Desired Destiny (Frozen II/Jelsa)

20| Proposing

Elsa stayed true to her words and focused on her tasks at hand, but Jack clearly didn't. He kept an eyeful on every single gesture Elsa made. Sometimes he averted his eyes to avoid making it obvious and observed his family's activities—Aster was enjoying the festive while flirting with his wife and Emma stood by Sandy all the time to help him communicate with everyone. He didn't see his father in the picture though. Jack shrugged it off because he was sure his father wouldn't be too far away from food.

The prince returned to watch Elsa as she talked to Madam Eniola near the marble sculpture store and admired the smile that had never left her face. He also saw Anna and Rani—the dignitary from Tikaani which Jack had befriended just two days ago—slowly approaching Elsa. He noticed Madam Eniola and Rani share a few similar features. He assumed Madam Eniola also came from Tikaani. Thus, the old woman and the dignitary seemed to know each other long enough. Then his eyes shifted to Elsa again and saw her greeting a man with sideburns and pulling the man into a longing hug. Jack figured the man had to be Lord Peterssen. Elsa doesn't hug people for free or in an instant. She needs to know the person on a deeper personal level before she feels comfortable enough to form physical contact with someone. That man must be Lord Peterssen.

The flushing prince immediately looks away the moment Elsa steals a glance at his direction as if she's trying to introduce him to that uncle of hers.

"So, how's the sursild?" Jack almost gives up the fork in his hand and glowers at Kristoff who's casually feeding himself with carrots on the opposite side of the table. They have been tasting the dishes, but not the ones placed neatly inside the display cases since those are the entries for the festival and only the judges can eat it. Everyone else can have a taste after the judges announce the winner. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your staring session."

"That was rude."

"I'm not the one who was staring." Jack groans and earns a few chuckles from Kristoff. "Creepiness aside, it's pretty understandable. I was once like you with Anna and I almost crashed my sleigh four times."

Jack rolls his eyes and starts to eat a smallish bit of the pickled herring. "At least you weren't on the verge of collapsing due to proposal distress."

"Who said I wasn't?" Jack raises his brow at the ice harvester. "I was literally in a love distress because I was going to propose to Anna." Kristoff blushes as he peeks at Anna who's talking to Rani and eating her krumkaker cookies with scoops of chocolate ice cream.

"Ah, just like how Marius said it... 'Four failed attempts.' "

"Just like how that brute said it." Kristoff laughs and shifts to the bowl of carrot soup. "Man, I nearly died. It was my first time trying out the new sleigh—a gift from Elsa—after my old one broke during the eternal winter—" His laughter ends short. His eyes grow wide and Jack copies his gesture. "Wait, you know about this, right?"

"From the history lessons with Erlingur." Jack stiffens. He wishes he never found the documents and Erlingur never brought them up in the first place.

"You should really hear it from herself," Kristoff whispers. "You deserve the whole story and she deserves all the moral support." Jack nods, his eyes shining in determination.

"I'll always stand by her side. I promise."

Kristoff smiles. He cares about Anna as much as he cares about Elsa. His heart is touched by the candor in Jack's voice, knowing that Elsa is in good hands. "I know."

Jack shoots him back a smile. "So, about those failed proposals of yours," He moves to taste another dish—a rich cuisine with pieces of mutton with bone, cabbages, potatoes boiled in their skins, and sprinkles of black pepper. "Mind sharing?" Jack offers Kristoff a clean spoon. "I could listen to some proposal techniques."