Eggshells crack and break under Princess Lucia's feet as she continues to dance around her budding feelings for a certain Sir Knight.
"Some things are better left unsaid, left behind in the past to return to nothing. And so, I leave my feelings for...
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DAYS PASS QUIETLY in Lucia's room thanks to her burying herself into painting and reading. It's not that she planned on hiding away in her room on purpose, it's just that she couldn't bear watching Tahani wear her favorite beige lehenga with her accompanying jimikki as she leaves to visit Jimin, or seeing Zoë slip past the palace gate to ride off in a carriage hidden under the cover of darkness, or see the stress lining Tova's face as she envelops herself in trying to find out how to plan attacking an enemy kingdom if the attack came from the west or when she's dealing with Crown Prince Hoseok of Solaria.
She quietly listened to Tova's order to a T, regardless of how much the extended counsel meetings killed her and sent her mind spinning. She could sense the stares of pity and concern her sisters sent, but they only ignited an itch under her skin, one that she could only ignore outside in the gardens or town. Instead, she holes herself away and painted the scene of that morning in the garden.
A knock on her door rings, vibrating across the walls of her chambers. Lucia internally sighs, quickly washing off her brushes so they aren't ruined when she gets back.
"Lucia? Tova wants to see you real quick," Rowan sticks her head through the crack of my door.
"Okay," Lucia smiles at her, throwing her brushes aside before scurrying to the common room.
What meets Lucia in the normally casual room is not only a gold embroidered gown complementing wild black tangles and curls, but a tall, broad-shouldered knight with a smile that easily draws her eyes. He easily stood half a head taller than Lucia, and his light armor and tight slacks did nothing to impede the towering presence next to Tova. Lucia is quick to disregard the unfamiliar man, only recalling seeing him on occasion if she happened to pass by to see Tova with a certain ill-mannered guest or have a courtesy greeting with said ill-mannered Crown Prince Hoseok (much to her dismay), despite how suspicious she is as to why he was in the common room with Tova.
"You called?" Lucia asks, trying to hold herself back from visibly being anything but composed in the presence of the stranger, especially if Tova is seemingly upholding some sense of formality.
Tova smiles, sending warmth in Lucia's heart at the sight of her sister's happiness. And while Lucia is unsure as to what or who caused a dazzling smile to grace her sister, she takes it in stride.
"You remember the Crown Prince Hoseok? From our neighboring kingdom?" Tova starts and a frown twitches on Lucia's features, unsure as to why her sister would mention him.
"Did he do something?" Suspicion and a spark of irritation begin to flurry in her heart, knowing that Crown Prince Hoseok has a habit of irritating and stressing out Tova as if she needed help with that. She'd openly confront him if it weren't for the fact that her mother and sisters already warned her to be courteous and not absolutely deck him for giving Tova a headache for the umpteenth time since he arrived. Someone had to put the lousy prince in his place after all.
