The Meetings of the Pure and Fool

"Alfred! It's great to see you again, old friend!"

A fairly tall man strolls towards the King of Constantine. He wore a fancy gown and was all dressed up for the event.

"Henry, I'm glad to see that you're able to make it."

"Of course! I wouldn't be late for this. Ah, I would like you to meet my oldest daughter, Mary, and my second daughter, Aria."

The King of Strohia introduced his daughters to the Constania Royal Family. The two young ladies curtsied (Basically a bow for women) toward the King and Queen of Constania. Wilhelm took a peek at Aria and saw a young red-haired lady dressed in a tight blue dress. Her face radiated with pride as she glanced at the Constania Royal Family.

"Pretty, isn't she?"

Frank Constantine, 2nd Prince of Constania and one of Wilhelm's older brother, whispered into Wilhelm's ears about Aria's appearance.

"It's a pity that the King of Stroh didn't offer his oldest daughter in the marriage as well. I would love to have her hand in marriage."

Although the King of Stroh wanted to have a good relationship with the King of Constania, he was not stupid enough to offer his oldest daughter. If he did, that meant that Wilhelm would be the next king to the Stroh throne after King Henry dies.

"And this must be Wilhelm."

The King of Stroh walked toward Wilhelm. Wilhelm looked up at the man standing before him. The King of Stroh had a cheerful and warm smile on his face.

"How old are you now, Wilhelm?"

"...11, sir."

Wilhelm, despite being asked by a king with a gentle aura, was quite nervous. He had never really had a close up a conversation with anyone outside his kingdom. Just looking at the Stroh King made his heart beat a couple of paces faster.

"Henry, why don't we catch up on some stuff and let our children familiarize with each other?"

Alfred Constantine and Henry Stroh left the group and blended into the crowd of people, closely followed by their wives. As soon as they left, Wilhelm's oldest brother left the banquet without a word along with his wife. Frank immediately went after the oldest daughter of King Henry, who was standing near a dining table.

"Hey, beautiful."

The oldest daughter of King Henry, Princess Mary, turned around at that sudden statement.

"Uh, hello. Can I help you?"

"May I have the honor of drinking with you under the bright stars?"

Frank spoke in a rather seductive tone and had a perverted smile on his face. However, Princess Mary didn't really catch on to his intentions, so she accepted with a smile.

"Alright."

The two exited onto the balcony and after a while, the entire bottle of wine that Frank brought with him was consumed by both of them. They conversed about their families and their hobbies, with the occasional flirty remark from Frank.

The two were then seen retreating back from the balcony and into Frank's bedroom in a drunken manner. It would be up to one's imagination to think of what activities they were doing now.

Meanwhile...

Wilhelm walked up to Aria in a non-hastily manner.

"So.. you're Princess Aria, huh?"

"Yes, and you must be Prince Wilhelm. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Same here."

Both of the bowed at the same time. An awkward silence enveloped the both of them as neither one of them has experience with talking to a fiancee who is a total stranger.

"So, we're engaged to each other now…"

Princess Aria broke the silence.

"Yeah, we are."

Wilhelm responded and another awkward moment goes by as the two averted their eyes out of discomfort. The silence continued for what seemed like an eternity for Wilhelm.

Aria broke the stillness once again, to try and get to know the boy who she will spend her whole life with.

"Do… you like to read books?"

Wilhelm's eyes sparkled with delight. He didn't expect that the girl who was his partner would share an interest that was his passion.

"Yes! I love books. I have a huge collection of books that I read daily! Let me show you the library!"

Wilhelm grabbed Aria's hand and led her to the Royal Library.

Inside the library, Wilhelm can be seen dragging around Aria by the hand to different parts of the room.

"This book's by Janet Achard, "The Red Odyssey" and this one's by George Hemlock…"

The two stayed in the library combing through the books that they had in common. After a while, Wilhelm looked at the window and was greeted with eerie blackness.

"I guess it's pretty late now. We should go back to our bedrooms now..."

"I agree. Shall we continue this tomorrow?"

"I would love too."

Wilhelm quickly affirmed and the two said their goodbyes.

The next morning, Wilhelm saw Frank and Mary leaving from the 2nd Prince's room with a disheveled look as they hurried to greet their fathers in the dining room.

"Greetings, Father."

Frank bowed down towards King Alfred as Mary did the same with her father. King Henry looked at his daughter in a confused manner.

"Mary, where were you last night? Aria said that you never showed up at the guest room."

"Uh..h, I was admiring the moonlight...an...and accidentally fell asleep."

Mary stammered in her response to the question and started to blush. King Henry raised an eyebrow and seemed suspicious of her answer.

Suddenly, a realization dawned on King Henry as a shocked and angry expression emerged over his once calm face.