Lunch with Lucas was inside a pergola draped with white curtains on all sides.
The pergola was perched on a small platform in the middle of a small waterlily pond. It was only accessible by a small curved stone bridge that was currently being used by the servers to set up their lunch.
It was barely noon, Erenveil Standard Time, but Lucas had dimmed the lights and lit numerous pillar candles, creating a warm and luminous atmosphere.
Huge bouquets of creamy white magnolias were placed everywhere. They lent an air of softness that complemented the soft white cushions on the seating arrangement that surrounded a low table filled with food and drinks.
As she came closer, she kicked off her shoes and sank her feet into the thick shaggy cream carpet that covered most of the pergola's wooden floor.
"Wow, Lucas. This looks so romantic!" Candi's eyes widened with appreciation as she took in the inviting environment.
"I'm glad you like it." Lucas' amber eyes gleamed with excitement as he led her towards the couches. "This was my only chance to have a meal with you so I wanted it to be a bit—special."
Candi smiled and looked away, flustered. He was so handsome it was almost disturbing for her to look him in the face.
"You've been very busy and I haven't had many chances to talk to you." She sat down on the soft cushioned couch.
Lucas sighed and sank on the chair next to her.
"I got put in charge of maintaining vigil over the fake Earth Avgo Female."
"Dahlia Halloway?"
"Yes." His eyes were pained. "It's been rather painful, but it has finally come to an end."
Candi's ears perked up. "End? How is it ending?"
Lucas sighed with relief. "It has to do with Dante."
"What about Dante? Is he okay?" Candi looked at Lucas with alarm.
He waved a dismissive hand. "Oh he's fine. It's just that—well, ever since Father announced that Dante is the new Crown Prince, he's been distant and off-putting to everyone."
"What do you mean?"
"He's not a diplomat like Byron who will try to keep up appearances to make things easier for Father to govern." Lucas shrugged. "You know how Dante is. He's like a lone wolf."
She nodded. This was Dante's personality. He was like that to everyone who was not within his immediate cluster that he considered family.
"Dante is THE Chief Executive Officer of all the galaxy's largest corporations. He's used to making executive decisions and having them obeyed without needing to explain himself or to schmooze with anyone." Lucas sighed.
He raised a hand and gave a signal for the servers to begin pouring the drinks and serving the soup and sandwiches on the table in front of them.
"He's also made it abundantly clear that he is not going to marry the winner of the Avgo Event unless it's you. Not 'Earth Avgo Female' whoever she may be, but specifically—YOU."
Candi shook her head. "What if I don't win?"
Lucas gave her a dry look. "It would still be you, win or lose."
"I see. So he's basically thrown this entire Avgo Event thing into chaos. All the women are in it to become Empress. If he refuses to marry them, then will they be willing to continue this?"
"He hasn't told them of his intentions yet, so they still think he will be their final prize, but that's not my concern." Lucas gave a mischievous smile.
"Dante being himself has done the one thing that has been my salvation." He looked up and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Dahlia notified me that she no longer wants the Empress position since she does not want anything to do with the cold and calculating Dante."
Candi gasped. "Oh my! I can't believe she is throwing away her chance of being with a Prince of Erenveil!"
"No, no. You're missing something." Lucas shook his head. "She told everyone that she was dropping out of consideration for Avgo Female to concentrate on being MY WIFE!!!"
Candi touched her lips with flustered fingers.
"Congratulations???" She muttered. She couldn't believe Lucas was—
"Hell no!!!" Lucas stood up, his amber eyes flashing with anger. "I will not marry that woman if she was the last female in the galaxy!"
He turned tortured eyes at Candi. "She gives me the creeps."
"Wait. Aren't you her boyfriend? I saw you at the Royal Ball with her."
Lucas rubbed his pinkish blond hair with frustrated hands.
"I was asked to accompany her and to act the part of her escort until she disqualified herself by demanding to be with me instead of the Crown Prince, whoever he may be."
Candi raised her eyebrows in understanding.
"I see. So once she ditched the Avgo Event, you said, 'see ya!' and dumped her."
Lucas sank back down onto the cushioned seat.
"It sounds bad, I know. But we were all trying to keep you safe and it was my only way to protect you." His eyes narrowed. He didn't want Candi to think of him as a bad person, but the woman truly was horrid!
"Well, I'm glad you're free of her," Candi grinned. "She can be really nasty."
"No kidding! This frees up my time so I can focus my attention on you!" Lucas grinned with excitement.
He was so relieved that Candi was not upset at him for leading Dahlia Halloway on in such a manner, but all was fair in love and war. If that nasty woman wanted to wrestle what rightfully belonged to Candi, then it would be over his dead body!
"Oh yes!" Candi squealed. "We have to talk about your ideas for the Illusions and Magic Event."
Lucas cleared his throat. What he had meant was that he was now free to focus his attention exclusively on her.
If it meant that he would be working closely with her on the next event, then so be it. He would take this chance, fly with it and hope she would notice him just a little.
"Right. Let's talk about the next event. Here's my idea."
He waved a hand into the air and a virtual screen appeared before them. A round glass platform appeared at the center of the screen.
"You have to think of the Avgo glass platform as a stage. For this event, it will not be a fighting arena where all sides are open to the viewing public. It will have a front, a back, and two sides, like so."
He waved a finger and stage curtains appeared around it, leaving only the front section of the glass platform showing.
Candi nodded. He was truly sounding like a movie director.
"Within this small space, you will need to tell a very compelling story. This story will showcase your magic abilities using your superb showmanship."
"I don't have any magic abilities." Candi shook her head.
"The magic you will be using is the magic of storytelling. If your story is compelling enough, your audience will be able to see it clearly with their own eyes using their imagination."
He turned to her with his clear amber eyes.
"Do you trust me?"
"Absolutely!" She chortled with excitement.
"Good! Here's how we're going to do it."
Lucas handed her a bulleted list of action items and began to detail his plans.
As he laid out his thoughts, his eyes grew more and more excited and his hands became animated as he created the various things he was thinking of onto the visual screen.
And as Candace listened, she began to notice just how exciting Lucas was, immersed in his professional world of acting and putting on a show.
For the next six hours, the two of them worked together within the pergola to the exclusion of everything and everyone else.
Their food grew cold and was taken away and their drinks were continually refilled and replaced.
As Candace worked with Lucas, she grew more and more enchanted with the level of his expertise.
It was abundantly clear why he was such a famous actor throughout the galaxy. It wasn't because he was a Prince of Erenveil or even that his looks were drop-dead gorgeous.
It was because he truly was an extremely gifted prodigy who knew his craft and worked it to the level of artistry.