Chapter 8
After that discussion, Valeria and Diego no longer saw each other.
Valeria no longer visited the palace because she was tired of the fact that every time she went out, people laughed behind her back.
On the other hand, Diego continued meeting with Miss Rosalia. After the incident, Diego apologized to her on behalf of both of them and promised not to let her go through such a situation again—that he would always defend her.
For his part, Baron Salvatore took it upon himself to find a fiancé for his daughter, as he wanted to silence the rumors involving his daughter as the Crown Prince's mistress. When he found the perfect candidate, he sent for his daughter to come to his study to give her the news. When Rosalia was informed that her father was waiting for her in his study, she quickly made her way there, and upon arrival, she knocked on the door and waited. After hearing her father give her permission to enter, she went in.
"Did you send for me, father?"
"That is right. I believe you are already aware of everything that is being said about you, right?"
"Yes father, but I swear to you it is a lie. The Crown Prince and I are only friends."
"Humm… I hope so; regardless, it is better to prevent. I sent for you because I decided to accept the marriage proposal with Count Gray."
Upon hearing those words come out of her father's mouth, Rosalia remained silent, and he continued:
"As you know, I cannot let you soil the name of this family. You may retire."
"Yes, father."
The young woman said, trying to hold back her tears, only to then leave the room.
Rumors ran fast in the empire, and everyone already knew that Miss Rosalia was going to be engaged to Count Gray.
When this news reached Diego's ears, he quickly summoned his friend to ask her if it was true.
Rosalia accepted the appointment, and they met in the garden of the Prince's palace. When she arrived, the young man was anxious; he wanted to know if the matter of the engagement was true, and if she agreed with it.
"Greetings, Crown Prince. How have you been?" the young woman said, her face haggard as she tried to force a smile.
"Hello, Miss Rosalia. I am very well, but worried about my friend. Is it true that you are going to be engaged?"
"That is right, Highness. My father decided to accept Count Gray's request due to the rumors circulating about us."
"What? Which rumors? I was not aware of anything…"
"The ones saying that you and I… are lovers." The young woman had to avert her gaze as her face was completely red from the shame that saying those words produced in her, but she still continued speaking. "And I fear it was your fiancée who started them."
Upon hearing this, Diego appeared completely angry; he could not believe that Valeria had done something so low and that because of it, his friend was now about to be engaged to someone she did not love.
"I am very sorry, Rosalia; this is my fault. I promised to protect you and look what happened to you for being by my side."
"It is not your fault, Prince. I think it is better this way; the man I love is engaged. So either way, I would not be reciprocated."
Upon finishing this sentence, Diego's heart began to beat rapidly. He knew whom she was referring to, but he wanted her to say it.
"Who is he? Tell me, who is that man?"
"It is you, Highness. I know it is madness and that I cannot be reciprocated, but…"
Before she finished speaking, Diego approached and kissed her. At first, she stayed still, but after a few seconds, she began reciprocating the kiss until they separated, remaining face to face.
"I also feel the same for you. I only ask that you wait for me; I am going to fix all of this. I will speak with my father and ask him to cancel my engagement with Miss Delacroix so I can be engaged to you."
"Of course, Highness. I did not want to say anything because I thought you would not reciprocate me, but now that I know it is so, I promise to wait for you for as long as necessary."
While all this was occurring, Valeria was at a tea party hosted by her friend Emilia. At this party were all her friends from the institute; they were the only ones in the whole empire who supported Valeria.
It seemed very unfair to them that their poor friend was going through this humiliation when she did nothing but want to be liked by the Prince. Among them all, they began to devise a plan to distance that girl from the Prince and ruin her reputation. The eight ladies spent the entire afternoon devising an infallible plan to finish that girl and thus let their friend Valeria be happy alongside the Prince.
What none imagined was that among them there was a traitor. And that was Amanda, daughter of a Marquis and maternal cousin to Miss Rosalia. At the end of the meeting, Amanda went to her mansion and, upon arrival, wrote to her adored cousin to tell her about Valeria's evil plans.
Rosalia, of course, showed said letter to the Prince, and he was truly furious, but he would take advantage of all this. Between the Prince and Rosalia, they devised another plan: they would make Valeria believe that her plan was working, but at the moment she intended to harm Rosalia, he would arrive and save her. With this, they would also succeed in making Valeria look bad and thus be able to achieve the dissolution of the engagement.
Everything went better than they would have expected; they were already engaged and they were going to leave things at peace against Valeria, but one more letter arrived from Amanda stating that Valeria planned to kill Ross. And that was how they decided to finish Valeria once and for all, but this did not stop there. After Valeria's trial, her 6 friends were also incriminated. These were:
• Emilia Barbosa, daughter of Count Barbosa. She and her entire family had their title and properties taken away, so they became commoners.
• Esmeralda Vasquez, daughter of Duke Vasquez, but as he was an influential person, only she was punished; she was also exiled without the possibility of ever returning. Her parents, with no other choice, sent her to the neighboring country with some relatives.
• Vanessa Martinez, daughter of the Minister of War Martinez; she was also exiled. Although her father pleaded for her, his pleas were not heard, so there was no choice but to send her away.
• Sofia Gray, sister of Count Gray; she was also exiled, but in her case, her older brother sold all his properties and followed her. He was not going to leave his sister alone. The emperors respected his decision but forbade him from returning.
• Susan Garcia, daughter of Marquis Garcia, was also exiled. Her father never had much attachment to her, so he did not feel the weight of having sent her away.
• And finally, Cristina Saenz, daughter of Count Saenz. He, like Count Gray, sold all his properties and accepted exile along with his daughter; she was all he had left of his late wife and he was not going to lose her just for this error. The emperors also accepted this, but as Count Saenz was the empress's brother, he was not forbidden from entering, only his daughter.
And thus Diego and Rosalia got rid of everyone who wanted to separate them. They married and lived happily ever after.
Valeria had finished writing everything she remembered from the original story in the notebook. She sighed heavily and thought aloud:
"Uff… Well, I hope I haven't forgotten anything important. I need to be prepared if I want to survive this stupid plot…"