Hello, sneak peek!
Side note - I don't know why, but I've been picturing Eadlyn as Emilia Clarke when she had the dark brown hair.
Warning - This chapter is a tad topical with some stuff that's going on with society nowadays - which I did not realize until I was at the end and I wrote this chapter back in April - so please read this with a light heart and know that I don't mean any kind of harm nor do I mean to romanticize anything.
Photo #96: Failed Love Life
Eadlyn has attended her fair share of balls and galas. As a child, they were basically her playroom but the older she got, the more that society inclined her to fall in love with the possible suitors who also attended because people longed for a royal wedding. Typically, princesses were shipped off to marry princes and even though Eadlyn wasn't, her parents still made her attend parties in hopes to at least find a prince she'd be interested in. They didn't force her at all, they just wanted her to get a scope of who's out there in terms of royalty.
Eadlyn, however, remembers the lack of romance in her love life; some instances she will admit to being at fault for since she had no interest in pursuing love at the time, and her options were distasteful so she wasn't at fault in that way.
It kind of reminds her of her current situation where she is in the midst of finding a husband in her Selection. The coincidences are real. Or maybe this was a sign of how inevitable finding a husband would be for her.
Then, she looks at the photo that sparked all these memories and unintentionally mocks the face she made in the picture: disgusted. It's one of her worst "romantic" encounters in which he wanted something she had no intention of giving. The prince leaned in for the kiss which he never got.
Eadlyn almost feels sick to her stomach the longer she looks at that, but then again, she can't help but laugh at it as she reminisces over the entire event that led to the rejected kiss.
-o-
It was another one of those elite parties: the adults would be chattering and drinking amongst themselves, flattering one another as servers scoped the floor for people whose glasses needed refills; some were dancing along to the orchestra; and the young adolescents stood to the side, finally being able to act like teenagers with each other, in the most testosterone-filled way possible.
"Guys!" Prince Casper exclaims as he runs up to Ahren and the other young adolescent boys of the party. "You will not believe this but an actual goddess just got here."
Instantly, their heads perk up like a radar to try and scope out this goddess. Prince Casper points to the stained glass window by the grand entrance and they see her: porcelain skin with bright brown eyes that glow like the blinding yet subtle highlight on her cheekbones, enunciating them. Her slender frame wears a sleeveless and fitted coral gown that goes to the ground. She holds herself with such poise and grace as she saunters around to say hello to people.
Ahren groans. "Aw, gross, that's just my sister."
"Really?" Prince Casper questions in shock. "That's Eadlyn? Are you sure that's your twin? Man, I didn't even recognize her. She glowed up to the heavens."
"What's her secret?" Prince Don asks.
"Puberty?" Ahren guesses, kind of serious, kind of not.
As the princes by his side drool at the sight of his twin, Ahren takes a look at her to see what the whole fuss was about. Sure, Eadlyn looked pretty but to him, she was just Eadlyn and not some next-level deity. The only lady he could ever see himself swooning over was Camille who was standing beside Eadlyn. She was his angel, not Eadlyn.
Meanwhile, from across the ballroom, Camille fawns over Eadlyn, flooding her with compliments galore. Eadlyn smiles as she gives thanks, trying her absolute best not to sound ungrateful because of her awkwardness towards them. She's just saying thanks like a broken record.
"I think all the boys are staring," Camille mutters temptingly to Eadlyn, raising an eyebrow as an indication for Eadlyn to take a quick glance at them.
Eadlyn looks up over Camille's shoulder for a quick second and she saw all that she needed to: all the sons of dukes salivating over her. Eadlyn isn't sure how to handle it, but she feels weird.
"Gross," Eadlyn states.
"Here's a heads up," Camille subtly points towards the group, "that one, Prince Don in the maroon jacket is the son of a duke. He's good from far but far from good."
Eadlyn glances again but this time, for a few seconds longer just to get a good look at him. "He's kind of cute."
Daphne's face shrivels up. "He's borderline perverté."
Eadlyn doesn't know what that word means but even with Daphne's French accent, it has an unfriendly ring to it. Nevertheless, Eadlyn's parents said to play to play nice with the other princes since they will be your future trading partners, allies in case of war, and for one of them, possible spouse. (She isn't fond of that last one as much). Eadlyn looks at her parents from across the ballroom and sees them linking arms with one another as her mother's head rests on her father's shoulder, right in the crook of his neck; all while talking to other people. It was like they were pieces of a puzzle, made to fit together. Never in anyone but her parents did Eadlyn see a husband and wife so absorbed in their love for one another.
Then, she looks at all the immature boys her age and sighs. She never imagined herself ever having her parents' love story - or any love story, especially with any of them. However, they seem to be interested in her which she isn't amused of.
"Oh la la..." Camilla almost sings with an excited tone as she grabs hold of Eadlyn's bicep. "Look who's coming our way."
And here come the princes.
"Do any of them actually have the balls to deal with me?" Eadlyn mutters to Camille jokingly (or seriously but in a joking tone to make it sound like she's joking).
Camille laughs to herself as the princes approach them. She composes herself as she stands beside Ahren, leaving all the other princes to bask in Eadlyn's beauty. Eadlyn could take advantage of all this but she isn't that cruel or vein. Besides, these are potential trading partners and allies in war; there's no need to turn them into tariff-imposers and war enemies.
"Princess Eadlyn," Prince Casper greets charmingly, bowing to her.
Eadlyn smiles welcomingly in return, bowing her head in response.
"You are looking beautiful this evening," he tells her.
Eadlyn acts surprised at the compliment. "As do you." She looks at the other boy: "You as well, Prince Don."
Eadlyn had a walkthrough of the next few moments in her head: Prince Don would thank her, they would share greetings, and then break into some light chatter with maybe a glass of champagne. However, none of that happened. Prince Don immediately leaned forward for the kiss. Eadlyn's face explodes as she holds her hands out over her face, blocking him from her lips. A flash fills her eyes and then laughter from her younger brothers. Eadlyn has no clue what that was about but she doesn't care. A boy just tried to kiss her. How gross. He is definitely never being her future spouse.
Eadlyn's mind is spinning as her cheeks blush a dark red with embarrassment. The first thing she has learned about boys in terms of 'the birds and the bees', it's that men have difficulty comprehending the difference between being friendly versus being flirty. It could've been worse for him since Eadlyn could've punched him.
Prince Don finally leaves her hand. Now, he's the one looking splotchy as Eadlyn looks horrified. Camille and Ahren's jaws have dropped to the ground as Prince Casper awkwardly looks away and pretends he never saw that.
"I thought you were going to kiss me," Prince Don defends.
Eadlyn scoffs loudly. "No!" She wipes her hand on her dress. "You save those for people you love."
"And that's not me?"
Eadlyn rolls her eyes. "I don't love you. I'm now annoyed by your existence."
When they actually act like teenagers. I love that kind of stuff.
And now for the story:
My "Failed" Love Life is a collaborative series with myself in which it exists on FanFiction and Wattpad. On FanFiction, it is a series of a few awkward romantic encounters in my life told through the words of my many fictional OTPs and on Wattpad, it is the raw version of how it happened to me. More information about this is on my profile.
Stay Tuned - (sneak peek) Someone took a wrong seat...
