Above All

-Seventy-Nine-

All sleep to the West

Spring blossom awaits true fate

Rewards of balance

Amani:

         "And it has been officially confirmed by the palace that Her Imperial Majesty Empress Amani is engaged to the well-known, former prince of Idizia Ruisii Layton Mellan! No official dates have been announced thus far by the royal family, but we are excited for the upcoming wedding and again, congratulations to the couple!"

            "Now Lyana, does this engagement announcement come as any surprise to you?"

            "It does... but only just a little bit, there have been inklings spurting around of the Empress being in a serious relationship, but no one could really confirm who it was. I think all of us are happy to see that the Empress has found the Ruisii to be a perfect match for her and the future of their family."

            "I for one had my money on Oli Cyril! He's a man of a good background, good family, overall nice guy... even a great smile! I think he would be a perfect fit for her. I'm sure the Empress Mother thought the same when helping her weigh her options."

            "Clearly not, Yejide. As you know Ruisii Layton has quite a dazzling smile himself! I mean those dimples can make any woman swoon! I also have to say when it comes to House Mellan, power definitely takes the cake over a lot of the Durmens in Idizia. I guess we'll just have to see in the coming months as the couple begin to step out more amidst their upcoming wedding... but in the meantime, how about our watchers enjoy these beautiful engagement photos released to the public early this morning... aren't they adorable!"

            "Ah yes, definitely! There is a lot of charisma in these photos... they really do seem as if they are in love."

            "Not just that, who would think after the circumstances of their first initial meeting that they would end up together like this?"

            "Not many... but forget about all of that.... look at that ring!"

            "If there's one thing you have to do when you propose to an Empress, is make sure that ring is something to flaunt about... and I do have to say Ruisii Layton has done a mighty good job."

            I shut off the television after spending what seemed like hours binging different networks to get their takes on the recent engagement announcement. A lot of it was positive, people were extremely excited about the upcoming "Royal Wedding of the Century", only a small group of individuals had mixed feelings about it as they were unsure how Layton would fare as an Emperor; it was understandable, but Layton has done a lot of growing up in the past year, I have no doubt with how he's been helping me and my grandmother thus far in royal duties, that he is equipped for the job.

            Shortly after Layton proposed to me, excited I was when I returned back to the palace to let my mother and father know the good news; of course, they already knew as Layton had personally approached them with the request. I was so happy everyone was on board with the entire thing, I called my uncle Zyair, Rose, told Éliane, Fionn, and anyone close to me about the news.

            I was like a chatty patty, unable to keep the news to myself any longer.

            I mean, how could I? The first time I had been proposed was a disaster, but now I finally got an honest second chance and my mind was spiraling with anything that had to do with the wedding. I had dreamed of being married since I was teen; Rose and I used to make these inspiration boards on how we would design our weddings down to the colors of the napkin, I knew I was going to have a blast planning this entire thing.