Chapter 3: Meeting Mr. "Striking Green Eyes"

When the car approached the palace, Venera put everything in her backpack and brushed hands through her hair to smooth it, the fading blue locks tucked behind her ears, which were still burning red. On the 40-minute ride, she was able to small talk and win some respect from the guards.

The palace was made from a sparkly white rock on the outside and it glistened in the sun. The weather was getting chillier in the later afternoon Venera wished she'd thought to bring a jacket. Her clothes weren't appropriate for the weather. She had taken only 2 changes of clothes and her old Kevlar body suit in case things got heated at the palace, which seemed enough when she was packing but too little now that she was faced with the reality of the palace.

The guards calmed her down by telling her there are dresses sewn for each of the girls the prince had chosen for them waiting in her room and she would be able to change once she got to her room, the prince wouldn’t see her like that, they tried to boost her confidence.

When the car stopped at the entrance to the palace, the guards rushed Venra out and the big doors of the outer wall opened for them. The gravel path that spread in front of them was around half a kilometer and led straight to the main entrance of the palace. The guards ushered for Venera to walk fast, so they could get her to her room so she would have time to change.

The main doors were open and Venera could see the prince conversing with the guards circling around him. Shit, she thought, too late, can’t change into proper clothes now.

As Venera approached the entrance, her gaze met the prince's green eyes. He immediately stepped in her direction and waved the guards to leave him. It took everything in her power not to look away from Prince Felix.

Venera's guards stopped in their tracks and introduced her to the prince, who couldn’t contain his smile.

Venera curtsied and smiled at him, ears burning red once more.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Venera. Would you mind joining me for a walk in the gardens?" the prince offered.

The guards melted away, leaving Venera alone with the prince. He offered his arm to her, but she hesitated. 

"Am I scary?" joked the prince, at Venera' s pause.

Venera gave herself a pep talk and took the prince's hand. “I guess you are, your majesty,” she replied.

He led her into the gardens encircling the palace. The wind picked up, wiping strands of Vanera's blue hair around them and tickling their noses with the scent of the blooming flowers.

"Your majesty, why am I here?" asked Venera shakily, breaking the silence as they passed a small marble bird fountain.

"Because I think you have what it takes to be a princess, Lady Venera." He flashed an endearing but slightly crooked smile at her. "Tell me about yourself, Venera, introduce yourself."

"I'm nothing special, your majesty. I translate books and tv shows for a living, I garden in my free time," she lied through her teeth, as she knew that boring was better than the truth.

"Micha has told me about you, and your group of interesting friends. I know you even introduced him to his girlfriend. I didn't know you gardened," the prince clarified, his expression growing serious. 

What exactly has Micha been telling the prince all this time, wondered Venera. And which girlfriend? Was he dating Netta in secret all this time? Micha would have a lot of explaining to do on his first visit here.

"Tell me about your time at ASBSOS, how did you get into the school?" the prince asked.

"Actually, you are partially to blame for that, your majesty." Venera laughed,. "Nearly 15 years ago now, there were these advertisements about learning languages for kids starring you. They used to run on the kids channel between my favorite cartoons. So, I got hooked on learning languages, and my parents, both being teachers, had signed me up to learn whatever language I wished. By the age of 7, I knew 4 languages fluently and was accepted into ASBSOS on a linguistic scholarship."

The prince was visibly impressed. So, he inquired about what she did at ASBSOS.

"I specialized in languages, and I know 6 fluently. In the special program, you probably know Micha focused on Media Studies and Propaganda. I focused on chemistry and medicine. I synthesized a new medicine, while at ASBSOS but also learned all ins and outs of a combat medic. I'm no surgeon, though," Venera explained.

They wandered side by side in silence, passing under the shadow of a huge oak tree.

"What is your dream, Venera?" the prince asked after a few moments..

"I want to be a diplomat or work for the ministry of foreign affairs. I've studied all my life to hopefully get the chance to," she explained.

"So, you don't dream of becoming a princess?" he asked, smirking.

"Who dreams about that?" Venera exclaimed, with a whiff of offense.

"Apparently all the other girls," he noted. Venera's hand flew to her mouth in the realization of what she just said.

Venera wanted to disappear into thin air. Did she just tell the prince, she didn’t want to be his princess, to his face? She knew she wasn’t meant for fieldwork, but this was a new low for her.

Venera pushed aside the awkwardness and turned to question the prince. "Now you know so much about me, your majesty. It is your turn to tell me about yourself."

As they were walking the prince brought them to a bench next to a rose bush, where they sat, and he answered her question.

"Most people know all there is to know about me. I don't have much time to indulge in many hobbies, but whenever I can, I like to create music. I can play the piano. That's mostly it. I used to read a lot when I was younger, but don't have the patience to do it anymore." he concluded. "Which gets me to my next point. I am going to request each of the girls to present me with three songs, one that can introduce you, one that talks about what you feel towards me, and then your favorite song."

"Smart, that will probably be a great way to shortlist and figure out where girls stand." Venera agreed. "You've probably thought a lot about it,". It was blatantly a way for him to put labels on all the girls as soon as possible. Venera didn’t blame him. Who can be bothered to get to know so many girls all at once and then be expected to marry one? On short notice as well.

"I still can't wrap my mind around this. I must choose one of you to be my queen, and it is a weird dynamic in which I will never be sure about anyone's intentions. And there are no remakes, so it is even more pressure." the prince shared and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

"I see, you are scared you will end up lonely for your whole life if you chose wrong. It's understandable. I don't blame you," Venera replied, trying to empathize with the prince. She didn’t have to do anything like that, but she reminded herself, he wasn’t his father and everyone deserved a chance at love.

"How do you know how I feel? Am I this transparent?" he wondered, more to himself, than to Venera.

"No, but I'm good at reading people," she winked.

Venera had opened the floodgates it seemed because the prince started to explain why this was so important to him. The prince didn’t want a loveless marriage like his father’s, and he talked about how his heart always broke for his mom when his dad would go after other women.

"What does love mean…out there? To the people who get to chose their marriages based on it?" "Everyone has a different explanation for love, your majesty, that's why there are millions of love songs out there. Everyone feels or explains it in a different way. " Venera started. "For me, love is mutual respect between two people, who have common goals and are ready to work on a relationship. Love isn't a feeling, in my opinion. It starts with a feeling of attraction, that the two people have to nurture into love eventually. Attraction isn't love. But my opinion is in the minority."

"Do you feel attracted to me, Lady Venera?" asked the prince, with a newfound enthusiasm.

"I guess I do, your majesty," Venera replied. It wasn’t a lie. He was breathtakingly handsome in real life, the TV didn’t do him justice, in Venera’s opinion.

The prince took her hand and brought it up to his lips, planting the faintest of kisses on it.

"Let me show you where you will be staying, Venera, and please, call me Felix from now on."