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Being a princess included many useless and boring things. Being an heir to a powerful empire had even more of them. Well they were supposed to be useful in the future, for now it was just tedious.
People not born into royalty might have assumed she enjoys as a princess was the abundance of parties. Lizzie couldn’t blame them for the assumption that parties were fun and not just ways for royalty to show off. Well, nobody said that they’re showing off, but everyone knew it wasn’t actually for maintaining image.
Lizzie was meant to show that she was a competent future leader during them, which included boring discussions with adults about things like trade routes. Most of the time they brought their kids with them which was wonderful for her, they could pretend to be talking about what was expected of them and just not do it. She had a pretty good relationship with other royal kids because of that.
Today however it seemed like she was out of luck, she couldn’t spot any of her friends. Why didn't they come? How was she going to get through this without anyone her age?
She politely greeted another guest, if she remembered correctly a ruler of a smaller nation. Then Lizzie caught a glimpse of something bright further away. She realised there was still hope for her, royalty from Mezalea still hasn't arrived. Hopefully Joel didn't have other responsibilities to do.
It seemed that luck was finally on her side when the prince politely greeted her. Lizzie still had to greet other guests so sadly she couldn't talk with her boyfriend for a while. Thankfully it didn't take too long before she could slip away.
"Lovely party, did you help organise it, princess Lizzie?" Joel asked her, way too formally for her liking.
"I did! Thank you for noticing, prince Joel" she did a tiny bow and led him towards the gardens. They were located on one of the many lily pads and had quite a lot of variety considering that most plants required sweetwater. "Do you think they can still see us?"
"I don't think they can, but I'm not sure."
"Aw, but I want to kiss you in peace" she wiped off a fake tear. "Also did you notice that nobody our age showed up?"
"Yes! That's so rude, we are meant to suffer together and they just ditched us!" the prince threw his arms up in the air. "I had the option not to go, you know? But I went anyways, we should shame them next time."
"You didn't have to attend? And you still did?" Lizzie stared at him in disbelief. They were still walking through the gardens, but she had a destination in mind. "You're insane."
"Love drives people to madness, what can I say!" he exclaimed and placed a kiss on her hand. "And it was this or studying etiquette for hours."
Lizzie laughed at her boyfriend before taking his hand and dragging him behind. The spot she had in mind was finally visible and the princess grinned at Joel. It was just a bench in the middle of two trees, but it was special to them. It was the place where they shared their first kiss. It wasn't far away from the palace, but it was far enough that nobody would see them.
Lizzie let go of his hand, instead giving Joel a quick kiss on the cheek and ducked when he tried to give her one too.
"How scandalous!" she laughed at him. "Before marriage, who raised you dearest?"
"I've been raised well, I assure you my love" he said and when she tried to grab his hand again, he pulled it away with a sharp gasp. "Premarital hand holding, who raised you ?!"
The two of them talked and bickered for a while before being called back to the castle. While their parents understood that they preferred each other's company, it wouldn't be a good look for the Ocean Empire if the heir wasn't present. Lizzie was being a good hostess and chatting with all of her guests, but she found herself talking mostly with Joel. When subtly informed her of this she just smiled and walked away.
Her mother was talking with the king of Mezalea and when she noticed Lizzie, she motioned for her to come over.
"Lizzie, would you mind doing us a little favour?" she asked her with a smile. "It's nothing bad I promise."
"Well I wasn't worried at first, but I fear I may have to be now," she joked. While they were talking Joel came to them and the princess noticed that the king was saying something to her boyfriend.
"Oh good, both of you are here. We have an idea, but we'd like to check if it's fine with you two first" said Joel's father. "As everyone knows, Mezalea and the Ocean Empire are on very friendly terms, but we don't really show it much."
"My friend you're going to make them fall asleep" the queen scoffed. "Would the two of you mind leading the dance? It would be nice for the heirs of both kingdoms to lead."
Lizzie and Joel glanced at each other and came to a silent understanding. Leading the dance would be nerve wracking, but could be fun.
"We don't mind," Joel spoke up.
"Wonderful!" the queen exclaimed. "It's going to start soon so don't go too far."
Lizzie smiled , before taking Joel's hand and leading him away from their parents.
"Joel, Joel, there's a problem" she laughed nervously.
"What do you mean?"
"I might have been kinda failing miserably during my dance lessons recently. Everyone will be looking at us!"
"It will be fine, it's just a dance" he reassured her. "Just keep your eyes on me and don't look at them."
When it was finally time to start the dance, Lizzie was pretty sure that her dress had visible handprints that were sure to ruin it from how hard she was gripping it. It would be such a shame, it was such a nice shade of blue. She did well in all of her classes except dance, her parents kept saying that she doesn't have to do perfect, because she was studying to take over the kingdom one day, not to be a dancer. It still frustrated her, why was this the one thing she struggled with?
She couldn't dwell on it anymore, because the music started and Joel started to walk towards her. He reached out his hand and she gently took it, starting the dance. She was trying so hard to remember her moves, was she meant to go spin or walk to the side now?
"Hey, keep your eyes on me, remember?" Joel whispered and twirled her around. She briefly glanced to her side, before focusing on the prince again. Thank goodness for him, she didn't look anywhere else than him. When she did a move wrong he made it look like they planned for this to happen. Lizzie decided that while she knew that she was completely in love with him, she was even more in love with him today.
The dance finished when Joel dipped her and they were free to either keep dancing with the rest of the guests or do something else. They decided to go drink something, not holding hands because they were far too warm.
"I love you" Lizzie whispered, holding her glass up for a toast.
"I love you too" Joel whispered back, clinking their glasses.