The limo comes to a halt because they're in front of a large golden gate, and a knight wearing all black comes out to talk to the driver, and all Elena can think of is… "damn, are all elves hot?"
The guard nods, and then he gets back inside, and then the gates open up on it's own.
The limo drives inside, and now Elena has her eyes fixed on her surroundings. The grasses are so green, and the trees are shaped in animal form. Elena says a tiny "aww" when she sees a tree shaped like a rabbit.
The road to the actual palace is long like extremely long. Elena just wants to get there quickly, she's both nervous and excited to see her family.
The limo stops and and Elena can see the palace face to face. She's about to open the door, but someone opens it up for her. She sees that it's Pierre. She looks at the space Pierre left, and he's not there, and neither is Alex.
These elves, how did they get out of here so quickly?
She comes down from the limo, and she thanks Pierre with a nice, flirty smile on her face.
"You're welcome," he says in French.
She looks up at Lumincance Palace, and it looks like what a palace would look like.
It's designed in a neoclassical style with a symmetrical facade, grand columns and ornate decorative elements. There's a large monument in front of the palace, with lots of statues and lamp posts, and there's a golden and blue flag just on top of the palace.
She sees different maids, chefs, guards and just people who work for the palace standing excitedly to meet her. She smiles at them and walks toward the servants.
She does a slight wave. "Hello, guys." They excitedly wave back, but the maids are even more excited and are already complimenting her looks.
"Welcome, princess", they all bow, something Elena isn't going to get used to.
"Welcome, princess!" a petite woman in a purple suit with a pixie haircut colored in light green walks up to her.
"I am Adele Wagner. I manage the affairs of the palace," she says in a German accent. She is so tiny, but her hands are strong, and Elena bets she's strong as well.
"Nice to meet you, Adele."
"Likewise," they release each other's hands, and then Adele looks at Alex and Pierre. "Well done, boys, you did well," she says and then settles back on Elena.
"Come, come, your parents are currently having breakfast, I shall take you to them," she spins around like a soldier. And then marches forward. Elena smiles at Alex, and he wants to giggle, but he keeps his composure.
They follow her, the maids giggle among themselves, talking about how pretty Elena is. Elena waves at them.
"You girls are stunning!" she says to them all.
"Thank you, princess." They laugh amongst themselves and blush hard.
As soon as she steps into the palace, she feels more like a princess than the time her dad told her that she's a princess. There's a large golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling, there are several armours by the walls, and candles on silver candle stands.
There are several portraits of fairies and pixies, and portraits of people who have lived here before.
It's all so fascinating, but she doesn't have time to admire the palace; she moves with a speed when she notices Adele, Alex and Pierre walking faster than she is.
"The royal family always have breakfast outside, it's been a tradition since Princess Katherine the third ordered for the backyard to be filled with flowers and trees. Ever since then, the royal family have had breakfast under the beautiful golden sun."
Elena thinks it's cute, so if she were here on holiday, she'd be having breakfast with her family under the sun.
There's a door out back which leads to the garden, and before they could walk out of the building, Adele stops to look at a painting of a beautiful blonde woman with a tiara on her head. Elena doesn't expect Adele to tell her who that is; she just knows.
It's Princess Katherine Louise Carissa Baron-Grant, the creator of the Louise garden. She was so beautiful.
"Hm." Adele hums, and she continues her movements.
It's time to see this garden.
As soon as she sets foot in the garden, she feels the magic; everything about this world is just magical. But of course, it is a magical world after all.
There are different trees, normal trees, apple trees, orange trees and lemon trees. There are roses, tulips, and golden flowers. Beautiful as hell. There's a fountain and a river, and just above the garden is a field of horses and unicorns running about.
So cute.
Elena now focuses on what she's always wanted to see since she was a little girl. Or rather, the people she's always wanted to see since she was a little girl.
Her family is sitting at a grand table.
Her face lights up; she's finally going to be meeting them. She cannot believe it. This is it, this is finally it.
She has dreamed of this moment since she was a little girl, and now here she is, on this planet, this magical city, this castle, this magical garden, and everyone has magical powers.
Everyone now comes to a halt. Adele breathes out. "Your highness," she bows and then gets up. "Princess Elena is here." Adele moves out of the way, and so do Alex and Pierre, putting her in a spot.
She's standing face-to-face with her family members, and they're all looking at her with surprise on their faces. She even heard one of them gasp. A man rises to his feet, and his face is filled with surprise and longing.
This is King Conrad, her father's younger brother.
"Elena," he says in a low voice.
"Uncle Conrad?" she says, tilting her head, hoping she's right. He's very handsome, with blond hair, blue eyes, a blond beard, and he's not that tall.
"Yes, yes, I'm your uncle Conrad," she says, almost in tears. Elena is also in tears. She rushes toward him and hugs him; he squeezes harder.
"I can't believe it, you're here with us again, you're all grown up," he cries, and Elena does so as well. The feel of him on her gives her so much comfort, and she has needed this hug for a long time.
They release each other from their hugs, and he looks straight at her. "God, you look just like your mother, and thank God, your wanker father did not deserve to have anyone look like him," he jokes, which makes Elena laugh.
"Can I hug my niece?" a woman asks.
"Oh, of course." Uncle Conrad moves out of the way. A woman with long blond hair and jade green eyes walks toward her. She's very fashionable, and Elena loves her style.
This is Aunt Stella, her uncle's wife. She hugs her, and she smells like magic. Her uncle smells good, too.
"Oh my Zeus, you really do look like your mother," she confirms.
The next person she meets is the youngest of the Baron-Grant three, but now she's no longer a Baron Grant, but she's a Thompson, her father's younger sister, Beatrice, who is married to Duke Benedict Mason Thompson.
"Oh my darling," she says, blowing smoke from her mouth and then giving her niece a half-hug. While her Aunt Stella is elegant, Aunt Beatrice is bold, and she looks fun. "You've grown," she looks her up and down. "You were a baby the last time I saw you."
"I'm sixteen," Elena says enthusiastically. And Aunt Beatrice giggles and shakes her head in disbelief.
She moves on to the next person. Duke Benedict, who has his hand stretched out to her, no hug, just a handshake. He looks strict because he's not smiling.
"Welcome back, princess."
"Thank you, uncle."
He bows his head, and she releases his hand immediately because it's making her uncomfortable.
"Please sit down, everyone. Alex Pierre, sit down. Well done, boys, I owe you one." Uncle Conrad pats both Alex and Pierre on the back. They both sit down to eat all the food that's been displayed on the table.
Elena sits next to her uncle, and the strawberry cakes have attracted her. She eats one, and her eyes grow wide at the taste of the cake.
"Go on, have more." Aunt Stella says to her. Elena's face lights up, and she puts so many strawberry cakes on her plate.
"Sorry, the twins aren't here; they're in school. But you'll see them later on this evening." Aunt Beatrice confirms, then blows smoke from her mouth.
"And you'll meet Henry at Hollow Prep Academy." Uncle Conrad says.
"Okay, cool. I really can't wait to meet them," she says with her mouth full, not caring if she's sitting amongst royals. They're probably going to ship her back to Earth after seeing her bad eating habits.
She really can't wait to see her cousins, most especially the twins, Billy and Benjamin. She doesn't care to see Henry because she thinks he's a bad person for stealing someone else's girlfriend. She looks at Pierre, and he's eating biscuits so cutely.
"I'm so glad that you are back, Elena." Uncle Conrad, who hasn't stopped looking at her, says.
"Welcome back, niece." Aunt Beatrice winks at her.
"You're going to love it here." Aunt Stella says, smiling.
Uncle Benedict only murmurs, and he has his head buried in his newspaper.
Elena smiles with cakes in her mouth, thinking…
It's good to be back.