Early morning, in the throne room of the castle, Francesca sits cross-legged over her father's empty seat with a pissed expression plastered on her face. Her thin eyebrows deeply furrowed while her little, freckled button nose remains scrunched. The girl's handmaiden stands close, slightly tilting her head to the side. "Is everything alright, princess?"
"Are you serious!? Of course not!" The princess grunts, firmly crossing her arms over her flat chest and irritatedly leaning back into the throne. "I already said a million times that I will NEVER marry one of those pathetic pampered boys Olivia invites here! She is wasting her time and mine."
"Princess, I implore you to give them a chance, you might find yourself surprised." The handmaiden says. "I've heard the young nobles that have decided to come today are very strapping..."
"Well, you can have them, I don't care." Francesca rolls her eyes, swiftly standing up from her seat. "I'm out of here."
"B-but princess, your father-" The woman rushes towards her, trying to prevent the ill-mannered teenager from walking away.
"Oh yes, my father... He is probably getting drunk by this hour." She cruelly scoffs with an overly bratty tone of voice. "Out of my way. Obey your princess."
"P-please, I- I'll get in trouble if you-"
Suddenly, a great wave of relief washes over the handmaiden's anxiousness as the entry door of the throne room swings open. Olivia marches inside with a large group of wealthy-looking candidates following behind her, all of them carrying bouquets of flowers, jewelry, and other different expensive presents. She clears her throat before speaking out. "Gentlemen, please form a line! The princess will hear your propositions soon."
The men comply, standing one behind the other in front of the royal thrones. Olivia then steps towards the very annoyed ginger, doing a small respectful bow. "Francesca. Would you kindly take a seat?"
"Bleh..." The princess resignedly slumps into the throne again, still scowling and keeping her arms crossed.
The royal advisor calmly smiles, gaze now switching towards the handmaiden. "Thanks for your assistance, you can retire now." She orders, the woman nods and promptly hurries away from the room.
Olivia turns her attention back to the princess, "Now then, let's start with the first candidate, shall we?" She gestures towards the first man in line, who steps forward with a nervous smile, tightly clenching a bouquet of roses in his shaky right hand.
The lanky, messy-haired man takes a deep breath before beginning to recite his memorized introduction, but Francesca seems obviously uninterested, barely even glancing at him. Olivia gently nudges her arm, trying to encourage her to pay attention, yet the princess remains stubborn.
She rather focus her attention down at her expensive pair of shoes in utter boredom, idly tapping them together as the man talks and talks and talks and talks... Once he finally finishes his speech, he offers her the flowers, but she simply rolls her eyes and dismissively waves her hand. "I don't want them, I have a whole garden full of those." She sneers, causing the man to recoil in embarrassment.
Olivia quickly steps in, trying to soften the situation. "I apologize, the princess didn't mean any offense by that." She says, taking the offered flowers herself and softly faking a smile. "Next candidate, please."
One by one, the candidates step forward, presenting their gifts and making their case for why they would make the perfect husband for Francesca. However, she remains evidently unimpressed with each one, her mind wandering to other things... Like Orok beating them up and roughly taking her virginity on top of her father's throne, surrounded by the offerings from the little cucks that want to take her hand...
As more time passes, Francesca's impatience grows and she begins to take out her frustration on the candidates. She makes degrading remarks about their appearance and their intelligence, mocking them freely without any kind of consequences.
"Hey, you know what? I'll marry you if you bark like a dog~." She offers to one between stifled giggles, rudely interrupting his presentation. The short, unappealing man freezes with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
"Princess, please show some respect." Olivia discreetly huffs in the bratty teenager's ear, her tone stern and reproaching. "These men haven't come here to-"
"W-woof, woof..."
"Pfffffttttt, hahahahaha!" Francesca amusedly cackles at the flustered man's desperation. Olivia hopelessly rubs her forehead. "That was clearly a joke, idiot! Did you really think I would marry someone like you!? Pathetic."
Half of the frustrated bachelors turn around and leave, while the other half feel tempted to. Olivia notices the disillusioned look on the remaining candidates' faces and decides to finally intervene. She steps forward, clapping her hands together to get their attention.
"Gentlemen, I'm afraid that we have come to the end of our search for now." She says in a kind yet firm tone. "Thank you all for coming today and presenting yourselves, but it's clear that the princess is not ready to make a decision yet."
The candidates murmur amongst themselves, exchanging unhappy glances and beginning to flee the throne room. Olivia follows them out, making sure they all leave before returning to the princess' side, disapprovingly looking at her in silence.
"What?" The teenager frowns, uncomfortable by the mature woman's piercing stare. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Guess."
"Ugggghhhh, didn't you see how pathetic and boring they were? How were you expecting me to act!?"
"Like an adult, for once." Olivia lectures her. "That attitude of yours is unacceptable. You'll be a queen in the future, you need to start taking your responsibilities seriously... You were raised to be a proper lady, not a capricious child."
The princess's only answer is to look away and sharply exhale through her nose in an exasperated way. A silence prolongs between the woman and the girl for some moments, until the former finally dispels it with a deep sigh.
"I understand your frustrations, Francesca... But there are times in life when you have to force yourself to do something even if it means going against what you really want. It happens to every person in the world, from the princess of a country to the most common potato farmer... Your mother, may she rest in peace, once told me-"
Francesca starts trembling in a mix of anger and sadness as she gazes at the royal advisor again, bringing her fists down on the armrests of the throne and causing her to stop talking. "Being my father's lapdog doesn't give you any right to talk about my mom, Olivia!" She huffs.
"Lapdog...?" The woman softly repeats under her breath, professionally keeping her composure at the young girl's disrespect. Olivia has known the eighteen-year-old girl from the moment she was born, and it obviously seems she hasn't matured a day since then. "...Of course. You are right, princess. I apologize." She calmly straightens her posture, clasps her hands over her lap, and bows her head.
"Hmph."
"Now, going back to our subject of concern... Is there truly no man that has managed to catch your attention, Francesca? No one at all?"
The princess hesitates to speak, twirling strands of her long bright orange hair around her fingers. "...Well, maybe there is someone..." She mumbles.
"Oh?" Olivia's eyes widen in surprise. "That's splendid! Do you happen to remember his name? It doesn't matter, I'll bring the list of nobles that have visited the castle and we can check together. Then I'll send some letters and I'll arrange-"
"He is not one of those losers."
"...Excuse me?"
"He is not some dumb, little pansy noble you invited. He is a real man." Francesca says with a smug expression, deeply suspiring in utter infatuation and biting her lower lip as images of daddy flood her line of thought...
"I... I see..." The royal advisor tries to hide her disappointed expression. "Can I at least know who this man you are talking about is?"
The young princess falls silent again, brattily averting her gaze from the woman standing in front of her... Of course.
This could be a problem. A huge one. But there is still time to act... Who could be our mysterious casanova? Who has the princess interacted with recently...? He can't be a servant. Maybe a guard...? No, maybe-
"By the way, I had a question... Let's say, hypothetically, I need a couple of girls executed..."
"No." Olivia sternly says, then resumes pondering.
"Ugggghhhh..."
Think... Think... Wait a second! Wasn't the ambassador of Garro looking for Francesca's room a few days ago? Could it be...? I-Is he truly planning to become a king!?
If so... Making the princess fall in love with him so easily... Heh, he really is a master manipulator, just like she thought! He must have been scheming this since he saw King Edward's deplorable state... She needs to put an end to his plans, quickly.
Some floors above, inside Captain Juliette's small, messy office...
"Like I was saying, I'm not educated in these topics, but even I can notice that the modifications you suggested in these military plans are brilliant, Captain." Nova talks, pointing at the scribbled tactical map of Garro's border splayed on the wooden table separating the elf and the amazonian blonde woman. "The circle of elders will-"
"I see." Juliette absently mumbles, nodding her head in feigned interest, her attention clearly focused somewhere else. The woman's piercing blue eyes remain anxiously glued to the closed door behind the elf, the only way inside her office... One hand rests on top of the scabbard dangling from her hip while the other lays near the handle of the sword reposing inside it, absolutely prepared for any kind of imminent attack.
Nova slowly raises an eyebrow in confusion, taking a moment to look back over her shoulder at the unsuspicious door, and then at the tall, muscular woman again. "Is everything okay, Captain? Are you-"
The elf's concern is interrupted as the door suddenly slides open in a gentle way. Juliette immediately springs from her seat, swiftly unsheathing her weapon and pointing the sharp, iron blade in the intruder's direction.
"Eeek!" A mousey little maid loudly shrieks in a high-pitched tone, absolutely frightened by the intimidating sight. "I got the wrong room! P-please don't kill me!"
"O-oh... I-I thought you were..." The captain's bloodthirsty expression shifts into a nervous and blushy one. "I-I'm sorry for scaring you. Don't worry, I-I would never-" She keeps stuttering, dropping the sword over the table and meekly holding her empty hands up in an attempt to calm the girl. Nova limits herself to just observing with utter puzzlement sprinkled all over her features.
"Waaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" The terrified maid runs away with tears dripping across her plump, rosy cheeks. Juliette grunts in frustration, slumping down over her seat and embarrassedly rubbing her face.
"...Captain, I..." The elf begins saying, recalling a few conversations she previously had with her dear master and starting to quickly rationalize the situation. "By any chance, is the ambassador... harassing you?"
The blonde pouts, looking at Nova in silence for a couple of minutes before softly nodding her head a single time. "We are supposed to have a duel anytime soon..."
"A duel!?"
"Yes. My honor as a warrior and my reputation as the strongest woman in Malena are at stake..." She solemnly says, deeply sighing. "I-I can't lose this time."
"Listen... Juliette... Just ignore him, okay? He is a bully. He'll end up getting bored and leave if you pay him no mind." Nova scowls.
"I can't now! Also, it's not that simple... He is unpredictable, he gets inside my head so easily..." The musclegirl uncomfortably twiddles her fingers, lowering her gaze. "He makes me feel strange... P-puts stupid ideas in my mind..."
"Stupid ideas?"
"Well... H-he... He is trying to make me believe that I-I'm a cute girl or something like that. Absurd! ...Right?" The captain firmly stares at the elf, expectantly awaiting her answer.
"Uh..." Nova awkwardly rubs the back of her neck. "I mean, 'cute' is not really the word I would use, but... uh..."
Luckily for Nova, she is able to circumvent the uncomfortable conversation as yet another visitor enters the office, heavy steps giving away his identity way before he even opens his mouth to talk... "Hey Juli! What's up?" The orc smugly grins.
"I TOLD YOU TO NOT CALL ME THAT!" Juli loudly exclaims, the dangerously cute nickname easily piercing her defenses. The blonde's pursed lips quiver and her cheeks redden as she quickly grabs her sword and holds it close, just in case. "A-and this is a private conversation! You can't just walk into my office like that...!"
"Gahaha, your face is all red!" Orok giggles, easily lifting Nova from her seat, sitting on her spot, then placing her light-weight, slender body on top of his lap. The grumpy elf huffs in irritation, adjusting her tousled glasses after being effortlessly manhandled.
"But I'm here for a reason, actually. This is for you." The orc continues, carelessly tossing a sealed letter on top of the table in front of him. "I spotted one of your soldiers walking around carrying this, so I humbly offered to deliver it for him... It was just an excuse to come see you, though. Gahahahaha!"
Edeol· Dec 28, 2023
