THE REICHART FAMILY

Caroline’s POV:

"So...?" Lucille asked me as soon as she locked the bathroom door behind her.

“So what?" I pretended to not understand her. Lucille looked at me with an air of displeasure, as if she was saying 'stop playing with me’. I laughed at her irritation, which made her even more irritated.

"Spit it out, Care. What is he like? What is his name? Where does he come from? What are your first impressions of him?" She told me as she quickly worked undoing my first hairstyle to create a new one.

I sighed and then turned to her and said, "Oh, where do you want me to start?"

"From his appearance, for sure!" Lucille asked me eagerly. I had to laugh at her excited attitude. She was excited about this whole story and was an incorrigible optimist and an incurable romantic. Sometimes I would love to borrow her pink glasses with which she used to see life through.

"Well, he's handsome," I told her with a shrug.

"Just that? Do not you have anything more to say about him, Care? You so let me down," Lucille told me mocking my face.

"What else do you want me to say?" I told her and she made a face. "Okay," I continued. "Let us go to the details: Well, he is tall and has the stature to wear a suit and he dresses very well. He has light brown hair and bright green eyes." I explained to her.

Lucille said excitedly, "Um, that looks promising, does not it?"

"Probably," I told her.

"Oh! Your pictures will be wonderful! And the children! Can you imagine?" Lucille told me excitedly.

"Calm down, Lucy!" I exclaimed. "Go easy on this whole thing."

"Okay, I am sorry, maybe I got a little excited," she told me and we both burst out laughing. "Please continue. Who else was there?" Lucille asked me.

"Well, his parents were there too. I do not know if they'll be spending three weeks with us too, but they came with him." I reported to Lucille.

"And what are they like?" She asked me curiously.

"The word that comes to mind to describe them would be...elegant," I said to Lucille, and then changed my mind, "Well, elegant up to a point. At teatime, both son and mother did not stop staring at me. It was extremely uncomfortable!"

"Well, this is definitely not elegant," Lucille added.

"For sure. I do not know how long the tea took. It may have been just a few minutes, but to me it felt like forever," I complained and pouted a little.

"I am sorry to hear that, Care. I already knew it would be uncomfortable for you, and it must have been even worse knowing that they did not take their eyes off you," Lucille comforted me, while finishing the last adjustments to my hair. "There you go. I will leave you alone to freshen up now. I will wait for you in your room."

"Thank you," I said to Lucille. "I'll be there in a few moments."

A few minutes later I was back in the room and Lucille helped me get dressed without messing up my new hairstyle. We chatted about Stephan Reichart while I got dressed. As soon as I was ready, I realized it was almost lunchtime. I was about to leave my room when I put my hand on the doorknob and turned to her and said, "Wish me luck, Lucy."

She replied, "You do not need luck, Care. He is the one who needs it."

I left my room and walked to the lobby to wait for the hour when the lunchroom would open. I concluded that staying there waiting would be better than being late by being in any other part of the palace. I sat next to the lobby window and was looking at the landscape outside when a movement in my peripheral vision caught my eye. I turned around and saw that Stephan had also arrived and was waiting for lunch.

"Sorry, Your Highness. I did not know there would be anyone else here already," Stephan told me sincerely.

"No problem, feel free to stay," I replied to him.

"Thank you," he told me sincerely. "I am sorry for the arrival like that," Stephan told me sheepishly. "I know we are intruders in your home," he said gesturing to the expanse of the room. "And I also know that you are probably not prepared to be engaged to someone. I know that I am not." Stephan confessed to me.

I did not know if I believed him or not. All I knew was that I would be really stupid if I told him, I felt the same way. If my father ever knew that I told him this out loud, I would suffer terrible consequences for not being able to keep my mouth shut.

"Well, I am not going to deny that it was too sudden," I told him, so I continued, "But we have to dance according to the music, do we not?" I said those words and turned to him, with a tight smile on my face.

"Well, if you really want to know, I think it would help if we got to know each other better. What do you think of my idea?" He suggested.

"Apparently, we will have a lot of time to get to know each other, especially after we get married," I told him and hoped he understood the subtlety. I did not have much to talk to him about, nor was I willing to talk at that moment.

"No problem," Stephan said and stepped back a little. I thought that was a good thing because I liked what Lucille had said. He is the one who should need luck.

Luckily for me, before there was an awkward silence again, my parents appeared through the doors across the hall. When my father saw us, he tried to read the situation before his eyes, but he could not understand anything. Then he said to us: "Ah! You are already here. Great!" and then he addressed Stephan and continued, "Where are your parents, Stephan?"

"Right here!" The Reichart couple said as they entered another side door.

"Great! Let us go in," my dad said to everyone as he gestured toward the lunchroom. The jacks opened the doors at his command.

The conversation between the couples was cordial and flowed with a certain amount of joy. Meanwhile, Stephan and I were silent the entire time. Thankfully, he was sitting next to me this time, so he could not keep staring at me, so the damn sense of being watched was smaller this time.

Lunch at the palace was usually plentiful, and the servants always brought much more than we could eat. I always wondered what the kitchen staff did with all that food afterwards. Lucille once told me that although they were forbidden to eat the same food as the royal family, sometimes someone in the kitchen managed to save a little so that all that food was not wasted. Unfortunately, if someone were caught keeping the leftovers from the king's table, they would be severely punished. The palace rules were clear: no matter how much food was left over from the king's table, only the royal family was allowed to eat it. No commoner could do that. The punishments could go from layoffs or even physical punishments, depending on the degree of the 'crime' committed by the employee. I thought this rule was totally absurd. Our table was plentiful enough to meet our needs and that of many others, but unfortunately this was also a subject for which my opinion was not necessary either.

Today, however, a series of meals that would be considered scandalous would begin. There were at least five types of appetizers made from the most expensive foods in the world, which were then followed by at least three types of meat, fish, and poultry dishes, at least half a dozen garnishes, vegetables of all types known in the country, soups, and breads. Drinks? We had several types of wine, juices, flavored waters, and so many others that I could not even describe. The desserts were a real hit: chocolate fountains, pies, cakes, puddings. It was a pity that as a lady, I could not eat at ease, because on a day like this, I would certainly eat more than I should.

My peace and the pleasure of eating, however, were soon overshadowed by the realization of what we were doing, after all, it was my fiancé who was sitting next to me. This fiancé I did not ask to have. Well, at least he knew I did not want him, and he was apparently just as uncomfortable as I was in this situation.

And then, as I had predicted, my father tried to make the situation even more uncomfortable:

"You grew up a lot and became a respectable young man, Stephan," my dad told him.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I really appreciate the invitation. It's great to be here," Stephan replied to him.

"Arthur, Henrietta, I am happy that our families are coming together through our children. Our friendship has been going on for years and my trust in your family and in the connection you have with the Eurasian government will form not only a strong marriage bond, but also a robust and solid political connection,” my father continued. I blushed like a tomato. I knew there was more than an interest in giving me a husband in this whole story. I just had not realized until that moment that my future marriage was also a foreign policy strategy. Well, I was embarrassed, but not surprised. My personal life had the perfect timing for my father to do another maneuver of his.

"I am also very happy that our families are united, Your Majesty," Arthur replied to my father.

My father made a nonchalant gesture towards him and said, "Nah, stop being silly. As a family, you can call us Maximus and Lianne." My mother blushed slightly at his side, a little embarrassed by the familiarity with which my father allowed himself at that moment.

Arthur looked a little upset and a little embarrassed, but soon after he murmured, "Okay. I am also very happy for the union of our families, Maximus."

"Ah, this is much better," my dad commented happily and relaxed. This was so unusual for him. I wondered why he was being so... nice to the visitors.

 And then, the words that I feared most came out of his mouth: "Well, we need to start preparing the details of this union!" My father said very excited, and meanwhile I gasped and got a little dizzy. Everything was happening too fast for my liking.

My mom noticed my little panic attack, but I think she was the only one to notice it, as everyone  else was looking expectantly at my dad. She might not upset the king at all times, but she also had a small dose of compassion for her daughter, so in a different maneuver, she took the lead and said, "Honey, our guests have just arrived. How about instead of scheduling all the preparations we let the two lovebirds talk for a while? " Well, that took some of the pressure off having a date for my wedding on the horizon, but it left me with the difficult task of entertaining Stephan.

"Great! What a wonderful idea you just had, Lianne!" My father exclaimed excitedly. I think he is probably the most excited person for this wedding. Much more than the bride, at least. Then he turned to Stephan and I and said, "Then we will leave some time for you two to get to know each other. Obviously, my wife and daughter will let you all know this afternoon the entire schedule we have for the Reichart family visit. When the official social events are over and done, it is good that you spend some time together so that everyone can see you, including the press, but I believe that Stephan should socialize and meet the nobles of the kingdom, so that he becomes familiar with them." My father suggested and then continued: "When there are no official events, I think you should spend a lot of time together to get to know each other better. I would start this afternoon if I were you, Stephan. Your time here is limited, and every second is precious. I believe you two will get along well." My dad finished his little speech satisfied and winked at Stephan in a playful way. I knew he was not kidding, though. I knew I was redder than a beetroot, so I ducked my head to try to hide my blush.

As soon as I recovered, Stephan asked me discreetly: "Well, I would invite you for a date, Your Highness, but honestly, I do not know where I can take you. The country is yours and I do not know where the interesting spots are.” He smiled at me a little embarrassed. I think he thought that as the 'man of the relationship,' he should take the initiative.

"Well, I think we can think of something to do this afternoon." I muttered back to him. Excellent. Now, besides everything, I had to figure out what to do on a date with a guy who was practically a stranger to me.

This afternoon promises a lot of embarrassment and discomfort.