Chapter Eighty-Four

With the announcement of Princess Anastasia's engagement, Queen Catarina and her treasurer began to slowly release the substantial amount of money Prince Renauld had set aside for the two loves of his life. The amount of simoleans was simply staggering.



And it wasn't just simoleans the prince had left behind for his beloved daughters. Apparently he'd willed them a castle in Monte Vista which belonged to his family.

The girls were finally winning the war.



With their inheritance money coming in, plus their earnings from their careers and their hit reality television show, the twins had ordered the construction of their own glittering palace in the mountains of Hidden Springs, a fortress they would share with their former IF partners which would serve as their new permanent residence. This meant that they were moving out of Vanderburg Palace. Anastasia was consulting and working with architects on the design herself.

Alexandra and Anastasia were now financially secure for the rest of their lives.



With their newfound financial security, they began to work on behalf of charities and pet causes. For example, Alexandra addressed the media in the newly constructed royal press room, for the first time since her speech at her graduation ceremony. Her hair was slightly curled and she wore her royal jacket (with jeans and boots underneath, but no one in the corps ever saw) Armed with her shiny new degree in aerospace engineering technology, Alexandra announced the creation of a scholarship fund benefiting women and girls in science and technology.



Wedding fever had officially hit the royal palace, and no one had caught the bug more acutely than the bride-to-be herself. Already a perfectionist, Anastasia wanted absolutely nothing to go wrong on her big day, hiring a designer for her dress, a caterer for the food, and arranging the facilities.





The royal press corps released two more photos of the newly engaged couple, while announcing that Princess Anastasia's wedding was tentatively scheduled for late June. More of the intensely private couple's plans were starting to trickle out to the media: They were to marry on the tropical island of Isla Paradiso; it was going to be a private, invitation-only ceremony but a public reception; Princess Anastasia herself was designing their villa in Monte Vista.



Meanwhile, Anastasia returned to her job as an architectural designer. Sebastian Plumb hired her to make him a 'book nook,' an area to study and read in peace. Anastasia marveled at the pictures of his ex-wife which were everywhere, but there was only one photo of his daughter. He sure was a charmer, Anastasia had decided, but he was as slimy as a snake oil salesman.



She'd also redone Sir Peter Winterly's living room. Recently widowed, Sir Winterly had lost his only son, Charles, many simyears earlier, and had spent a long time in dedicated service to the royal family and in particular the Crown Prince.



Of course, Alexandra would have gladly traded all of her father's simoleans just to have him back fully alive. As it was, she continued her work on her top-secret experiment, that the rest of the family knew nothing about.



When she wasn't at city hall addressing the media or working her career as a flight officer in the military, Alexandra was spending long hours alone in her basement lab, trying to find the final piece to the puzzle that had stumped her since before she went to college.

Somehow, someway, if she could set the time machine back to the day her father died...if only...and if she could come up with something...



Then, suddenly, the eureka moment arrived. Of course. Why hadn't she thought of this before?
"The spring! The fountain of youth! If I could harness the properties of the healing waters of the spring...then maybe, just maybe..."