i woke up feeling good , i excpected id wake up with a headache but i didn't . it felt weird to wake up in this room , i still had to get used to this .

I sat up and looked at the window , the sun probably rised long ago which meant i woke up late . i had nothing to do so it didn't really matter if i did wake up early or not

« Your highness good morning » the maid which accompanied me yesterday was inside my room , standing in the corner . i got startled because i didn't notice her presence , were they watching me the whole time ?

« Good morning , did you stay here all night ? » i asked and she nodded « Yes your highness , it is my duty » i looked at her weirded out .

« What's your name ? » i said standing up and walking towards the mirror , as i moved she came closer to me and started to get some dresses out of the closet .

« My name is fahriye your highness and i am assigned to accompany you » she put a dress on my bed and i followed her with my eyes .

« I didn't want to wake you up early but Hurrem sultan wants to see you » i raised an eyebrow in confusion , i didn't even know her but i guessed maybe it was customs and she wanted to welcome me .

I got ready and put on the dress she gave me , i thought maybe they tailored it specifically for me .

« What should i excpect from visiting hurrem sultan » i asked her while she helped me put my necklace . i looked at her over the mirror

« Hurrem sultan is quite different , she is the most feared sultana in this palace . she's the wife of sultan suleyman and you can basically tell he would choose her over anyone else » I thought about what she said , it meant that he loved her so much but i dont think mustafa is her son because he looked nothing like her .

« What about Prince mustafa ? is he her son ? » she finally put on my necklace and started now to fix the back of my dress .

« He's the sultan's favorite even if he is not hurrem sultan's son , he's the eldest and the crown prince . His mom is mahidevran sultan , you will definitely see her around . He went to his province in such an early age because of hurrem sultan » I was taken aback , i thought about this deeply before i asked her .

« Does he have other siblings ? how many and why do they all live together here ? » she continued her explanation while i listened to her .

« Well now all the princes went to their provinces , he has five other siblings . Prince mehmet , prince selim , prince beyazid and his younger brother prince cihangir and lastly his sister Mihrimah sultan but they're all hurrem sultan's children » she continued « all of them live here because the sultan has asked them to stay after the campaign , they're only staying for some time »

So usually they don't stay here , back at home there was no such thing . even if i had a lot of brothers we would all live in one place

« but everyone here loves prince mustafa , he's everyone's favorite and especially the sultan because he's really experienced and his reputation is always in everyone's tongue . he's a good person » I knew that , he genuinely looked like a good person .

She finally finished and i was ready to go see hurrem sultan , me and fahriye left my room heading to the main chambers of hurrem sultan .

The door opened as soon as we arrived and i stepped in , as soon as i stepped in i could definitely sense the aura again .

« Your highness » i bowed down to her in curtsy as she sat in the middle of her room , she gave me a smile which i returned

« Welcome Princess Stella of Ardunia » she offered me a seat and i finally realised that there was girl besides her which was obviously her daughter Mihrimah .

« It's an honor to be here your highness » i looked at both of them and gladly took the seat she offered me .

« I hope you're enjoying your stay here , the customs here are different » she was right « and i want to take this as a chance to offer my condolences , your father was a great friend of our empire » I was immune to this subject now and for the first time i didn't get emotional .

« Thank you » i looked at mihrimah who began speaking  « You look really pretty » she looked really pretty indeed .

« it's only fair i can say the same thing for you » she looked at her mother and giggled , the atmosphere was quite dry but we managed to chat a little bit before another person joined us .

it was a young man who looked like my age , he stepped in and bowed down to his mother .

« Valide » he looked at me and smiled « And you're Princess Stella if i'm not mistaken ? » i nodded as he took a seat next to his mother .

« Yes it's me » hurrem sultan introduced me to her son mehmet , i now recall that he was with her when i first came into the palace . when i saw them three looking up

« I am very passionate about your country , i hope we can get to talk more » he obviously liked to learn about history and different cultures

I looked at hurrem sultan who looked as pleased , we chatted for some time about the palace and i took the opportunity to ask them about the other princes and how life was here .

I was growing pretty bored from talking here , i appreciated their time but the vibe they were giving me was not that comforting .

Mehmet looked like a genuine and kind person but them two were definitely not my cup of tea .

« With that i will have to excuse myself your highness » i stood up and excused myself , i wanted to go back as soon as i can.

« Yes you can go but tonight we will be hosting a party for you , to welcome you here » i was definitely against this idea but i had to be nice .

« Oh why did you exhaust yourself your highness ? it's okay » i genuinely didn't want this but she looked like she wanted to do it .  « this is our customs we have to welcome our guest in the best ways possible » i smiled widely

« I will be there your highness » i bowed down to them one last time and went back to my room . i honestly just wanted to escape from them but in reality i was bored , i wanted to do something

« Fahriye »i called for the girl and she came in « is there anything i can do here ? something entretaining ? » i asked and she looked really surprised

« Uh your highness , sultanas don't have
much to do here except for reading books or knitting » i looked at her completly amazed « you're kidding me ? »

she shook her head as i raised my eyebrow .

« Well can i go see the gardens ? at least ? » she immediately reached for the cloak and gave it to me .

i suppose that was a yes , i wanted to go out a little bit . she accompanied me outside and it was still so cold , it didn't snow ever since i came here

the weather was so much different back home , i fell in love with the garden at first sight . it was very majestic and it had every flower type you could ever ask for

« Princess if you get cold we can go back » Fahriye worriedly suggested but i dismissed her « No it's not i will be fine »

We were peacefully enhaling the fresh air when i heard something move on the tree , I took a glance and there was a bird stuck .

« Oh poor thing » i approached the bird who had an injured wing , i placed my hand under him carefully so i could hold him steadily .

I got him out of the tree and examined his wing carefully , he was definitely injured . there was a huge scar which was probably caused by a sharp object.

« Fahriye , look » i showed her the bird and she looked at it , she got closer and she also felt bad for the bird .

« You see , birds are like humans . they can't get back up easily until someone helps them up » i heard a male voice right behind me , i jumped out of surprise and fahriye immediately looked down and distanced herself from me .

It was Mustafa .

« You're right , your highness » i joined what he said and bowed down to him , he approached me and looked at the bird .

« He has to get treated , or he would die from his injury or cold » he put his finger on the bird's head and caressed him as i was holding him in my palms .

« You're right » he looked over at the guards and ordered them to take the bird away , the guards carefully pulled it out of my palms and put him away . i followed them with my eyes hoping they weren't hurting him

« What made you go out in such weather » He finally asked me « I don't know it felt quite boring inside , i was all alone and it felt good to get a fresh air »

He looked at me with such tender eyes sometimes i wondered if i was just hallucinating but he looked at people with such gaze ..

« You're right , i doubt you'd get used to things here after all its different from what you used to have , freedom is pretty limited here » he added and and i definitely agreed .

« I hope i get the chance to talk more with everyone else , as for that hurrem sultan thought about hosting something for me tonight » He glanced at me and obviously looked annoyed but he concealed it just right .

« I think there's a high chance you get to know my mother there » he was indeed right because i didn't have a chance to meet her yet .

« You may here some bad stuff about her but you'll see that she's really sweet » i was surprised , why was she hated ?

« I am sure she will be as nice as you »he chuckled and stopped to look at me .

« You flatter me , i'm not as nice as a i look . but i hope you don't listen to what people tell you about me or my mother » he got closer and looked down .

« We're not as evil as people say, we had our motives just like everyone else » he looked hurt saying this , he obviously went through so many things .

« Your hands are cold » he took his gloves off his hands and put them in mine , my heart definitely skipped a beat « put them on »

I looked at my hands and his and then looked at him with a smile , i hope it wasn't blushing already .

« Thank you , i forgot to bring mine » i said jokingly as i put them on , i looked over and noticed that there was a little boy running around .

« Whose boy is that ? » i asked curiously , he turned around and waved at the little boy .

« It's mine , he's my son mehmed » i felt something shift in my heart when he said this , so he was with someone else .

« Oh , he's really adorable » i had to say it out loud so i don't stay silent for too long, i waved at the kid who then started to play with him guard .

« I will see you later then ? We have to talk again some other time » he spoke as i was still processing that he had a son .

« Yes definitely we have to » i smiled and started to take the gloves off , he then stopped me and put his hands on mine .

« No you owe them to me » i raised my eyebrow as i could feel my cheeks start to burn « Remember when i stole your earring ? » he said to me and i remembered the dream i had , or more like a memory .

I laughed , i genuinely laughed . i don't remember when was the last time i did

« You remember it too don't you ? » he teased and i nodded after him « Yeah i do remember , i doubt you would've »

« I never forgot » he said to me with such tenderness , it felt like he was reminiscing on those moments .

« It's been a long time right ? » i said looking down at the gloves he gave me « we will definitely talk again » i said backing away a little bit .

« I'll see you again right ? don't runaway like always » i teased you and he laughed before i turned my back and went back inside the palace
————————————————————
Hello guyssss ! how are you doing hopefully you're all doing good ,. i think you've noticed that i'm updating more and more lately and it's gonna stay like this hopefully .

Support this Story and all of my others by voting and commenting  love you so muchhh 💕💕