Mariela was an interesting person to spend time with because on one hand, she was intelligent and well spoken, but on the other she seemed to prefer listening to me talk.
We couldn't exactly rehash the events of our days in the typical form of small talk I was used to because our schedules were too similar. Instead, she would talk about a wide variety of princessy topics she was an expert in and I would amuse her with stories from my childhood that were slightly modified so they would fit within the realms of possibility for this world. Al was the only one I kept slipping up around talking about home.
I knew that Mariela was my best chance at getting to Franz so I had to cultivate this relationship carefully. Did I feel guilty about having ulterior friendship motives? Yes. But I wasn't completely horrible—when I wasn't pushing for information I genuinely enjoyed talking to her.
