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I wasn't planning on trying to dress up or anything and I didn't even go meet Thomas when he first arrived. I wore something I normally would wear when we had guests eating dinner with us. I was after all still a princess and required to be there.

My dress was a simple long sleeved a line dress that the sleeve were off the shoulder, and was beaded along the top and a beaded waist line. It was a light blue and made out of a fabric called tulle. The long sleeve were see through. The bottom portion of the dress had a few layer so it was puffy and it had two cuts in it at my legs to make it easier to walk or run. I left my hair down and didn't do much for makeup just put on a lip stain to make my natural pink color stand out a little more.

Which to be fair isn't much different then what I wear around normally since I normally wear a lace and tulle fabric dress. That the sleeves also have some puff and aren't tight fitting and the dress has more then one layer at the bottom. But that normally isn't off the shoulder although it can be warm that way and is sweetheart neck line dress. The main difference is the color. I normally wear a dusty blue, dusty rose, violet, dusty purple, grey or champagne colored dress. When it's warm I wear it sleeveless which is just the sweetheart neckline and two tank top like straps that tie into bows. They also normally have a lace patter on top and a small bow at my waist line instead of beads. I keep pretty low tones normally although this dress was a sky blue it was much brighter than what I normally wore, it was a less muted color.

It was also a dress I wore anytime we had important company so it was clear to all of my half siblings and my fathers other wives that I was uninterested. I had no intention of trying to win his favor. I wish things would of played out that way sometimes. I worked the least amount of jewelry and was the least dolled up as normal and for some reason it caught his eye. I had always been praised for my natural beauty and my simple looking dresses. I had always been told it brought attention to my natural looks and made it so there was less distraction when talking to a man. It was part of a curse I must of had on me or I had done something horrible in my past life, but the Emperor approached me. I realized that the jewelry and dresses my sibling wore made them look desperate and like they had sometime to prove. It was to much and it took attention away from there natural beauty.

I answered Thomas as shortly as I could the entire dinner. He eventually got bored of the lack of conversation and started talking others. The entire time his focus was on me the entire room felt tense and if looks could kill I would be dead. I think he picked up on it, since he realized I was from the eastern palace that was the farthest away from the main place and that is where the women he took from war lived. He isn't a stupid man, he understands that means I have no real power within the palace. After all he was also born from a lower powered station. His mother wasn't even a queen she was a concubine that was sent to marry his father. She was from the richest family in his home land, they sent her with the intention of gaining power by having a connection to the emperor and a chance at having a cabinet for the next emperor in their family tree. It was all to grow power, but it meant he was looked down upon throughout his childhood. It was also likely why he was able to manipulate his sibling as easily as he did.

The dinner went along smoothly after that. Next would be the ball we were holding in his honor. That would be a few days away, but it meant I just needed to stay in my palace as usual and I wouldn't run into him which would give any of my siblings time to start to secure a relationship and a proposal. Well at least that's what I thought at the time. I had no clue what was going on inside his head and what was about to come.