Pandora’s home was still filled with strangers, although the time was past midnight. She sat at a table alone, while sipping what was left in her glass. Most of the guests were out in the garden and, luckily for her, were unaware of her absence. She found herself unable to enjoy the excitement of a party like she used to. Her heart would only allow her face to fake a smile for so long. Eventually, she had to step away and recharge. Setting her glass down, Pandora gazed at her reflection in the liquid at the bottom of the cup. Her makeup would never run no matter how many tears she shed.

She didn’t want to be here. She wanted to be with Hale, wherever that was. If she felt this exact way for two months, would she ever change? What difference would two more months make? And if nothing changed for four months, what difference would another two months make to her heart? She didn’t want to be hopeless for so long, but she couldn’t blame herself. This was Hale’s fault. He didn’t want her to leave Elani with him. He made that choice for her, and she refused to forgive him for that.

Footsteps on the marble floor of the dining hall made her head turn. Her father walked towards her, his brows turned downwards in disappointment. Her tears quickly evaporated from her rising anger. She knew what he was about to say to her.

“You should be outside,” he scolded.

“What’s the point. I’ve already talked to everyone at least one time.”

“You know exactly why. I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of money to host this dinner so that you could meet someone. You must choose someone tonight.”

Her body twitched. “No.”

“You don’t have a choice this time. I am tired of dealing with the noble families pressuring me about you. You are going to court someone publicly. At this point, I don’t care who it is.”

The significance of this decision cut through her few remaining heart strings, and she cried again. It was a despicable thought to jump into a relationship with someone she only spoke to once. “Do you even care about me? Do you want me to be happy?”

He huffed. “Don’t ask that. You should know. Look around you. This is for you so that you can have a successful life.”

“This isn’t what I want! I don’t want any of this. I was content how things were before. I don’t need you to do anything for me.” Her voice came out strained and then broken. “All of this is for yourself! How can you not see that?”

His eyes were cold towards her. “Decide. Right now. If you’re done with socializing with our guests, then you should be able to make a decision on what family.”

Her vision was too blurred with tears for her to clearly see the disappointment on her father’s face, but she knew it was there. She no longer had the strength to voice her response. She grabbed ahold of the tablet set near her and typed the name of the family she had chosen. The Moargans. They were her only option. They were the only family who had treated her like a person. That alone was what she based her decision on.

Pandora slammed the tablet on the table and stormed out of the dining hall, further into the castle. She didn’t look back to see her father’s face as she left. She retreated to silence of her own bedroom and locked the door shut, which probably wasn’t necessary because her father wouldn’t follow her. He had guests to entertain, and this event was crucial for his own future. He wanted to ensure that their bloodline continued through her. She couldn’t understand why that was so important to him. Shouldn’t that be her decision?

Another reason why she was to be married off was that her father didn’t believe she was strong enough to rule alone.

Maybe he was right. She didn’t have the power to stop loving Hale, and it consumed her.

At least her father was allowing her to choose from his selections. Her own parents were forced to marry each other on the same day they met. She would never be able to marry the one she wanted anyway. He wasn’t part of the nobility. And even if by some chance he had noble blood, his crimes were too vast and, in her father’s eyes, disqualified him from her hand.

Matthias wasn’t so bad. He was friendly and handsome with dark red hair and clear green eyes. She should have acted more interested probably. But green would never be blue.

Her father was likely informing the Moargans of her decision regarding their son. Of course, they would accept. Everyone was there hoping to be chosen. It came with priceless advantages. Their family would have a permanent apartment within the castle to stay in whenever convenient. And most importantly, their bloodline would become part of the royal family’s forever. She hoped she made a good choice.

Compared to the social issues of Elani, however, whom she married wasn’t that important. It barely mattered in comparison to the corruption she would be up against. Her husband wouldn’t be anything more than a symbol of her own strength since she was a true part of the royal bloodline. He couldn’t be the primary ruler unless the law was changed. She would be the first female ruler Elani had in at least five hundred years. But she could care less about any of that. If she became queen, she would use her power to rid Elani of corruption and fulfill promises to the people that her father never did.

Matthias had seemed interested in ending corruption. Though she thought it genuine, his concern for his own kingdom could have been a ruse to gain her favor. She remained skeptical of his true intentions, but she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt because he was likely the best of the options her father had given her. If he didn’t stand in the way of her goals, she could figure out how to be content with the situation.

* * * *

The halls of the castle were filled with many holographs of the princess’s portrait. These mere images of her were only a partial reflection of her beauty. Having seen her in person, having spoken to her for the first time in his existence, he realized that what most people believed about Pandora was true: she really was spectacular, aesthetically speaking. Though compared to pictures he had seen of beings from other worlds, all Elani would be considered perfect in beauty. But Pandora surpassed everyone in his eyes. Beauty was more than just being attractive. Attractive faces were easily found. Good proportions, dare he say perfect, were not so common. The nobles were fortunate to be competing for the hand of a royal with such a pleasing form. None of them deserved such perfection.

Except perhaps he did. He knew very well why the king demanded his family to be present at the dinner. His family took care with selecting their mates. And it was finally going to pay off in ways beyond their imagination.

He glanced over his shoulder to see the king talking to his parents. Figuring out the conversation was simple. The king spoke to them quietly with a smile. His parents’ eyes went wide, and his mother covered her mouth to hide her sudden excitement.

His arms dropped to his side. She really chose me.

This was supposed to happen. But he hadn’t anticipated how it would feel. He knew ahead of time the things he should say to keep her attention. Nothing he had said was a lie, but he knew more about her than she did of him. And still he was terrified. For one night, it was easy to impress someone. But now that he was moving into the castle, he would have to impress her every single day if he wanted this agreement to work out for his family.

She wasn’t an easy woman to impress by any means. Spending a couple hours in a single evening with her was enough for him to know that her standards were high, as they should be. Most of the noble men who had access to her through their titles were not pleasant individuals.

“Matthias!” His mother called for him. He swiftly joined her and the rest of the family.

In the presence of the king, he bowed. “Your majesty, I hope everything is alright.”

“Yes, everything is more than okay. Pandora has chosen you,” the king replied.

Matthias acted surprised for the surrounding guests who had no doubt overheard. “That is… shocking. I am thankful to be considered for such an important role.”

The king played along. “I have to admit I was surprised too. But I could not be more content with her choice. I have made arrangements for your family to stay in a suite in the castle. If all goes well, it will be permanent.”

His mother nodded. “Our necessities are being sent to the castle as we speak and should be here before bedtime. I cannot thank you enough for the consideration, your majesty.”

“Of course. Let me close the evening, and you may turn in for the night.” The king left them and moved to the center of the garden where all eyes were on him.

Matthias hadn’t expected their suite to be so extravagant. Elani’s royal family had immense amounts of wealth, but to discard the amount necessary to furnish and decorate their new apartment seemed irresponsible. Matthias counted a total of four large chandeliers in the suite. These chandeliers were crafted using the latest technology. The crystals were hyper-realistic holographs that slowly moved around. Somewhere within the room there was a remote to change the colors, the brightness, and speed of rotation.

The sofa was made from the softest synthetic fibers that were shiny when the light hit them. There were projections of house plants around the parlor and kitchen. If he were sitting on the sofa, he faced a large window and could see the castle courtyard and city lights behind it. A perfect view, truly.

Matthias wandered to his personal room within the suite. The floors were carpeted in white. The bed’s frame was clear glass, causing the bed to look as though it were floating. The bed was covered with silken pillows and a dark purple velvet comforter. He sat on the end of the bed to test it out in case he wanted to switch the mattress. To his surprise, it was nicer than the one he slept on back home.

While he was gazing outside through the window, his door chimed. He vocally commanded it to open. After the door slid away, a stranger stood in the threshold.

“And who are you?” Matthias asked casually.

The man bowed. “I have been assigned as your attendant during your stay.”

“Your name?”

“Oliver, Sir. Is there anything I could do for you?”

Matthias nodded. “Actually, there is. Could you fetch me a large bouquet of moon roses?”

Without asking why, Oliver accepted his request and left to fulfill Matthias’s wishes. A personal attendant was another generous gift of the king. His family had almost too many incentives to stay.

“Darling!” From another room, his mother called him.

Matthias left his room and went to see what she wanted. She stood staring at the chandelier in the living room. “Yes, Mother?”

“Our king is far too generous,” she said, still admiring the chandelier.

“I agree. But I wonder why he needs to give us such obvious reasons to stay here. I would think that we wouldn’t need convincing. Every young noble would do anything to win the hand of his daughter.”

“Perhaps he is just kind. I don’t care what his motives are. He’s convinced me that we need to finalize this marriage soon. Imaging living in a place filled with such beauty.”

Matthias sank down on the sofa. “You and father couldn’t live here. Even if this marriage does happen, you should spend most of your time in our own province to ensure our people are doing well.”

“We’ll see about that.” She smiled as mischievously as a young girl and walked over to the window. “On another note, I am very proud of you, my son. You managed to win her over so quickly.”

“Her father was pretty specific with how to impress her. She has what most would call a good heart. You might call her overly sympathetic, but talking about how you’re actively improving peoples' lives is the only way to catch her interest. She’s not shallow, like you told me she would be. I like her.”

His mother rolled her eyes. “You weren’t brought here to like her. Nobles rarely marry because they like someone. You’re just here to marry her so that you can screw her for heirs to maintain their dynasty.”

“I hate it when you put it like that. I don’t know how you make something such as marriage sound so distasteful.”

“Nothing about our marriages will be normal. That’s the price we pay to stay in power. Your sacrifice will ensure that our name and our province will be strengthened because we will become deeply connected to the royals. Your blood will become royal,” she continued.

Every word she uttered reminded him of how transactional this potential union was. It was repulsive, but necessary. “You speak as though this marriage is definite. But you’re forgetting she hasn’t agreed to marry me, only to publicly court me.”

“If you keep doing whatever it is that you are doing, I am certain the results will be as expected. They must be or you know what will happen to you.”

“You’ll disown me. You’ve only told me that at least one hundred times.”

His mother rushed to his side and patted him on the head. “It’s not that I don’t love you, but the shame our name would experience because of such a failure would be detrimental to our province’s status. It’s nothing against you, my dear.”

Disowning their eldest son was a ridiculous idea. His stance on the matter had nothing to do with the fact that he was the son in question. But disowning him would be a poor move because he was the most favored by the people out of his parents’ other children. However, his parents would rather be criticized by the public than be associated with failure.

By only agreeing to court Pandora, he had put his entire life and future on the line. He should have been anxious, but he was glad to take the risk for her. From their one interaction, he believed she was someone he could fall for. She was probably more intelligent than he was, and she had a kind heart. He was being serious when he told her she was going to make a good queen.

His attendant Oliver returned as Matthias was speaking to his mother. Oliver handed him the bouquet wrapped in iridescent fabric. The moon roses glowed and sparkled white. When he exposed them to the light from the moon, the flowers appeared lavender.

“I’ll be back later tonight, Mother.” He scurried out of the suite before she had the chance to ask him where he was going.

He walked from his suite, across the castle, to Pandora’s room. Standing in front of her door were two guards at least ten centimeters taller than he. He ran a hand through his hair and smiled nervously.

“Do you have an appointment?” One of the guards asked.

“Yes, my name is Matthias. The king gave me permission for a short visit”

The guards said nothing and stepped to the side.

Matthias stepped closer and knocked on the door.

The woman who answered was not Pandora. Had he gone to the wrong room?

“Can I help you?” She asked.

“Is Pandora here?”

“Her majesty,” she corrected, “is busy with evening preparations.”

“I have the king’s permission to visit.”

The woman stared into his eyes skeptically. “What’s your name?”

“Matthias. Were you not informed ahead of time?”

Another, softer, voice from inside the room spoke. “Let him in, Lia.”

She moved away from the threshold of the door to allow him inside the room. As he passed her, he felt her angry eyes watching his every move. While he maintained his composure, he felt more intimidated by Lia than the king or the guards outside combined.

Matthias stopped short when he saw Pandora. Along the wall opposing the doorway, she sat at her vanity, as she brushed her silky lavender hair. Seeing him in the reflection of her mirror, she stood and turned around to face him.

“Matthias,” she smiled curiously. “What are you doing here?”

He approached her. When he stood about a meter from her, he revealed the bouquet from behind his back and held it out to her. “To see you and to thank you for choosing me.”

She accepted the bouquet and brought it to her nose. “You don’t have to thank me. Out of everyone there, you seemed the most normal, although time will be the judge of that.”

He laughed. “It’s just strange.”

“What is?”

“Tomorrow everyone is going to view us as an item, but in reality, I have no idea who you are.”

She set the roses down on her vanity. “It does take time. A lot of time. I understand that you’re just here for the prestige. You don’t have to act like you care about me. I’d rather us just be honest about how terrible this situation is.”

“I can see why this situation is so terrible for you. I’m afraid I’ve heard the rumors—”

She cut in. “Of what?”

“About the one you love. Some criminal.”

Her eyes fell to the floor. “Nothing about my life remains private. So, I’m sorry you had to know about that. But yes, if you must know, I’m in love with someone. But it’s hopeless. He’s not coming back.”

“I was going to add that I don’t care. I don’t expect for you to ever have feelings for me. I wasn’t fortunate enough to meet you as two normally would. But I do like you very much, and I’m hoping that one day we might find love for each other.”

Pandora returned her gaze to him and placed her hand on the bouquet. “I can’t promise you anything, I’m afraid. But I appreciate that you came to talk in private. You really didn’t have to bring me flowers though.”

“I wanted to. I want to win your heart, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

She laughed amusedly. “How did you know that I liked moon roses though?”

“Lucky guess?”

“Right,” Pandora responded with narrowing eyes.

Matthias reached for her hand and kissed it gently. “I have to get back to my family. I hope you have a wonderful evening.”

“Goodnight,” she said to him as he walked away.