build it.

A chuckle escaped her lips. "Oh you get no judgement from me, feel free to throw as many temper tantrums as you want around me." She didn't mind, after all, everyone needed to let their emotions and frustrations out at some point. It was bad to let it all be bottled up inside, it would all explode at some point and that would be a lot worse. "It's quite annoying, I know. I'm the crown princess, I've had my fair share of people telling me to find a suitor. Thankfully, they've shut up about it now, since I've found someone." She didn't know if it would lead to a marriage but she knew she wanted it. "You don't have to thank me, I've always been told that I'm a good listener. That I have to agree on, I've already forgotten most of the people that I've spoken to here."

"you don't know how much that means to me, diana." dramaticism splays over her guise as she drops her mouth into a quick pout, recovering with light laughter that trails off underneath her nose. it's exactly the kind of encouragement illyana was looking for. "you should come by more often. perhaps we can even practice playing a game of chess... and yes, practice." she was no card shark among the seas of piranhas around here. she'd simply lose. though diana's courtship does whelm the queen a little curious, maybe even itching for a story. "i hope i'm not overstepping when i ask this, but for you, was it love at first sight? or did you sort of fall into it?"

𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 — reginald ! ( @resages )

reginald could pick out that smug smile of his son's from a quarter mile away. brazen and bold. if he let his eyes linger any longer over him, reginald could see a fraction of himself reflected through manny's demeanor... if only that eased his skeptical thoughts on the younger's true intentions. reginald, quite visibly, just deadpans. "tread carefully, manuel. my genes carry fruitfully. you'll wake up one day and be the spinning image of me before you know it..." a warning or a threat, maybe even a backwards compliment? who knows these days. he stands near the fireplace with his elbow propped up on the framed cement, other hand on his hip as he drops his mouth into a straight line. "have you come to end up in the infirmary by my hand with all of your foolishness... or did you just miss your old man?"

Reina was on one of her patrols, when she stumbled into a room that was occupied by the King of Spain. She had noticed the Spanish guards outside, but it wasn't like they could prevent her from coming into the room, which was a public space, mostly when she was on duty. With everything happening lately, that would've been rather suspicious. Reina was planning on just checking the room and be on her way, but when the King spoke to her, she couldn't exactly ignore him. "Your Highness." She bowed her head at the man. "Did not mean to interrupt, I'm just doing my job." Reina titled her head to the side, before shrugging her shoulders slightly. "I do not know, Your Highness."

in his eyes, respect goes a long way. though she wasn't necessarily disruptive, or intruding for that matter, his nerves were scrunched tight like a rubberband ball with no elasticity. "i see," he responds with a less than subtle exhale that takes over his shoulders, somewhat relaxing into it - relaxing into a more... appeasing demeanor. "you'll have to excuse my rift, my late wife had a habit of chalking up my temperament to, in her old words, me not being a morning person." the thought of it makes him snort; if only she could see him now. "the answer is a coin. say, have you seen any suspicious wanderers near our side of the court lately? perhaps even... last night?"

theater is sorely out of her sights, that's for certain. not that she can carry a tune anyhow, but the prospect of putting on a performance was, well... still, severely dormant. she smooths over the flyaways at the back of her neck, resting her palm near the crook of it as her eyes dart between the door the princess points to and the finger she extends towards it. "ahhh - well. it seems as though someone's with child, but the who is the part i missed because-" you startled me, she wants to say, but instead luisa hikes up the side of her face in a teethy grimace. "they started speaking lower, and i wasn't gifted with spy ears, unfortunately. but i've been told my snout is much better for sniffing out things... like pastries, or blood. the ordinary."

dai lu & anyone @francehqstarters

it's ironic. illyana despised being forced to read when she was a child, but now in times of self-propelled solitude and having severe cases of boredom from time to time, she's turned to the library as a source of entertainment... or occupying her mind when she didn't want to think about prospective courtships at the very least. she turns the empress with an amused lifted brow. "quite. though i'd carefully read the bindings on a few of these. some of the print is smudged and..." her gaze trails upwards to no distinct area, raising a finger to her chin like it would aid her memory. "i do believe i chose some sort of novel alluding to the possibility of witchcraft once before... i had it burned."

Nikolas had spent the day outside in the gardens, it was a lovely day and he had wanted to enjoy the sun for a little while. He had been spending far too much time indoors, he knew that but he could not help it. Nikolas did not feel comfortable wandering the corridors of the palace, in a country that was still considered his enemy. When he noticed the other against the door, Nikolas was planning on just walking right by but that was stopped as soon as she spoke to him. "Hum yes, it is a lovely day." He nodded his head as he came to a stop in front of her. "Is everything alright?"

"hm, i don't know..." she trails off, puffing up her cheeks in a less than meek attempt at trying to buy some time to think of an excuse for her suspicious behavior... that she's horrible at dissuading. "doesn't everything look alright?" her voice scales an octave higher trying to keep up the rouse but after a couple seconds she completely drops the act. "eh. walk with me." the queen of brunswick is nosey, obviously, but but people pass smiles like they pass a piece of pie. so easily, so effortlessly, one could only assume that half of them are fake. her feet turn away from the door and set down the path of the hallway, inclined to pick his brain and see what rumors have been passed around. "i'm scorned by the past a bit, you see. have you heard the tales of our court before my family and i arrived here in france?"

a scoff momentarily makes her lip hike up in sheer offense - but a split second later she deflates with a roguish smirk and settles back on her side. amos wears his stress like a second skin as any great king does, though luisa falls clueless as to how well he manages it all the time, but she'd be lying if she said it hadn't been doing wonders for him as time carried on. "is that right? i'm suddenly feeling the urge to up my antics just to see how many more you sprout. that salt and pepper look-" she draws out a long blink, wriggling her shoulders all the way up to her ears in a giddy fit of admiration. "mmph! it just does something to me." as he parts from the bed and nears her side, her smile spreads even further underneath the warmth of his affection. it's something she could never let go of, even years before when he snaked around with those other godforsaken maidens and challenged the strength of her heartstrings. "no? you have a passion for theatrics and a mouth a horse could be envious of. saddle up, your majesty..." she springs forward, fingers creeping near the back of his trousers to pinch the underside of his cheek. "and hurry up. i want dessert."

It is a refreshing change of pace, between the royals who were too nervous to wipe their mouths with their handkerchiefs in the wrong way after dinner and the one who sat before her now who was about to make a mess out of whatever staff happened to step a toe out of line. Maria leaned more towards the latter of the two, though at this moment, it was a lean at best. "Not at the moment, no. The culprit of this," she rested her elbow on the table, giving her broken wrist the pedestal it deserved, "Has already been taken care of. Regrettably, it wasn't by my hands, though I would have loved that opportunity to do it myself..." It was a dangerous line to toe, especially with the thought of her betrothed lingering the back of her mind, one who was so good and so noble.

meh. that's what his expression tells as he knocks his head from one side to the other trying to fan out a deep sigh. not only is he disappointed but he unfortunately feels as if there hasn't been any excitement since the little fiasco that has maria's wrist bound in order to heal. well, aside from political matters, but that's only given the king headaches as of late. "pity. it's rumored that criquet can help with releasing a bit of frustration. maybe not aim for the heads of the courtier's, though... some of them are actually tolerable." which could be considered grand praise coming from him. "while it's on my mind - how is your father? it almost feels like he's been purposefully avoiding us like some sort of disease."

Diana turned her head to look at the other as she took a sip from the tea in front of her. She had to admit, it was rather entertaining to watch, the speeches from the possible suitors trying to impress the Hungarian Queen. Although, it was quite obvious that every single one of them failed miserably. It made her glad though, that she had managed to find Yuichi and that she did not have to worry about any of this. "I guess that is how things are in our world." She shrugged her shoulders. "Aren't you being a little too dramatic though? I mean, you're the Queen, just say no to this nonsense, you'll find yourself a suitor when you want to."

she rolls her eyes away from the princess, purely in a fritz because she just wanted to have a moment... with a butter knife. she'll likely think back on this later and realize what sort of court jester she looked like, which ultimately just makes her inwardly grimace. ugh. "how come gizella and barbara get to throw their temper tantrums in peace and i get ridiculed for swinging around a butter knife with some jam on it?" illyana huffs, returning to her usual mature stature as she discards the utensil back to it's tray & takes her seat again. "i say no, they just nudge and nag. like little midnight critters. though i will admit, complaining has made me feel a lot better about the whole ordeal." she dips her head in diana's direction, "i appreciate you being my listening victim... and my other set of eyes, too. after the fourth person everyone started to look the same."