"I would like tea and your daily lunch special," Eleanor said.
Ashan added, "I will have the same thing as well and add slices of strawberry cake for the both of us."
"Okay, great! I will bring your food in once it's complete." Letticia smiled.
"Thank you!" Eleanor and Ashan said in sync.
Letticia walked out of the room and Eleanor spoke, "I hope you two will get on well. It's really important to me that you both can be friends."
"Any friend of yours will be a friend of mine! She carries good energy around. I think we'll get along." Ashan reassured Eleanor.
"Do you have any best friends?"
"No, I haven't been able to make any friends. I think about it a lot…when I'm in Jamillia no one interacts with me because I'm the crown prince. People must think I'm villain-like because of my parent's bad deeds, and that's why they choose to stay away. It'll be my goal to make friends here!"
"I'll make sure to introduce you to all of my friends. You and Ace seemed to enjoy talking to each other. You could invite him to dinner!" She suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea! I think I will have to send him a letter then! While we explore the capital, I will need a new letter set to impress him."
Eleanor chuckled. 'He really is a sweet person.'
"Can you tell me about all of your friends?" Ashan asked.
"I don't have many friends. I would guess three to four in total, but I'll start by telling you about Letticia. I met her during a very vulnerable moment for both of us. We met two years ago, that was when I first lost my memories. I had run out of my palace in a fit due to the stress of readjusting, and I came across her crying hysterically out in the middle of the forest. She was beaten up and tattered. The reason for the blood and tears is because of the Duke's oppressive beliefs."
Ashan interrupted, "Oppressive beliefs?"
"Yes, oppressive beliefs. I'm unsure if I can tell you the reason why he had beaten her up, so I will bring in Letticia."
The princess left the room, and Letticia entered with Eleanor. Eleanor and Letticia sat across from Ashan.
"Where did you leave off in the story?" Letticia asked.
"I was telling him that your father had beaten you up because of his oppressive beliefs, and he wanted to know what his beliefs were?"
"I see. I was raised to believe that only a man could love a woman. I could never see myself loving a man, but I could see myself with a woman. I fell in love with one of my childhood friends very early on. Her name is Amina from the House of Bailey. I had no outlet to express these feelings, and I'm still too cowardly to confess. The reason why Eleanor found me in the forest was that I told my father how I felt about my childhood friend, I was beaten with a wooden rod and leather whip. While I was stuck in my father's study, it felt like time had stopped. My father had only stopped until he saw blood, when he released me I wanted to run. And so I did. "
"That is horrible," Ashan wept. "There is nothing wrong with loving the same sex. Do you think you've recovered from the incident?"
"I would like to say so, but the scars inside still remain. I'm thankful for meeting Eleanor that day because she was the first person to truly accept me. She gave me a hand to continue my path, the path I wanted."
"I would say the same thing about you too! Me and Letticia's encounter was like a divine connection."
The two said at the same time, "And now we're best friends!!!"
A knock at the door, "Mistress, could you lend us some help? We have many noble members coming in to be seated."
"I must get going." Letticia bowed,
"I hope you have a happy ending with your lady! It was nice meeting you!" Ashan said.
"Thank you," Letticia said and left.
"I just remembered! You create clothing…I cannot believe I forgot to ask you about that." Eleanor said.
Ashan chuckled, "It's okay…I forget myself."
Eleanor leaned in and asked, "When did you start making clothing?"
"Hmmm. I would say the first year of Royal Academy. I didn't tell anyone about it then because I wasn't very confident in my skills of crafting." He ran his hand his hair very flirtatiously and said, "My skills are immaculate now. Are you interested in crafting something with me one day?" The prince thought of a vulgar thought, 'Crafting a child together.' The prince was smiling internally about the thought.
"We should craft a matching set!" Eleanor thought to herself, 'Another black set would be delightful.' "Once we finish our meal, we should look for fabric. Are we going to sew everything ourselves?"
"Yes, I design and sew the pieces together. If you don't like to sew, I could sew it all."
"Thank you for the offer…" She raised her fist up, "But, I would like to do it together. I want to invest fully into this project!"
"You make me smile because you're so cute." Ashan blushed.
"Don't flatter me too much." The princess began to get shy.
"You mentioned earlier you met Letticia in the forest when you both were very vulnerable. What was it like when you regained consciousness?"
"No one has asked me this before…It was really uncomfortable. It was almost like you're in a body that isn't yours. All these people knew me, but I didn't know myself. Everyone around me was overbearing. My parents and maids treated me like glass, fragile. It was suffocating being watched at all moments of the day. People monitored me while sleeping and heightened security. Everyone around me just wanted me to recover my old memories to go back to my previous self rather than trying to make the best with my current self. I feel like I would have gained my memories if everyone treated me normally…as I was before. During that time, it was mentally exhausting, so I ran." Eleanor paused for a second, "Now that I think about it, you're the first person who cared to reintroduce themselves and still treat me the same as before."
"My love, I'm sorry I wasn't there to support you when you were going through such hardships."
A knock at the door, "May I enter?"
"Yes, you may," Eleanor replied.
The server placed the desserts, drinks, and food around the table. "I hope you both enjoy your meal." The server bowed and left the room.
"I will support you the best I can now to make up for the missed time," Ashan said.
"Thank you, I will support you as well." The princess smiled.