Nights turned into days and days turned into weeks , i spent one week in my palace with my brother . one week exactly and i distanced myself from everyone , i had to take time to process things and accept my situation and it was the best for me and for everyone .

We held a private funeral for my father along with our kingdom's ministers and our close relatives , since most of our people hated my father we couldn't make this public or the riot was going to start again .

Sultan suleyman sent a messenger to the palace ordering me to come to constantinople, i dreaded that but i had to obey and listen to him and my brother who had to put his complete focus on making our kingdom stable again .

With some of my knowledge i knew i could help him and aid him but they decided it was better for me to go somewhere safe and i understood them . Maria has decided to stay , it was hard for me to accept that but she knew that alexander needed support much more than I , she loved us equally but he was more exposed to danger and needed to be with him .

She helped me pack everything , i purposely didn't take a lot of clothes since i knew i was going to be back once everything's over . the maids all bid me goodbye as they held back their tears

« Girls don't do this , i will miss you » i said noticing them tearing up , here we all grew like a family and i didn't consider them my maids at all .

« But princess .. we will miss you . how can we go on without you we are already in deep sorrow and you're leaving us too » leticia spoke in a sad tone and i felt bad , i approached her and held her hands while looking at all of them .

« I won't stay there forever , always make sure you write letters to me . i will always answer no matter the time » i said to them and they all nodded in agreement.

« Don't fall in love there okay ? you have to comeback to Prince Alonso. he's been waiting for you forever » Leticia teased and warned me but at this point i had already forgot about him .

« Come on now give me one last hug » i opened my arms and they all swarmed in as we hugged each other .

I looked at them one last time and left my room , i knew if i stayed any longer inside i would not be able to stop my tears .

I went with my guards towards the main entrance of the palace and there i saw my brother waiting for me .

he looked at me with such a sad expression , i didn't want to look at him because it would just make me sad but i had to

« Take care of yourself sister , you don't know how much i will miss you . even if we were fighting all the time you will always be my little sister » he got those words out who were enough to make my heart shift , he wasn't the type to express himself so i was taken aback .

I stared at him and went silent for some reason, words were hard to get out .

« Take care of yourself , i entrust everything to you . don't let my father's blood linger on the floor and build our country again » i approached him and hugged him .

« I promise that whoever did this to us will pay for every single tear you've shed , i promise .. » he whispered and the only thing i could do is pat his back .

We broke the hug and i walked towards my carriage and got in alone , i knew that after i get in my whole life will change . i looked at my brother one last time before getting inside

The maids put my stuff in the second carriage and we finally hit the road , it was not gonna be a short one so i have decided to sleep .

Time went by , exactly two days before we finally got to the capital . the carriage has stopped after two days and the guards had informed me that we have arrived , it was still daytime but i could definitely tell the sun was going to set soon .

The guards opened the door and a cold air hit me ,it was so cold . i took a step out and admired how gorgeous the palace was , i have never seen a prettier place before . I stood there in awe but i got taken aback when a woman showed up infront of me .

« Princess Stella of Ardunia, Welcome to Topkapi palace it's an honor to have you here » i glanced at her and gave her a warm smile as to indicate it was reciprocated

« It was a long journey , let me welcome you inside » she gestured for me to follow her which i did « my name is afife hatun and i am the responsible of the Harem »

I didn't know what Harem was , our cultures were so different and i knew i had to be familiar with the words they used . i followed her inside and guards were placed in every single corner , we went through the first hallway and we've finally reached a big hall where many girls were talking to each other .

They all stopped when Afife hatun showed up , they got in line and looked down at the floor . I felt like an intruder and suddenly the girls looked up , i was curious and i looked up too .

I wish i didn't , because there were three people there . A red haired woman , A girl and a boy next to her . I wasn't easily intimidated but her aura was surrounding all of the area i could sense from her energy many things and most of them were bad

i didn't know who she was and neither did she but i could obviously tell she was the wife of sultan suleyman . my childhood memories were almost non existent but i could remember this red haired woman that would always be with sultan suleiman but i couldn't recall her face

I bowed down to her after a lot of time and proceeded to follow Afife hatun, she showed me my room and then looked at me .

« His majesty is not in the palace yet , once he arrives you will be in his presence so you can have a word . he told me that you're someone very precious to him » she opened the door for me and stepped in

« it's not easy to gain his majesty's heart , but i think he considers you like one of his kids » She gave me a warm smile which i returned , the woman looked very sweet and nice but i didn't bother to ask her any questions now since i was so exhausted .

« There will be two maids assigned to you , you shall never move without them and anything you want shall be fulfilled » she finally said and left me alone to rest .

the room was very well decorated and spacious , i plopped in the bed just to close my eyes and rest a little before his majesty comes back .

The scent of the sheets reminded me of my room back in ardunia. i held the sheets tightly and closed my eyes