“Come, let’s leave the two lovebirds alone,” she urges the other servants. On her way out, she gives me a knowing look, and I make a point of looking sheepish to cement the ruse. When they’re gone, Silene slumps in her chair, the picture of perfect nobility nowhere to be seen in her posture.

“Thank the aether they’re gone. I would have vomited all over this breakfast table if I had to pretend to be seducing you for another moment,” she jests, filling her plate with eggs, meat, potatoes, and fruit.

“Seducing me? I assure you it takes much more than pretty smiles and insinuation to seduce me.” She murmurs something that sounds like hardly under her breath before she stuffs her face with food. “Whatever you did last night,” I start. Silene looks up and scowls. “That you aren’t going to tell me about,” I add, holding up my hands in surrender, “must have been… exhilarating, if you’re that famished.” She only rips another bite of sausage off the link she’s holding, chewing aggressively, then gives me a wink.

A year ago, my father, King Mazus of Velmara, and Silene’s parents, some of the wealthiest and most influential Velmaran nobles, announced our betrothal to the kingdom via pamphlets delivered across the realm. Announcing Prince Hawthorne, the Shining Prince, and his Kalmeera Bride, the headline read. Receiving our own pamphlet was the first time either of us had heard anything about it. I’d fought hard against the match, insisting Silene was too young for marriage and that I had no interest in the institution. My father and his advisors, including her parents, only conceded that we’d have a long engagement.

Neither of us has any intention of following through. I hate that my father forced me into a betrothal with a female I don’t have those kinds of feelings for, nor does she have them for me. But I’m lucky she’s one of the two people in this entire kingdom I fully trust.

“I have to go,” I tell her as I stand. “Stay here and finish breakfast. No need to rush out on my account.”

“Oh, I plan to stay here all day and have a little nap in your massive bed, then I’ll take my time sampling all the fancy soaps you keep in your bathing chamber.”

I smile, happy to give her access to a comfortable space away from her family and the expectations of the noble females of Velmara.

After sitting through several hours of meetings, I finally sneak away.