughter and son-in-law suddenly disappeared and were never heard of again. I kept trying to search for them for years, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. It was as if they had vanished off the face of the earth.”
The story about my parents reduced me to tears. My mother seemed to love my father so much until she was willing to leave everything behind.
“Until one day,” King Bellamy added, “I got a news of my daughter and her husband’s tragic death. I then found out that they left a one-month-old daughter. But nobody knew her whereabouts after her parents passed away.”
Sadness glinted in everyone’s eyes at the mention of my parents’ death. Well, maybe they didn’t grieve for both of my parents, but to be precise for my mother, the vampire princess. Lupita once told me that my mother was loved by all of her people. She was also admired and respected by the people from other kingdoms. Therefore, the loss of Princess Claribelle, my mother, was a great blow to all of the vampire kingdoms.
I had never thought about it before. But now that my grandfather mentioned it, I became curious about the cause of my parents’ death.
'Maybe I should ask Grandpa later,' I thought.
“I spent almost 17 years long tracking down my granddaughter all over the world. Several days ago, I finally found my granddaughter and could bring her home safely,” he told us.
'The truth is he brought me to his home against my will, in other words, he has kidnapped me,' I thought sarcastically.
Prince Maximilian, who could read my mind, nudged me. When I turned my head to look at him, he gave me a smirk. I rolled my eyes at him and turned my attention back to King Bellamy.
“So tonight, we’re here to celebrate the return of my missing granddaughter, Princess Mirabelle.” He stretched his arm towards my direction.
Everyone’s eyes immediately focused on me. I felt awkward because I suddenly became the centre of attention. Thus, I just gave them a tight smile.
“Mirabelle, come here!” King Bellamy gestured for me to approach him.
I glanced at Prince Maximilian. He nodded his head reassuringly.
Hesitantly, I rose from my chair and took small steps towards the platform where my grandfather was waiting for me.
When I already stayed beside him, he threw his arm over my shoulders.
“This is Princess Mirabelle, the daughter of Princess Claribelle, my beloved daughter. I couldn’t be happier to finally be able to meet my granddaughter again after 17 years,” he proudly introduced me to the guests.
All of the people in the ballroom started to cheer and clap triumphantly.
At a single motion of the king’s hand, the room fell silent.
“Besides celebrating my granddaughter’s return, I also have another good news for you. Tonight, I am happy to announce the engagement of my granddaughter, Princess Mirabelle, to Prince Maximilian, the son of King Ignatius,” he declared.
The announcement drew loud applause from the guests.
“Prince Maximilian, could you please come here?” King Bellamy summoned the vampire prince.
Prince Maximilian rose to his feet and approached us. He and I stood sideways, facing each other.
Shortly afterwards, the prince pulled a small jewelry case out of his pocket and opened it. Inside the case was a ring studded with solitaire pink diamond. It was the engagement ring that we bought yesterday.
Maximilian picked the ring off the jewelry case before putting the case away. He then held my left hand and put on the engagement ring on my ring finger. At the end, he kissed the back of my hand, causing a pink flush to spread over my cheeks.
At the end, he kissed the back of my hand, causing a pink flush to spread over my cheeks
When I and Prince Maximilian turned to face the guests, they all broke into chants of “Congratulation! Congratulation!”
“The wedding is in a fortnight, exactly at Princess Mirabelle’s seventeenth birthday. All of you are invited to attend the royal wedding of Prince Maximilian and Princess Mirabelle,” King Bellamy stated.
The news of our wedding caused great excitement among the guests. Unfortunately, I didn’t share the same joy as them. On the contrary, this wedding made me feel uneasy.
If I had a choice, I would prefer to call off this wedding. Don’t get me wrong! Prince Maximilian was a good guy. But I barely knew him. I just didn’t feel like marrying a stranger.