02. ANOTHER CHANCE

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Yaniya turned around with an excited face as the door got opened and her sister stepped into the room. "How was it?"

"Dreadful." Aneela replied, kicking her shoes off. "The wine is bitter, and the food is awful, we should have brought a cook with us. Did Father eat anything? I can't imagine he liked the dishes."

"Don't be concerned for him, he ate everything and we all masked it as if we enjoyed it." She raised her eyebrows with a grin. "So, how was it with the Prince?"

Aneela exhaled, not giving much away. How could she, they didn't talk for more than three minutes before Brigitta had pulled him away. And it had hardly been much time to make herself a picture of the royal. "He was ... nice."

That wasn't a lie. Although Aneela hadn't been very open to a conversation with him, he stayed and tried to dig deep. He wanted to know what bugged her and he offered them a new start which was ... nice. Very nice, actually.

"Only nice? I need more details! Did you talk to him?"

"For a bit, yes."

The short conversation with him had been the most interesting part of the lunch. The others didn't talk to her and the girls from the same nations kept to themselves while the shu Princess was chatting away with Zoya. So, Aneela had quietly tried to get the food down without drawing much attention towards her dislike of the dishes.

Yaniya clapped her hands in excitement. "Oh, how great! How is he? And do not say 'nice' again!"

Aneela removed her gloves. "Funny, friendly, charming, caring and handsome - is that enough for you?"

"Is it for you?" Her sister gave her a cheeky grin.

"I told you I won't marry him."

The new start he had suggested hadn't change her perspective about this thing. There was no way she would become his wife because she wouldn't marry somebody who wasn't interested in her and didn't know her.

"Famous last words ... I said the same thing about-"

„Yes, I know and then you fell deeply in love with him and now you're the happiest person in the world, being married to your one true love." Aneela cut her sister off with a serious face. "But this isn't like your matchmaking, Yaniya, it's a waste of time."

The older zemini tilted her head. "Oh, come on, he doesn't sound bad, why not give it a shot?"

"To be disappointed again? Absolutely not."

"The last time-"

"The last time, he never looked my way again after the first meeting. Who says this won't occur again?" She let her shoulders sink down. "He said we should start new and leave the last courting season in the past but I cannot fully believe that he is honest about it. Why do a proper courting season now and not the last time? It doesn't make any sense."

DANDELION || Nikolai LantsovWhere stories live. Discover now