One week had passed by after Raashid's coronation and all the international guests were starting to leave.
Including Hayden.
And before he left, he made sure to throw a bomb at the Perinius family.
"I can't believe it." Seanna muttered as she looked at the golden letter with a purple sword seal.
The seal of the Western Kingdom.
"Wow....this is so unexpected." I muttered as I read the contents of the letter alongside Seanna. Father, mother and Aiden reading over our shoulders.
It was a marriage proposal.
Hayden wanted to marry Seanna.
Normally, I would've started squealing, shrieking and happy dancing with Seanna, that is, if that guy weren't Hayden.
I really hate that guy.
And Seanna likes him.
She has a weird taste in boys.
"Unbelievable." Aiden muttered while mother grumbled, "I thought he liked Adailia."
Father was quite while we read the letter once again, to make sure we were actually reading it correctly.
"Seanna, " he started, as we all turned our attention to him, "Do you want to accept the proposal?"
Seanna blushed and lowered her head, "I-I don't know...I'll have to have a word with Hayden first."
Father nodded, "I don't have any problem with giving you time to think on such an important decision but that sneaky fox told you to give a reply by the end of the week."
"And that same sneaky fox wrote that he'll be taking you to the western kingdom as soon as you agree. Meaning we'll have no time for a proper farewell." Aiden grumbled sadly.
"And that handsome sneaky fox is a prince of another kingdom and we'll have to inform our emperor about your departure to another kingdom if you agree since it will be an inter-imperial marriage." Mother said, surprisingly sensibly.
"Buuuuut that sneaky fox with a crooked nose is a flirty ass bastard who can cheat on Seanna any time, so she shouldn't agree at all! Right?" I pointed out that important point.
Mother gave me a disapproving look, "Adailia, let Seanna decide that for herself. She's the one getting married, not you."
I rolled my eyes, "It was just a mere suggestion. Besides, we all know that concubines are allowed by the laws there. I just don't want to see Seanna suffer a heartbreak later on." I said, genuinely worried about her.
Father nodded, "Lia has a point there, but your mother is right. We can't decide these things for Seanna."
Aiden nodded, "Take your time, Anna. And whatever you decide later on we'll be okay with it. I just hope you won't regret it." Aiden gave her an understanding smile and Seanna gave him a slight smile in return.
A knock on the door broke that smile as a butler entered.
"Lord Aiden, Lady Jasmine is here to visit you." He said and Aiden beamed.
"I'll be going then, farewell." He said with a goofy grin and I couldn't help but smile at the dork.
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"Adailia, I want you to go to a diner in five hours." Mother suddenly said, "And you have to look pretty, I specially ordered a dress for you on this occasion."
"What occasion mother?" I asked as I kept down the book I was reading.
Mother looked around and motioned me to come closer, then she whispered in my ear, "To meet the man of your dreams!"
My eyes widened as she continued, "I told my secretary's assistant to look up for the man you described you'd like as your fiance and we found a perfect match! He also has the status of a duke so you shouldn't have any problems with finalising your engagement with him if you like him." She told me and I smiled at her.
A blind date! Yay!
To be honest, I've been feeling so single for a while. Aiden's busy with Jasmine, Seanna's busy with Hayden. And mother and father are always busy, with each other or with work.
And to top it all, even Serina, the librarian, got herself a lover.
It felt like everyone around you were falling in love while I just sat there in a corner, watching them.
So that's why I made the decision to go to this setup blind date....
....and I regretted my decision.
I stared at my ideal man in front of me giving me those annoying bedroom eyes.
After getting a makeover and going without food for five hours, when I finally arrived at the royal diner, this man was already seated on our reserved seat with a platter in his hands.
He was a foody person and I didn't mind that, cause I was one myself but there were some basic manners you gotta follow.
And that blond idiot didn't even order a thing for me except for a wine which I wasn't even going to drink after what happened with Raashid.
Speaking of Raashid, even after his confession we didn't make much progress at anything.
His first confession about being one of the reincarnated kind didn't change much in our friendship.
And about his love confession, I just avoided them, subtly changing the topic. So we didn't get ahead in that field either.
I was really confused about this entire 'be my Empress' thing. Besides, even though my brain is fast at processing things, it still takes some time to get used to things changing so drastically because of some sudden realisations.
Now, every time I chatted with Raashid, there remained this realisation stuck in the back of my head that he is another Raashid who is love with me. Same goes with Seanna, every time I look at her, I remember that now, she is love with Hayden and not Raashid. These overnight changes just make things weird for me.
Over the last week, Raashid and I were communicating through the communication book which Mari invented since I refused to use eagles as a means of communication.
I mostly avoid talking about our past lives (though I want to keep talking about mine for hours now that I finally know someone can relate to it) because Raashid is obviously uncomfortable with the topic. When Raashid told me he committed suicide, the first new thing I realised about him was that, he was a weak-willed person. No matter how strong he appears up front, he is broken. Or maybe was. He seems pretty fine now.
I was brought back from my thoughts as I felt a leg touch mine from under the table.
What's this man trying to do?!
He obviously was my ideal type by looks buuut he was too flirty and mannerless for my liking.
I pulled my leg back and smiled a frustrated smile as I politely tried to ask, "So...which empire or kingdom are you from?"
I've seen all the high nobles in Obelia at least once so I know he is from another nation.
"Peruka empire." He said with pride and my mood even worsened. Peruka empire didn't have a very nice relation with Obelia, only selective nobles from Peruka (not even the royal family of Peruka) were allowed to visit the empire during Raashid's coronation. They were like enemies, though nobody initiates a war, the tension is always high around the borders.
What was mother thinking when she chose this guy?!
"Umm...I think I've taken up so much time of your busy schedule, my lord." I said, trying to get him to leave "Please do not hesitate to tell me if you have a meeting or some work to do."
He smiled before taking my hand and placing kisses on it, "I'll never be busy for you, my lady." He said as my hand squirmed under his lips, "So...should we get a room?"
No. Nope.
"Lord Randell... This is a bit too fast." I tried to get my hand out of his grip but it only tightened.
I wanna go home!!!!!!!
"Come on now, don't be so shy." He said suggestively, placing a kiss on my hand.
"Lord Ran-eeekk!" I squeaked when I felt him lick my palm.
Eeeewwwwww!! Gross gross gross!!!
"So-" he was cut off by a loud bang on our table and I looked up to see Raashid giving a death glare to Randell dude.
Where did he come from now?!
"I'm giving you 7 seconds to get out of my face before I call the guards and they kick you out." He said in a low threatening voice and I got a weird sense of deja vu.
If that ain't how we first met......
"Excuse me?! You can't kick me out of a public restaurant." Randell gritted out, looking annoyed.
"Yes. I can." He said authoritatively.
"Oh yes, he can." I whispered to Randell, "He's the emperor."
His eyes widened as he stared at me then Raashid and then dashed off.
Raashid then glared at me, though it softened a bit before he glared at the chair where Randell was sitting just a few seconds ago.
"Grapes." He said and a guard stepped forward, "Burn this chair and bring me a new one. I don't need to get any germs of that Perukan punk."
I smirked and decided to tease him, "He touched this table and floor too. Are you gonna burn it too?"
He gave me a light glare and said, "I'll take care of that."
"He touched my hand too." I said innocently, wiping his saliva off of my hand with a napkin, "Are you gonna burn it too?"
His light glare turned dark and I quickly said, "I was just teasing you."
He dropped his glare, "I know that." He said, "Now....what were you trying to do with that guy?" He asked lowly.
"Trying to make friends." I said simply, it was fun to see this new side of him.
"Oh? It didn't look like it though." He said, frowning with a slight pout.
Jealous Raashid is so cute.
And hot.
I frowned at my own thoughts.
Raashid? Hot? Meh...... But he does have a nice face and amazing biceps and-
"Then what did it look like?" I asked (distracting my self from any other distracting thoughts) with a raised eyebrow.
His eyes darkened again, "Like you were a lollipop and he wanted to eat you."
I snorted, "Right. He even licked me. Eww." I cringed.
His frown deepened, "Seriously though...what were you doing with him here?"
"Mother set me up for a date," I told him, "had to go."
"Well, don't go on dates with other men anymore." He told me seriously, "If you want to go on a date, then tell me, I'll take you wherever you want."
I chuckled, "Sure, Mr. Busy." Like the guy can barely manage to get out of his study and now wants to go on a date. He has a ton of work to do as a new emperor.
Soon two plates with roasted meat and sauce with bread was placed in front of me and I looked at the delicious piece of meat quizzically before looking at Raashid.
"You looked hungry so I told them to bring it for you." He said and I gave him a grateful smile, "Damn, was it that obvious?", " Yes." He replied before I dived in.
He also joined me and we started talking about random stuff. I asked what he was doing here and he told me that he was in this area for work and was supposed to be dining here when he found me. It was too much coincidental and I started wondering if Ajhussi had a hand in it or not.
I also shared the news about Hayden asking Seanna for her hand in marriage which made him choke on his meat (which was a funny sight to see). Seanna hadn't decided yet and asked Hayden to give her some more time. Hayden had left a few days ago and was probably coming back to pick her up if she agreed to his proposal.
After finishing our food, we exchanged a few words before both of us parted our ways.