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Adelio marches up the white marble stairs like it's the last thing she'll do. Her mind is buzzing with a million thoughts, none of them good. Her most trusted soldiers, the closest thing she could ever call best friends, are the ten men walking right behind her.

It's been a great trip, actually. No thieves tried to rob them on the way, nobody denied them when they wanted to sleep on their property, and the whole road was basically clear the entire way to the capital. In most kingdoms there would be angry townsfolk banging at their doors when they try to sleep, cattle and farmers in herds walking along the roads just to block them and road thieves around every single corner. The thieves are so many that they form huge gangs that eat up parts of territory. But here? In this empire? None of it. Everybody stared at them quietly, letting them pass. Adelio isn't sure why or how. Maybe it has something to do with them being scared of her. But somehow... king Makai must be involved. His influence must've spread to every far corner of this huge empire, and that makes Adelio shiver with distrust.

Still, here she walks up the palace steps in the Blue Knight capital. Stepping within the borders of this kingdom usually only happens at war, and Adelio has never been a part of any such war, so this is her first time. Honestly she thought she would never have walked up these stairs to meet Makai on peaceful terms. One year ago she would've laughed at the idea. Now here she is, her ultimate enemy standing on the top of the stairs, with her future wife standing right next to him. Adelio tries not to focus on that. The political stay of this trip is much more important to her than the woman she is going to marry in just five days.

Still, when she finally arrives, it's actually hard to keep her eyes off the princess. Curiosity is practically eating her alive. But Adelio won't mess this trip up just because of curiosity. She acts unbothered and calm, approaching Makai as he reaches out his hand. The crown prince is quick to accept the handshake and look into the king's eyes, meeting a man of equal power. She still remembers meeting him for the first time, at another kingdom's ball many years ago. Back then they had equal status, both being crown princes. They were rivals, equals, practically twins in many ways. Now it seems like Adelio has grown slightly past Makai, but only by an inch or so. Their status difference is known now, one is king and the other is still waiting for her father to die. It was a game of luck, really, who's father died first. Adelio happened to be the unlucky one, still being a prince, still having to marry whoever her father wants her to. Still having to marry the enemy, just because it's good for money and power. How aggravating.

"Welcome to my kingdom, Adelio. I trust that your trip was without complications?"

Adelio is quick to answer Makai's question, letting go of his hand. She doesn't want to hold onto him for any longer than she has to. Makai is an evil man with evil intentions, Adelio could sense this on the day they first met. She can't imagine his sister to be any different. Women are often less dangerous and much kinder, but any sister of Makai, even if only half as evil, is still one hundred times worse than any other woman she could marry. Adelio would much rather stay alone. At least then she wouldn't have to face the millions of challenges that come with marriage. Adelio ignores her own thoughts and answers the king with the respect that he now deserves, because of his stupid title.

"It's an honor, your majesty. Our trip was peaceful"

She answers shortly to make sure that their polite conversation ends there. Unless it's about important matters, talking with Makai is out of her comfort zone. And her comfort zone as a woman pretending to be a crown prince, is quite large, so that says something. But Adelio also knows, immediately when Makai's attention shifts towards the princess by his side, that an end to their conversation means a start to this one. That she will have to acknowledge her fiancé, standing by the king.

"May I present my sister, Princess Margaret"

Adelio slowly moves her eyes over to the princess. She finds her veiled, unsurprisingly, considering the conservative values of their continent. But through the veil she can still see her face, because it's not really meant to cover. She is dressed in a long blue dress, with long sleeves, gloves and a high neckline and everything. Behind that veil Adelio studies the face of her fiancé in just one second. She does have some features that are similar to that of her brothers, especially Makai. Like the dark eyes and nose. But her face shape is more round, and her hair is a lighter brown. But it's mostly the eyes that she is stuck on. They don't resemble Makai's eyes at all. Rather than looking confident, there are layers and layers of fear and hesitance beneath the mask of silence that she wears.

Adelio wonders why.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, princess Margaret"

She doesn't break eye contact with the princess for the entire time that she speaks. Reaching out to take her hand, Adelio finds her compliant. She easily lets her grab her gloved hand and kiss it, as is appropriate for a fiancé. She bows and he does too, their statuses are similar and they are getting married soon, so it is unclear who has right to who in this situation. To answer her courtesy, the princess only nods once, not uttering a single word of her own. Makai only smiles, so it is apparently seen as polite and appropriate for a woman not to speak unnecessarily here. Adelio accepts that in a heartbeat, letting go of her hand and greeting the rest of the brothers.

She can sense the eyes of the princess linger on her, and somehow it's different from the hundreds of other stares on her back that she can feel in the same moment. Is it because they are going to get married? Adelio wonders. But she can't shake the thought of this woman being her enemy, this woman being the sister of Makai, this woman being the princess of an empire that has never said a friendly word to Red Lion. Adelio just can't accept love so easily, not even like.

"It's good to see you again, your highness"

Takao is sleek by showing his respect while making a personal connection. The two of them met last year at a royal hunt in their mutual neighboring kingdom. It was mere weeks after the death of king Micah, so Makai could not attend. Adelio did not find the slightly younger brother more pleasant. He was just manipulative in a different way, kinder, calmer and more respectful in trying to win anyone's trust. Adelio does not trust him, not at all. So she simply gives the prince a nod.

"Good to see you too, Takao"

She doesn't give the other a smile, way too tired to bother playing his game. Noor and Nico are next in line, but the two of them are less keen on talking. Perhaps Makai told them to make it quick, because they just shake her hand and say a few polite words, avoiding her eyes to some extent and focusing more on other things. Once Adelio has greeted the duke of this empire, Makai is immediately by her side again. The same smile still on his face. He leads her towards the palace doors, everybody else following behind them.

With Margaret only a breath away, Adelio strangely finds it hard to focus on what the king is saying. It's quite delightful.

"This is the ring, your highness"

Adelio looks at herself in the mirror while fixing the golden buttons on her jacket. It's a long royal suit jacket with twelve golden buttons, six on each side, and red highlights. The dark red of her royal suit symbolizes her kingdom, the Red Lion. Her pants are pitch black, but underneath the suit jacket her fancy shirt is somewhat tinted in a deep blood red. Her black hair is brushed thoroughly by the caring maids, and it looks just a little wet, small curls everywhere, shining under the candle light. Her shoes are simple, black leather, and around her wrist she hides her mothers old bracelet, woven from small strands of wood with a red ruby to decorate it.

Around her finger she carries her father's ring, which is traditionally only worn by the sovereign, but she got it for the special occasion. No- not the wedding, precisely, but the trip as a whole. The wedding is not what she is getting ready for. Standing under the dim candle light as darkness falls outside the palace window, Adelio has a much different party ahead of her. She has been getting ready for an hour now, in this huge room called the royal suite by the servants. It has a large bed with velvet covers in one room, and two other rooms with couches and tables made from gold and red expensive fabric. Everything is much more northern than what she is used to, there are no open balconies or cold stone exterior. Rather they rely on unnatural light, warmth from fire and closed doors. The windows are filled with glass, and the roof is more often high than low no matter where you are in the palace.

Adelio finds this place strange, but not savage. She has made herself somewhat comfortable overnight, having arrived here only yesterday. The weather is somewhat colder and everybody is dressed a little differently, the architecture looks unique and the food tastes new, but otherwise it seems like a normal palace. The key difference between her home and Makai's home, must be that Makai's palace is much higher while her father's palace is much more wide and far stretched. Still, they have been quite accommodating to her, despite the fact that she and her men are the enemy of this kingdom. Everything from the red color of the sheets and suit, to the kind and polite servants, nothing has made them feel unwelcome as of yet.

Adelio stares at the ring her servant is holding out for her. It is in a small, you guessed it, red velvet box. She brought it from home. It's her mother's ring. It hurts a lot to see it there, inside a small box. It should be on her finger instead. The ring should not be given to someone like Margaret, princess of the enemy kingdom. The ring of her mother deserves to be on the finger of someone equally as kind, patient and lovable as her mother. Her mother who deserved the world and got none of it. But Adelio has to take a deep breath and accept it. This is not just a marriage. This is not about her mother. This is about her father and the politics that he is making her do. This is about survival as a future king of the second largest empire on this continent.

And it's a beautiful ring. Simple, golden with a gentle red ruby on it. Similar to the red ruby on her bracelet. It seems small, but it's meant to be that way. A small ring is easier to use. Noble women who get huge rings often don't wear them because it's impractical, but not wearing your ring has quickly become taboo in a world that sees women as property. That is why the trend on rings has been, 'smaller is prettier', for the last three centuries. This ring has been worn by many queens of the Red Lion empire. Many generations back. Those women would faint if they knew that Margaret, as princess of the enemy, would get to wear that same ring. They would faint.

Suddenly there is a knock on the door, quickly breaking her from her thoughts.

"Thank you-"

Adelio thanks the maid.

"And please open the door"

She barely needs to say it before the door is opened. A tall man steps through, Adelio immediately recognizing him as her most trusted guard. Emelio, her childhood friend and training partner, son of a marquis close to the king. He has brown hair and green eyes, quite uncommon in their kingdom, which makes him wildly attractive with the noble women around. But on this trip, Emilio is a guard to Adelio and nothing more. The noble smiles at the ring in Adelio's hand.

"Ready to propose?"

Heading towards the engagement ceremony, Adelio isn't quite sure. She can just look out the window and see that it's going to be a huge ball, which every noble, royal and rich merchant from the entire empire will be joining. It is the ball where her engagement to the princess will be made official, and she will have to propose to the girl right before the party. The proposal is kept more private, because it is seen as inappropriate to propose in public. Adelio is not waiting for that, sharing a moment alone with her. She would much rather spend it with a woman that wouldn't really matter, someone that wouldn't complicate her life as much as Margaret definitely will. That's why she hesitates when answering her guard.

"Let's just get it over with"

The two of them walk down the many halls of the Blue Knight palace. Rows and rows of nobles start to crowd the halls the closer they get to the ballroom. There are no servants in sight. Just like in the Red Lion palace, the servants use different corridors, staircases and rooms than the nobles. Adelio knows that royalty also use different rooms than the nobility, so she begins to wonder where those rooms are. Just as the thought comes to mind, a guard tugs at her from the side. Adelio turns around to meet his eyes, Emilio doing the same.

"His majesty king Makai requests the presence of prince Adelio in the pre-balcony hall"

Adelio nods, letting the guard lead her through the sea of nobles. They enter through a strange door and find themselves in a more quiet hallway, guarded by many men. That's always how you know where the king is. The more guards, the closer you are. They stand by every door, and by every window along the wide, candle lit hallway, despite it being empty. Adelio lets the guard guide her and Emilio, until they reach yet another guarded room. The two men by the door walk to the side and allow them to pass, the guard stops walking and bows.

"In here, your Highness"

The doors are opened to them. They enter yet another large lounge room, but this time it's not empty. This is the room set aside for royals, which Adelio was thinking of. She finds all three princes seated on the blue velvet couches, talking amongst each other. Their uncle the duke is also included, talking with Takao in a further corner of the candle-lit room. There are no windows, so everything is quite dim. But a fire in the corner keeps the space warm. The walls are yellow and white marble, there is a candle chandelier above them, and a dark blue rug covers most of the floor. Adelio steps inside. She spots Makai standing by a door, a familiar woman right next to him.

A woman which she has not seen since she arrived here yesterday. Her fiancé. And it's quite a surprise. Dressed in a long red dress, matching the ring that she is about to wear soon. She is no longer covered, her hair long and brown, and her eyes innocently staring back at her. She blinks a few times, possibly fighting back tiredness this far into the evening, and yawns softly with her red gloved hand in front of her mouth. She immediately stops yawning when she notices Adelio, looking away bashfully.

Adelio finds herself disgusted at her own emotions.

Disgusted that she finds the princess so enchantingly beautiful.

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