MELODRAMA.

“that’s alright! the best decisions are always last minute.” serafina was, if nothing else, very skilled at spontaneity. she crossed her legs under the table and clapped her hands together, beaming. “i’d kill for a vacation right now. god, i wish there were more beaches in tokyo. i miss phuket, it was perfect for sunbathing.” she frowned a little, but perked up immediately as sutton continued. “ohhhh, meeting the family! vacationing with the family! and in the hamptons!” she was like a modern jackie kennedy, who’d found her perfect jack. to say serafina was jealous was an understatement. “where’s the ring? he’d better be getting you a rock, sutton.” he certainly had the money!

she forced a smile and waved a hand. “it’s okay,” she said. it wasn’t. she wished she didn’t care about what was happening. she wished she could go back to this time last year, when the only thing on her mind was what to wear for the masquerade. “i would love a cat cafe. maybe i’ll adopt one. or four.” maybe a few kittens running around her apartment would make her feel less like trash. she shifted her purse on her shoulder and moved toward the door, eager to get going. “maybe i can talk derek into getting one. he always pretends he doesn’t like animals, but that’s what every dad says before they fall deeply in love with the family animal.”

“hey.” she’d bided her time before approaching him, and even now felt nervous and unsure. still, she felt she should check on him; they were friends, and sometimes more, and she cared about his well-being. “i’m sure you’ve had a million people ask how you’re feeling, but i thought i should ask anyway. sorry i haven’t had a chance to talk to you sooner. everything’s been so crazy, you know?”

she turned her head, breaking into a smile at the sight of the other, and began approaching as the invitation was extended. “sutton, hi! i’d love to!” she settled into the seat across from her, beaming across the table. “i didn’t know you were coming back! you look so good, you’re glowing! i read about you vacationing with the vice president, how was that?”

“can we do something fun, please?” she was feeling dejected and lonely, and watching the news was doing her no good. if it weren’t for the acrylics on her nails, she’d have already bitten them down to the quick. “literally none of my siblings are talking to me. they’re all busy with everything happening back home, and i’m...” scared, sad, feeling useless and uninteresting and exhausted. “bored, i guess.”

🇵🇱 for serafina 🇸🇪 for theodor 🇫🇷 for henri 🇧🇬 for andrei 🇨🇾 for demetra

"oh, honey,” her voice took on an even softer tone at the realization that nat was crying. she pulled a chair up beside the girl and offered her hand, palm up, for nat to take. “when they let us go, i’ll make sure you get somewhere safe. and my room is open if you don’t want to stay here.” she didn’t think she’d like to sleep in the building where her father had just been murdered. “i know, i’ve heard them.” she frowned. she had her opinion on arthur windsor, but that didn’t mean she was celebrating his literal murder. especially not when his children were in the room. she knew what it was like to lose a father. “he was still your dad, and... i’m so sorry, nat.”

“nat,” her voice was low as she b-lined toward the english princess, not sure what she was meant to say. she settled for, “are you okay? “this is – i mean, god.”

“i guess,” she said, shrugging. she thought that she would’ve greatly preferred a wedding to whatever this was supposed to be. “yeah, exactly,” she said. her brows furrowed. “that’s what i said. it’s weird that we’re all celebrating this guy’s life getting ruined. like, i get it, he did bad shit, but...” hadn’t they all? hadn’t poland just supported – endorsed, even – an act of treason? she thought she’d rather die than see her sister’s head mounted on the next pike. “they are a mess, and i don’t see how changing from one monarch to the next is a guarantee for a better future. what if the next one sucks, too? then what? they do another war? they throw another party when it’s over?” she sighed. the question at the root of it was this: when would it all end?

“thanks,” sera said. she flashed the other girl a smile and lifted her champagne up to her lips, hoping that the party would feel a little less strange if she could get enough of a buzz going. “i’ve never met andrew,” she said, with a shrug. "natalia and i are friends, too. we’re not besties, but... it’s been kind of weird. anyway, she’s a sweetheart.” natalia had ended up on the wrong side, and it was a shame. hopefully she wouldn’t be persecuted alongside her father; sera didn’t think that nat deserved all of this. “anyway, i have no idea about legitimacy. i don’t think any of them are, but what would i know?” she shrugged. “at least we only have to be here for tonight. i sort of miss tokyo already.”

she hummed. "sure, that’s what they put on the invitation. it’s not like they can come right out and say ‘come drink to this this guy getting thrown in international prison.’ i don’t know... maybe it really is all in good faith. maybe i’m overthinking.” events in poland had caused her to grow weary. “honestly, i don’t know. i kind of know cecilia through rowen, but we’re not, like, besties. and vaughn is cool when i see him at christmas. but neither of them get to take over, so... i can’t say what it’ll be like. hopefully it’ll be better, and i’m just having anxiety over nothing.”

“that’s a nicer way of looking at it,” she conceded. it was certainly more hopeful, and in this instance, sera wouldn’t mind being proven wrong. “i guess it just depends on what they do with it." a new, modern era sounded nice. would they take advantage of the opportunity? given the party’s venue... signs pointed to no. “i liked the events earlier. the parade, and giving the medals to the veterans. that was nice. it felt like an actual celebration of peace. but this is... tacky. and that’s a bold statement, coming from me. i’ve done a lot of tacky shit.”

SERAFINA CZARTORYSKA attends the peace celebration at buckingham palace in georges hobeika

“this is so weird,” sera muttered. her fingers were curled daintily around a flute of champagne. “we’re, like... celebrating a guy getting sent to prison. i mean, he’s bad, or whatever, but it’s still weird.” it wasn’t abnormal to make an example of war criminals, or to celebrate the end of a war, but this felt off to her. inappropriate. “it’s also like... this whole party is just the english establishment reminding us that they still exist. you know, they’re like: ‘look, we’re still here and we still have money and power.’ they’re just going to put someone new at the top. rinse and repeat.”

“should i start twitter beef with kim kardashian?” she was scrolling through twitter with her feet propped up on his coffee table, bored. her eyes flickered up to meet his. “i need to do something interesting. i haven’t made a tabloid headline in months – the dress i wore to the club with luciana was, like, a footnote for tmz. half my ass was out and they didn’t even care! meanwhile parker’s secret marriage is headline news. i’m becoming irrelevant, aurel.”