Royal Princess: Doted On By The Mafia King

"You look like the late Queen," Mr. Hart commented as soon as they sat to eat.

Rose was taken aback by that comment and dropped her head down when she remembered the rumors about her mother were strongly connected to the Mr. Hart before her.

"Thank you," she appreciated although it was not right for her to. In history class, the late queen was tagged to be a woman who abandoned her kingdom but she was accepting the fact that she was the queen's look alike.

"Do you know the late queen died betraying the empire?" Damon said watching her closely for her reaction. He really wanted to hear her talk more. She seemed to be shy and kept her formality in his presence but he did not want that sort of attitude from her. She was the queen after all.

"I also heard she was the most was the most beautiful woman before her death.. So, I guess that was a compliment," Rose answered with a bright smile while gripping the hem of her gown tightly to prevent herself from supporting the queen in a suspicious manner.

"Hmm, yeah she was, even your dad can confess that," Damon said with a smile. He felt really pleased with Rose's self-control. If it were him, he would have stood up and landed a punch on whoever badmouths Doris before him. She also showed an impressive ability to change the direction of a discussion.

"Yes, that was right," Justin confirmed chuckling awkwardly. He turned to his wife hoping she was not get agitated by Damon's statement.

"The queen did not betray the empire. Also, do not forget about what the rumors says about you and my late cousin," Valerie said her voice thick with emotions and her head felt too stuffy as she continued the topic Rose was trying hard to take off the table as they all sat down tiger.

Damon smiled inwardly. He was planning to slow down and drag this on for a while but since Valerie decided to talk on her own he decided to help her. "Obviously she did. That is what our kids were taught in history classes," Damon reminded her, his eyes cold despite the smile curving up the sides of his lips.

"I wonder why your name was not mentioned too," Valerie replied him sarcastically. There were rumors about him being involved with the queen and that added to the damage on the queen's reputation.

"My name will be mentioned in history. I protected this country from experiencing and economic crisis when the queen died," Damon reminded her as he slowly cut his steak. What he was waiting for was about to come he just needed to push her a little more. "I did not betray the country like the late queen did."

Justin shifted on his seat uncomfortable. His friend believed the queen was innocent for more than a decade but why was he intentionally condemning the queen before his family. He knew something was wrong but he could not pin point it.

From Rose point of view, she felt Mr. Hart was trying to force either her or her mother to speak. He was glancing at her occasionally. She did not know the motive behind it but it was not helping her because at this point, she could not hold back.

"The queen did not betray her country rather she was betrayed," Valerie blurted out as her anger could not be kept under control anymore although she still maintained a proper appearance but she really want to go across the room and hit Mr. Hart as hard as she could on his face.

She hated the arrogance with which he looked down on her cousin with. She was the late queen either with a bad reputation or not, Doris was still a queen and she deserved respect not ridicule from the man Doris had respected before her death.

Everyone was shocked by the sudden revelation. Rose wondered what she meant by betraying although she knew very well that her mother was betrayed but how did her foster mother know about it. Justin was surprised his wife knew about the truth and began wondering how much of the truth she knew.

"I thought the queen betrayed the country?" Rose asked hoping her mother shares more light.

"Everyone knows she betrayed the country," Damon added with a firm tone.

"She was kidnapped before her death she did not leave the country on her own," Valerie finally said what Damon was waiting to confirm from her lips.

Damon glanced at Rose who was now doing a bad job at maintaining her composure before turning his gaze to Valerie as he waited for her to go on hoping she knows more. He knew the queen was betrayed and kidnapped but he needed more information.

"Why was it not on the news?" Rose asked as the grip on her gown increased. She thought the only people who knew about what happened were those people who did it and her late mother.

"Those people don't know the queen as well I do and I hope you don't believe the rumors too. I know my cousin will never betray the country. She had no reason to. She was the queen and what will it profit her to abandon the country her ancestors took centuries to build," Valerie answered as watched her voice firm with trust.

Even if nobody believed the late queen, she wanted her family to believe the late queen was too good to betray the country for any reason.

Damon was back where he started with her answer although he did not believe she said it out of the trust she had for her cousin. He glanced at Rose and hoped Rose was smart enough to notice something was off and will try to find out the truth.

The air felt so tense and the heavy atmosphere was not doing any good making Anna uncomfortable. She turned to Jace, "Where is your brother?" she asked in a manner which was a whisper but loud enough for everyone at the table to hear.

"Oh . . . Uhm . . ." Jace stuttered shocked by the sudden question. He glanced around the table to find everyone now staring at both of them and the earlier tensed atmosphere felt lighter. "I . . . He . . ."

Rose watched him her mouth twitching as she waited impatiently for Jace to answer the questions. She actually wanted to ask all long but the issue about the late queen prevented her. She gave herself a mental knock for actually expecting his arrival when he did not come.

"He did not come," Jace finally answered when he got the expression he wanted to see on Rose's face. She was actually anxious and that told him clearly that she had feelings for his brother. He added it to the list of things he intended to tell his brother about the dinner including the fact that Rose looked exceptionally beautiful and dressed up for the dinner.

"Why?" Anna asked when she saw her sister's shoulder slump with her head bowed as she slowly cut her steak.

"He was . . ." Jace thought of an answer to give as he glanced at his father for support.

"He did not want to come," Damon helped his son but not in the manner Jace expected him to.

"Why?" Anna continued to help her sister ask all the questions her sister must want to ask.

"He does not like associating with strangers," Damon answered as he also watched Rose closely for her reaction and he noticed she sighed when he answered.

"How is it possible to be an executive in your cooperation or a business man and still be scared of strangers?" Anna said with an obvious hint of sarcasm.

She was beginning to dislike the first son of the Hart's family. She tagged him as someone who was arrogant immediately on her mind and she also did not like Jace's father. She felt it would be better for him to lie that his son was busy to at least appear polite but he called their family strangers.

First Mr. Hart said a bad thing about her mother's sister now he was so arrogant about his son coming over for dinner. She began to doubt if Jace was a true son of the family because he was so different. She knew Jace was looking for the right answer when he was stuttering but his father decided to tell them the truth and hurt her sister's feeling.

"Business meetings are different, the offer benefits," Mr. Hart replied as he watched Anna fight for her sister with all her might and her wondered how it will be in the future. Will Anna continue to stand with Rose when the two finds out about each other's true identity?

"I don't think it matters much if he comes or not," Rose finally spoke after taking a deep soothing breath and consoling herself for being the foolish teenager girl having a crush she was earlier. "I don't think it is right for us to keep talking while eating in this manner," she also added in a gentle respectful manner before taking a thin cut of steak.