“My sister.” A deep voice called from another side of the room from where Marie herself sat, pulling her attention away from the storybook in which her attention previously was held.

“Yes?” Unwilling to yet close her book, the princess simply placed her palms down atop the soft paper and turned her attention, albeit unwillingly, towards her brother.

The scene forced a chuckle to arise from the man’s throat, a smile painting his once neutral expression. "Mother and father requested our presence." He paused before continuing on, his eyes flicking over towards her reading material. "What are you reading, Marie?"

"Brother...if you must know, I'm reading a romance novel." The princess responded with a huff, closing her book with a rather loud slam, tossing it in his direction.

It was caught with his face rather than hands, for she caught him off guard.

"My goodness...a little warning next time?" Marco whined, catching the culprit before it hit the floor. Still, he was interested in the title. The Queen's Mistress. "How scandalous~"

"You're acting as if you don't read similar things as me." Marie chuckled for a second before she lifted herself up from where she sat, sashayed over and retrieved her novel. "Come now, weren't we supposed to be heading off?"

Blink.

"Oh yes! Right!" Fumbling over his words, the younger of the two gripped at the edges of his coat, pretending as if there was some sort of wrinkle that he just had to fix in that moment right before setting off behind Marie.

Although he was the one to have started this venture off towards where their parents asked them to meet, it wasn't as if Marie didn't know by heart where they would be. Him following behind or in front mattered not to her.

As they arrived, she opened the doors rather forcefully, spooking both of the older adults who just sighed in relief once they turned their heads to see who had arrived. Of course it was just their children. Their daughter was known for her colorful character.

“Welcome! Marie, Marco, please come take a seat with us, won’t you?” The Queen held out her hand towards two free empty seats on the sofa across from their own.

Marco nodded, sliding into place while Marie shrugged and instead took a seat on the armrest of the furniture.

Her father rolled his eyes at her lack of manners, folded his hands into his lap and leaned forward. “We have gathered you both here today because we had another arranged marriage offering. They sent us 3 portraits earlier this week: 2 of their daughters and 1 of their son in case…” His eyes flicked from his son to his daughter and back to his son. “In case Marco here doesn’t agree with their daughters and we must go with second best.”

Marie copied her father's previous action by rolling her eyes but chose to stay silent as 2 portraits were set on the table.

The first didn’t stand out much to her. It wasn’t as if the woman wasn’t beautiful, she just couldn’t feel much emotion as she wished from one single painting. As someone who loved nothing more than to paint in her spare time, it meant a lot. If she couldn’t feel anything, what was the real point in making art of such a being, as harsh as that sounded? This woman wore her golden hair in a clean, pinned up bob, she sported a wrinkle free lavender dress and her azure eyes felt like calm ocean waves. Simple. Boring.

On the other hand, the other portrait held another story. In it, this woman chose to wear her shorter hair down with no accessories and freely messy as if to make a statement. Her dress was a darker shade of purple; an amethyst perhaps, and here her own pair of azure eyes were fiery and wild, reminding Marie of a rough ocean.

This...she liked this!

And so it seemed her brother did as well, or at least some part of them for once she finished her own inspection, he nodded his head and spoke out his thoughts. “I would be willing for a meeting. I cannot explain...but there is something I like about them.” She couldn’t agree more.

“Wonderful!” Their mother grinned and clasped her hands together. “I’ll send them a letter right away and have them over the first moment they can."

"You are both dismissed now." The King shooed them off with a flick of his wrist to which they both obeyed, gently closing the door behind them on the way out.

Before Marco could start heading off in a separate direction, Marie placed a hand to his shoulder, gripping her fist harder, digging her nails in deeper as she felt him try to squirm away. "Why did you say that? You always refuse?"

His shoulders stiffened, then relaxed as he shrugged his honest reply. "I'm not completely certain. Half of me was drawn just to the sheer beauty and vitality of their golden, luxurious hair…"

"The other half?"

"The other half...noticed your interest and wished to see more for your benefit as well." The ends of his lips drew up into what appeared to be a smile, one bearing the affection he held for his younger sibling. "I want you to be happy, and if I could help with that…"

Marie chuckled softly at his awkward tone of voice, fully appreciating his sincerity. She loved her brother, she truly did...even though he may have a few screws loose. Releasing her rough grip on his shoulder, she brought him into an embrace. "I love you too."