Blue Blood and Belgium Chocolate

|32| How to Get the Girl

Prince Adaliz

And an attempt of Romance

GETTING TO KNOW A PERSON shouldn't be difficult. I mean, I had a a lot of friends, I was good at talking to dignitaries and the sorts. So why was Arianna such a... challenge?

Daegan makes it sound simple. Like basic maths. 

So why am I hesitating right outside her door?

I'm about to turn away when the door opens. 

I freeze.

I force myself to turn around, praying that it's a maid, that is an embarrassment I'd take. Instead, it's Lady Arianna. She looks the same, all menacing and frightening with too dark liner, a black ripped shirt she should have thrown and skinny black jeans. Her feet are in soft fluffy white slippers. 

"What are you doing outside my door?" She asks, a tinge of amusement in her tone. 

"I was going to come in to check if you've found a suitable dress for Fabianne's wedding," I lie. Truth was I'd googled the best ways to date a person and the least intimidating option was to watch a movie, preferably horror something to do with the adrenaline. 

That, and it looks like the kind of movies she'd watch. 

She raises an eyebrow, I can tell she doesn't believe me but she relents. 

"Do you want to come in?" 

She's got a wicked tone, I know she's thinking about the last time I've entered. What she didn't know was I'd made sure we'd had a maid to clean up her room yesterday when I'd learnt she was out shopping with my younger brothers. 

I smirk, stepping to the door, "I'd like to see what you've picked out."

She leans back at the door frame, She didn't think I'd come in. I step in barely brushing her as I enter and... well, it's unexpected.

Despite the palace maids vigilant efforts in cleaning her room, it's somehow a mess with shopping bags and again - scantily dressed apparel sewn about. I want to close my eyes and not stare at a pink thong. 

So I turn to look back at her. 

Her light brown eyes are already on me. 

"Aren't you going to show me?" My tone is proud, a little haughty even. She doesn't realize it's an effort because I'm nervous. I'm nervous about her, this arranged marriage my father has concocted. 

She shrugs, closing the door and walking in the room. 

I don't know where to sit because her guest areas are crawling with bags. 

"You must have had a great time shopping yesterday," I walk towards the bags, a little curious about what she might have gotten. It's not apparel, it's boxes of something -

"Yeah, it was fun." Her voice is toneless, cordial even from her wardrobe. Maybe we can do this, a cordial relationship. I didn't need to fall in love with anyone, she didn't need to love me. We'd lain our expectations down pretty early on. I didn't need to know her. 

Then she steps out of the wardrobe and she's in a soft satin like emerald green dress. Her face is bare, she'd gotten rid of whatever makes her look like an uncivilised nightmare and she's standing still haughty, still arrogant but... did she want to please me? Why else had she worn the dress?

I swallow. 

She smiles. 

She twirls.

Arianna's dark curly hair lifting as she twirled. "What do you think?"