After a few hours, I slowly start to feel comfortable around Tobias again. He's definitely changed, but he still has the same qualities of the young thirteen year old boy. It was fun catching up with him, though I was definitely still very nervous around him.
I thought that my feelings had faded throughout the years, but somehow, they haven't gone away. Stored deep within the recesses of my heart, I didn't want the feelings to resurface.
Tobias brushes his dusty hands on his pants, giving me a rueful smile. "I should've worn better clothing if I had know you were doing construction work."
"Sorry, my mother's been really insistent on revamping the whole place," I reply. I check the time on my phone, turning the brightness up as the day started growing darker. "You can head inside, it's about time to wrap this up anyways."
"You sure?"
I nod. "Do you need help finding your room again?"
Tobias smiles, tucking his hands into his pockets. "I think I'll still remember everything. Though keep an eye on your phone in case I need rescuing."
I roll my eyes, but pat my phone in my pocket. "Okay, I'll see you at dinner," I reply, waving as he walks off. Pulling my clipboard off the wall, I check off all the boxes. All the workers are packing up, and I make sure to lock the front doors despite the security we have.
Alfred catches my attention, waving me over. "Are we done, princess?"
"Yes, I think so," I reply, showing him the checklist. "Did you let the workers know?"
He nodded. "I'll take my leave then."
"Bye, Alfred," I respond, watching him leave into the corridor. I place the clipboard back where it belongs and hang up my jacket next to it.
I walk away to my room, fixing my ponytail as I remember about the dinner tonight. Thankfully, Victoire had already helped me pick out my dress, and advised me on my makeup and hairstyle. The castle is awfully quiet at night, and the only sound I hear are my own footsteps.
Reaching my room, I unlock the door and hurry into the shower, scrubbing off today's worth of dust and sweat. I do my routine quickly then jump out, wrapping my hair in a towel and drying the rest of my body off.
Hurrying out of my room, I sit at my vanity and quickly plug my blow dryer in.
Me: Hey, Anna? Sorry to call you so late, but can you come and do my makeup please?
Anna: Of course, I'll be there in a minute.
I was just finishing up my hair when Anna comes in excitedly, immediately grabbing the hairbrush from my hand and smoothing my hair out.
"Special occasion because of Tobias?" She asks slyly. I catch her expression in the mirror, and there's no mistaking the expression on her face. Anna grew up with me as a child, so she knew about my childhood infatuation with him.
"Maybe," I admit. "I just want to look nice in front of guests."
Anna doesn't pry further and plugs in the hair curler, letting it heat up. She uses the blow dryer and fluffs up my hair, humming idly as she works. I recognize the tune, a classical waltz that is bound to be played at any ball.
"How should I do my makeup?" I ask anxiously, rummaging through my makeup pouch. "Vic said to do light makeup with blush, but I don't know."
"How does Tobias like your makeup?"
I gasp and turn around to see her smirking at me with a lock of my hair in her hand. "What?" She asks carelessly, shrugging.
"I'm not putting on makeup just for a guy, especially not him, I want to do it for myself. I don't even know if Tobias likes makeup," I ramble on quietly, panicking.
I didn't like him anymore, I couldn't like him anymore.
"Of course, Ad," Anna laughs, "I was just teasing. You look great with or without makeup." She pats my hand softly.
Conflict warring inside of me, I quickly make a decision. "I want a full face." A full face of makeup, covering every small bump and pink discoloration on my face, making it perfect. It's a shield, my armor to protect myself.
Anna seems to understand, and she nods happily. "Green eyeshadow?"
"Too flashy," I reply, "What do you think about gold or silver?"
"Definitely silver to match your jewelry." She takes the curling iron and starts wrapping my hair around it, and I can't help thinking that I'm doomed, and maybe I can't handle being around Tobias anymore. Maybe seven years wasn't enough, though I had different crushes after him, so I didn't understand why I was still feeling this way.
Anna finishes up my makeup quickly, dusting a shimmery silver on my eyelids and pinning strands of my hair back with a clip. I chose a small emerald necklace and silver rings, sliding them on my slender fingers. Then she helps me get into my dress, an emerald green one I've been saving for a fancy occasion.
I stare at my reflection in full-body mirror, Anna hovering behind me. "I love you, Anna," I proclaim, "What would I do without you?"
"Love you too, you'd probably be a mess without me. The dinner is starting soon, you should go now," she replies, practically pushing me out the door when she sees the time. "Can't be late for your date with Tobias!"
I groan good-naturedly but nod, putting on my silver heels and walking out. The dress isn't that long so I'm able to walk at a quick pace. As I round the corner towards the dining room, I can hear voices murmuring, especially the unmistakable sound of my mother.
I take a quick look inside to see my mother, Tobias's family, and... Lucien with his parents. I blink at his back, but his distinct figure and hair gives it away. It is him, Prince Lucien Vellucci, and he must have arrived when I was getting ready.
From my angle, I can't see his face yet, but he couldn't have changed too much from the last time I saw him three years ago. Three years ago, when I still had a crush on him. I groaned internally when I saw my seat placed between Tobias and Lucien. Clearly my mother wanted me to interact with the princes.
I decide to make my entrance. "Sorry I'm late," I say breezily, casually sitting in my seat between Tobias and Lucien. I quickly say my greetings to my mother and the guests, arranging my skirts underneath the table carefully.
My mother only eyes me disapprovingly but doesn't reprimand me in front of the guests. I tuck a napkin down on my lap and tentatively grasp my fork.
"You look good, Ad," Tobias whispers to me on my left side, his eyes fixed on my dress. I turn to reply, but Lucien cuts me off.
"You don't just look good, you look beautiful."
My cheeks warm slightly and I stare straight in my empty plate, slightly flustered. I wasn't expecting him to be so straightforward. "Thanks, Lucien, it's great to see you again."
When I look at him from the corner of my eye, he's smirking as he watches me peek at him. "Call me Luc, like you used to."
I send him a small smile and glance at him again as servants slowly fill our plates with dinner. Light brown hair, dark green eyes, and probably another three inches taller. Lucien was the last crush I ever had, back when I was younger. He was betrothed to some faraway princess back then, and I was growing out of my crush phase.
I haven't had another crush since.
Tobias and Lucien are casually talking about politics over my head as I duck down to eat dinner. They're only touching on the light policies and reforms, not venturing into anything heavy. Evidently, Lucien thinks I'm more interesting than Tobias, though, because he turns to me.
"So, what's this ball I hear of?" Lucien asks as he spears a piece of broccoli with a fork.
I make sure I'm not grimacing before I answer. "Just part of my mother's plan to find me a husband and marry me off, apparently." Saying the words leave a bitter taste in my mouth. I chase down the feeling with some iced water, the condensation on the glass wetting my fingers.
"You aren't happy about it," Tobias states, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm really not," I reply darkly, pushing around the food on my plate. "I don't want to get married."
"Not even to me?"
I whirl to my right and slap Lucien on his arm for his comment. "Be quiet. Especially not you."
He feigns a hurt expression towards me and leans back in his chair. "Despite your rejection, I agree with you. Arranged marriages are all shit."
"Oh, what happened to yours?" I ask.
Lucien makes a face. "Didn't work out. The girl fell in love with some commoner boy and they're getting married in a few months," he replies, and then shrugs carelessly, "It's a good thing though. I didn't want to get married anyways."
"I heard about that," Tobias snorted, "In a tabloid. Something about Prince Vellucci getting bested by a common boy."
"I didn't know you read gossip magazines," Lucien sneers.
I laugh quietly and try to disperse the tension by changing the topic. I don't know how familiar they were with each other, but judging from Lucien's glare, he wasn't happy. Despite his reluctance to get married, I can tell that he hated being discarded for someone else.
It only worries me more—if a perfect prince like Lucien could get replaced that easily, so could I.