Page 1 of Daddy King

Chapter One

Mina

“Are you sure this is okay?”

I look down on the bright red dress hugging my body, it’s smooth as it slides on my thighs and silky around the crumbled fabric in my fingers. I step off the stool and turn away from the full-length mirror, I have never felt something as flawless as this dress.

“Don’t worry, you are gorgeous,” Helena smiles, eye crinkling in brilliance as she takes my hands in her soft ones.

“It’s your dress,” I point out.

She’s a princess that defies the royalty standards; there isn’t any tutoring on how to walk with books on top of her head or any table mannerism with ten silverwares. Helena is a bright girl with a strong need for independence, which is why I’m the one in her dress for the ball.

Her fiancé had been arranged into a marriage with her and she doesn’t care much about love, it’s materialistic to her so she rather tests her future husband to see what his true character is. It’s better to see from a third person’s perspective as he wouldn’t want to embarrass himself in front of his fiancée.

Helena had turned eighteen last week, giving her ample time to plan this strategic meeting. By the contract, she is to be married within a year of her eighteenth birthday.

I turned eighteen today, and this is my birthday present from her. Being roped into a scheme of testing her real future husband. I hope I don’t get in trouble for this because royalties have much more power than any government officials and it’s frightening to know what they can do.

I’m simply a lowly servant who has been the caretaker of Helena as soon as I’m able and competent to understand orders. The Ennis Kingdom is located on the land of the East, the King and the Queen are very accommodating leaders; they treat their servants with dignity and I’m lucky to be born into this territory as my mom was the Queen’s handmaid until she had passed from birth complications. My father was gone before I was born, the whispers around the castle speak ill of him as he had abandoned my mom. From the stress of being a father or he didn’t want my mom or some other reason, but he never reached out to me.

I let it go, I don’t know him and I’m not at all curious about his reasoning. I have no feelings for a man who was a sperm donor, he had years to come back and he didn’t.

I’m not going to lie that a small part of me wants to know the reason behind his departure.

He’s alive or dead, I have no way of knowing.

If I dare to say, the Ennis family had taken me in as their second daughter and I’m grateful for their support. I love working for them, it’s the only thing I know how to do. Helena had been my best friend and sister from another mother; we were inseparable from birth and our love for each other only grows more.

We’re the complete opposite; she is bright and outgoing, a rebellious streak in her while I’m shy and quiet, keeping to myself with a strong love for reading. All the free time that I don’t spend with Helena goes to the dedication of the books in my room.

“Mina,” Helena giggles evilly and I gulp nervously, “Lift your leg out.”

This scandalously revealing dress is not appropriate for a princess and yet she chooses to go against royalty ideals; royal women are more conservative than the majority of the female population, Helena happens to be a princess in love with mainstream fashion.

I hesitate with a blush on my cheeks, this is way out of my comfort zone and I’m too exposed from the sleeveless crimson dress.

“I can’t!” I squeak, fidgeting the dress.

My breasts are nearly hanging out from the cups and I had to shove them back in, but Helena smacks my hands away and pushes more cleavage out.

“No more touching,” she scowls, “Let’s see if my future husband is a dog.”

“You shouldn’t call him that.”

This man that I’m going to meet is her future husband and maybe the future king of the Ennis Kingdom, that is if Helena doesn’t find the competition in running for the crown herself. Knowing her nature, her fiery will to win at everything will steer her to wring that crown out of her fiancé’s hands.

I steady my breathing and shake away from the clamminess in my shoulders, rubbing away the trail of goosebumps only gives way for another rush of shivers.

“If he likes you, then maybe he can be your prince.” Helena clips on her necklace, hanging below her collarbone with a nod to her satisfied appearance to the mirror.

She knows about my nightly routine of fairy tale reading before bed, it fulfills my inner little girl that I might have a chance to be taken care of and that someone would sweep me off of my feet. Wishful thinking on my part, no one would want a poor orphaned girl with no value to her name.

A real-life prince would want a beautiful woman like Helena; strong-willed and the ability to rule the kingdom with her intelligence and utter support from her people. She understands politics and has given her thoughts into several topics that are absolutely mind-boggling to comprehend for people with no training to deal with half-truths.

“He wouldn’t want me.” I laugh softly, slipping on the high heels under my weak ankles as I wobble slightly.

Helena stables me with her hands, “Have you seen yourself?”

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