dinner was enjoyable though slightly overwhelming with so many people giving him late birthday wishes. He knew that it was just a formality most likely, but he appreciated it despite it being overwhelming with so many people at the table.

Clive was still absent, most likely staying with his wife in the hospital. Jeff had also disappeared after he had dropped of Samuel's stuff in his room. He supposed that it was because Jeff hadn't been given permission to eat dinner with the main family. If he didn't think it might've been out of line, he'd have offered to have him sit and eat with them as a thank you for the extra trouble he had gone to.

​​

A few weeks away hadn't really changed much. The food was still as good as he remembered it, though he had a preference for the lesser high class meals that his mother made.

He had been anticipating questions regarding the upcoming engagement party and announcement but instead there was nothing but small talk at the table generally centered around mundane things that had been going on and some questions about Samuel's 18th birthday.

Lena didn't partake much in the conversation as she wanted to be finished with eating so that she could talk with Samuel on her own. She had hoped to get some of the explanations about what was going to be going on out of the way before it was time for dinner, but there was no such luck with him arriving an hour after time.

The only time that she jumped into the conversation was when Leo had complained to Samuel in a rather dramatic way that the princess had refused to take up his idea of throwing him a birthday party here since only Lena had been at his actual birthday party. Rather than joining in the conversation she glared daggers at him, making the warning very clear that he should be careful what he said.

"Honestly, that would've been far too much for me." Samuel laughed in response to the information causing Leo to frown, he didn't like that his sister had been right.

"I had to deal with three celebrations it was and two was already too much before my friends wanted to take me out for a third time." He told the younger brother.

"A fourth time would've just made it an even number which is better than an odd one any day." He mumbled back in response.

"He's probably just upset that he didn't have an excuse to celebrate something so that he could have a feast and make a mess of things." Lena commented as she took a drink of her water. She had finished eating and now she was just waiting for Samuel to be done as well.

"That's not true, I wanted to do something nice for him." Leo defended himself though it was a rather weak defense.

"It's fine. It's not like my 18th birthday is the only birthday I will be having after all." Samuel said as he tried to diffuse the situation before it became a bicker. His attention was turned to Lena however when he saw the way that she as looking at him. Her head was slightly tilted as she fixed with him with a serious yet questioning look which assumed meant she was wanting to know if he was done eating so that they could talk before it became too late.

"Can I have five minutes?" Samuel requested from the Princess who nodded her head.

"Fine, I'll be waiting for you in my study though. The door opposite from the sun room we met in last time you were here." Lena replied as she got up from the table and left.

"I'll be right there." He replied as she left the room. He was done eating, but he had a surprise he wanted to get for Lena but didn't want her to be there to see what he was bringing. It required him to go into the kitchen and bug Ryan for a pair of forks. The other greeted him warmly but he kept the conversation short as he was certain that Lena wouldn't want to be kept waiting since it was already past seven in the evening and there was probably a lot for them to be discussing.

He kept the cake in the plastic takeaway boxes that his mother had packed them in. They were of a sturdy quality that kept the cake safe and upright so that it didn't end up getting damaged during the long drive.

He probably brought more with him than they would be able to eat, but he wanted to see what she thought of it since he knew that his mother's cooking abilities were far superior to his own when it came to sweets.

It was hard though to balance the two containers with the slices of limoncello cake in them as he struggled to open the door to what he presumed was the office. He was happy to find that he had gotten the right door. It was a bit dimly light in the office as Lena only had a desk lamp on rather than the overhead light.

The office was setup similar to her father's except in this office she had two bookcases filed with boxes and an assortment of other items. Her desk was slightly larger as well and was littered with papers and folders that she had been going through.

She looked up when she realized that Samuel had entered the office when she heard the door click shut. She didn't have a chance to ask him what he was carrying before he spoke.

"I know you didn't have a chance to try the cake before you left so since there was too much leftover for us to eat on our own. I brought some with me for you to try and see what you think. I don't know if you like limoncello or not though." He told her as he approached the desk.

"I haven't tried it before, but you can set it down here." The princess replied as she shifted some of the items on her desk to make space for it.

"Thank you." She told him as he took a seat that was positioned next to the desk.

"It's no problem. I wanted it to be a surprise since I know how much you like sweets.". Lena didn't have to say anything about how excite she was to try it as Samuel could see the way her eyes lit up when she heard it was something sweet.

"It might just make up for the fact that you came so much later than you told me you were going to arrive." Lena commented as she pulled one of the plastic boxes closer and looked at the cake, she couldn't deny it looked good and was probably far sweeter than she imagined limoncello to be. Samuel laughed at her comment.

"Well, I am glad to see that bribing you can still work in some circumstances." She shoot him a look that said 'don't push your luck.' but didn't say anything as she focused her attention back to the cake in front of her. She was eager to try this limoncello and see how it tasted.