She pointed her finger at Amara's face and circled it around, ''Face value, check! It is possibly that he could not bring himself to not talk to a beautiful woman but according to what you said about him, he doesn't seem to be the frivolous kind or else he would have asked for your number, at least. Not to mention, he doesn't know your identity so he had no obligations to talk to you. He did it willingly.''
Root cause analysis? Truly spoken like a business student.
Amara closed her eyes. She had no good feeling about this root cause analysis at all but Leah's face did did look like she had any intentions to stop it.
''For now, I can think of two true possibilities. Or make it three maybe. First, he is a secret agent or something that requires him to keep his identity a secret. He must have realized you both are way too Romeo-Juliet coded so he did this to prevent any angst.''
Amara opened her eyes. Albeit a little speechless, she looked at Leah curiously.
''What's the second and third?" Sybella asked.
Amara nodded.
''Patience.''
''What does patience have to do with his actions? Are you saying that he kept his cool and remained patient instead of acting immediately and trying to get cozy with Amara?" Sybella asked.
Leah shot her a look, ''I was asking you to be patient while I do my analysis,'' she lifted a second finger and said, ''While it is not possible, but there is still a small chance that he knew of your identity and felt like he was unworthy of you so what he did and how he acted was a defense mechanism to keep himself in check and not fall for you.''
Amara's lips twitched. She should have known.
''Come on, trust me. I am being very practical here. But anyways, the third possibility is rather high on its chances,'' she raised a third finger as she spoke.
Sybella and Amara both looked at her.
''He probably is a committed man. He had a partner to whom he is very loyal. And his act of saving you and talking to you were mere acts of kindness.''
As soon as her words dropped, the place fell silent.
Amara's enthusiasm at meeting that man again was completely deflated as she realized the biggest loophole she had not paid attention to at all. Like Leah said, the third possibility indeed has the highest chances.
If that were true, it would make sense why that man would ignore her charms that were blindingly bright when she had initiated that conversation with him under moonlight.
…
Monteluna was a small but rather prosperous European country with a constitutional monarchy. The royal family served as the figureheads but still held a significant amount of power and influence over the government.
The Renaldi dynasty has ruled Monteluna for centuries. While there have been internal struggles between the royal family and the government as well as external threats of neighboring countries seeking to destabilizing the nation, King Callahan Renaldi, Amara's father has strongly been holding the fort, maintaining the country's prosperity.
And that reflected in the grandeur of the capital the moment they crossed the border and proceeded towards the royal palace.
Amara and her friends received a grand welcome when they entered the palace gates.
''Your Highness,'' an elegant woman in her mid 30s bowed to Amara before greeting Sybella and Leah as she spoke, ''I hope you ladies had a safe journey.''
''This is Lady Juliette. She has been by my side for a long time,'' Amara introduced them to each other, ''And these are my friends, Leanne and Sybella.''
''Your Highness has mentioned them to me many times so I don't feel like I am meeting them for the first time,'' the woman led them inside as she spoke.
Leah clutched her chest, ''So touched,'' she hugged Amara's arm.
Sybella pulled her back, ''Behave.''
Leah sighed and pulled both the women in her arms as they walked forward.
''Is nobody around?" Amara asked when Lady Juliette stopped speaking and stepped onto the hallway that led to the princess's room.
''The crown prince has left the palace two days ago for some official matters. His Majesty is held up in the court meetings since morning. I am not sure when he will be free. Her Majesty has fallen sick due to the cold weather so she has been sleeping.''
Amara fell silent and did not probe any further. When she was away from this place, there would be times she would long to come back home but when she came here, she would feel like it was no home for years.
It has been over a year since she went abroad for her studies and initially, this feeling was more prominent. She would think why her feelings were so contradictory but now, she had already accepted it as a part of life. She liked the freedom that came in staying away, she could do what she wanted to do and be what she wanted to be.
''We would share a room…'' Leah clung onto Sybella when Lady Juliette showed them to separate rooms.
Sybella glanced at her.
''What? You are reluctant to stay with me?" Leah pouted, ''Am I not a good bed companion?"
Lady Juliette's face went stiff at Leah's choice of words.
"You drooled on me the last night,'' Sybella calmly said.
Leah cleared her throat.
Lady Juliette's face screamed 'Inelegant' even as her mouth remained shut.