As the queen, you had no time for the fairytale that was romance.
You barely had the time to run the kingdom you had been given as it was, so why would you want to run a relationship on the side of it?
When your royal advisor proposed a political engagement with another kingdom, you accepted wholeheartedly.
Emotionless.
Business-like.
Apathetic.
The perfect marriage, in your opinion.
You intended to welcome three princes from neighboring kingdoms into your palace for a week.
You would select the best candidate to rule beside you after viewing them in that period, and that would be the end of it.
Or would it?
___
"Good morning, Your Majesty!"
You looked up to see your personal maid, Andy Seline, flouncing into your room. "Andy."
Andy beamed at you and opened your blinds to let in the early morning sunshine. "Just look at this, Your Majesty! Isn't the view beautiful?"
You rose an eyebrow at her. "Is there a reason for your good mood?"
"Isn't seeing your lovely face reason enough?" Andy asked innocently.
You shrugged. "Considering what's happening today, I'd think you'd be a bit peeved."
"Today?" You watched as the realization dawned on her. "That's today?" She gasped.
You nodded.
She clammed up immediately, staring into the still air.
You climbed out of bed and went to fix your clothes by yourself.
Andy snapped out of her stupor. "Your Majesty! I can do that!"
You laughed softly. "Then get to it. The princes won't be arriving until noon anyway."
___
"Big! Sister! N/n!"
The beloved second born of the kingdom, Princess Tessa, came barreling into the dining room the moment she realized you were in it.
"Careful." You choked out as she squeezed you in one of her infamous hugs.
"Big Sister, do you know what I had to eat this morning? A fruit bowl! And do you know what was in it? Blueberries! But now that I think of it, they aren't even blue! They look more...uh, they look kind of grey to me." Tessa seemed concerned. "Hey, N/n? You're the queen, right? So you can legally just change the name 'blueberry' to 'greyberry'. I don't want our subjects to be misled like this anymore! I'll go talk to Archie about it now!"
Archie, or Archibald, was the name of your royal advisor. He was a man in his sixties who had practically raised Tessa when your parents died.
You smiled softly as Tessa ran down the hallway, breakfast forgotten completely, on her way to find Archibald.
It was then that Andy arrived with a cart containing your breakfast. "Breakfast is served, Your Majesty!"
___
"They're here!"
You set down the book in your hands as Tessa came barreling into your room. "The princes?"
Tessa nodded her head enthusiastically. "The princes are here, N/n! I actually know one of them! I've heard so much about him! Now he's gonna be in our palace! Can you believe it? Can you?"
You chuckled. "Surprisingly, I can."
Tessa gasped. "I need to go pick out my dress!" She was gone before you could blink.
You set down your book on the side table and stood up. "Andy,"
"Coming, Your Majesty!" Andy, who had been in the other room tidying up while you read, was at your side in an instant.
"Let's go meet some princes then, shall we?"
___
The first suitor you met was Prince Akio of Ottam.
"Prince Akio, at your service! Uh, but you can just call me Akio...if you want, y'know."
You immediately ruled him out on your mental list. One glance at him was enough to tell that he was not at all suited to be a king. "Prince Akio, then. A pleasure to meet you." You gave him a proper business smile.
For a moment, he seemed to deflate, but he perked back up quickly. "The pleasure's all mine, Your Majesty!" He grinned, motioning to the servant who had accompanied him inside. "And this right here is my best friend and personal attendant, Carmen!"
You looked the boy, Carmen, up and down. He seemed to be to Akio what Andy was to you. You found this interesting enough. "It's nice to meet you."
Carmen jumped in shock when you addressed him. "Oh...oh! Um, yes, Your Majesty! You too!" He pinned his eyes shut as embarrassment began to color his cheeks.
You nodded in acknowledgment, turning back to Akio. "A servant will guide you to your quarters. There is a connected room for you attendant if he so wishes to use it."
When your eyes began to seek out the next prince, Akio knew he had been dismissed, and allowed himself to be guided away by one of your servants.
The second suitor you met was Prince Jordan of Buklos.
"I am Prince Jordan of Buklos. It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty."
You shook the prince's hand formally. "Indeed it is."
Jordan briefly dipped his head in an act of respect. "I look forward to getting to know you then, Your Majesty."
Your eyes narrowed as you analyzed him "I'm sure you do."
He would need quite a bit of conditioning, but there was a chance you could mold him into a decent king.
"Who the fuck do you think you are, talking to him like that?"
Your eyes widened slightly at the words of Jordan's attendant, who stood at his side throughout the interaction. "The queen of the kingdom you are currently a guest in." You rose a single eyebrow at the short, yet well-muscled boy.
Jordan turned red, looking mortified at his attendant's actions. "I'm very sorry," He cleared his throat "Your Majesty, for my attendant's behavior."
Said attendant scoffed indignantly. "Why should you be apologizing to her when she--" He was cut off by Jordan's hand, as it clapped over his mouth.
"If it's not too much to ask, could we please be shown to our lodgings, Your Majesty?" Jordan asked calmly.
You nodded slowly, signalling for a servant to aid him.
The third, and last, suitor you met was Prince Chester of Adepall.
"Hi, I'm Chester."
He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in your presence, visibly uncomfortable. "Charmed to finally meet you, Prince Chester." You responded.
Chester shrugged. "Yeah, okay. Can I go to my room now?" He directed his question to the attendant at his side.
"No, Highness."
Chester sighed and looked back at you.
He was certainly not a marriageable option, so you supposed that left you with Jordan. You smiled coldly at Chester. "No, you may leave if you would like. A servant will escort you to your quarters."
Chester grinned. "Cool."
He and his attendant were then led away.
___
You were on your way to your room now, navigating the many hallways of the palace.
"What do you think, Andy?" You were honestly surprised that your normally opinionated maid had managed to stay quiet for such a long time.
"What do I think of what? The princes? Why, they were all simply horrid." Andy sniffed. "You should wage war on the neighboring kingdoms for sending them to you. No doubt, they were making a mockery of you by allowing such...such disrespectful, brutish, uncultured, men be your potential suitors."
You laughed at her assessment. "Some of them were quite disrespectful, weren't they?" You agreed. "But I'm sure that we can build at least one of them into a proper ruler with time."
"A proper ruler, yes. But a proper lover? Your Majesty, they're hopeless."
"It's a good thing that I didn't go into this looking for a lover then, isn't it?"
Andy brightened at that. "That's perfect, Your Majesty!"
Now, you were confused. "Is it?"
Andy flushed. "I mean...well, I didn't want to see you, uh, disappointed, you know?" She shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably.
You looked at her calculatedly for another second, before setting off down the hallways once again, with Andy now trailing behind you.
___
A/n: To be continued, I guess? Sorry that this is a bit (a lot) late. I've been having trouble finding the motivation to write lately.
If anyone doesn't mind, could you tell me what your opinion on Application's plot so far is? Any plot holes? Inconsistencies? Typos? Really, anything at all could be helpful for me. I want to improve as much as possible!
Thank you all for 50-60k views! The next special will be held at 80k, and I currently intend to make it a QnA, so if you'd like to comment any questions for me (the author) or the characters of Application right here (right now lol), go right ahead!
Have a great day/night!