Father

“Have all the preparations been made for the Summer Gala?” I asked Father.

He confirmed that to be the case and continued his work. It made me a bit disheartened. This was the consequence of my own tardiness.

“That means you have already scheduled the entertainment?”

“Oh?” Father’s quill paused. “Such an unimportant thing had slipped my mind.” He spoke in his usual monotone as if this hadn’t been a major oversight. Only someone as addicted to work as my father would consider the entertainment for this event as something unimportant.

“Please, try to remember the ‘unimportant things’ too. At least until I’ve taken the throne.”

“It’s hard for me.” I never thought I’d hear such an excuse from him. Comparing this to all the work he’d do regularly, remembering these things should be easy..

“Mother did it all before she married you, didn’t she? I’m sure you can do it.”

A crack formed in my father’s stone-faced expression revealing a slightest smile. “Elaine was something special.” He said, looking off into that space, where one looks towards happy memories with unfocused eyes. I used to talk to him about Mother like this, even when it had no purpose. I just wanted our short conversations to be a bit longer.

However, that was when I was a child; I wasn’t so desperate anymore. “Anyways,” I cut away at my father’s time for nostalgia, “If you haven’t scheduled entertainment for the gala yet, I’d like for you to confirm the Heartland’s Troupe as the chief performers.”

“Why the Heartland in particular?” My father’s face turned from happy to curious—or perhaps it was confused. Honestly, his expressions were so rare that I had trouble telling what they meant past a smile. All I knew was that this would soon transition into his usual indifferent expression if I didn’t keep bringing up Mother.

“Mother never told you I enjoyed their plays?”

“Enjoy them or not, there’s still value in who you choose to perform.” It was funny hearing him say that after he had called the entertainment unimportant. I suppose unimportant for him and unimportant for me were two different things.

“I have more important things to be worrying about. I’d rather save myself the tedium and choose performers I’m already accustomed to.” Telling him that I was doing this for Lucille or her play would turn this all into a hassle. It was better to give an answer that appealed to his opinion.

My judgement had proven correct as without further protest, he accepted my petition and began making preparations to confirm the event with Lady Lucille. Before I could excuse myself, however, he did give me a warning as I finished excusing myself from our meeting. “Be careful with the owner of the Heartland. You may think that you are avoiding tedium with this action, but get too close to her and you’ll find that she is among the kind who is able to produce plenty of it.”

Cassandra's Letter

With the intention to close out my spring on a high note, Cassandra had a letter delivered to me. Its contents were of a joyous nature; the duke and the rest of military command have declared the east secure, ready for any Multisian aggression that comes its way. My sister shall be coming to the gala and she will have nothing get in the way of our first meeting any longer. Of course, however, with such fervor expressed for our meeting, she will be carrying along some expectations. Cassandra wants to see me act as a leader, first by my hosting of the gala and then with a speech at the proceeding festival. I’ll have to present to her my best so as not to disappoint her.

Moving on from that, we still had William to talk about. Since we last spoke of him, his withdrawal has been confirmed by his company and as I am reading this letter, he should have already departed for Vallisia. Father has agreed to provide him lodging until after the gala and festival and Cassandra has written to me that she would like for our relationship to be amicable. “In fact, I am bold enough to say that I desire the two of you to build something much more than amicable.” She was implying something embarrassing.

All this talk of William’s arrival had made me nervous in a way that was unfamiliar to me. Yes, he was a man of note—the Duke of Corm’s son, a captain in the military, my fourth cousin, and fourth in line to the throne—but that alone would not be enough to have me so bothered. These uncomfortable feelings originated from the fact that in this current time William is the man most eligible to be my husband. and it is likely to remain that way. Now, up until this point I’ve never been in love and I would say I haven’t been particularly interested in falling into it, but I suppose it would be better if I did so with William. I hope, when we meet, that I can at least come to like him. Indeed, as Cassandra had written, it would be best if we could become more than amicable.

Ah, such a thought is a bit more embarrassing than it should be. As he is for me now, I hope William won’t produce such distracting thoughts for me once he arrives.