Lira's Birthday Part 1

Prince Jin found that he was having a small amount of trouble adjusting. It wasn't like this outcome was entirely unexpected, there were worse outcomes from a marriage to a stranger then this. He and Princess Avaline exchanged polite conversations whenever their paths crossed but aside from that, his only interaction with her was when he caught glimpses of her in passing. He'd often see her while she was in the smaller garden courtyard. If she was currently entertaining a visitor, she would often look over in his direction and offer a smile. Other times, she would be on her own, too engrossed in the book held in her hand to notice him. If she wasn't in the gardens or on her way to the library then he hadn't the slightest where she was spending her time or what she was doing. They were quite estranged and Jin couldn't really help the slight discomfort he felt with that. After all, as the beloved and only prince, he'd never been short of people's attention and fawning. And yet, the most he got from Avaline was a pleasant smile, her attention barely lingering on him for seconds at a time and she didn't make any particular efforts to be around him. Still, he decided to push down and ignore the dissatisfaction he felt. They were two strangers who were only bound by contract to maintain an alliance, she had made it clear it wouldn't be any more. Although she was the first to do so, why wouldn't she continue her life as if he wasn't anything important?

However, he found his resolve to simply treat the matter as insignificant and ignore it didn't last long. It was one of the noble ladies' birthdays. Lira Disscoff, the eldest daughter of a prominent noble family who held quite good relations with the royal family. As such, the prince and princess were to attend the celebration. Although Lira could easily have held an incredibly grand event, such as a dinner and ball, she instead chose to have a more casual daytime event of lunch and activities. Even the outfits to be worn for the day were to be more casual in nature, as casual as those of high ranking were permitted to wear anyway. And so Avaline wore a long flowy white dress that sat off her shoulders with the lacey trims that were considered the fashion these days and Jin wore one of his more simple long sleeved and long pant outfits with less layers than usual and thinner fabric to accommodate for the warm sunny day. And at their feet trailed along the furry grey mutt, tail wagging enthusiastically and tongue lolled out the side of his mouth.

Prince Jin had originally opposed bringing the dog along to such an event but Avaline had insisted and so he eventually agreed on the condition the dog would ride in the carriage at their feet and not on the seat. He hadn't expected Rodney would end up laying his head over his shoe as a royal pillow throughout the ride. Jin had only frowned before turning to stare out the window but he could have sworn that he had seen a look of amusement on Avaline's face out of the corner of his eye. But when he turned to look at her, it was nowhere to be seen.

As they walked along the path toward the back gardens where the lunch would be held, Avaline stepped closer to him, weaving her arm around to hold his. At first he was a bit taken aback, she didn't usually get this close to him but it was actually more proper for a husband and wife to walk around like this and she met his gaze with a carefree smile on her face, clearly unbothered. And so he escorted her like this, even holding out his hand to help her up the few steps to the raised stone platform where the tables were laid out. They were exactly on time, as was expected of the royal family, and there were still a few guests arriving. Lira's face lit up upon seeing them and she immediately led them to their seats at her table. "It's truly a pleasure for Your Highnesses to be in attendance today. I cannot begin to express my gratitude," she stated sincerely, motioning for the maids at her side to step in and pour drinks for the guests of honour.

Ava smiled lightly, giving a gentle wave of her hand. "The pleasure is ours," she returned for the both of them, the prince at her side nodding with a gentle smile as he lifted his glass to take a sip. Ava meant it quite genuinely, although she wasn't a fan of many social occasions, she had a good impression of Lira. Although she was the eldest daughter, she wasn't any good and had no interest in politics. She was more simple and genuine, when she had paid her a visit, it had been short and pleasant without any attempts to curry favour. Lira also had no complaint about her unexpected doggy guest, simply turning to her servants to request bowls be prepared for him. This immediately placed her another few notches higher on Ava's favourability chart.

As Lira had to politely excuse herself to greet other guests, Ava and Jin were left alone for the time being. Ava glanced around for a moment before her gaze fell on the man beside her. "The Disscoff estate is quite nice, isn't it?"

"It is. The gardens in particular were part of a gift from the royal family to thank them for their efforts toward the kingdom."

"Pardon my ignorance but what exactly does the Disscoff family do?" Ava asked as if she didn't already research every noble family of any significance, stirring the chilled fruit drink in her hand, the ice inside making a tinkling sound.

"The Disscoff family manage a lot of Eden's trading affairs and oversee the major merchants and their businesses. They've made some significant contributions in weeding out corruption and improving efficiency of managing processes, thus the reward."

"And what of their personal good relations with the royal family?"

"The Disscoff's have been loyal and good to the royal family for some generations. We also have some marriages between our families, the most recent would be my cousin," Jin paused at this point, his eyes scanning the guests for a moment before he nodded his head subtly in the direction of one of the tables. "Nathan, the one seated third from the left. The lady beside him is his wife, Lady Alanna Disscoff. He married into the Disscoff family last year."

Seeing how the two were almost nuzzled into each other, Ava couldn't help her brows raising slightly. She lowered her voice a bit as she commented "They're certainly a very loving couple, aren't they?"

Jin's smile curled further. "Ah, yes. They are. They've been reprimanded for their behaviour many times but my cousin isn't the best listener." He admitted with a mixture of embarrassment and amusement.

"Are you fond of your cousin?" Ava asked curiously, having taken note of the tone Jin used when talking about him.

Jin looked at her with mild surprise, not having expected her to take such an interest in him all of the sudden. He glanced over at his cousin again before he finally nodded. "I am. He's always been a kind, straightforward person, he isn't hard to be fond of."

Ava 'ahh'-ed softly in response, lifting her drink to her lips.

Lira finished greeting the other guests and everyone took their seats, chatting pleasantly over lunch. Ava conversed pleasantly and with ease, neither too talkative nor too quiet. Jin and Lira ended up in an in depth conversation on the current trading trends and future difficulties to be upcoming, such as the expected delay of shipments from a terrible storm that passed over one of the ports. Ava found that Jin was quite a dedicated prince, remaining well educated on many of the aspects that would affect the kingdom as well as more basic topics that were favoured during chats like marriages, deaths, births and new trends. Jin found that Ava watched him with interest throughout the lunch, her attention falling back to him more often. He wasn't really sure what to make of it.

Following lunch was an archery event. Horse riding, archery and swordplay were loved events among the nobility, although the latter two were more favoured by men than women. Amongst women, popular activities were more along the lines of embroidery, music, dancing and gardening. There was also a love for mental challenges, particularly in women but men were also known to participate in such games, puzzles and competitions. Few people showed off their magical prowess, it was considered bad taste and so was often kept quiet. The more bold of the noble men jumped at the chance to show off their archery skills. While watching them compete with one another, seeing who could hit the target from the furthest distance, Ava couldn't help the silent amusement and judgement as she watched them. Jin noticed the way she gazed at them, without any awe, concentrated but with a hidden look of finding something to be funny so he spoke to her quietly. "What are your thoughts?"

Ava shifted her gaze away from the archers and their cheering supporters to the prince. "My thoughts?" She asked lightly.

Jin simply nodded. "You seem to be thinking quite deeply."

Ava tried to keep her grin in check as she leaned in closer, dropping her voice to a whisper. "I was just thinking that this noble's aim is rather bad, isn't it?"

Jin had to press a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing. He had been thinking the same thing but he hadn't dared mention it. Ava noticed this and only became more bold, leaning in once more to add in a deceptively innocent tone "He reminds me a bit of a peacock, spreading his feathers for attention like that." Poor Jin's shoulders started to shake slightly as he held in his laughter, his stomach muscles aching slightly from the effort. He quickly picked up his glass to take a sip from it to calm himself. But Ava still wasn't done, Jin's restrain was only fuel to her devious flames. As the spoken of noble was busy making a big show and accidentally dropped his quiver, spilling his arrows over the ground, she spoke up against Jin's ear once more in a playfully mournful tone "Oh no, the peacock lost his feathers. What a shame." Jin immediately inhaled the drink he was sipping on and started coughing.

She back in her seat as the others at the table quickly turned their attention back to the price, looking concerned and confused as Jin coughed a few times. "Prince Jin, are you alright?!" Came the calls of concern and Ava reached out to gently rub the prince's back to ease his suffering. "I-I'm fine." He choked out, looking a bit flustered as he hastily wiped the tear that had gathered at the corner of his eye from his sudden coughing fit. Covin looked on with pity, shaking his head slightly to which Ava shot him a covert, playful glare and he looked away as if he saw nothing. Mila herself was busy holding back her own laughs, she'd been in just the right position to see the movement of Ava's lips and so she wasn't much better off than the prince, having to duck her head to avoid looking at that noble so she could hold in her laughter. After affirming the prince was indeed fine and being met with his calm expression, the nobles eventually turned their attention back to archery. Only once he was sure no one was looking did Prince Jin lean in to whisper to Ava again. "That was inappropriate of you."

But Ava wasn't intimidated in the slightest, she could see the subtle curl of his lips that he was trying his best to control, so she whispered back "Ah, my apologies. But you still laughed, didn't you?" Jin had to frown at that. She had him there and she was even bold enough to call him on it.