Her Royal Highness, Leonor

A Chance of A Next Time

Dormitory Near University De Oviedo

Philippa

After that dinner party the theater team had set up, I went straight home to the dormitory, in which much to my relief, found silence, with Slyvia already dozing off to her sleep. I am not in the slightest mood to explain what would be obviously odd within me, after meeting the princess and sharing that embrace I have so long to make into reality since her departure back in November.

I sat on the edge of the bed and reflected throughout the evening. It was, admitting it the first time, exhausting to put on a face with all the happiness and fulfillment the team is feeling after the play. I'm glad that my scheme of hiding the discomfort I'm feeling inside given the private conversation with the princess wasn't noticed - not even by Josie.

Or so I thought.

She sent me a message later that night, asking if I'm okay. I responded yes, as to not cause any additional follow-up questions. But Josie's Josie.. She told me that she knew I was just trying to be nice to the team by staying, yet she knew that I was eager to go home.

It amazes me that in such a short span of time she'd known me, she knew how to read me well.

This also reminds me that in such a short span of time as well, I know that in a room full of people, when there's something odd in what I'm acting, she'd be the first to notice.

I lay back in my bed and stare at the ceiling, and sigh. I wonder how the afternoon would go if I agreed to Leonor's invitation, of sharing a coffee together. It's all I ever wanted after not seeing her for a month, but the image of the cameras, the presence of the media, and how easy it is for me to get lost in the crowd and with her not knowing I'm even there betrays my wish to share some time alone with the Princess.

Yet after sharing the day with a lot of people and meeting new ones, it never surprises me that at the end of it, with me here alone in my bed, all I could ever think about was Leonor's blue eyes.

And how different things are now with us.

A slight thud in the window near Slyvia's bed somehow woke me up, and to my curiosity, about what it is I silently walked over to the window. I opened up the window and a chilly air breeze blew through inside the room, and much to my delight, a few soft snowflakes fell from the sky. Trying to maintain calm - I fished out my open palm, and watch as the little snowflakes landed on my fingers.

It's the first snow encounter I've had in my whole life since leaving the Philippines, and I've been looking forward to experiencing it for the first time - yet it's all ironic that after meeting the princess, everything feels secondary to experiencing every first time in a foreign country.

Everything that made this city memorable lies within the Princess's existence herself.

I sigh and continue to let the snowflakes moist my palms, wondering if Leonor is seeing this sudden change of the weather from her palace.

Zarzuela Palace

Leonor

From her bed, Leonor watches as the window pane starts getting moist with the falling snowflakes tonight.

She was used to the snow in Madrid - it has been what she always witnessed all her life during this time of the year. However, after reminiscing all the months that have passed, and meeting Philippa - everything seemed different and new somehow.