It was almost impossible for Princess Temara to overpower Sebastian despite having considerable strength. He was able to flip the situation right away and land on top of her, this time binding her hand. They breathed heavily, looking into each other's eyes.
"Your highness, you….."
"I knew it. You're regretting this marriage."
"Of course not. Please don't misinterpret my actions. Just listen to me first. I don't regret this marriage. This…..is my first time being intimate with a woman. I….don't know what to do. I don't want to embarrass you."
".....Seriously?"
".....yes," he nodded, averting his eyes shyly. He let go of her hands and moved aside and let her sit up. The purity standard was not as strict in Polivia as it was in Ducroft so the women had the freedom of expressing themselves sexually in Polivia. In Ducroft, only the men could express themselves sexually with freedom. Even with those circumstances, Sebastian, the paragon of sexiness, wealth and attractiveness, had never touched a woman before.
"Why?"
"Well, I thought it was, and this might sound offensive, disgusting."
"Sexual acts are often time disgusting but enjoyable. You couldn't get over your disgust?"
"I couldn't. When I was younger, I was forced by my father to watch men do it with other women in hopes that it would spark something in me. It only worsened my disgust. I couldn't help it whenever the bile rushed up to my throat and often time just wallowed in shock beside a pool of my own vomit."
"Gods! That's terrible!"
"Well, there are a lot of things my father did. That just happened to be some of the most humane. He once locked my sister up for three years when we were younger because her body was rejecting the enchantment process. I would hear her screams every night and actually hated her for causing so much noise and trouble to the family because of what my father told me. I realized just how horrifying it was when I grew older."
"What kind of monster would do that to their own child?"
"We all have our own monsters, don't we, princess?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"No, I should've told you earlier. I tricked you into a marriage with me even though I knew I couldn't do it. Don't worry, I will fulfill my marital obligations to you and produce an heir. If you wish to take a consort, I won't mind it. Despite my circumstances, I am quite loyal to my duties."
"....you are very cruel, aren't you?"
"I'm sorry, princess."
By the time Natalia made it out to the reception hall, the couple still hadn't come out. It was getting late but no one was worried. The reception was meant to last a few days and it wasn't a problem if the newlyweds didn't come out to greet their guests on the first day. However, she didn't have to worry because they both came out with faces full of dignified smiles, going to greet their guests. Natalia, who knew the kind of person her brother was, could tell those smiles were fake. Something was definitely up.
"I thought you weren't attending the reception," Duchess Everon said, walking up to her with a glass of wine in hand. She took the glass gracefully, taking a sip.
"I was too curious that I couldn't sleep for too long. What's going on right now?"
"You must have some kind of curse that keeps attracting strange people to you. Several people are curious about the wedding planner, ladies are curious about the outfit and hat you wore to the wedding and Crown Prince Reagan wants me to introduce you to him."
"....what?"
"He basically threatened me to bring you to him since he's staying in the kingdom for a few more days. He somehow figured out that you were the wedding planner and that made him more curious about you. Showing your face here is probably a mistake."
"I am fairly certain I have never met Crown Prince Reagan before but I cannot be certain that he doesn't know that I'm Natalia Adamantine. In any case, this mask is perfect."
"You stand out since you're the only one wearing a mask right now."
"I'm also standing in the shadow of the reception hall. If anyone wanders here, they would be more curious about each other than me."
"Yes, this does seem like the kind of place Lorelei would like since it's an optimum position for a tryst."
"I thought you and Lady Lorelei were on bad terms. The relationship between you two is strange, to say the least."
"I also thought we were on bad terms. We stopped talking a while before she got married. We used to be very close actually. There were some occurrences that transpired between us and we went from being childhood friends to strangers."
"Were you two secret lovers or something?"
"Your intuition is very scary."
"It's called experience. There were many secret relationships in Ducroft's high society. I had to blackmail a lot of people to achieve quite a lot of things."
"I see the whole of you is scary. So you're just going to watch from here and judge everyone's outfit?"
"That's a great idea. What do you think, Marvis?"
"You're making it hard to hide if you can notice me, Lia."
"Gods! Since when have you been there?"
"Hello, Duchess Everon. It's been quite a while since we met. Have you been well?"
"If you care about my well-being, can you show your face?"
"I cannot show my face, I apologize. I shouldn't be here."
Duchess Everon shook her head, standing beside Natalia. Natalia systematically broke down their outfits and judged them harder than a man judging a potential bride. She was relentless in her criticism, proving to be even worse than Lady Lorelei. While they stood there, having their own version of fun, the music changed.
"Shouldn't you dance?"
"I came here to escape dancing with any man present, especially the foreign dignitaries. I feel like Crown Prince Reagan is going to try to ask me to dance just to ask me things about you and I do not want that."
"You're being ridiculous. He's not going to find us all the way here..."
Natalia felt a piercing gaze on her person. She looked up and it was déjà vu as her eyes met Reagan's once more.
"Duchess Everon, would you like to move this to the garden? I'm feeling a little stuffy."
"And I as well."
With a snap of her finger, the three of them appeared in the princess's garden which was a lot further from the reception hall. They could finally breathe easy because they knew it would take a while for Reagan to find them.
"Is he always this relentless?" Natalia turned to ask Marvis.
"Usually when he's curious about something or he wants something, he latches on like a leech. It can be hard to get rid of him but I'm sure you can do it."
"Sir Jane, you know his imperial highness too?"
"I used to serve him before he decided I wasn't useful to him anymore. Now we're both hiding from him. He has more than surface level interest in you, Lia. You should be careful."
"I'd rather die than let him take either me or you, Marvis. Don't worry, I'll handle this in a few days," she promised, annoyance evident in her tone.
As the reception slowly came to an end, Sebastian and Temara found themselves in the same situation as earlier. They awkwardly stared at each other, waiting for something to happen. It was dark outside so it was time to make something happen.