A Royal Dilemma

The air hung heavy with unspoken expectations as Queen Catherine, a figure of regal grace, greeted her son, Prince Victor, upon his return from travels.

"Hello mother," Victor smiled, a touch of weariness in his eyes that his charming demeanor couldn't quite mask.

"My love, How I missed you," she responded, her voice filled with genuine affection, a rare warmth in the cold marble halls of the palace.

As they walked through the endless corridors, the conversation inevitably turned to the upcoming Social Season and the debutantes. Victor rolled his eyes subtly, a gesture not lost on his observant mother. He knew what was coming.

Meanwhile, across town, in a part of London where the walls weren't trimmed with gold, Arabella, a young woman with a spirit as bright as her smile, tended to an elderly patient in a bustling, open hospital ward. Her curls, escaping her braid, framed a face full of earnest dedication.

"You look well!" she exclaimed to the patient, a genuine joy in her voice. It was moments like these that validated her unconventional path of pursuing education and a career.

Later, walking through the lively, lamp-lit streets towards her mother's bakery, Arabella was lost in thought. Click Clack. The sound of horse hooves on brick jolted her. She glanced up just in time to see a tall, dark horse looming over her. She stumbled back, tripping over a loose brick and falling to the ground, her white uniform now dirtied.

"Have you no common mind to watch your surroundings woman?" a deep, entitled voice demanded from above. She looked up to see a man on horseback, his clothes clearly marking him as someone of high status. The smell of privilege, she thought, and it was utterly distasteful.