Prince Albert checked and rechecked his hair over and over again, he looked at himself a dozen times in the mirror and then one final time before leaving his room. He had woken up early to do his work out and then used the Order's men's bathhouse and even applied the latest deodorant and colognes from Montfort Industries. He followed the sales girl's instructions to the letter to be sure that he was absolutely at his best this morning. He knew that his uniform looked perfect, so he had his head held high as he walked into the Order's dining hall. His eyes searched the room looking for his target once he found her, he walked over with purpose but made sure to walk steadily instead of at a fast pace.
Suddenly he saw a troublesome person come into his peripheral vision, the Emperor of Wütendes Menschenreich, Wolter von Plettenberg. He picked up his pace just enough that he would be the first to reach her. Seeing him pick up his pace, Emperor Wolter also increased his pace, until both men were power walking over to her table. They each sat down at a polite distance on either side next to her and then picked up a menu in a suave manner pretending to browse the menu, then as one they said, ""Good morning Mage Leon, I hope you don't mind my sitting here?"" Then they gave each other a death glare and said at the same time again, ""Shall I order for us, Mage Leon?""
Doreen rolled her eyes and then replied, "I have already ordered for myself, but thank you." She closed her eyes and then counted to ten knowing what was going to happen next.
Two princesses came power walking over and sat down simultaneously in the last two open chairs just as the two men had done previously. Once again the spoke at the same time, ""Good morning Mage Leon, I hope you don't mind my sitting here?"" Doreen waved her hand at them to sit. Then the two women said at the exact same time, ""I see the gentleman have menus, would you mind placing my order as well?""
Doreen rolled her eyes once again as she watched the four of them all throw death glares at each other. Doreen shook her head and then said, "I already put in orders for all five of us, so relax, put your menus down and just wait for your food to arrive."
The four of them all looked at Doreen and said as one, """"Thank you, Mage Leon, you are very thoughtful. Hey, stop copying me!"""" Once again another round of death stares floated around the table.
Doreen smiled and waved her hand as if to say it was no trouble at all, she stirred some cream into her coffee and then asked, "Could one of you pass me the sugar, please?"
All four hands grabbed for the sugar at once, igniting a new round of death glares, it looked as if the table were all about to reach for their swords. Doreen merely sat back laughing softly a sugary sweet smile on her face. Eventually, Prince Albert came away as the victor and moved the sugar to where Doreen could reach it. She took a half spoonful of the sugar and stirred it into her drink and said, "Oh, thank you, Prince Albert."
Albert who had been rewarded with a thank you looked smug and happy, the other three looked violently angry sending death stares at Albert. Prince Albert pretended to brush something off his uniform and then said in a smug voice, "You're welcome, Mage Leon. Might I ask if you are free today? I have found an interesting tome of magic I believe you might be interested in reading. I found in an old antique shop."
Doreen suddenly looked very excited as she replied, "Oh yes, I would be very interested in seeing it. I have time this afternoon, shall we meet at the Order's study then?"
Prince Albert looked to be on top of the world as replied, of course, I can meet you there at say, four?"
Doreen laughed softly again and then said, "Yes, that would be wonderful."
*****
At four, Prince Albert had already been waiting in the Order's study area for twenty minutes. He had the book out and ready as well as a quill and ink with paper ready in case Doreen needed to make any notes. His uniform was once again immaculate and he had bathed and applied a new dose of deodorant and cologne. At four ten he started to get nervous that she wouldn't arrive at all. At four twenty he started to feel angry that he had been waiting for almost an hour. At four forty he began to think things like, 'I'll leave if she doesn't get here in the next minute.' At five ten he had entered a blissful fantasy world where she liked his magic book so much, she would be willing to go back to his room with him and consummate a relationship. At six, he felt angry again and felt like demanding an apology when she arrived.
A few minutes he saw her finally come in, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and then looked around the room for him. He raised his hand and waved for her. She smiled at him and walked over clearly not in any hurry. She sat down at his table and said, "I apologize for being a little late, I was detained by your fellow classmates, Emperor Wolter von Plettenberg, Princess Viana, and Princess Huitfeldt, they all had very involved questions for me, so it took me some time to make it over here, I hope you weren't waiting too long?"
Prince Albert put on a dashing smile and said in an easy going matter, "Oh it's no problem at all, I was late myself and prepared to offer you an apology gift." He slid a small box over to her and said, "Since I brought it anyway, please accept it."
"Oh some beautiful earrings, thank you, I'll gladly accept them since you felt it necessary for being late." She gave her soft laugh again. Putting the earrings away. She pulled the magic book over and started to read saying, "Well then, let's take a look at this book." She seemed lost in her own world after taking the book of magic.
Prince Albert sat by her side looking at her every angle as if trying to memorize each part of Doreen Leon. He was drawn to her like a moth to a flame. The clock in the study struck midnight and Doreen was still reading the book without saying so much as a word when Prince Albert finally said, "Mage Leon, please accept the book from me as a gift, I am afraid it is far too late for me to stay up due to school activities in the morning."
Doreen waved her hand and grunted clearly still too involved in the book to look away. Prince Albert started to feel completely annoyed. He stormed out of the Study without another word. He practically stomped back to his room, however when he saw the three standing around his door, a smug smile appeared on his face and he once again regained his royal calm. Walking confidently with his head held high, he asked, "Well, well, well I hope everyone hasn't been waiting long here for me, Mage Doreen is a woman of great passion as I am sure you all know." He chuckled and then suavely tilted his chin up and gave them a smile. He continued and said, "She makes the cutest sounds when she is most excited."
The two princesses looked at each other and then laughed. The two men looked confused and then Princess Viana looked at Emperor Wolter and said, "She started reading his book and forgot he was there."
Princess Huitfeldt added, "Mage Leon can get lost in a book for hours, all of us who have been around her when she finds a good one knows that it's impossible to get a word out of her when she is like that." The two princesses laughed and walked back to their own rooms. Emperor Wolter gave Prince Albert a final death glare and then walked back to his own room leaving a stunned and defeated Prince Albert in the hallway in front of his room.