@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze

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Curses.

Could she learn curses? She'd curse this bird.

Or maybe she should learn some divine magic so it laid golden eggs.

This was turning out to be rather annoying.

"I would much rather sell this thing." Mella replied with a sigh, admitting defeat at the hands of this avian. "Its a rare specimen lord Reginald...though I haven't a clue as to why it seems so attached to me." She'd turn her eyes up towards the bird in question. "Perhaps it'd taste good roasted? Perhaps fried. I think it looks similar enough to a duck to be quite delicious of prepared correctly and I would not have to purchase food for the evening if we did."

Mella walked over towards Reginald and Elastasia, bowing politely.

"I shall remember to bill you for extra curricular work." She nodded towards Reginald. "My lord, if there is nothing else then I must continue my shopping and prepare a meal for the evening." A glance back up at the bird. "Unless we truly shall be finding out what this one tastes like roasted in garlic."

This was spiraling further and further into potential disaster the longer it occurred. Serrica's behavior was only seeming to aggravate Lilian, who in turn was doing her best to incite Serrica.

And Anne had found herself caught in the middle of a potentially dangerously escalating situation. She wanted to try and stay out of these sorts of things, the idea of anything that could trip any sort of flag was terrifying at this point. This seemed like it was brewing to catapult them into a a chain of tempting flags left and right!

What did she say?! Aaah, she didn't want to express any interest in the Prince at all! She didn't want to go down that route! She didn't want to make Lilian think she was going down that route!

Deep breaths.

She had to take deep breaths, clear her head, and calm herself.

And give a natural response.

Perhaps bowing was a bit over the top.

"I-I-I wish you g-g-good luck!"

And practically yelling that almost certainly didn't yelp.

But Anne couldn't stop the anxiety from getting to her.

@PKMNB0Y@Pyromania99

An odd expression crossed Reginald's face upon hearing Elastasia's remark—one that could probably have been described as a mix of surprise, confusion, and vague recognition of the word that she spoke. A salamander was a salamander, after all—and confusing it's name for something like "Wooper" was so uncannily odd that it couldn't have been an honest mistake. Not unless there was another creature with a similar name, at least.

To this, the black-haired student seemed to stand in silence for a few moments, his brow furrowed as he tried to figure out if there were any other animals that could possibly have a similar enough physiology and name to result in such an honest mistake. But when none came to mind, Reginald's mind instead drifted back to his 'old' native language—Japanese—and a certain multimedia franchise that had become popular the world over.

There was a theoretical now, a 'what-if' beginning to take root in the back of his mind—that maybe the mistake was one borne from a Freudian slip from someone who had found themselves in similar circumstances to his own. It was hard to make any definitive claims at the moment, though the idea did cross his mind to ask, if not subtly, what Elastasia had meant by that...

But ultimately, it seemed wiser to wait and see if there were any other hints he could attempt to glean before trying to ask proper. Of course, the time he had spent thinking about those matters had just as well been spent half-staring at the upperclassman in question, for better or worse—and, somewhat unfortunately, only barely acknowledging Terys' words of thanks with a slight nod.

Mella's talk of cooking the bird that had taken to her was ultimately what pulled his attention back to more "present" matter, and her apparent dislike of the avian was... Honestly quite amusing to him, in a bit of a twisted way. It wasn't like the bird was doing any explicit harm, at least, and despite her less-than-subtle threats it seemed satisfied perched upon her head.

"Mmm... I think that if it's rare and seems to be taken with you, it might do some good to actually research what breed it is. I doubt it'd return to whatever shopkeeper it came from at this point, and honestly it might be less trouble paying for the creature than attempting to wrangle it away from you..."

And given how confident both Elastasia and his maid had been about how it was able to injure him, maybe that would be for the best.

By this point, another shopkeeper—one of a far sturdier make—finally came around and took the large canine off of his hands, though certainly more literally than figuratively as the gruff man hefted the massive dog under his arm and walked off.

"Well, matters of cleaning up this chaos aside, I've nothing better to do at the moment. Given how I intend to at least look into that new friend of course, the least I could do is follow along until you are finished—or we could simply make our way there now, given how you seem to have a different creature entirely in your grasp."

@Raineh Daze@Rune_Alchemist

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"I am aware that you claimed to help another student earlier, and I do not deny that fact. What I am asking, quite honestly, is why the young woman at your side is with you. Though I suppose that she seems to be a bit more rattled by my presence than I would like..."

There was a pause as a bit of a shadow crossed Lilian's face after she spoke her piece to Serrica, and the words "reputation" and "bad" could scarcely be heard by Anne as the blonde girl whispered to herself barely loud enough for another to hear—before the topic of the Prince came up once more.

To this (far more forward) declaration, however, Lilian's face seemed to color itself ever so slightly red, and her fleeting moment of pause seemed to be replaced in an instant by indignation and embarrassment. That seemed to only be further exacerbated by Anne's response, loud as it was—the young woman's face seemed to dye itself a deep shade of red now—so much so that denying her feelings would have been all but impossible now.

"E-enough about the Crown Prince!" she exclaimed, a slight tremor in her voice. "I'm—"

"...Hm? I thought I heard a shout over here..."

And, almost as if on cue, the Crown Prince turned a nearby corner and walked towards the three girls, a light smile on his face.

"Miss Haldblum. Miss Meridan. I hope the day finds you well," Christopher said as he turned towards the two before the latter promptly turned away and covered her face in embarrassment. Seeing Lilian acting as she was, though, Christopher's gaze inevitably tuned back towards Anne, whose presence here seemed to be a bit more surprising to him.

"...Hm? I didn't expect to see you so soon again, Miss... I apologize, but I never actually got your name—nor you mine, I believe—when we last met. Christopher Alvonshire, the first son of King Asher Alvonshire. I presume your friend is well, then, if you are exploring the school grounds now?"

@Pyromania99@VitaVitaAR

@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze

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Mella remained quiet. On one hand, making a fuss would probably only draw more attention. That and she really didn't have much of a say about what sir Reginald ultimately ever ended up doing. As it stood there wasn't really a way to so easily turn down the bird. She'd just have to...discreetly get rid of it at some point, then. She wondered if she put it in a box and shipped it across the seas would it be done with?

"There will be no need for that, Sir Afah." She'd ultimately respond with a mild frown. "I am quite fine with having this...thing accompany if you wish to keep it. Though since it is a gift I reserve the right to do whatever with it." She'd affirm, loosening the grip of the kitten in her arms as she'd move it so she was cradling it like a baby, paws up towards her and its head resting in the crook of her elbow. "I suppose though, my hands are rather full...miss Elastasia, was it? If you don't mind me making a small request to handle this kitten so we can go finish our shopping...unless you'd wish to accompany me as well?"

Why was the crown prince here now!? That was the only thing that could have made the entire situation worse! First Serrica acting strangely, then Lilian showing up, and now him!?

If every day of school was going to be like this, she was going to end up dying in her new life too! The stress was too much!

She couldn't exactly not respond when she was talking to literal royalty, though, so after a few moments of stumbling over herself both mentally and physically Anne managed to take a deep breath to try and steady herself.

"A-Anne. Anne Merielle," she said, bowing her head once more, hands clasped in front of her, "A-and yes, he's doing fine now, thank you for asking..."

What did she say, now? What did she do? This was a nightmare situation. One wrong move could easily have Lilian misinterpret things. One wrong move could raise relationship flags she didn't want to trip.

It was like being surrounded by death flags. Sure, none of these would lead to death directly. At least she hoped so. But getting caught up too much in any of them was practically equivalent to launching yourself headfirst into a bad end for her.

She had to avoid it.

But she also had to try and think it through and find a route out of this situation that didn't end in some kind of pain.

Could she just walk away? Find some excuse she had to leave?!

Anne's mind was racing at this point, trying to latch on to any possible explanation she could for a sudden departure. Anything, anything...!

@PKMNB0Y@Pyromania99

Go shopping with them? Well, she'd rather prefer to go catch up with her brother and then settle down to read or the like, but neither of those would really be possible if carrying a kitten that had already shown a worrisome ability to target her face. The chances were that if she tried to do anything with that around, it would unerringly choose to take offence at being ignored, and then ruin the book or the like...

Also, the maid was her type, and what was wrong with taking an opportunity to hang around a pretty lady? Even if she was a rather troublesome one in some regards.

"I'll come with you," the white-haired girl announced, looking over at her brother, "Maybe you should go get a change of clothes, Terys, and we can meet again later?"

The boy had, after all, gotten pinned by that dog... and slobbered all over. It couldn't hurt to go get a change of clothes, and despite the pouting he did seem to agree to the idea.

Which just left her, Reggie, and Reggie's maid.

Plus the remaining animals.

Lillian looked embarassed and Anne was absolutely flustered. Well... Perhaps it was due to her interference, but was the Heroine this flusterable in the game? Serrica pondered that for some seconds as Anne continued to try and stammer out an answer to the Prince's question which she barely did. Shaking her head a small bit in exasperation, Serrica thought on what to do from here. She could just walk away since the Prince wasn't very interested in her. Nor Lillian for that matter.

"Hmmm...?" Serrica questioned herself, pondering that thought to herself for a few short second. She looked to Lillian before giving the girl a sly smile. She had formulated a plan of some sort though she wondered if she was going to anger a certain Miss Meridan in the process.

The Duke's Daughter stepped between Anne and Christopher, crossing her arms. "Forgive me for stepping between the two of you as such, Your Highness the Crown Prince." Serrica spoke in her typical fakely polite tone when addressing the Crown Prince. "But I believe my friend, Anne, has a hard time speaking to you on account of the difference in your stations." This much seemed to be true from her point of view. "She's like a scared yet adorable little squirrel trying to speak to a ravenous hound." A rather poor allusion. "That aside, I find your lack of proper introduction to me understandable but I must say I'm rather disappointed in your lack of feeling in greeting your own childhood friend."

Serrica pointed her fan toward Lillian before speaking again. "You have such an beautiful childhood friend yet here she is, a side introduction." Of course, Serrica was ignoring the fact that the conversation had gone on for not long at all and he had truly yet to say much more than ask Anne how her friend was. "If I were to be in your shoes, I would cherish such a relationship with a proper introduction. Rather, if you don't, would you mind if I were to sweep her off her feet?"

With Mella's (begrudging) acceptance of his decision and Elastasia's continued presence, Reginald gave Terys a nod and a farewell before the latter left them behind. It didn't seem as if his focus slipping had caught anyone else's attention—likely for the best, in his eyes—and so he could simply play that off as if it had never occurred.

"Well, I suppose the first order of business is the animals, then," Reginald said, picking up a more chitinous, mantis-like creature and nodding to the others. The creature seemed to stir slightly in his arms, but no more than that for the moment.

The walk to the shop in question was fairly swift, and despite the shopkeepers hustling to and fro ferrying what beasts remained after their charge was stopped, there didn't seem to be any real change in the flow of people through the streets. The shop where everyone seemed to be funneling towards, however, had certainly seen better days. One of the door was left lying on the ground (though moved off to the side to prevent anyone from stepping on it as they helped move goods back in), and a few windows had been shattered by the creatures who could jump with enough force and weight to use that as an alternate means of escape.

Inside, an older man was directing people to and fro, his face somewhat haggard as he kept an eye on everyone as they returned each creature to it's place. When his gaze finally drifted over to the three standing by, however, the man swiftly made his way over and bowed.

"My apologies for making you wait. Sir Afah, Lady Aquilanne, I humbly thank you for your assistance in resolving what has just transpired," he said, head low as he continued. "Unfortunately, I have no way of repaying such grace, and your presence besides, but..."

"Do not concern yourself over compensation on my behalf; it was Lady Aquilanne who was mostly responsible for stopping the runaway creatures. I was simply an accessory in comparison. Rather, I had come to purchase one of those same runaways—that bird perched atop my maid's head—as well as return this creature to you."

With that, Reginald gestured slightly to the buglike creature in his arms with his head, to which the shopkeeper rose back up before nodding in turn.

"Of course! Your patronage is certainly appreciated!" he exclaimed, subtly gesturing towards one of his assistants to take the beast in question off of Reginald's hands before turning to look at what bird it was that he was so interested in.

"...Twenty silver should suffice," he finally said, to which the black-haired boy promptly handed over the requested coinage and nodded. "Once again, your patronage is very greatly appreciated."

At this point, with matters of money settled, the shopkeeper promptly turned towards Elastasia and bowed once more.

"Then, if there is anything I can do for you for your assistance, then please let me know."

@Raineh Daze@Rune_Alchemist

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"Miss Merielle, then. It is a pleasure to be properly acquainted with you now, then," spoke the prince as he gave another light bow in return. Flustered though the girl seemed, Christopher seemed fairly nonplussed by her reaction, and it was only when Serrica stepped in to speak her piece that Christopher reacted in turn.

"Ah... Hm. I suppose that would make sense," he concluded, seeing the logic in Serrica's analogy, "though I should certainly hope that I am no 'ravenous hound' in the eyes of my peers. Such a reputation is one I would prefer to avoid."

But when Serrica continued to speak as she did, Christopher's comparatively soft expression swiftly began to harden.

"...Is it not proper to introduce oneself in the company of guests?" he responded with a frown. "Miss Meridan has been a great friend to me for the longest of time, and the three of us are acquainted with one another by this point. To acknowledge a new face is only right, is it not?"

There was a brief pause before Christopher sighed and shook his head before finally turning back towards the still-blushing Lilian.

"And besides, I am by no means blind. If she is currently occupied by other thoughts, then I do not intend to bring her into the spotlight. As for your intentions with her... Placing personal matters aside, I wish only the best for her, both as my confidant and as a dear friend. Take that as you will."

Lilian, of course, had by this point been reduced to a blushing mess at Christopher's indirect (and accidental) attack upon her psyche—not that he was addressing that at the moment, of course.

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze

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She was slightly hoping the shopkeep would refuse and take the bird away.

Life could never be so easy, could it?

The maid remained quiet, though, keeping the kitten comfortably laying in her arms and the bird perched on her head, doing her best to simply ignore it. Well, at least the cat was...somewhat cute, she supposed. She'd pat its head, giving it a few ear scritches and pets while she'd wait for lord Afah to complete his business. She still needed to do the shopping. Was it still possible to get back and do all the cooking before evening?

Hm.

More importantly, though...

"...How does one take care of this bird?" Mella queried the shopkeeper. "As It is likely my responsibility I have never seen it before, and as such would much appreciate any insight into peculiarities, sir Shopkeeper."

"Um... could you tell me about this kitten?" Elastasia asked, lifting up the offending creature so it was visible. It at least seemed slightly more pliable now, "Is it just a cat...? It seemed to know to go for me when I was keeping a barrier up to hem in the other escapees."

It could make an interesting familiar, she supposed. Not that it was the sort of magic that she'd ever shown interest in, but having another pair of eyes to look out for people that might want to interrupt her reading and drag her off to some party... although, it wasn't something that would really harm her social standing in a non-intrusive way. A magical prodigy doing something so blatantly associated with mages? Eh, it was nothing. Everyone liked having pets, noblemen took to breeding horses...

Or it could just be a cat. That was also possible. A cute cat, but a cat nonetheless.

Even Serrica was feeling bad for Lillian at this point. Not that she hated the girl, but there was not much to say about another high ranking noble if she couldn't get her feelings across. "She's preoccupied wi-- No." Serrica started to state what she figured was obvious before deciding that wasn't the course of action. "Nevermind that, I suppose. You're quite dense, Prince Christopher." The student mentioned before briefly shaking her head and sighing a small bit. "It is thanks to that, however, that I doubt you carry the reputation of a ravenous hound, fret you not." Serrica mentioned with a small shrug. "Perhaps an unintentionally rude or dull one but that aside it does not matter to me. You're still the Crown Prince to me."

After saying that much, she turned to Anne. "Ahh, yes. Lady Marielle. I believe that you wanted guidance to a certain place on campus, did you not? Would you still like me to guide you there? I'm still not past trying to recruit you into my group, but I shall ease up until your graduation if you wish."

While most of Anne's mind was in a panic, attempting to analyze everything the Prince had said in order to isolate and defend against even the slightest chance of a flag, it wasn't as if she entirely failed to realize the situation.

Even if she hadn't played the game before, Lilian's feelings for the Prince were entirely obvious. Her treatment in the Prince's route was one of the reasons it hadn't been her favorite, for that matter. Certainly, she wasn't very nice, but it felt rather harsh for someone who wasn't particularly a genuinely bad person.

Anne took a deep breath.

"U-um, maybe you could catch up?" she suggested, awkwardly, "S-since it's... er..."

She trailed off after a few moments. What did she even say here? Playing matchmaker wasn't her strongsuit at all! Doing it in real life was vastly different from doing it in SRPGs!

"Er... and... we can... go let you do that!"

As odd as Serrica was acting, it was at least a potential out from a dangerous situation!

@PKMNB0Y@Pyromania99

The shopkeeper paused for a moment as he considered the maid's question.

"Well, I suppose that the first course of action would be to purchase a cage of sorts for it to live in... But you might not need one, given how comfortable it send to be on your head," he remarked, a slight smirk crossing his face for a moment. "Jokes aside, I've been feeding that one seeds and fruits. It seems to like most anything in that vein—but not bugs. As for the actual care..."

Before he could ramble further on about the subject, though, Elastasia chimed in with a question of her own about the cat in her hands—a question he was more than willing to oblige.

"Ah, of course. That's an Aomi—a cat we had imported from the far east, and a rare one at that. They're fairly well known for their use of magic in hunting in the wild in the region they come from, though finding one is an adventure in and of itself. As for why it jumped at you... I've heard tales of them being called 'magic eaters', but to be honest, your guess would be as good as mine. If they're hard to find, though, maybe they're juat smart enough to not get caught to begin with?"

At this, the cat seemed to turn it's head back towards Elastasia before letting out a half-yawn, half-meow. It didn't seem to mind being held up for diaplay as it was, at least, but being as calm as it was despite the situation... That much certainly set it apart from it's peers, at the very least.

@Rune_Alchemist@Raineh Daze

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"Dense? Rude? That's rather insulting, you know," Christopher responded in turn, his brow furrowed as he shook his head. "If that much is 'rude', I fear what 'polite' should be in your eyes."

At that, though, the prince simply sighed and shook his head.

"As for catching up... I am sure Miss Meridan has better things to do than speak with me, and forcing her to speak with me when she does not seem to wish to seems rather ill-intentioned at best."

If the others wished to leave now, though, Christopher seemed to have no intention of stopping them. It already seemed like Lilian was slowly inching away, trying her hardest to not up and die of what embarrassment she was already being overwhelmed by.

@Pyromania99@VitaVitaAR

A cat from the far east? Well, that was something nostalgic. But if it could be used to find magic users somehow, then that would make her ability to sequester herself somewhere out of the way and read all the easier... if the heroine got interested in magic, then outside of class, there was a chance that they might run into one another. And she would like to avoid any heartbreak from such an obviously-unobtainable figure getting close to her if the girl turned out to be her type after all.

This left the noble staring into space for an awkwardly long time, until the shopkeeper coughed and drew her attention back.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Yes, I'd quite like to purchase this kitten, and anything that's needed to look after it..." Well, she didn't have much in the way of money on her, but she could just sign something to handle that. Really, the cost of a single animal was insignificant.

"Yes, I do believe you to be rather dense your Highness. You can't see what treasures you have at hand before you try encroaching on other treasures that have yet to be collected. Consider me insulting all you want, however, if calling you dense marks me as such." Serrica said before sighing. "Just think about my words a small bit. With that, I really must show this young Miss somewhere. Please do conversate with Lady Meridan at convenience." With that, she grabbed Anne by the hand and led her off.

After they made some distance from the Prince and Lady Meridan, Serrica took Anne near a place where student activity were a bit higher. If the Prince happened upon them this time, well, it would be easy enough to sic some of the younger girls upon him. With a small breath with the coast being clear, Serrica turned to Anne and released her hand. "So, Lady Marielle, you can take an easy breath now. Though, you seem much too nervous. Is there an issue you're having with the school?" She had to ask, looking the girl straight in the eyes. "Well, we've all but started some short time ago so I'm sure that's not it." The Duke's daughter mentioned, stroking her chin in curiosity.

@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze

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"Fruits and seeds...I see." Simple enough request. She'll just take it out of Lord Reginald's dinner requests since this was his fault she was now saddled with quite a troublesome creature. As for actual care? Well, it'd probably be fine. She would buy a cage for it, she couldn't very well let it sit on her head all the time, especially when working. "Well, if you happen to have a cage - the most luxurious and expensive one you have on you I'm sure lord Reginald will be more than happy to pay top dollar for it. I can't very well work with this thing sitting on my head all day." Mella responded, flashing Reginald a look that clearly indicated that it was his fault.

"I suppose I will also have to add those to the shopping expenses when we finish our shopping. Which I very much would prefer to get back to then dallying about with an avian making a nest on my head."

"A-ah?!"

And then she was being dragged off again, with little in the way of warning, stumbling over her feet. Deep down, this was probably a good thing. Being face to face with both the Prince and the Villainess was in no way good for her health right now. But at the same time, she kept being faced with so many questions.

It was relentlessly beating down on her, and she'd barely had any time to think. Putting aside how any of this had even happened in the first place, the fact that Serrica was acting so different...

It couldn't just be explained with the fact this was reality now, could it? It wasn't quite right for what Anne remembered of her character. Was something else going on here? But what?

"E-er, I'm fine, it's just that a lot has happened, eh-heheh..."

Anne took a deep breath, hand scratching the back of her head.

"It's been a pretty full day, I mean!"

@Pyromania99

Once Elastasia had affirmed that she was interested in purchasing the kitten from him, the shopkeeper smiled and nodded his head. Two sales like this on probably what was one of the most unfortunate days of his career at least made up for some of his losses, and there was no reason to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Of course!" he said, returning her declaration with a smile—and to the maid's requests with a nod in turn. "A cage, collar, food, and instructions, as well as the animals themselves..."

"I would rather a more unassuming birdcage, if possible. Comfortable enough for the bird, but nothing too grandiose," Reginald added, eyeing Mella for a moment before handing off a few more coins. "Further payment, then, for the cage and some birdseed."

With those coins in hand, the older man bowed and headed to the back of the shop. A short wait later, though, and he returned; this time, with an assistant carrying whatever goods he could not. After having his assistant hand a bag of birdseed and a cage (which looked to be in fine condition despite the chaos) over to the maid, the shopkeeper beckoned the group over to a nearby table. Upon that, he laid out a few documents and a pen.

"These are for the madam over here," he began, gesturing towards Elastasia. "A rare specimen like the Aomi requires that we must confirm your purchase with a contract. Of course, we could also form a magic contract between you and your new pet, if you wish..."

With that, Reginald turned towards Mella and, after opening the cage, attempted to get the bird to enter.

Needless to say, it rejected his attempts to do so by flitting around before once again landing atop his maid's head.

"...Well. I suppose that this is your problem now," he remarked, staring at the bird. "How should we go about this problem, then...?"

@Raineh Daze@Rune_Alchemist

Reading over the contract, she didn't see anything too problematic... although she was hardly a legal expert, it wasn't like the shopkeeper was actively trying to put one over on her, and she had some education in the topic. Authorising payment, confirming the identity of the purchaser... if he had some wax, she could even imprint a seal on it to make it more official. All in all, she had no problem with signing this.

"I take it the magical contract would be in addition to the paperwork?" Elastasia asked, hands hovering over the page. No sense signing both if it wasn't, but as soon as it was confirmed that it was, she'd add her signature--in all its flourished, calligraphic glory--to the documents.

"Well, it has been a busy day." Serrica replied, her questions answered in a rather unsatisfactory way. Still, it was best not to push too hard lest the girl panic once more. How odd, though. Of all things, she had never truly expected the heroine to be rather... Anxious. Not that she couldn't be played many ways but this was not the most expected of outcomes.

"Very well. I shall trust your words." Serrica mentioned before clearing her throat. "Now, as one who has witnessed the Crown Prince and Lady Meridan... Do you not think that she would make a marvelous Crown Princess?" The Duke's Daughter asked, pondering the thought aloud. "It would also benefit my future interests if the Prince were to find his partner sooner rather than lat-- That is, I think it would be an asset to this nation of ours. Stability is quite often the greatest asset any nation or business can find. Unless said business or nation thrives on war, I suppose." That much received a shrug from the businesswoman. "Though, having monarchs that despise me would be bad." Serrica added, noting how easily she bothered the two with her rather pointed unpersonability. "What are your thoughts?"