Royal Princess: Doted On By The Mafia King

Chapter 196 - The Stranger

Justin faced with his ex-foster daughter who turned out to be his cousin's daughter did not know what to do or say.

He looked at his wife who smiled at him with a slight nod trying to tell him that he did nothing wrong and he has no reason to feel guilty.

Valerie had had her fill of crying behind the locked doors of her workroom when she discovered that Rose was her favorite cousin's daughter.

She felt more guilty than Justin will ever feel after all his father was not directly related to the king but he was an adopted child of the Whitfred family.

She was close to her cousin and used to adore her before things went wrong. She remembered the familiarity she felt towards Rose when she saw her for the first time.

Then it was only a mixture of complicated emotions that she could not comprehend but now she understands why she felt that way.

Even after almost crying herself dry, she could not help but feel teary again when she saw how beautiful Rose looked.

Rose looked so much like her cousin. She could still remember how beautiful her cousin looked when they were young.

She never seized to get the attention of everyone on her because of her beauty and status of the heir to the throne of the northern kingdom.

Anna reached for her mother's hand and pat her gently. When Valerie raised her head and met her daughter's gaze, she smiled encouragingly.

Justin wanted Rose to value the opportunity he gave her to have the Whitfred's family name and return on her knees to beg for forgiveness when she life gets really hard by the reality of the mistake she made by agreeing to leave his family without an apology.

Rose did not apologize rather he will have to apologise. He could not help but remember the meeting he had with Rose's father, the king. He really was the one to apologise now.

After greeting the king and the Queen, he went with family to congratulate their ex-family member. The one they refused to believe even when she cried and tried to persuade them that she did not do it.

Anna shifted nervously as she looked at her sister. She used to like Rose a lot but now she was not sure of the feeling she felt staring at her sister. She was not sure if it was guilt, shame, or jealousy.

Rose smiled at them when they walked up to her. She could see her father staring at her waiting to see her reaction. She moved her gaze from him to the family before her.

"Your Royal Highness. Congratulations," It was Valerie who spoke.

"Thank you and thanks for everything you've done for me so far," Rose appreciated sincerely. She was taken care of well by them as a girl who wasn't their daughter and came into their family late.

"There is no need for that since we are family," Valerie said with a sad smile. "We are sorry."

"No . . . No, it's okay. I really did not send the video but whoever did it wanted me out of your family and the person succeeded," her gaze went to the young man beside Anna and back to Valerie when she met his gaze.

"Do you know who did it?" Justin was forced to ask. He really did not believe her completely but he knew there was a high possibility that she was saying the truth.

All the evidences pointed at Rose but he could not come up with what her motive could be. He only hated her arrogance when they accused her but now he knew why she was arrogant.

His father had to crawl almost all his life to the Whitfred family because he was a total orphan and  because even if he knew his family, they might just be a bunch of nobodies.

Rose did not accept such treatment because she knew her family and they way ahead of them in both wealth and status.

"Who did it does not really matter now, does it?" Rose asked smiling sadly. "I hope you have a lot of fun here, today."

"Rose . . ." Valerie began her voice hoarse with fear and concern laced in it.

Rose paused at she met the gaze of the woman before her. She felt a slight tightness in her throat as she looked at the face of the woman who looked so much like her mother.

This picture was just so sad. She turned away from it feeling very uncomfortable. Her mother should have been here with a loving look in her clear bright eyes.

When she felt her eyes sting, she suddenly felt and urgent need to leave the place or she might really cry and that was the last thing she wanted to do when she tried her best to harden her heart so she could survive in the palace.

Anna was not sure she saw Rose eyes get teary since her mind was clouded with how she found Rose's behavior to her mother rude.

"Excuse me," Rose really could not stand it anymore as she gripped her skirt and lifted it ever so slightly before walking out of the hall through the door the Royal family alone was to use.

"Rude bitch," Anna hissed with her fist clenched. "Even if things are not good between us now, she should never forget how we ate and slept together. So rude," Anna commented in a whisper as she watched Rose's departing back.

"Shhh," her mother immediately stopped her as she walked to the people she knew in the party.

This was a party not just with the secret intention of the king to find a spouse for his daughter but also party to help Rose fit into the world she has returned to.

As a result of this, the people present were of very high status in the two kingdoms. When the king noticed Rose walking off, he pulled out his phone.

As Rose hurried down the hallway to find the rest room and turned down a corner, she collided with a solid warm wall. She raised her head knowing that there should not be a wall there.

She touched her forehead and stepped back when she saw the face of the wall she hit. The wall has a very handsome face.

"You must be princess Rosaline," the wall said in a deep musical voice that had her pausing for a while.

"Yes, and you must be?" she asked him as she glanced back and could finally relax when she noticed her guards watching her steps away from them, the person will not be able to hurt her easily.

"You don't look okay," he voiced his observation as he bent to have a good view of her face.

Rose pretended not to understand what he met as she gave him a questions. "Five specialists took their time to give me this look," she lied to him offended.

"No . . . You look really gorgeous but . . . I meant your face . . . Not that it does not look very beautiful because you look really pretty but I mean your complexion. You don't look happy," he told her worriedly.

"I am fine," she replied him avoiding the gaze of his black eyes. "Now, if you will excuse me."

"You were clearly heading somewhere else. Where were you headed?"

"What gives you the right to ask?" she asked slowly feeling pissed off by this stranger's act of familiarity. "You did not even bother to introduce yourself."

"Does that matter?" He took one step after the other close to her.

"Stay away or I will tell the guards to take you away," she ordered him as she also took a step backwards.

"I am very familiar with everyone of them. They know I mean no harm," he told her still looking worried.

"Stay away from me," she said as her back hit the wall, this time a real concrete wall.

"You are crying," he observed as he reached for her face and wiped the tears off with his thumb.

Rose moved her face away from his touch as though she got burnt by it. She was feeling like she was having some serious mental breakdown and she wanted an outlet.

She raised her hand and mopped the tears off herself. "I need to leave," she told him when he stood like a broad pillar in front of her.

He did not only look like he worked out a lot but he also looked like he was a very skilled fighter. He did not look bulky but he sure had a well toned body tht even showed with the way his expensive tuxedo fitted him like a A-level model.

"Princess Rosaline your attention is needed in the ballroom," she heard her assistant's voice call from behind her.

"I think it is time for me to excuse you," the man said as he slowly took steps backwards from her with a mischievous smile like he just found himself a new prey.

"Actually I made that up.. I thought you needed help," her assistant told her when the man left.