Above All

-Thirty-

Children in your eyes

Spring blossom never migrates

Fish swim in twilight

Amani:

"My son." The Empress began, I had looked up from the tablet where I was explaining to her the different strategies I had mapped out for the coming months in regards to uplifting the public image of not only the princes but the family as well when she had interrupted me to say this; I was confused, I wasn't sure which son she was referring to.

            I cleared my throat, "Uh... yes, your majesty. If you don't mind me asking, which one?" I inquired curiously. I watched as the pristine elder woman sat her fancy Idizian tea-cup back down onto the waiting saucer. This set that we were both sharing over some Chrysanthemum tea caught my eye the minute it was set in front of me. Unlike the translucent sets I had seen before on Empress day, these were more solid porcelain with a gold lining inside of the tea cup; the exterior of the cup was half a deep aquamarine color that looked as if the cup had hit the bottom of the vast ocean, the top other half was decorated with gold ornate carvings of leaves.

            "Layton." She clarified as she sat her hands onto her lap, clasping together in a poised manner. I swallowed deeply, it was awkward having to sit in front of her when I knowingly had sex with her son even though I said I would stop; clearly that hadn't happened and I also wasn't sure if I wanted to stop to at all.

            Just the thought of being with him sent silent shivers down my back.

            "Yes, your majesty?" I asked her curiously.

            She studied me for a moment and soon a small smile spread across her pale and aging face, "I don't know what you did to him... but this is the most behaved I had ever seen him since his teens." She said happily.

            I relaxed a bit. "Oh... I'm glad to hear that, Empress Madeline. I try my best to steer him in the right direction as best as I can with all the information I had learned about him." I said to her. She nodded along to all the words I was saying to her, "I saw the many engagements he has been on and he has been nothing short of proper... that's what I like to see. As well as for Amory, I don't think I've ever seen my boy smile as much as he did during the press shots... he's always been a grumpy baby." She said to me.

            I let out a slight chuckle, "He's working towards it. He places importance on knowing people more before revealing his true self." I stated.

            She agreed.

            "And how would you scale their relationships this far? Do you think the public sees them taking this seriously?" She asked me curiously.

            I cleared my throat and pulled out my tablet and got up to show her the articles I already had up as well as the news videos out about the topic so she could view. We spent a couple of minutes going through them and she nodded her head as she watched the news cover the topic; overall, they were buying it. Prince Layton's public arrangement more than Amory's since he was seen out less with her; I knew from our previous conversation; Prince Amory was not too keen on the idea of being with an Oleo when he had his heart set out on another.

            "As you can see, your majesty. Prince Layton's relationship with Oleo Inyene is being received well and if we continue tagging her along to more of the smaller engagements it will solidify her place alongside him. It helps that she has a very sweet and calming persona that people can relate to as she is still a studying student." I said to her.