Everyone looked at my direction the moment I entered the dining room. I smiled at them sweetly and then tried my best to walk straight towards them. I wasn't that drunk but didn't want them to notice that I was.

"Buonasera a tutti. I'm sorry, I came home late." I greeted them and then approached my mother to kiss her on the cheek. She looked at me worriedly but I could tell that she was mad and disappointed as well. I groaned inwardly.

I hate disappointing her.

I was about to approached my grandma to kiss her on the cheek too when my mother spoke.

"Don't go near your nonna. You're drunk. You know that she hates the smell of drunk people." I bit my lower lip.

"I'm not drunk, mamma. I'm just tipsy." I reasoned out softly and she shook her head in disbelief. I heard my nonna huff before she wiped her lips with the table napkin with a stoic face.

"Sit down and eat first. I'll talk to you later." She commanded before drinking her glass of water. She then stood up afterwards.

"Are you done eating, mamma?" My mother asked.

"I lost my appetite. Just finish your dinner. I'll go to my study room." She answered before throwing a glance at me. "I'll be waiting for you there, young lady." I heaved a sigh as I watched her exit the dining room.

"I can't believe that you have the audacity to come home late not to mention drunk." Antonius spoke for the first time. He was gritting his teeth while staring daggers at me.

"What's new? Athena is Athena, right, mamma? She always does as she pleases." Aris answered while chuckling.

"Aris! This is not funny! You should not be laughing of what Athena has been doing because it's not good! Last week, she was on the front page of the newspapers because she got into a fight with the daughter of one of the most influential businessmen in Italy!" She snapped at my brother before looking back at me.

"Your nonna told you not to involve yourself in any trouble anymore but now, look what you did. You said that you were going to attend the birthday of your best friend. Yes, I allowed you to go because I knew that Daniella was your best friend, but I didn't tell you to get wasted and get drunk like this! I can't believe you!" My mother was so mad and I gulped inaudibly.

She's the sweetest but you wouldn't like her when she's angry.

"Mamma, relax. You know how Ath is. If you didn't specifically tell her not to drink alcohol, she thinks that it's okay for her to do so. Besides, she came home rather early today. It's only 9. At least, she kept her promise to come home before 10 pm." It was Aria. Amelia on the other hand remained quiet while shaking her head at me.

My mother released a harsh breath and then closed her eyes for a moment as if she was trying to calm herself down.

"Sit down and eat. Your nonna is waiting for you." She then said tiredly after that and I almost sighed in relief when her voice mellowed.

I quietly sat down on my respective seat and the joined them. I was hungry when I was on my way home, but now, I lost my appetite knowing that everyone was mad at me.

I didn't really intend to drink. I just wanted to be there at Daniella's birthday party but some of our friends were not happy that I wasn't participating. They called me a party-pooper so I didn't have a choice but to drink a little bit.

Because we were having so much fun, it slipped my mind to control my alcohol intake. The party started around 5 pm and thankfully, I remembered to go home when around 8:30 pm because I promised my mom not to come home late.

Much to my friends' displeasure, I went home. Daniella even wanted me to spend the night at her place but I couldn't because I already made a promise to my mother.

I've been actually grounded these past few days and wasn't allowed to go out but because it was Daniella's birthday, my mother allowed me to go knowing how important it was for me.

We ate in silence and after that, I went straight to my grandmother's study room with a fast heartbeat. I couldn't help but to get nervous because I knew that she would toast me.

I winced upon hearing the loud voice of my nonna while she was scolding me in her study room. I could tell that she was really upset at me because of what has been happening these past few weeks. It wasn't just because I came home late tonight but because the whole attention of the nation was on me these past weeks. It wasn't my fault though.

I've been trying my best to behave and not to get caught but for some reason, the press people were always after me, as if waiting for me to commit a mistake and sensationalized it throughout the whole country.

I didn't mean to get involved in those mess. It's just that those people upset me so much that I had to fight back.

"How could you get involved in all of those scandals 2 weeks in a row? Are you really trying my patience, Athena?! I told you not to be with those bad influenced-friends of yours but you still went out and partied with them! What are you trying to prove?!" I bit my lower lip and then looked down as I remained silent.

"Now, you look like an innocent quiet girl who couldn't even hurt a fly but when you're out there, you behave like a tigress without thinking about the consequences of your actions." Her voice mellowed but anger was still evident in her stern voice.

I heaved a sigh and then lifted up my face to meet her gaze.

"I'm sorry, nonna. I didn't mean to get drunk. It's Daniella's birthday party today and our other friends were there too. I didn't want to drink but they called me a party-pooper and wasn't happy about me turning them down to have a drink, so I agreed, planning to just have a couple of shots but I lost count of how many shots I had because we were having so much fun." I explained and then bit my lower lip again.

"I don't know what to say for you to straighten up your ways, Athena. Your brothers give me enough head ache already because of these mess regarding women. Please, don't add to my stress. Look what happened last week. Because of the scandal you created at the birthday party of the daughter of Mr. Amouretti in Italy, I had to do everything I could to sort everything out. Thankfully, Mr. Amouretti was so understanding.

"Your reputation is getting worst because of those scandals that you got involved into. Not just yours but the entire Royal Family's reputation as well. Did you ever think about that? Why don't you be like your sisters? Look at them. They do good in school and they never got involved in any trouble before." I almost rolled my eyes because of the last sentence that she said.

I hate it when they compare me to my sisters.

I took a deep breath and then answered. "Nonna, it's not like I purposely did everything. I told you, it wasn't my fault. The media just sensationalized what happened and made me look like the bad guy. That Nadia Amouretti was the one who provoked me. It wasn't my fault that her crush ignored her and chose to talk to me. Just because of that, she called me a b*tch and even made me look like I stole the attention of that ugly and opportunistic crush of hers. Now, look at you. Instead of asking me what really happened, you already believed them without even hearing my side of the story." I said sulkily.

She sighed before removing her eyes glasses. She massaged her temples as she closed her eyes. She looked stressed out.

"Nonna..." I suddenly felt guilty. I stood up and then went behind her before started giving her shoulders a massage. She put back her eye glasses on but still massaging her temples.

"C'mon, nonna. I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to get drunk. Actually, I'm not that drunk. Just tipsy. Look, I can even give you a good massage." She shook her head and then craned her head to look at me.

"Are you sure you didn't cause any scandal again?" I almost sighed in relief because her voice finally calmed down. Now, she looked worried.

I smiled at her. "Just like I've told you, nonna. Everything's fine. No one noticed me because I wore a disguise." I assured her. She sighed again while shaking her head but didn't comment further.

After about 10 minutes more of talking, she finally dismissed me. I went to my room, planning to take a shower right away, but to my surprise, my sisters were there, obviously waiting for me at the sitting area.

"Why are you two in here?" I asked and then sat on the couch before removing my stilettos. I sighed in relief upon removing them. My feet felt free at last.

"Nothing. We just wanted to hear what happened inside nonna's study room. How did it go? Did she scold you?" Aria answered curiously.

I sighed. "What did you expect? She would pat me on the shoulder and tell me, good job?" I answered sarcastically and they both laughed.

"Well, it's was your fault. I can't believe that you came home drunk." Amelia said, shaking her head. I leaned the back of my head against the headrest of the couch and closed my eyes.

"C'mon you two. I'm not drunk. Just tipsy. Mamma and nonna are just mad because they're worried that I might do something stupid again."

"And we were right. I called Daniella just now and guess what she said. Mrs. Bianchi was apparently very mad because you embarrassed her in front of some people at the party." I looked at the one who spoke and it was our mother. She was at the doorway, looking so strict and unhappy.

I groaned inwardly. That girl! Why did she have to tell mamma about what happened? Now, I'm screwed more than I already was!

"Oh, my God. I can't believe you did it, Athena. What's happening to you?" Aria asked in disbelief.

"I didn't embarrass her. She was the one who embarrassed herself. I just merely put her in her place." I said through gritted teeth as I remembered what happened.

Our mom's eyes widened and was about to get mad at me but I spoke before she could.

"Mamma, listen to me first before you get mad." I said and then stood up, all the while looking at her. "I accidentally heard her bad-mouthing the Royal Family that's why I got mad and couldn't hold back myself. No one has the right to bad-mouth us, especially you, because they don't have the right to! They don't know us personally so they shouldn't just irresponsibly bad-mouth us like that!" I was breathing hard because of anger.

After badmouthing the queen and us siblings, that old woman even said that my father left my mother because she's nothing but a trash who apparently doesn't deserve to be part of the Royal Family. Upon hearing that, I lost my temper and embarrassed her in front of her friends.

She should be thankful that I didn't embarrass her in front of all the people out there, or else, she would surely face the consequences of her actions.

I deliberately didn't tell my grandma about it because I didn't want to anger her any further.

"I don't want to tell you the exact words that she said because I don't want you to get hurt, mamma. Even you, Aria and Amelia. I can accept if you get mad at me for coming home tipsy but when it comes to what I did to Mrs. Bianchi, I won't ever say sorry because she deserved it."

To my surprise, mamma approached me and then embraced me.

"Thank you for standing up for us, vita mia, but you should've just ignored her. It's not worth it because whatever we do, people are still going to judge and bad-mouth us. We can't please everyone."

"I know that, mamma, but I really lost it when I heard her say those words. She was chatting with Celeste and three more older women when she said those words." I informed her and she gasped.

"Celeste was there too?"

"Yes, mamma. She was with Mrs. Bianchi." My mother remained silent for a couple of seconds before she heaved a sigh.

"Just forget about it and freshen up. For now, I want you to behave. I don't want this to happen again, okay?"

"But, mamma, I—" I tried to reason out again but she cut me off.

"—Enough, Athena Emilia. Just do what I said and don't involve yourself in any mess again." Her voice was stern. I sighed in defeat and then nodded my head.

"Good. I'm going to bed now. You should too. It's already getting late." She then kissed my forehead before doing the same to my sisters and exited my room.

"That old hag Mrs. Bianchi. Who does she think she is saying those things about mamma?" Aria said full of anger. "If I was there, I would've pulled her wig and told everyone there about how she cheated on her husband with a younger dude." I couldn't help but to laugh because of what Aria has said.

"Oh, Gosh. Thankfully, you weren't there. I can already imagine the big scandal that would explode in the entire nation." Amelia said to Aria while shaking her head.

"Well, I wish Aria was there with me so that we could've taught that woman a big lesson she wouldn't forget."

"Yeah, right!" Aria responded and we high-fived.

"These two. Sometimes, you two are really scary. Thankfully, Aria here doesn't go out partying just like you." Amelia said. Aria and I laughed.

"But seriously speaking, Athena. You should lie-low for now. Don't stress mamma and nonna too much. You know that they're very worrywart, especially mamma. Look what happened three months ago. She even went out in the middle of the night just to find you because you sneaked out the palace. That's dangerous for her and you too, so please, stop giving them headache and just behave." Aria sounded serious this time but her eyes were begging.

I heaved a sigh. "Okay. I'll try." The last thing that I wanted was for my entire family to get mad at me...