I cursed that my thoughts fell down the path of my admiration for Eli and was even further embarrassed when I realized I had brought him up in conversation by mistake. Although it hadn't been my doing in bringing him up, I was the one to facilitate the conversation further into discussing him. I was suddenly keenly aware of and worried about my fascination towards Eli, begging and hoping that the four couldn't tell I had a crush on him. I was never sure if my crush on Eli was apparent, but somehow, I just knew that if it was, Eli would have brought it up with me already. I had only ever had to hide it from Eli, but now I would have to hide it from six new people!

My mind panicked realizing that I had fallen into my thoughts about him again. I must have been deeper in thought than I realized when I pieced together I hadn't been listening to the conversation of the four. This was probably a good time to excuse myself. I still had two more Arranged to meet, making a perfect reason to excuse myself.

"If you four will excuse me," I politely interjected when the conversation paused, "I will be heading elsewhere, likely to meet Autumn and Mae wherever they may be. It was a pleasure meeting the four of you and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other in the near future."

Julia scoffed, teasing. "Of course. We'll be living at the palace for some time."

I wished the four well and turned on my heel to leave. Where, I wasn't quite sure. I stepped across the room from their group and stood next to a servant who stood waiting to be called upon with drinks. I gestured to take one, which he nodded and lowered the plate for me. I sipped the glass, tasting some sort of non-alcoholic juice. Scanning the room for any sign of Autumn or Mae, I guessed Mae might look like her father: Short, blue eyes, and black hair. Autumn, on the other hand, I'd just have to look for a woman that wasn't Mae or the other four. Much to my surprise, so much so I nearly spit into my drink, Autumn appeared beside me with a gentle smile. I quickly swallowed and coughed, taking out my handkerchief to wipe my mouth and apologize.

"Excuse me!" I said, suddenly laughing a bit nervously. "You surprised me. Are you Autumn?"

She nodded. "That would be me. Why, have you heard anything about me? From my parents, I bet..." She said a bit bitterly, looking to the rest of the room with a scanning eye.

Autumn was average height, again guessing about Eli's, with long and straight blond hair. Her eyes were a deep brown, but were masked behind fake eyelashes that matched the rest of the makeup she wore. Of all the other female Arranged I met so far, she wore the most makeup. She had a rather skinny and feminine frame with a narrower waist that her white dress complimented in its fit and V cut at her chest. I couldn't help but notice the jewelry she wore, having nice earrings, a necklace, bracelets, and even stylish decorative gems or beads woven into the few braids in her hair.

"Oh, no, I just pieced together that you might be Autumn." I said. She looked at me funny. "I have met most of the other Arranged already."

"Ah I see, that makes sense. Any particular reason why you're standing all alone over here?"

I shrugged. "I finished my conversation with the other Arranged and was hoping to speak to you or Mae next," I smiled, getting a slight blush from her. "I just stopped for a drink." I lifted my glass and drank what little was left.

The servant, who had left to give us privacy, returned, seemingly expecting me to finish my drink. I handed him the glass, thanking him. He only nodded and left the room. It made me think about how long I had been socializing for. My watch conveyed, much to my surprise, that forty minutes had passed already. The gathering before lunch was only meant to be an hour. Realizing these details, I decided to give Autumn roughly ten minutes with me before I'd take my leave to find Mae. After what Julia said about her, my interest was piqued.

My eyes were watching the room, finding the locations of Cronin, Dacian, and my father, while looking for Mae. Mr. Clark was in a discussion with my father, Dacian, and some other gentlemen and their spouses I didn't recognize. Cronin was still in a hefty discussion with Mr. Robinson, it seemed. Mrs. Robinson had moved elsewhere and was conversing with a few other wives. Lastly, I looked at the Arranged and caught Julia's eye looking away. I didn't think anything of it, just happening to meet her gaze for a moment.

"Your father..." Autumn said softly, catching my attention. I looked at her, still trying to get a gage on her personality. "I have to ask; Will he be present much during the Arranged?"

"I'm not sure." I said truthfully. "The main reason why my father might be present or provide his input for the Arranged would because he wants to make sure my chosen spouse is suited for the throne and aristocrat life. That being said, it's kind of expected that the Arranged are already somewhat experienced in this upper-class status given your families histories. So, he may not be wary at all."

"You say spouse," Autumn said once I was finished, seemingly in disregard of what I just said, "don't you mean wife?"

I furrowed my brow. "Well, I refer to the women and man participating in the Arranged as "The Arranged" as not to exclude any gender. I say spouse because I cannot tell you who I will choose, and even though a majority of the Arranged are women, Lee is still present, and I don't want to exclude him by saying 'my wife'."

"Oh, of course. I forget there's six of us, that includes Lee."

I looked to the room to avoid her gaze, as well as in hopes that she wouldn't see my utter disgust. Everyone was welcome to their own opinions and views of life, but nobody had the right to force that upon me, nor did I. Her comment wasn't homophobic per say, but it felt implied, even if it wasn't her intention or true. Was it necessary to bring attention to the gender of the Arranged? In the end my happiness was the goal, and if that was with a man, so what? I had considered myself pansexual for a while now, but bisexual was a more common term people understood, so I used it.

"Right." I said, my disbelief creeping into my tone. I cleared my throat and stood up, having been leaning on the wall slightly. "It was nice to meet you, Autumn, but I should meet Mae before the meet and greet ends in what..." I checked my watch, thankful to see it. "Fifteen minutes."

"Certainly. I will see you around, Your Highness." She smiled and curtsied.

I smiled in return, a fake one. She didn't need to know my first impression of her wasn't ideal, that's for sure. I started to step away in the direction of the doors, signaling to her our conversation was over. Thankfully, she left to make conversation elsewhere. I was still in disbelief that this was my first interaction with her. I wasn't the type to form a permanent opinion on someone after one meeting, but that wasn't to say it didn't give me an idea of what to expect. I wasn't eager to speak with her again, unfortunately. I wondered if she had been able to read that she had offended me. If she had, why didn't she try to clarify and make amends?

I needed a break. Surprisingly, the conversation with four of the Arranged at once had been easy. I was a sociable person and enjoyed meeting new people, especially people my age (which wasn't often considering my status). Speaking with them for what was likely thirty minutes had been easy, but in my five-minute conversation with Autumn I felt drained. I guess my personality really was affected by the mood and energy of others. I stepped outside the lounge in hopes for a very short walk to catch my breath, hoping the guards wouldn't ask questions or watch me too closely.