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lizzybeth1986 · 2 years

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A Wedding Tagine

Book: The Royal Romance, Book 3

Pairing: Liam & Kiara (platonic). Hints of Liam x Esther (MC) and Hana x Kiara.

Rating: PG

Series: Eleanor's Kitchen

Summary: At Liam and Esther's wedding dinner, Kiara encounters a surprise dish for main course. (This fic is a companion one-shot to Ch 3 of Eleanor's Kitchen)

Tagging @choicesficwriterscreations for Fics of the Week

Word Count: 1,327 words

"Did you know," Hana whispers in Kiara's ear at the dining table, "Liam and Esther chose their main course for the wedding from Castelserraillan."

"Really?" she whispers back. Under the table, she takes care to only barely brush her hand against Hana's. "Was it at the Food and Art Festival this month?"

"Mhmm." Hana suppresses a shiver.

Kiara is tempted enough by Hana's reaction to do more, but the presence of Hana's mother right next to them is enough to stop her. This is far newer ground for Hana than it ever has been for her, and she'll be damned if she doesn't make this as easy for her new girlfriend as she can manage. "The stalls had feijoada, ash-e-reshteh, and chicken tagine. All incredible. Which one is it?"

Hana gifts her a cheeky grin. Underneath the table, she nudges Kiara's foot with hers. "I know which one they chose, and I'm not telling you."

Teasing me in public now, huh? You've become that bold? Kiara thinks, smirking, as she playfully kicks Hana in the ankle. Hana winks back. Just you wait. I'll have those eyes rolling all the way to the back of your head, ma belle. You'll be seeing stars.

Laughter from the head of the table shifts their attention to the bride and groom. King Liam's head is thrown back in laughter at something his elder brother has said, his hand on the small of his wife's back. Duchess Esther - the women that they will all now address as Her Majesty - covers his hand with hers, and she can't resist a slight pang of envy.

Her own elder brother is seated on the opposite side of the table, right next to Penelope. Doubtless whispering sweet nothings in her friend's ear, both her father and Penelope's looking at the pair and nodding in approval. Kiara allows herself a small smile, cheered by the sight of her Baba and wishing Maman were here instead of Switzerland.

Soon, she promises herself, stealing a glance at Lorelai Lee and absently stroking a knuckle on Hana's left hand, we'll find a way to be this free soon.

She turns her gaze back to the newly-weds. King Liam clearly cannot take his eyes off his new bride. Over the years Kiara has seen his smiles have looked more practiced, less warm and open, more weighed down by the stress of running a kingdom...or of running it in his brother's stead. It's rare to see joy settle so nakedly on his face as it does today, and the sight - surprisingly - warms her.

It feels like a return to the boy she once knew: the boy she played with, the boy she gorged on sweets with, the one who hugged his mother tight and fought with his brother and - even then - could sometimes look his father in the eye and tell him what he was thinking. The one everyone believed to be the spare.

Kiara sighs. Had their friendship been allowed to last beyond Queen Eleanor's death, she knows they both would have eventually bonded over being spares. Over possessing the skill and the spirit to lead, yet denied that right by virtue of being secondborn. Over bracing themselves for a future where all the ideas would be theirs', but the faces representing them would be their brothers'. It's something, she knows, that neither of them would ever dream of begrudging their older siblings, but she won't deny there had been nights when she wondered whether the younger prince went to bed feeling as incomplete, as unfulfilled, as resigned to a thankless in-between space, as she did.

But now he is the King of Cordonia. And her fate is still hanging by a thread, leaving her to wonder if Ezekiel will ever work up the courage to talk to Baba and follow his dreams.

A familiar smell wafts in from the other side of the hall, as the palace staff enters with their main course. Kiara takes in a deep breath, her mind awash with memories of caramelized onions, warm spices, tender meat, Maman's voice, Jiddah's hands. She knows without even opening her eyes that the dish will be served in a brightly-coloured, geometrically patterned, tagine pot.

Her mouth hangs open at the thought that this - this dish! - was what King Liam chose to make the highlight of his wedding dinner.

"'Twas worth it not to tell you, just to see the look on your face," Hana whispers, grinning.

Grinning, Kiara gently elbows her.

The dish has no cinnamon in it (possibly part of the dietary requirements for this dinner, Kiara is certain) but the medley of flavours and heat, the smokiness from the chicken and the bright notes of the preserved lemons more than make up for that. It tastes even better than it did in her hazy memories.

"Chicken tagine?" Kiara vaguely notes a jaunty, teasing voice at the end of the table. Prince Leo. "Well, well. It seems my sister-in-law has excellent taste in food. Unlike some other people I know."

Esther laughs, briefly resting her hand on Liam's elbow. Liam laughter is more secretive, and far more smug.

"Oh, come off it, Leo," he says, forking a tender piece to mouth, staring his brother square in the eye, clearly enjoying both the meal and Leo's expression, "I've enjoyed more than my fair share of chicken tagine, since you practically forced me to eat it every meal we shared in Morocco as children."

And then he looks straight at her, one eyebrow arched and flashing a familiar, mischievous grin.

"In fact, it's one of my favourite dishes now."

It's a far far cry from that first, very doubtful bite she saw him take at the dining hall of his palace - away from the watchful eyes of their mothers - warily eyeing her younger self as if she could pulverize him with her gaze alone if he so much as looked like he didn't like tagine (which...given her childhood passion for tagine? Undoubtedly!), the reaction he's giving now. This is the face of a man who has eaten tagine after tagine after tagine - not out of diplomacy or politeness or a misplaced sense of propriety, but because it's a dish he fucking loves.

She holds King Liam's gaze, even as Prince Leo launches into a spiel about how his teenage prank on his baby brother helped "broaden your horizons", and lets out a soft snort. He responds with a silent laugh, doubtless remembering his own face that day, staring at her in the middle of her tirade on people-who-don't-like-tagine like she'd gone insane. It isn't long before their silent chuckles turn into full-bodied - but still silent - laughs, making their significant others look up in surprise.

Esther raises an eyebrow and inclines her head towards Hana, in curiosity, and Hana looks at the two and shrugs.

"You could at least tell us what's so funny," Hana whispers to Kiara when her little, and quite-shockingly-unnoticed, giggle fit is over.

"Hah!" she says back, remembering Hana's saucy grin at knowing what the wedding meal was before she did, "Payback is fair play, ma moitié."

Hana plays along, giving Kiara her best puppy-dog-eyes impression. It just makes Kiara laugh even harder.

"Besides, if hearing that story is the part of tonight you're most looking forward to, it's time I up my seduction game." she murmurs, quietly lacing her fingers through Hana's.

At the end of the table, the King and Queen of Cordonia exchange conspiratorial glances. "Mmm. Bedtime story material?" Esther says in a low tone, in Liam's ear, biting her lip to stem her own laughter.

"If you're not too tired by the end of the night," he answers, winking.

Above them all, the chandelier twinkles like stars in daytime, casting their intense glow on the vibrant lemon slices and making the olives in the tagine look far greener. Around them, everyone at the table speaks animatedly, gestures passionately, laughs openheartedly.

There's not a single face that's left in doubt that they've had a wedding meal they'll never forget. That this is the best damn tagine in the history of tagines.

Translations:

Ma belle - French endearment. Belle means beautiful.

Ma moitié - my other half in French

Maman - French term used to address one's mother

Jiddah - Term in Darija, that means grandmother. Kiara is referring to her paternal grandmother here.

Note: This fic also takes place in the universe of a future series I'm planning, where Hana and Kiara eventually become a romantic pair. At this point in the story, they're dating but their parents don't know yet. Both this fic and EK Ch 3 reference a story in TRR3, where Liam was pranked into eating tagine as a child by Leo, but eventually grew to love the dish.

#choices fanfic #king liam #kiara theron #hana lee #mc: esther dupont #the royal romance #the royal heir #series: eleanor's kitchen

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lizzybeth1986 · 2 years

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An Ear to The Ground

Book: The Royal Romance Book 1

Characters: Kiara Theron (featuring my MC, Esther, and the ladies of the court)

Word Count: 3, 655 words.

Summary: To the rest of Cordonia, Lady Kiara Thorne of Castelserraillan is just another suitor, destined at failure in winning the Crown Prince's hand. Luckily for Kiara, that isn't why she's here. Part of the Petals and Thornes universe.

Tagging @choicesficwriterscreations for FoTW

A/N1: Basically I was torn between gushing over Kiara's observation skills in Book 1 (specifically Lythikos) through an essay or through a fic. Though a fic would present more of a challenge for me 😁

"Le Prince va tomber amoureux de moi."

Kiara Thorne doesn't have to look around to note the sniggers coming from the other ladies, even as the words leave her mouth. Even from young Penelope, the girl she'd been taking under her wing for years...since the minute she became the last Great-House-Heir of their generation to celebrate her debut.

No matter. They may have been friendlier than most ladies in court, but right here Kiara knows she can't be anyone's friend. If anything Penelope returning that favour only means she's taught the girl well. It's not like you grew pigs together*, Maman would say.

Kiara herself knows her statement to be a fib as tall as the Eiffel, but there is such a thing as making sure you don't throw in the towel on your very first day. If you don't project ridiculous amounts of confidence - even in front of this crowd you grew up with - they could eat you alive. Which is precisely what is happening to one of the newer girls right now.

Lady Hana - the rather elusive daughter of a barony pocketed away somewhere between Domvallier and Ramsford, run by Zoroastrians who had settled for two centuries in the Indian subcontinent before finding their way to Cordonia - turns scarlet as Duchess Olivia tears into her for what seems to be an...engagement that ended fairly amicably. Kiara has heard rumours, true, but Olivia seems intent on making it sound like Cordonia considers the whole situation her fault. Kiara bristles a little at Olivia's exaggerations, knowing that she's going to repeat the same in front of the press, and that they will instantly lap it up.

When she knows full well that if this were even remotely true across the board, a Madeleine Amaranth would hardly be able to show her face in public.

The lady of Bethulia makes quick her exit, blinking away tears. That doesn't surprise Kiara. Many women will crash and burn at the first event itself; you need nerves of steel and a blanket assumption that every mistake you ever made in your life will be amplified on a national stage...and not many fully understand what that entails until they've had to face it themselves. She can only hope that what she has heard about the woman's other gifts may carry her through.

What does surprise Kiara, though, is the other new girl's response.

Esther DuPont of New York looks at the Duchess of Lythikos square in the eye - her own brilliant sapphire ones giving nothing away. Kiara doesn't exactly expect much from her either - in Lady Hana's case at least you could tell she has trained herself admirably in their ways despite being brought up an entire continent away. This one just seems entirely clueless.

"You're acting like a child, not a queen," her voice is calm, but every word slices through the tense night air with the brutal clarity of a newly-sharpened knife. "If this is how you behave, I wouldn't trust you with childproof scissors - much less a kingdom."

A shame that Olivia doesn't often feel turns her cheeks a bright red. If you'd just called her a bitch she would have considered that more of a kindness. "I...you can't..."

Esther's eyes glitter, then darken dangerously. "I just did."

The steely edge in her voice makes Kiara shiver for reasons that aren't just the cool night air.

This social season could get quite... interesting.

The first rule of observing well, ya Babba, is to never assume.

Kiara always thought she fully understood what her father meant when he said that. Until now.

Two days. Two days and three events - and already a complete sea-change in the way the competition looks. She'd entered this competition aware that she'd be the first to go - she just never imagined the plucky inexperienced newcomer to pull ahead of them all!

And she will never be more grateful to her father, than for the lesson that sometimes you should just sit back and enjoy the surprises that being wrong can bring.

Yesterday's afternoon with the Queen was a revelation in more ways than one. Her family no longer having King Constantine's favour meant that chances to interact with the royal family are rare, and getting an individual audience with Queen Regina even rarer - but Kiara was transfixed at the sight of her measuring up each one of them; finding more in the things they hid than in what they said. She knew each suitor by name, listened carefully to their answers... skillfully parried each one with deceptively-casual utterances about politics and governance.

Penelope, who had just gossiped two hours before about Lady Esther's tardiness to win more of Olivia's favour, withered almost instantly under the Queen's scrutiny. Kiara felt her own attempts to subtly size up the competition, and observe the Queen, increasingly gauche and far too obvious.

What did comfort her, however, was the grudging look of approval she got from the Queen after she was done. She knew by the beginning of the Derby that her time in the competition was pretty much done, but it felt incredible to have made an impression on someone that formidable.

And what did surprise her, was the Mystery Woman of the season. That was what the press claimed to be Lady Esther's moniker - her answers revealing everything about her interest in Cordonia and Prince Liam, and tantalizingly little about herself - and their reviews, coupled with the Queen's glowing approval, have made her an instant favourite with the public.

(It probably helps that the Crown Prince himself had such a hard time concealing his heart-eyes the moment he caught sight of her, Kiara thinks a little wistfully. It's been over 15 years since she last spoke to him as more than a casual acquaintance, but she knows that the one thing that hasn't quite changed about him is his slightly dreamy, romantic nature. A nature he tries so hard to keep in check)

For all Lady Esther's inexperience and tardiness, it is clear that she's quite adept at reading the room and carefully moulding her answers to pique the interest of her listener, often making them forget any motives she may have in the process.

Kiara doesn't doubt that she's been learning the finer details of court etiquette from her sponsors, and perhaps Lady Hana (she could spot the two of them while they were dancing the Cordonian Waltz today, with different partners - two couples away from each other - their footwork and twirls almost identical). Lady Esther has been adjusting far quicker than any of them realized, to the point where she almost upstaged Olivia tonight at her own party, despite being deliberately kept away from the spotlight.

Kiara's mouth twists in annoyance at the sheer audacity of Olivia's antics today. It isn't uncommon for every hostess to use their power, as the one leading the ceremony, so they can monopolize the main guest's time - but it also isn't every day that one sees a display as brazen as this one. She could almost understand the desire to seat every other suitor at a smaller, lesser table - and to publicly insult the suitors you like the least - but to the point where you forget all propriety? Where you grab the prize of the season like he is some...some rag doll and kiss him without warning? Mock every other woman who would have willingly supported you?

Countess Madeleine, last season's winner and the latest suitor to join the season, haughtily raised her chin at the display later and proclaimed that she could never that unrefined or insecure (Kiara, who has heard of both the drunken displays of Duchess Adeleide, and of Madeleine's own behaviour - both sober and rum-fueled - at the height of her last engagement two years ago, now stifles a snort).

Lady Esther, whose only flash of emotion seemed to manifest when she danced with the Crown Prince, kept her face determinedly neutral as Olivia continued her display, raising her head in defiance, daring the Duchess to admit that she was the reason for such an ostentatious, reckless display.

Olivia made the mistake of meeting Esther eye-to-eye then, and in the instance their eyes met it became clear Olivia knew she had lost.

Not just this twisted game she seems to be having with Lady Esther. No, Olivia has lost far more than that tonight. The press around her now murmur her name in hushed, scandalized tones, several nobles can be seen shaking their heads, and Prince Liam is nowhere to be found. Kiara herself has used the rest of the night to seek out potential contacts and create an impression. If she's lucky enough to find people influential enough, interested enough, she could perhaps return home with some tempting offers at hand.

Lady Esther has just finished speaking to her sponsor now, nodding at what seems to be a suggestion from his end. From the slight inclination of the woman's head in her direction, Kiara can hazard a guess exactly who they're talking about.

Any moment now, Esther will turn this way. She will smile faintly at Kiara's side-profile, unaware that Kiara has been watching her too. She will come forward. She will speak a few words in French (do not let it be voulez vous coucher avec moi I beg you God, I can't believe why these many people find it so funny). She will mention the kiss. List Olivia's faults. Assure her of an alliance of equal footing.

Kiara already knows her answer.

It will be a yes. But not before she makes Esther work a little for it first.

Kiara greets the news that she is officially out of the running for Prince Liam's hand, two weeks before the Apple Blossom Festival, with a sigh of relief. She has always feared the long agonizing wait for the acknowledgement of failure than the failure itself, and its finality is a balm to her brain, which has already begun its pursuit for more networks, more connections, more opportunities. Already she's been approached for a few translation-oriented projects.

While she is still participating in the social season, she uses the little clout she has to promote Lady Esther. Fortunately for her, she isn't the only one. Penelope joined in singing Esther's praises immediately after the Regatta, guilelessly praising her bravery in the face of a vicious crab she had rescued Penelope from at the Capitol beach (she stopped repeating that story after the second week; Kiara still cannot place a finger on why this unsettles her).

She must admit Lady Hana must have been a smart one, to identify and pledge her support to the woman who is now the season's top frontrunner. The one who makes even a Countess Madeleine sit up and take notice. She must have seen something in her that none of them had, and Kiara almost envies her that sense of instinct.

The more Kiara learns about Lady Hana, the more intrigued she feels. There is no doubt in Kiara's mind that the half-Chinese half-Cordonian suitor is no wilting wallflower; you could tell how competitive she is just by seeing her play a simple game with the other ladies. Yet, she seemed to show little interest in the social season for herself...and threw herself wholly into helping and promoting Esther long before even Kiara did.

At least she was doing it at least partly in self-interest. Kiara is hard-pressed to find much self-interest in most of what Hana does. She'd asked the other woman once why she'd plunged herself headlong into that kind of support. Hana had looked her straight in the eye and said, "She stood by me when no one else did."

The naked adoration in her voice, even now, one week later, makes Kiara skin prickle.

It is their final night at Applewood before the famed Beaumont Bash is to begin. Kiara tries not to look in Hana's direction - she is deep in discussion with the one man that Kiara has been trying to avoid directly looking at for months, fearing the flush on her neck and the hotness on her cheeks. Year after year she prays for this futile desire to either die or be met, and year after year it only intensifies with little encouragement from its source. She knows if she does catch a glimpse of him - each denim-clad inch of him - she will not be able to look away. Kiara wraps her cloak around herself a little tighter, hoping her involuntary shiver could be attributed to the light breeze.

Right next to her, Penelope talks to Madeleine in small, halting tones, almost like she fears the older woman's response. "I think Lady Esther will make a wonderful Queen". She brushes her knuckle lightly over the space between her nose and upper lip, wiping away small sweat beads.

Penelope has been looking lost and distracted for three days now. She jerks at the slightest sounds, doesn't look the other ladies in the eye anymore. Just the other day she watched King Constantine from a distance, the strangest expression on her face. She never told Kiara why, even when Kiara tried to nudge an answer out of her.

A muscle seems to jump beneath Countess Madeleine's cheek. "Well," she says, her voice sounding honey-sweet, and like a veiled threat, at the same time. "I suppose you're entitled to your opinion".

The lady they were just talking about is standing just a little way away from the main dining table, talking to Lord Tariq. At a cursory glance Esther seems attentive, but Kiara doesn't have to stand directly in front of her to understand her eyes are probably glazed over from boredom. Lord Tariq thinks entirely too much of his own charm, and he has hardly encountered a person daring enough to let him know how downright tedious he sounds.

Madeleine has turned to her now, her eyes expectant of a more positive response. Till now she's only heard the occasional story about how entitled Countess Madeleine could get, and how much she has assumed herself a gift to Cordonian politics. It's so fascinating, seeing her realize for the first time that she has true competition in a woman that none of them had even heard of, two months ago. It's so illuminating to see her struggle to adjust to that truth.

At least in Olivia's case you could factor in her personal feelings for the Prince himself. Madeleine doesn't even have that. She saunters around like she is above the chore of talking to the man she may have to marry if she wins this - and Kiara can never understand the logic behind that strategy. Even she - who didn't want to marry the Prince in the first place - used the few opportunities they had to speak, to rekindle their friendship and remind him of her own family's close connection to his mother. Attempts that he accepted with open arms and a warm smile, regaling her with memories of his own. Madeleine simply assumed that showering exclusive attention on her aunt and her father's former best friend would be enough.

Kiara knows her answer will make the season's second-favourite frontrunner furious. And unlike Penelope, she can't quite bring herself to care.

She still will deliver the news kindly, though. Madeleine is still a rather powerful woman. No point getting on her bad side when you could deliver honesty alongside a small bowl of honey.

What was it again that Baba had said? About never assuming?

How is it that she somehow never seems to fully absorb this vital lesson?

Lady Esther seemed to have have had it all. The adulation of the press, the approval of the Court, the blessings of the royal couple themselves...the heart of the man who is now Cordonia's new king.

How did she manage to blow it all up that spectacularly??

As soon as the thought leaves her head Kiara knows she's being unfair. She doesn't know the facts, and she doesn't want to fall for the hungry sensationalism that the likes of Them magazine are likely to bring. It seems just as likely - if not more - Tariq had sprung this on Lady Esther, and a rogue tabloid journalist had just caught him in the act.

Of one thing Kiara is sure. Lady Esther can't have been comfortable with any of this. You can tell from the look on her face on that photograph. She looks wary. Astounded. Vulnerable. Anything but a willing participant.

And while some of the possibilities of what may have happened in that room make Kiara sick to her stomach, she knows she cannot dwell on them.

Lady Esther is gone. As are Lady Hana and Duchess Olivia, for reasons that will perhaps forever stay a mystery. The only women standing, giving the new Queen-to-be even a skeleton of a court, are her and Penelope. They're all that's left to represent the Great Houses, and Kiara knows without question that every move she and Penelope make from now on will be examined with a fine-toothed comb. By the press, by the Council, especially by King Liam's future bride.

Perhaps her, more than Penelope. Even as spectacular a failure as the other woman's performance in the social season was, the words used to describe her were always going to be Sweet. Innocent. Friendly. The words used to describe Kiara were always going to be Cold. Snotty. Calculated. And she knows instinctively that were their personalities reversed, Kiara would be called vapid and silly, and Penelope would be labelled a magnificent strategist.

That is something she has never begrudged Penelope, or the court. She stopped caring about what people said about her a long time ago. As long as she still gets the connections she needs and the projects she desires, they could call her Medusa for all it mattered to her.

But now that the season is over, and Countess Madeleine has offered to keep them both on as ladies-in-waiting, Kiara knows that both their reputations are now intricately tied together. They both need to work in tandem, present a unified front behind the new royal couple, and to Cordonia. The onus of bringing Penelope up to speed, of ensuring she can still manage to navigate court successfully even when Kiara isn't around...is now on Kiara's shoulders. If Penelope fails - both of them fail.

Kiara picks up her phone, preparing to type a message to her friend so they can meet up. The press and Twitter public are likely scouring through both their past tweets for some juicy tidbit about their opinions during the social season, even as she is typing. She can already imagine the articles from Trend and BuzzWord, pulling up their statements of support for Lady Esther from just one week ago and placing them under a magnifying glass.

Already she can anticipate the withering looks Madeleine will give them everytime they open their mouths - letting them know she hasn't forgotten that they'd started out supporting someone else. For all her talk of unity and friendly competition and rallying around the winner, the future Queen is a cauldron of resentments inside, and even the most innocent slight can spell disaster for you later on.

Not for the last time, Kiara wonders if the Queen-to-be that King Liam had wanted, would have behaved the same way.

Kiara presses her lips closed, trying hard to chase away that near-scandalous thought. This is no time to be thinking of might-have-beens. Her and Penelope...they can still come out of this not looking like fools. They still have ways they can spin this so it works in their favour. So their loyalty will never be called into question.

She just has to coach Penelope on how to fall in line.

If there is a wary voice at the back of her mind, reminding her that anything can happen in the space between an engagement and a wedding...she pushes the thought resolutely away.

After all, even Baba would have to agree - there will come a time when it would be foolish to second-guess an inevitable result, n'est ce pas?

N'est ce pas??

Notes:

On n'a pas élevé les cochons ensemble: The literal translation (used in this story) is "we didn't grow pigs together", and the meaning of the idiom signifies - "you need to respect me more, I'm not your friend, or we have no anterior relations". In this context, while Penelope and Kiara may be friendly, they're not close friends and Kiara figures she shouldn't be expecting loyalty from her. (Credit to @thecapturedafrique for pointing me to this idiom!)

Ya Babba - Among some Arabic families, parents tend to playfully call their children by their own parental title. I am not sure if this is common in Darija, which is the language Hakim often speaks with his children, but in the absence of a nickname I could think of at present, I have him call Kiara by the name she gives him, which is Baba.

N'est ce pas? - "Is it not?" in French.

A/N2: You see how great Kiara's observation powers are especially in Lythikos, Book 1 - when it becomes obvious in the "successful" playthroughs that the MC is fitting in to courtly life better than she anticipated. She is the first member of the court besides Bertrand and Regina to note this. I speak more about it in the latter half of this QT.

She is also extremely pragmatic - she understands very well that she is never going to be a frontrunner in her season, and as early as Lythikos, spends more time networking and angling for connections that may further a future career. A lot of the time when people criticize her for being opportunistic, they forget that she never promised friendship, and instead kept her end of the bargain as an ally for the social season. This fic is an attempt to expand on these qualities as they feature in canon.

While in Book 3 and TRH, the team itself is eager to mould her into the shape of the phantom this fandom was so eager to hate, Book 1...and to a small extent Book 2...do feature these characteristics of hers quite strongly.

#kiara theron #kiaratheronappreciationweek #KTAW #the royal romance #the royal heir #the royal finale #KTAW Day 1 #KTAW Day 1: What We Love About Kiara #lizzybeth1986 #content: fanfic

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lizzybeth1986 · 2 years

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@grapecaseschoices tagged me a while back (sorry!) on a piccrew dollmaker game for OCs...since I don't have any OCs rn thought I'd try out building some three of my fave MCs with it! 😃

Esther Noelle DuPont (TRR) - loves blue, loves floaty dresses, loves photography (but mostly of sunsets)

Hazel Alana Park (PM) - a fan of bright colours and purple hair (I honestly thought that shade was purple but found out too late it was pink! Then tried the purple they put up and realized I liked the pink hair on her better). Like her cousin Nadia, she's a bubble tea lover, and I def gave her that background coz it reminded me of the beginning of the Dolores Park scene in PM2 🥺

Jessica Mary Phillip (TF) - Loves boots. She's a writer and this look kinda screamed "writer ready of an interview" to me? Don't ask me why she has a lollipop tho. It was matching with her outfit 😄

Tagging @ohsnapitzlovehacker @cassiopeiacorvus @lilyoffandoms @thecapturedafrique @thefirstcourtesan @callmetippytumbles if you'd like to try this for any MCs/OCs! As well as anyone who would like to try out the piccrew doll thing, consider this my general tag to my followers and anyone in the fandom who'd like to try! ❤️

#tag game #choices mcs #grapecaseschoices

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lizzybeth1986 · 4 years

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6.What is their favorite feature of their partner’s? 25.Who needs more assurance? 28.What do they do when they’re away from each other? for Liam x Esther

Thank you so much for the asks, anon! 😁 Sorry for the delay.

6. What is their favourite feature of their partner's?

For Liam it's Esther's eyes, she's got a very piercing gaze. For Esther it's Liam's chest and broad shoulders, she loves being held by him.

25. Who needs more reassurance?

Esther at the beginning of their relationship obviously, because she's the one who is new to the country and the experience and who needs to fit in. But once they settle into it all, she learns that Liam is the one among both of them who engages in self-doubt more often, because the expectations he sets for himself are high and he doesn't always truly believe he is capable of matching them (which, Esther says, is a fucking lie)

28. What do they do when they're away from each other?

Since most of the time that they are away is when one of them has to travel without the other, whoever is travelling gets things that reminds them of the other person in the time they have for that trip. If it's Esther she will visit at least a few artifact or pawn shops to look for anything with some history or any kind of a story around it, if it's Liam he'll pick up various types of knickknacks that Esther loves to pick up during foreign trips, which will them go into her little menagerie.

OTP Asks

#otp asks #liam x mc #mc: esther dupont #king liam

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lizzybeth1986 · 4 years

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TRR MC FOR CHOICES ASK 😆😆😆

@nikkisha16 I KNEW YOU'D ASK THAT 😂

full name and why I chose it: Esther Noelle DuPont. I was on a "women of the Old Testament" name spree at the time (and around this time named my ILITW MC Judith) and the Biblical Esther had a very similar story going on, rising from an ordinary woman (though her cousin was working in the palace) to a Queen and unraveling a plot that was threatening her people (the Jewish community in that country). Her middle name was more of a nod to the time she was born.

alignment: lawful neutral

zodiac sign: I think a Sagittarius/Capricorn cusp?

favourite movie/TV show: Ever After, the one woman with Drew Barrymore and where Leonardo da Vinci was the fairy godmother (godfather?)

weapon of choice: that ruby encrusted sword Maxwell gifted her on her wedding day

love interest: King Liam

sexuality: perhaps one of the very few MCs I have who is straight

favourite holiday: it's a tie between Christmas and Mardi Gras

ideal day: one of those rare days when Liam and Esther get the whole day together. Like that's it. That's the best kind of day for her

dream house: Has to be Valtoria. The palace is great, but the estate truly feels like home so she tries to spend whatever time she can that isn't work or traveling by going there and meeting with the Valtorians as their duchess.

favourite mythological figure: Athena, I think. Esther and Kiara have that in common xD

comfort food: beignets! She loves beignets. That and a cup of café brûlot.

description of their favourite outfit: she loves one-shouldered floaty gowns, soft material, with fancy beaded embroidery around the bodice

faceclaim:

Alexandra Daddario

#choices mc asks #mc: esther dupont

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lizzybeth1986 · 4 years

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Liam x MC

A+

I mean, this is the ship that brought me into the Choices fandom in the first place, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. I particularly like my MC for Liam and her relationship with him. They're the whole reason I stayed on to play the shitstorm that was TRH Book 1, and even though I can't stand to play the series now, I still love Liam x Esther.

#ask me #ask lizzy #ship ask #king liam #mc: esther dupont #the royal romance #anonymous

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lizzybeth1986 · 5 years

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#14 for all your fics! (or just your top three lolol 🤣)

Of course I'll do all my fics (except Keychains coz I already did this ask for that one haha) - I don't have that many 😅

14. Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from these fics?

With A Little Help From My Friends - I was fairly new to the fandom and most of my friends were Liam stans. I realized soon enough that not many of them knew much about Hana, so I wanted to change that with this fic.

Masks: I loved the whole history behind the Venetian masks, esp around them allowing anonymity not just in terms of identity but also class, and how that related to the Esther's first event in Cordonia being a masquerade. I really wanted to make the most of that symbolism while getting the readers curious about her relationship with her mother. It was an MC spotlight, really.

When the Sun Kisses the Sea: Pssh, no. I was in the mood for some Liam x Esther fluff, and mix it in with the delicious irony of them not completely understanding the depth of the other person's feelings 😁

Snowstorms (RCD Book 1 fanfic): I guess I wanted to talk about how coming out is a slow, gradual process, and how influential film/media could be in allowing a bi (but also many people who are LGBTQ+ experience this kind of journey in different ways) person like me, or my MC Sophie, to recognize that they are in fact normal and there's nothing wrong with them, no matter what the world might say. I was influenced by that scene they showed us of Victoria Fontaine's movie The Warmest Winter.

Nuestra Familia: Both this fic and the previous one were mostly MC spotlights, meant for MC Appreciation Week. One of the suggestions for fanfic was to do a crossover, so I tried out a crossover between RCD and The Freshman by making my other RCD MC Astrid a long lost cousin of Zig's 😄 It was fun!

Coffee and Cupcakes: So this was during a time in VoS when Naomi had just ONE diamond scene focused on her during a time that other LIs had quite a few. When she was taken off the case, I was kinda pissed off we didn't get even a single diamond scene to comfort her. So I wrote this fic in the format you would use for a diamond scene, and made it romantic.

That Old Grape Juice (Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay): Ah, I still have so much to write for this one! Two chapters, in fact. In Liam and Olivia's chapters I wanted to showcase a number of things:

- the depth of the Liam and Olivia dynamic, because most of the time within the fandom, it was simplified to just Olivia's unrequited love and there was hardly much of an effort to look at Liam's journey of it.

- how Olivia's emotions factored just as much into her actions at the Lythikos Ball, and how much that situation was weighing on her.

- how protective Liam was of Esther even in those early days (which is canon).

- that Liam could be calculating without causing harm (since that term is often used in just that context).

- I needed an excuse to write a dialogue about Luther Nevrakis turning in his grave at the sight of a Nevrakis and a Rys sharing wine, cmon. 🤣

With the Kiara and Hana sections that I hope to do later on, this is what I want to be exploring:

- Kiara's culture both from her mother's and father's side. So I'm hoping esp to feature cuisine and wines from Loire.

- I want her trauma to be noticed by someone, and acknowledged even in a small way

- To explore more of Hana's interests and things she likes.

- Basically Kiara and Hana if they're ever written as a couple, tend to be footnotes or sidelined. And they get some of the worst treatment you will find in TRR fanfic, so I'm seriously hoping to change that.

Fanfic asks here.

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lizzybeth1986 · 5 years

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Keychains, 12-15 pls

Ah my first foray into Choices Fanfic! That's a good one.

12. What do you like least about this fic?

There were certain bits where I thought I might have been a wee bit melodramatic (esp Liam's chapter), but overall it does work for the gravity of the situation. Otherwise I really like both chapters and can go back and read them anytime 😀

13. What music did you listen to, to get into the mood for this story? If you didn't listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

So I wrote down a lot of this shortly after TRR Book 2's first chapter was released, so I listened quite a bit to "I'm Gonna Love You Like I'm Gonna Lose You" by Meghan Trainor and John Legend, and "Who Wants To Live Forever" by Queen. Those two songs were my jam for the balcony scene's bittersweetness, and I wanted to bring the same bittersweetness to these two fics even though this was before they even found that ray of hope.

14. Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from this fic?

Not really. I just wanted to explore the events of Coronation from both the MC's and Liam's perspective, because...there was honestly not a lot of the second. I also really did want Esther to have a symbolically matching keychain xD

15. What did you learn from writing this fic?

How to say "my wife" in Greek, and how to secretly insert your inner literature nerd into stuff not directly related to Literature 🤭

Read Keychains Part 1 and Part 2 here.

Fanfic asks here.

#choices fanfic asks #keychains #king liam #mc: esther dupont #the royal romance #ask me #ask lizzy #storyscaped

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lizzybeth1986 · 6 years

Text

Quick Thoughts on TRR Book 3 Chapter 10

• We're BACK from our hiatus fam!

• It's been a while and I quite missed doing these, and I'm not sure I did a good job. Right now, I have a very serious disc prolapse going on, which means I'm in pain most of the time and not very good at writing in that state. But this chapter was amazing, and I really do want to do justice to it in my review. Here's to hoping I can.

• Last we checked, the Costume Ball was in full swing, we danced with our beloveds, hobnobbed with the rest of the nobles, and Neville and Drake had a scuffle that seems to result in an honor duel.

• Title: A Matter of Honor. Mostly referring to Drake in the duel, but also IMO to Olivia to some extent. After all, if you choose the option you get to back Olivia up, validate her very valid grief against the relative that so heartlessly abandoned her and then thinks she has the right to berate her as if she were family.

• Alternative title - well, I have a few.

Now We Know Why Liam Has An Outdoor Kink.

At This Rate Drake's Body Is Going To Fall Apart, Like Voldemort's in Deathly Hallows Part 2

PB Doesn't Pay Me Enough For Being Bertrand Beaumont's English Teacher

Hana Lee Should Teach Us All Cordonian Legends 101

• So now Drake and Neville will have a face-off in the courtyard with all the grace and subtlety of an Old Wild West shootout at high noon. The only thing missing was that theme tune from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 😂 But it's okay. We can make do with music from The Freshman.

• The MC has a choice of either losing her cool at him, mocking him, or telling him not to hurt Drake. I'm not sure anyone would bother much with option 3 because seriously...it's Drake. Against Tweedle Dum. Not a lot of competition there 😂

•

Esther DuPont is nothing if not savage.

•

I'm not surprised considering this is the dude who thought it was funny to joke about being poisoned with wine in RoE 4 (which was probably also a hint at how Liam's mother died).

• FINALLY REGINA GETS A COSTUME. It's black, which is one of the colours of the Krona duchy where she's from. It's got some nice silver detailing, and gold around the neckline. She's also the sole voice of reason compared to Constantine rn.

• Kiara, interestingly, is the only person outside of the MC's circle of friends and advisors who gets to show a reaction prior to the duel. Though it's limited really to a squeamish "how barbaric". She's also the only woman besides the MC (his close friend/fiancée) and Savannah (his sister) whose reaction to Drake's victory is shown immediately, and her reaction in the aftermath of the fight is definitely not shown if he's already engaged to the MC.

• The other LIs all get to show support to Drake in their own ways: Liam is encouraging, Hana is worried, Maxwell promises to film everything which is...well...typical Maxwell.

• Madeleine is shown in her only appearance this chapter to illustrate how we can spin this duel to ensure they win support for the royal family. If you're engaged to Drake, it's seen as personally useful to you as his fiancée. If not, it's seen as the victory of an ally to the King, which can still gain major support. Her "encouragement" is to glare at Drake and instruct him to "not let us down" with all the care you'd expect from someone like her. As I've said before, Madeleine has good PR skills maybe, but is horrible...horrible...with people.

• It's a pretty huge, heavy-looking sword.

• Neville lunges at Drake twice, and misses. Drake misses too, but the force of his attack was enough to back Neville towards the crowd.

• Neville complains about Drake's brute strength...which is about the dumbest thing I've ever heard in a duel? What were you expecting Neville? Dainty tea parties??

• Neville does manage to wound Drake pretty heavily from the side though. Following this, we see reactions from Hana and Olivia. Hana (whose education didn't exactly include self-defense lessons and warfare) is freaking out. Olivia (who likely educated herself) coolly retorts that Drake will survive it and be able to fight.

• Olivia: Father always used to say that if you can breathe, you can stand, and if you can stand, you can fight.

Olivia's dad may not be a Nevrakis by blood, but he most definitely seems to be a Nevrakis in the way he thinks. This mindset reminds me a lot of Luther, who would rather die fighting than live to his old age in a condition that wouldn't allow fighting. I would daresay that possibly in some ways her dad may have been a bit of a hero figure for little Olivia, and she's been doing her best to emulate him.

Funny enough, someone (I believe it was @mrswalkerwrites) pointed out that Justin says the exact same thing in the previous chapter at the hospital.

• So Neville grabs Drake's injured arm and the pain makes it tough for him to launch a full attack.

• This chapter makes good use of both the "Recovery Attack" and "Rousing Speech" tropes here. Have no fear if you don't know what they are, because I've checked out the TV Tropes website for you:

Recovery Attack (which Drake does to Neville when it almost looks like Neville will win):

Rousing Speech (if the MC encourages him before he fights back. It's more potent and poignant when she is engaged to him):

• Drake makes use of a punching technique called the haymaker, which Wikipedia tells me is a type of wild punch used in boxing that requires all the fighter's might to work, and it's a smart move because Neville doesn't expect it at this point where Drake seems at his weakest, and because it's probably a technique he would probably never "lower" himself to do. Drake has a small window of opportunity here that he can use, and he uses it well - catching hold of Neville's sword and pointing it to his throat. The narrative tells us that a single drop of blood drips from the swordpoint's pressure, and Neville immediately surrenders. Hypocritical wuss. 🙄

• Neville insists Drake cheated because "a gentleman never uses his fists in a fight". Err...maybe you didn't use your fists per second but I do recall you twisting his injured arm, Tweedledum 🤔

• Or perhaps you're right! You're not a gentleman!

• Certain scenes featuring an LI work better within the context of them being in a relationship with the MC. This is largely true of Liam himself, since the entire "wedding-as-unifier" plot works better when he is an LI than anyone else, but it also applies in certain cases to other LIs. Take this dueling scene for instance. If Drake is your LI, the duel increases in intensity and tension, and Neville gets to insult both him and the MC ("let this be a lesson to both you and the wench you're marrying"), thus dragging both their names through the mud. Drake isn't only proving himself to the court - he is also protecting his fiancée's honor. From a narrative standpoint, the dueling scene is good if he isn't your LI, but brilliant if he is.

• Neville's "I won't forget this" is typical of a sore loser, but could also be ominous. Rashad apologizes to Drake on Neville's behalf (I like him quite a bit this book), and Regina congratulates him personally (I'm not surprised. She's made it quite clear in Book 1 alone that she thinks quite highly of him).

• Not a single solitary fuck was given about Drake's injuries that day. Give the man some top-notch medical care you fools!!

• Olivia implies that Lythikos might be our next stop after the Gala. I was right! 😀

• Onto the Olivia diamond scene, which is our second solo-Olivia scene in the series so far. Both deal with her family, the tense relationship that exists between the Nevrakis family and the Crown, and the many ways Lucretia has failed her niece at a time when Olivia needed her the most.

• If you buy this scene, you get a taste of Lythikos Moscato from Lucretia. Usually Moscato is a sweet white wine - the Muscat grapes grown in the warmer Mediterranean climates of Italy - but here it's a deep purple, sweet and strong. There is no way a Moscato could get that kind of colour on its own. They must have used flowers to get it to look like that.

• Lemme get this straight. Lucretia Nevrakis thinks a five-year-old Olivia is "lucky" for having just servants around when her parents died. Expected a FIVE YEAR OLD that SHE left behind sans adequate support ("the Nevrakis heir shouldn't have needed me to hold her hand and wipe her little tears") to fend for herself. Now claims that Constantine was holding Olivia hostage. Wow, genius. Sure Constantine may have "held her hostage" but who was the one who gave him that opportunity???

• That said, this scene was brilliant. It told us a lot about Liam and Olivia's formative years and gives us a great insight into Olivia's family shortly before we make the trip to Lythikos. The hints are small, but incredibly important.

• Most of all, this scene makes me want to learn more about Constantine's reign. Lucretia speaks of him as a ruthless man who gained many enemies and who managed to thwart many plots conspired against him. I want to hear more about that. It's clearly key to why things are the way they are now.

•

(First two screenshots from @callmetippytumbles and @i-dream-so-i-write also sent me a few, so thank you to you both xD)

These are the responses you get based on which background story you choose to hear:

1. Olivia: Cheerful, friendly and giving. By her own admission, Olivia was forced to grow up fast when her parents died and Lucretia abandoned her. No wonder she was called a "cactus" as a child. When your own family doesn't hesitate to abandon you, who can you trust? (besides Liam, who she saw as her own personal hero).

2. Liam: I find it very interesting that Liam was dubbed "free-spirited" as a child (by his mother no less) and by Lucretia's standards seems to have "grown up". That's interesting, because "free spirit" is what Liam uses to describe the MC, especially in Book 1. Furthermore, Liam - when we first meet him - is trapped within his role and cannot even contemplate coming out of it. It's not just an interesting detail...it's also an immensely sad one, and it reminds us of the kid of hardships Liam himself had to face.

3. Olivia's parents: So now we know for sure that Olivia inherited Lythikos from her mother. Olivia's mother, in fact, is one among the four women we know so far who own an estate passed down from their families - Adeleide, Emmaline, Madeleine (who likely got Fydelia when engaged to Leo) being the other three. Olivia's mother is seen as clever and independent, and her father as brash but brave.

• Lucretia's visit is focused on one important thing: planning an alliance for Olivia. If you engaged to Liam, obviously, it's a no-brainer that Olivia will need to look elsewhere. If you're not, Lucretia tries to sway Olivia by pointing out that if Liam really wanted to marry her he would have done something by now, but the field is left open so we can see Olivia having a future with him. The entire tone of the scene hinges on whether the MC is marrying Liam or not.

• We've known this for a long time now, but it's pretty clear that Olivia has a Diavolos-like role in the books in terms of gaining her trust. Most of the time, the options that give us relationship points with her are the ones where we surprise her by seeing good in her. In this scene, we get 3 relationship points with her if we choose options where the MC can openly support her in front of Lucretia, thus making Olivia view herself in a better light. The most obvious indication of this is the MC's response to Lucretia where she speaks of needing support not as a weakness, but as common sense. Olivia is surprised by this way of thinking...but it also makes her feel much better about her own vulnerability.

• Lucretia-Olivia have serious Luther-Diavolos parallels. Lucretia, like Luther, does not understand the needs of the child in her care and expects Olivia to understand the dangerous world she inhabits at such a young age, and grow up fast. Olivia, like Diavolos, protects herself with her 'cactus' persona, and is genuinely shocked when people reach out to her, or extend kindness and comfort.

• This scene also makes me want to learn more about Constantine's reign. He seemed to be at the height of his powers around Liam's childhood to teen years, and we've gotten a glimpse of what he was capable of when the MC was targeted and harmed in his manor. I know they won't show us everything...but I'd like some insight into his rule.

• I didn't buy the Bertrand scene because tbh, I'm not very invested in his relationship with Savannah. There was a time when Bertrand's life didn't revolve around her, and now...well, now that's all I ever get to hear from him. I do think it's important, however, to have this storyline, resolved at this point in the story. Remember how Maxwell's crisis point deals with struggling with his new responsibilities, and the fear that he might not live up to the family name? Part of his lack of confidence comes from Bertrand, who is clearly a perfectionist by nature. Bertrand is encouraged to do two things in his diamond scene:

1. Reveal the truth to Savannah that he loved her - still does - but didn't want to burden her with a House that had no money to support her.

2. Tell Maxwell he is proud of him. In whatever way possible. Maxwell needs validation most from his brother, and when Bertrand gives that to him, that's half the battle won in terms of resolving Maxwell's issues.

• These two suffer from a tendency to either talk over each other, or to not say anything at all. That's disastrous in terms of a relationship and I'm really not here to babysit to grown people or coach them on how to talk to each other. Sorry, BertVannah, you two are on your own here.

• I may not like the couple, or the diamond scene, but I do understand that it's important especially in terms of Maxwell's character development.

• Shortly after this, we have the mid-book 30-diamond scene (in previous books, these scenes - the Forgotten Falls and the Opera scenes - went to Liam because his love story progressed much faster than the others) which now involves the LI dancing with the MC in the palace courtyard before carrying her to bed. Suffice to say...I loved them all. This is the kind of effort I think most fans were hoping for in the LI scenes, not the copy-paste ones we ended up seeing in the bathtub scenes and - before they edited it - the spa scenes.

• A major reason this scene would cost 30 diamonds could also be because this is Maxwell's first sex scene. But the importance of it goes way, way beyond the sex.

(Screenshots taken from the following: Vika Avey (Maxwell) and HIMEME's (Drake) YouTube channels and @kennaxval (Hana))

This scene depicts a resolution of issues for at least some of the LIs:

1. Drake's crisis involved doubting his ability to fit in in court, after years and years of openly rejecting it. For the sake of his fiancée, for the sake of his best friend, for the sake of his country. The duel, in a lot of ways, was an opportunity to prove his worth. To prove that commoners had plenty to give to the court, if they were given the opportunities and advantages that nobles were given. I recall seeing screencaps somewhere, where Drake speaks of doing this for every commoner trying to make it in court - and I doubt there was a better way to establish that than this. I mean, the dude is the first man to win an honour duel in a freaking century! For the most part, this duel was his breakthrough, and his crisis point was pretty much resolved.

2. Maxwell's crisis involved doubting his worth as a responsible nobleman, as someone who could uphold the Beaumont name while Bertrand worked on his relationship with Savannah. If you do buy the Bertrand scene, Maxwell does get to see how proud his brother really is of him, and that's huge because this man is someone Maxwell really, really looks up to. In his diamond scene, he gets to confess how overwhelming the whole experience has been...but for the first time in a long while, he gets to feel happier about how everything is working out for him, rather than stressed.

3. Hana's crisis involved belonging. Does she belong to this place? Can she find her place in Cordonia? Does she really have anything of value to contribute to this wounded nation? Hana's ancient Cordonian love ritual gives us the answer to this. The ritual involves throwing a copper (symbolizing friendship), silver (love) and gold (belonging) coin each into the fountain, thereby sealing her love with the MC for all eternity. This conversation then moves to a conversation on belonging. Post the attack, Hana realized that even though she'd spent most of her life learning the ways of the nobility - nothing prepared her for the level of political instability that Cordonia was experiencing. At this point, she is slowly moving towards the point where she can see herself as an asset to the country, but her journey is not entirely over yet. There is some resolution left, and I believe that resolution will involve her estranged family.

4. Liam's crisis is perhaps the hardest to resolve, because he hasn't reached the point where he can openly speak about it yet. Liam has an entire country's future on his shoulders. In this particular scene, he only hints at it, by pointing out the parts of the palace that haven't yet recovered from the previous attack. For the most part this is foreshadowing: it hints at the fact that this is only the beginning, and the palace will go through worse. But it also hints at Liam's own issues. Liam has been taught all his life to keep his issues to himself, but everything is soon going to come to a head for him, resulting in a tumultuous outburst. Like the palace that stood strong through decades of instability, Liam too will crumble.

• I've heard that all the scenes have been top-notch! Drake's is in the courtyard itself, Hana's is in a room with a piano, Maxwell's is in a room he selected after searching the palace for the perfect bedroom, and Liam's is in the royal chambers.

• NOW I know why Liam has an outdoor kink. How the fuck can you have sex in a bedroom surrounded by pictures of old dudes and not feel uncomfortable!?

•

LIAM 😡 You saw Esther's lingerie in that sparring scene almost a month ago!!

• The sex for the Maxwell MC must have been so good that she forgot that she wasn't the narrator.

(Screenshot from the Vika Avey YouTube channel)

• Oh hello, Leo 🙄

• How nice of you to come. No, you didn't miss much. Just your brother being forced to get engaged to your ex-fiancée, several attacks and two tours. How nice that you suddenly remember us only when there's a fancy ball going on.

• That said, I believe that plotwise Leo was brought into the story for a reason.

• Will Bastien do a cameo in Bloodbound now? 😂

•

Whyyyy is Constantine giving us these super emotional speeches now? First the dedication in the opening speech to Regina, bequeathing a royal heirloom to the MC, then finally telling his sons what he should have been saying all along - that he loved them. I smell foreshadowing, folks.

•

Oh no.

• What I see happening today: The manner in which Constantine addressed his wife, sons and the MC suggests closure to me. They sound to me like the words of a man who will die soon, and who needs to speak to his loved ones before he finally does. Ergo, the chances that Constantine will die in today's attack are pretty high.

1. Constantine has done a lot of wrong over his years as a father, a friend and a King, and in the last few chapters seemed to be trying to atone for his past behaviour. I'm pretty sure that someone's (v possibly Liam or one of the LIs', going by the precap) life is going to be in danger, and Constantine may either sacrifice his life or die in some other way.

2. No one in Cordonia knows about his illness. If he dies as a result of his attack, no one will need to know, and he will possibly be hailed as a hero. Only his family and Liam's friends would know that he was going to die regardless.

3. He would have possibly resolved most of his issues with his sons and friends, allowing him to die in peace.

4. Most importantly...I think seeing his father die in a terrorist attack like this one would push Liam into to his lowest possible emotional point. I have mentioned before, that Liam's crisis point begins where everyone else's may end - given how little he still opens up. A tragedy of a much larger scale is required for Liam to put aside his stoic demeanor and actually let his beloved/friend know how badly he's actually taking it.

• I could be wrong and Constantine and Regina may get out of this unscathed, but at this point I think now is the best time in terms of narrative for something that devastating to take place.

• I'm guessing Neville (or Lucretia, but I still have my doubts) disappeared from the Ball to do more than just lick his wounds.

• I think we will spend a few chapters (at least 1-2 more) in the capitol: saving lives, mourning the dead (I'm sure there will be some), recovering emotionally from this catastrophe and trying to make sense of what they're going through. Once things have returned to some semblance of normal, there is a chance we might still move forward to Lythikos. After all, I feel that a huge part of the drama will come to a head at Olivia's estate. Shortly after this, we might either see another estate or so before going to our own, or move to Valtoria straightaway. Where we will probably be given the chance to make changes to our own coat of arms.

• It's going to be a tough bunch of weeks for us all, fam.

#the royal romance #long post #liam x mc #drake x mc #maxwell x mc #hana x mc #king liam of cordonia #sir drake walker #lord maxwell beaumont #lady hana lee #mc: esther dupont #cordonia #trr quick thoughts #quick thoughts

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lizzybeth1986 · 6 years

Text

Quick Thoughts on TRR Book 3, Chapter 8

• At some point in this chapter all three of the groups/people mentioned in our list of suspects have some significant level of shadiness attached to them (and here we are, acting like nothing is happening on the "Cordonia's enemies" front).

• Today's title: Artistic License. Not surprising considering 3/4th of the chapter takes place at an art exhibition.

• Alternative title: Lizzy and the Tumblr Fandom Get Roasted Tonight. Stick with me and you'll find out why.

• I feel like this attack was mostly frustration from whoever is in charge of this because Applewood definitely didn't turn out the way they wanted it too. That said, this was a pretty weak-ass follow-up.

• I feel like the two post-Homecoming Ball Attacks we have had so far point against either Liberation Core or Sons of Earth being involved. Burning the Applewood orchards would be horrendous for a group like the LC - there's no way you can successfully rally people when you're the reason their livelihood is pretty much destroyed. And as the MC said, flooding the gallery sounds counterproductive to what the SoE group wants. Only Olivia's family is left, and she herself is almost nowhere around in the gallery.

• Also isn't it interesting how the post-Homecoming Ball attacks seem to use elements to get their points across? Fire for Applewood, water for the gallery. Hmm (this section should be titled "Lizzy Overthinks" lol).

• The MC can either re-brand the wet gallery as being merely symbolic of rising out of their troubles, or as awareness for Portavira. All that's fine but what I find more interesting is the way they have the LIs respond to both:

Maxwell is the social media expert and promises to get the word out.

Drake is the hands-on guy who pitches in to help with getting the worst of the damage out of the way.

Hana is the creative person who brings up something functional (rain boots) and puts an artistic spin on it (get colour coordinated ones that people could choose to match their outfit: where did she get so many at such short notice?)

Liam is oriented towards making sure this will catch the interest of the country. He knows what the public wants and implies how his appearance along with the newest Duchess/future Queen could make this work accordingly.

• I like how it's enough for Hakim that people will help for the sake of being good to other people, and you can tell he's already decided in that moment to go ahead anyway.

• "Never count your apples before they're ripe". How many apple proverbs does Cordonia have?

• That's a...lot of colour blocking going on there (and one of them is a colour I like why do you do this to me PB)

But at least Madeleine didn't give us this to wear:

• If you tell Madeleine thanks for doing her job:

WHY ARE THE TWO OF YOU LYING.

• I get matching boots AND another compliment from my King 😁😁😁

• I actually like that first painting it's got lovely bright colours and kiiiinda reminds me of glass windows a little? To me personally because of the colours it looks like a man on water looking at the sunlight.

• LI reactions:

Drake calls it just a bunch of shapes

Liam admires the fact that you can't box the painting into a category.

Maxwell loves that he can interpret it any way he wants.

Hana talks more about the work that goes into that art piece, and the conversation gives way into her own personal experiences with painting.

Parallels to their train of thought?

• Drake scoffs at the ruins in Book 1 and calls them "a bunch of old rocks", reluctant to read too much into them.

Liam attempts to find meaning in the same ruins, even though he can't completely articulate what he senses in the place.

Maxwell's comment reminds me less of the ruins and more of the pair stargazing in his first diamond scene, where he spots the "elephant smoking a pipe" constellation.

Hana wonders at the lasting quality of artistic beauty, and wonders at the stories hidden behind the mosaics on the temple.

You get to agree with either of them before Hana gives you her response. I usually go with either Liam or Maxwell's responses because I like finding meaning in what I see.

• I also like that art is something Hana can't do all that well. Though, as the MC says, her paintings not having "heart" is more a mark of the fact that she wasn't allowed to let herself go a lot than anything else. It also ties in pretty well with Hana's conversation with the MC in the group scene last chapter about trying to figure out who she really is underneath those "collection of skills".

•

....I feel so called out 😂😂😂

^I'm Penny

• So. Maxwell was a kid in 1996, and I'm thiiiiinking by the way he describes the Great Ketchup Incident he sounds like he was 6-7. So I'd imagine he may have been born early nineties.

• BERTRAND IS BACK Y'ALL 😁😁😁

• ...and with him so is the BertVannah story. Sigh. Fine. I'll take it 😑 It feels like getting a great burger with soggy fries but I'll take it.

• Re: Bertrand's advice for winning over Joelle ("criticize TF out of that painting!") - guys who didn't buy Liam's scene in Applewood? Did you have to follow Bertrand's advice in the scene? Were your options for response any different?

• Ooh so THIS is the advantage you get from the Cordonian History scene? I thought it had more to do with his mother (but I still feel that's applicable), but in this case it's the King Fabian example.

• Did PB just ask me to choose between a Rembrandt self-portrait and the painting of an apple 😂😂

• Joelle raises a very interesting point about her and Hakim's beliefs in contrast to Constantine. In fact it's quite similar to what Liam says when he speaks about King Fabian: that merely surviving and being safe isn't enough. The people should be able to thrive (you still have to ensure they're safe first, though!).

• Why has all our wedding stuff so far been hidden behind a paywall? What happens if you don't buy the scenes? We get just any old wine, any old entree and any old dessert? At least in RoE you had SOME free options!

• Interesting how Maxwell ends up being the only person not associated with a food item even though he's getting married in some playthroughs. Hana is associated with Ash-e Reshteh, Liam with Chicken Tagine and Drake with Feijoada.

• PB is just spoiling me with all this food discourse I tells ya 😂 I've never been this physically hungry and mentally satiated since I last read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

• We find out quite a bit about Liam's relationship with Leo today. Especially that Leo could be a douche as a kid (he's still a douche), but that Liam fought pranks with more pranks. I wonder who the earl's son they locked in the cupboard is, tho. Anyone we know?

• ...it isn't a Drake dish unless there's plenty of meat and super filling. It's not a Liam dish unless there's a story. And it's not a Hana dish unless there's description so visceral you could almost taste it before you actually taste it.

•

Nope.

• If you choose the "dance with everyone" option, Maxwell breakdances, Hana does what I think might be either ballet or contemporary, Liam does a few steps of the flamenco and Drake is saved by the ending of the song. I'm very sad I wanted to see him do the chicken dance 😞

• Olivia appears only if you buy the group scene, and Hana gets to ask her why she didn't attend the art exhibition. At this point I think they're building her up to look sketchy, and suspicious - creating some space for our main characters to doubt and confront her before the actual culprit comes centerstage.

• I also find Olivia's statement about "no one ever conquered everything by painting all day" an interesting contrast to Liam, given that he aims to pioneer in the promotions the arts in his rule. But I kinda think this very attitude of hers - if you're not marrying him - helps balance him out. She can concentrate on the safety aspects of the Kingdom and Liam can focus on cultural enhancement. They'll be such a power couple! XD

• ALSO OLIVIA VANDERWALL NEVRAKIS LOVES COTTON CANDY -- ...I mean, she finds it tolerable.

• Lowkey disappointed Francesco has almost nothing to do in either chapter even though he was legit Liam's mom's friend. (tho maybe he will feature in future chapters either for that or to be suspicious). But that's not even the thing I find most disappointing.

• Woot woot Hakim and Joelle will be there! Kiara is impressed by this coz Joelle is the tougher nut of the two. Which leads the MC to reveal some canon info about her parents xD

• Random Liam Trivia: Liam's amaze at fencing. Which is great because I have a Daniel Henney picture somewhere that shows him in a fencing outfit xD

Yep I now have a mental image of what Asian Liam looks like when he's fencing 😁

• I legit love the work that has gone into all the movie scenes for the LIs. It feels like we're with the people we fell for and they sound like themselves.

Liam: He gets us something from the drop claw machine (my favourite is the plastic ring because he fake-proposes 😁😁😁). Also also also someone in the arcade cutely asks for a selfie to put up on her Pictagram. The movie is A Prince's Bride, which is supposed to be some convoluted take on events in the Cordonian monarchy lol.

Hana: Her arcade game is Vegetable Viking and her film is an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice set in space. Her route is pretty adorable coz she's never had a proper date before.

Maxwell: They play - what else - Disco Dance Rebellion! His film is a horror movie and I think they make a reference to RCD's Gloria in the buildup to this scene.

Drake: His arcade game is City Warrior 3 and he goes for a spy thriller. The choice of movie and some of the comments he passes on the spy's tactics is almost making me want to go back to our "Drake is a secret bodyguard" theory.

• I think PB roasted us Tumblr Choices fans a little in the Hana option:

(Screenshots from Kar 2.0's YouTube channel)

• OMG that last line is savage.

(Screenshots from Vika Avey's YouTube channel)

Also if the last scene is supposed to be symbolic of the MC rejecting Liam for Maxwell, why is it only included in the Maxwell x MC playthrough? It's not like Liam is any less heartbroken if you choose Drake or Hana instead. Like sure, in Maxwell's case it allows us to ease into the conversation about whether they were moving fast or not, but there are better ways of getting that point across than comparing the couple to a man and a ghost who kills her friend to be with him.

• I played Liam's route, and I quite liked the parallels and the way Liam and the MC were questioning the logic of the Prince's brother suddenly being allowed to call a vote in Cordonian parliament.

• Must have been one heck of a box-office year for Ryan Summers and Cassandra Leigh, starring in four different films 😂

• I think all the movies are commentaries not only on the relationships but on their pasts/futures:

Liam's won't be about his brother usurping the throne - but I feel it could point us to the enemy being a member of the nobility/someone who has some royal lineage of some sort.

Hana mentions her parents, and P&P is also about family, so I'm guessing it points to her parents coming around and accepting their relationship

If Drake is actually a spy-figure, this movie would be perfect foreshadowing to that.

I think Maxwell's is more about the relationship and the two wondering whether they are going to fast, and that tying into his insecurities about himself.

• Costume Ball in the coming weeks? Nice!

• Wait was the initial plan to go to the capitol, have the Costume Ball there, and then move to other estates? I don't think we're quite done. At the very least we have Olivia's duchy left and I think there might be a hitherto unnamed house somewhere. And there's the MC's own estate too. I think the capitol is supposed to be a stopover and then we move to other houses.

• Two balls mentioned by Drake seem to have connections to Celtic traditions: Halloween has some connections to Samhain, and Harvest Moon is a term I have heard about in Celtic traditions as well. This would be accurate in terms of TCaTF connections too, considering there are references to Beltane in the first book especially.

• I expected Kiara to have little to no importance in this chapter as well, but I also feel very very salty about it. Let's remember - again - that Kiara was the only courtly lady injured at the ball. She was STABBED. Yet in her own home she has way less importance than her family - none of whom we have ever met before. Convincing her takes less than two minutes, her brother gets a diamond scene and a love interest, and this chapter she is only needed to talk about the success of the festival and her parents' acceptance to be part of the Unity Tour, and her brother's relationship. WHY. HOW is she the least important person in this narrative despite being the most harmed???

• Moral of the story is of you're going to wound a character in the story, the least you can do is ensure some decent closure on that score!

• Alright, so perhaps one or two chapters might be spent centered around Constantine and his impending death. I wonder if we will get additional information regarding whatever happened in the past while with Constantine? Maybe not from Constantine himself - I think he will be too ill to properly respond much - but perhaps from someone who might be around in the hospital at the same time (Regina or Bastien, perhaps), or something else. I feel having this story break away to Constantine's illness is possibly being done to redirect the narrative back to the past, and its connections with the enemies now. Atm it's just a theory, but I feel personally this is the direction the story might take.

• There is something about Chapters 8-10 for TRR. By that point in Book 1, the MC got some idea of how insidious court could be (if you bought the whiskey scene with Drake), Constantine had already stepped down and announced Liam as the next king, and the plans to frame the MC were already underway behind the scenes. By that point in Book 2, we were very close to getting our answers for the investigation and nabbing Constantine. I believe the next few chapters in TRR might follow a similar pattern, and we will get a huge overflow of information in these chapters.

• Will this be Liam's breaking point? My dude needs a breaking point. He needs to talk to someone, really talk, and at least break down. He needs to open up. He needs closure.

• I think I'm going to look forward to the next few chapters. I feel like this book had a rocky start but is now finally getting better. They've implemented several changes, attempted to do justice to at least a significant chunk of readers' grievances, and I think it shows in the quality of the last three chapters. These three chapters have been quietly building a momentum, leading us slowly towards where the meat of the story is, and we're really going to start asking the hard questions from next week on. At least that's my hope.

#the royal romance #liam x mc #king liam of cordonia #hana lee #maxwell beaumont #drake walker #bertrand beaumont #mc: esther dupont #castelsarreillan #olivia nevrakis #cordonia #quick thoughts #trr quick thoughts #long post

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lizzybeth1986 · 6 years

Photo

TRR: King Liam x Duchess Esther DuPont Vegas Bachelorette Moodboard/Aesthetic My faceclaims: King Liam: Daniel Henney Esther DuPont: Alexandra Daddario Esther was happy, having shots and dancing with her friends and looking forward to choosing her wedding gown once back home. All in all, she thought Vegas was perfect.

#the royal romance #liam x mc #king liam #trr liam #Esther dupont #Vegas #moodboard/aesthetic

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lizzybeth1986 · 6 years

Text

Quick Thoughts on TRR Book 3, Chapter 7

• Compulsory Warning: This is going to be a long post, and it's going to show up in full on your dash. I've put a read more, but lately Tumblr (mobile, at least) has begun to apply the "read more" only to reblogs.

• I liked this chapter. Last chapter was amazing IMO, this chapter was keeping up that momentum to an extent.

• Title: Haute Culture. Until now I didn't realise this was an actual term 🙈 Google tells me it means "cultural activities or items that achieve the highest standards" and that "although initially used as an offshoot of haute couture, it really seeks to define anything that is unique and exclusive in the cultural world (as opposed to the fashion one)".

• That kind of fits what we're helping Hakim do - attempting to get Cordonia entered into the International Artists Association so we can convince him to come to the wedding. But it's also about the MC beginning to understand Cordonian culture and how its ways of living differ from location to location (esp if you take the diamond scene with Liam).

• Alternate title: Kiara Whomst? No kidding. Homegirl is practically a non-entity in a story revolving around her fucking home. Her agreement to come for the wedding happens in, like, less than a minute (I counted), and we're way busier exploring the problems of her newly-introduced brother than anything involving her. I will speak later on why I - personally - find this a little problematic.

• So Hakim is both a Duke and a diplomat, and Joelle uses her art connections to "solidify alliances for Cordonia". (Joelle was also briefly mentioned (but not by name) in Book 2, as being friends with Ana de Luca, which was why Kiara was able to arrange a photoshoot at such short notice).

• So far we have seen only two Dukes so far who have been heirs to their ducal estates: Hakim, who owns Castelsarreillan, and Bertrand who owns Ramsford. There's also Neville and Rashad but both are in line for inheriting Cormery Isle and Domvallier, respectively, not Dukes yet.

• A lot of the heirs we have met so far have been women. Krona is Adeleide's, not Godfrey's (and Madeleine's by inheritence, until which time she is Countess of Fydelia). Portavira has been in Emmeline's family for generations (and will pass on to Penelope). Olivia is the duchess of Lythikos and its sole surviving heir. I find the way these women take charge and choose what matters to them (committment to the duchy for Emmeline, a good time for Adeleide, vengeance and support to the Crown for Olivia, serving Cordonia for Madeleine) quite intriguing.

• Madeleine is...spectacularly bad at her job. I mean spectacularly. She's great at handling the media and holding press conferences but her people skills...eek. To say she has none is being kind.

• Like look, I appreciate the work that goes into these dossiers and note cards, but what's the point of passing them down to the MC at the very last minute? To "peruse at leisure"! Where the fuck is she going to find time for "leisure" when your summarized information itself is so vague that she and her friends have to run around to do sluething so they can make sense of any of it? We had to butter up Penelope to find out what should have taken two seconds for Madeleine to guess (if it hadn't been for her mammoth ego), and here we need to sleuth on our own to figure out how to convince Ezekiel. Bertrand, Justin and Maxwell would tell us stuff in the last minute too but at least they'd ensure we went there prepared. Sorry but I really am not impressed.

• So here's our outfit for the day:

...eh? What is this.

• I like that owl armlet tho. Interestingly enough, Kiara and Olivia seem to have very similar house colours! I'm wondering is Lythikos and Castelsarreillan are part of the larger historical Abanthus duchy? But that would only make sense if Castelsarreillan and Lythikos is close to each other, and if Lythikos is the next logical stop. Which I doubt it is, because I think Olivia's duchy will be one of the last few to visit.

• MY MANS IS BACK HE JUST COMPLIMENTED MY OUTFIT. HE ALSO GIVES TINY KISSES ON THE CHEEK LIKE HE USED TO.

•

The last time my dude spoke French it was to call me the love of his life 😍😍😍

• I highly doubt anything happened between Drake and Kiara beyond a harmless crush from her side. Wasn't he the one maintaining that women always preferred Liam and didn't bother much with him? I highly doubt he'd have even guessed Kiara's feelings until the MC explicitly pointed it out to him (tea party), and I don't think they'd have any LI cheat on the MC while they're still romancing her (Nope. That particular badge of assholery is reserved for the MC in Book 2 lol).

• I mean even if she isn't likeable for whatever reasons, that doesn't warrant the kind of vitriol she gets in this fandom sometimes. All she's done is some harmless flirting. It's not a crime to have a crush on someone.

• Ooh I like Zeke! And I like the relationship he shares with his sister (Kiki, tho? Seriously?). Kiara isn't shown having very close relationships with people (and tends to operate based on alliances and advantage, which is normal considering her background and interests) but she has interesting relationships with the people she does love. With both Penelope and Ezekiel she tends to employ a lot of 'tough love'. She cares for them and is fiercely protective of them, even though she scolds them and tells Penelope she needs to toughen up. Her admonishions are hardly helpful, but they do come from a place of concern.

• Ooh. Ezekiel seems enthusiastic and joyful around Penelope's dogs, but can't let it show. Interesting.

• Wow we finally remember Constantine has terminal cancer.

• Drake why are you so insistent on seeing flags in Kiara's home 😂

•

CALLED IT

• "It is [international news] for those with an interest in Cordonian politics". Hmm. Francesco does have ties to the country - his wife is Cordonian and he has had old friends there (namely Hakim and Liam's mother) - but this does have the possibility of meaning more...or being a red herring (if we're connecting him with Sons of Earth and they turn out to be red herrings themselves, that is).

• Aw man I feel sad for Hakim. Esp considering they'd been friends in college and once Constantine became king it became so one-sided with Hakim trying to keep the bond alive and Constantine being so focused on his kingdom that he barely visits. I feel like this is meant to be a bit of a contrast to Liam, who keeps his friends close and ensures they know he's there for them as Liam, their friend, and not the King. Running a kingdom is important, yes, but these friends are the ones that ground you and allow you to remember that you are a human being who needs human connections, after all. Somewhere along the line, I think Constantine missed out on that.

• Would perhaps someone like Hakim have held Constantine back and prevented him from going down the destructive path he tread during the last few months of his life? Would a Hakim have maybe knocked some sense into him, told him "look, you asshole, orchestrating sexual assault is never okay"? Was Constantine so knee-deep in his own mess because he left behind the connections that would have grounded him? Is this where Liam seems to have a clearer perspective of his balance between being a man and being King?

• So far, both Hakim/Joelle and Landon/Emmeline have actually been pretty good in terms of showing respect to all their guests, especially Drake. Penelope's parents seem confused by some of the things Drake tries to do but seemed pretty alright with him otherwise (and he has confessed to looking up to them as examples of what he wants to be as a Duke), and Hakim openly admires Drake for what he has done for Cordonia (if Kiara turns out to be Drake's alternate LI, this might mean he may not have too much trouble getting along with her father).

• Hakim seems like a caring and indulgent parent to Ezekiel, even though they're vastly different, but doesn't seem to adequately understand to what his son wants.

• Kiara tells us this rather than Hakim (diplomat that he is), but the trip to Switzerland is more out of the stress and worry that comes with having your child become collateral damage in an attack against the Crown. Honestly...I understand that. The events of the Homecoming Ball are bound to be a lot more personal to Kiara's family than to most of the nobles.

•

Can we just talk about how immensely brave Kiara must be for agreeing to go back to the place where she was wounded without too much prodding? (I have my problems with this, but more on that later). She'd been stabbed at Homecoming Ball, yet when the MC points out what it would mean for Cordonia if she didn't come, she accepts in a heartbeat. And can we also talk about how no one seems to appreciate her for being able to take this decision under these circumstances? No one in the books, and so far as I can see very few in the fandom.

• Joelle is from the Loire Valley, which is super super famous for its vineyards. It's also celebrated as being home to France's longest river, as being one of the places St. Joan of Arc liberated from the English during The Hundred Years' War and where Leonardo da Vinci spent his final years. Pretty fitting that the story makes her a painter from Loire then!

•

I feel like Joelle's painting being that of an apple is going to gain some importance in Chapter 8. Esp considering that we've just come off the destruction of the orchard at Applewood and this festival is meant to ensure Cordonia gains recognition on the world map. We see her just once this chapter, but that painting seems important. I think it's planned to be just an exhibit, but winds up as a centrepiece, thereby getting Joelle to agree to attending the wedding. Maybe there will be a larger story about her art and its connection to Cordonia specifically next week, IDK.

• If you make the MC say "I don't really 'get' art" ("I mean, is it a pipe or is it a metaphor?"), she makes a René Magritte reference xD Particularly to his famous La Trahison des Images painting:

• They're laying it pretty thick with the clues for Zeke's love for animals. First his brief happiness on seeing Merlin and Morgana, his instant connection with Penelope, his insistence on watching a documentary on "custom canine orthotics" when Joelle asks him to entertain the guests. He also makes references to Binet and Pavlov with specific reference to dogs.

• Also I think Penelope telling him no one has understood why dogs matter to her the way he does is one of the sweetest moments this chapter.

• Lol @ Zeke completely forgetting the human beings he's supposed to be hosting while talking about how sad it would be to make the poodles watch the humans drink wine 😂

• Zeke is also a wine connoisseur: something he brushes off as a result of having a vineyard for a backyard. When you're so familiar with a particular area of knowledge that has been part of your childhood, it makes sense that you will not see it as a big deal the way others will.

•

Ugh. I'm not very comfortable with today's Olivia - Drake exchange, ya know? It's obvious she asked Drake that question on purpose. It's obvious that she wanted him to embarrass himself. I usually like their exchanges in the books because the two usually give to each other as good as they get. But here you can tell Olivia had the upper hand in this conversation, and she was merciless about using it. It's a good thing that Zeke attempted to smooth things over by letting Drake know he had some sort of a kindred spirit in him, but it doesn't exactly make it better.

• There's a moment in this book I'm fond of, but I will not discuss it in detail over here (I'll leave that for Liam's group scenes essay). It's this one:

That's a lovely moment because Drake half-teases half-calls Liam out on his privilege, and Liam admits he's wrong and learns from it. You guys see why I love this guy? 😍 (I think it also emerges out of a slight bit of tension from Drake's side - considering he is uncomfortable with this conversation on wine altogether and is a little on edge from the exchange earlier with Olivia, one which played into all his insecurities).

• I feel a little weird about Drake calling Liam "Your Highness" tho lol.

• The rest of this scene is pretty good. It allows you to choose your wine for the wedding (with Hana doing her version of a wine personality test xD), prepares you for the next scene with Zeke, and allows your LI to highlight their "major crisis point" to you.

• All the LIs get to air out their issues to you...all except one. Drake tells you about his struggle with fitting in with nobility. Hana fears she's nothing but a collection of skills. Maxwell worries not being as "special" as the rest of the group, and Liam? Liam remembers the past and what it took for them to get to this point, and states he wants to buy a hundred bottles of the MC's favourite wine to commemorate this moment. This confirms for me that Liam's biggest hurdle is his own reluctance to share what troubles him.

•

I really, really liked this bit in the diamond scene.

• Both Madeleine's chapter and Kiara's chapter deal with family issues, and the group's attempts to resolve them. But I think it feels a lot more natural and much less forced here. Kiara's family is one that's trying to support each other as much as they can, but needs just that little push. With Madeleine's we were doing most of the heavy work of getting them to reunite, and it was exhausting.

•

No you wouldn't.

• I'm particularly interested in how they will show Zeke handle both the estate and his studies, if that's the path they might take with his story. I like that he has some measure of support from Kiara, who he states has been encouraging him for a long time to follow his dreams. She appears to be the only one who pays attention to that side of him, and possibly in next week's chapter she might actually have his back when he finally tells Hakim the truth.

• Can I say I LOVED the dinner diplomacy scene??? LOVED. I love food, and I love exploring how it is a signifier for cultural identity and marker of home. It's why my absolute favourite book genre is that of the food memoir, because it allows us to see how it shapes a person, a community. (Story Time!) A great example of this is one of my favourite memoirs (not a food memoir per se, but I love the bits where they do talk about food) - Ghada Karmi's In Search of Fatima - where she speaks of the sense of displacement her Palestinian family felt in England (they were forced to flee from their home in Jerusalem in 1948) through food. Below is a passage that involves the first time Karmi and her mother tasted the English crumpet:

I like them to this day, but my mother, whose tastes never deviated far from our native Arab cuisine, clearly did not. Later, she adapted the English crumpet into something more fitting for the Arabic palate. The crumpet was fried in butter, then soaked in syrup and then finally topped with a large dollop of thick cream [...] When English visitors came to our house and were served this dish by our mother, they had no idea that what they were eating was a homely English crumpet.

(I have a similar story about how my mom and I once followed the recipe for the French dish chicken a la king, only to discover that it was too mild for our spicy Indian palates. In a panic Mum and I tossed in some turmeric, chili powder, coriander and garam masala. "Your father will burst a blood vessel if we ever tried to serve him this," my mother said, "I'm never making a French dish again ever".)

My point is, this scene isn't just about how to behave at the dinner table. It's an education in Cordonian culture. It captures the myriad identities and sensibilities of its people, from different regions, climates, backgrounds, in the form of food. The MC needs to understand her people and their histories, and Liam is serving her this information on a platter. Literally.

• Liam's been referring to their wedding night quite a bit these days. I'm telling ya, that man has something up his sleeve 😂

• Uh oh. Francesco tells us in the morning that there's been "a disaster" at the art gallery, but we'll have to wait till next week to figure out what it is. This could go three ways:

1. There's some random issue, which may get quickly resolved and allows the MC and her group of friends to save the day somehow. Joelle's painting may be involved in a larger way that they'd planned.

2. The attackers - irked by the way the MC, Liam and their group managed to uplift spirits at Applewood - make the gallery their next target and destroy it. This looks like it would lower morale, force Francesco to cancel and Hakim to consider the trip to Switzerland as final when BAM! the group saves the day. Joelle's painting will definitely be involved.

3. If Francesco is involved in Possibility 2 somehow, then there is a chance they might show clues. But I still have my doubts.

These are the things I feel we might tackle next chapter:

1. Joelle's issues. There surely must be more going on and I'm confident that painting of hers might feature in a large, patriotic way next week.

2. Hakim's worries and fears. He is worried about Kiara (perhaps more than she is about herself!), disappointed in Constantine, and altogether reluctant to have anything to do with the Crown. There may be a chance he will discover the truth behind why Constantine couldn't make it, be confronted with what Ezekiel wants, and an opportunity to help him move past his very legitimate fears. A combination of some or all of these will eventually factor in with his agreement to make it to the wedding.

3. Francesco. If there are connections he has to Sons of Man, now is the time to show it. However, I feel we still might have a chance to extract information about Liam's mother. Remember how the Cordonian history scene mentioned we would get an advantage later? One possibility is that it might unlock an extra scene with Francesco about Liam's mom next chapter. Let's see.

• Overall I really liked this chapter and I thought there were plenty going on. Ezekiel x Penelope was sweet (it broke my heart a little to not have Maxwell x Penelope, but that's okay), Kiara's family overall was nice, the diamond scenes were amazing...buuuuut Kiara was barely there 😑

• I have a bit of a problem with this. Kiara is the only courtly lady mentioned who was injured in the attack at Homecoming Ball. She's the only other person besides Drake and Justin to physically suffer from it. She was wounded. With a knife. As a member of the Cordonian court. You can't tell me that won't affect a person in a significant way. Yet there is so much more focus on her older brother than there is on how the current climate must have made her feel. My other problem is complete lack of screenspace in her own home. Let me elaborate:

• Convincing Madeleine to join the tour? A whole freaking chapter plus a diamond scene. Along with an exploration of her family, her issues with her parents, and what she has gone through to get to this point.

Convincing Penelope to join the tour? A whole freaking chapter plus a diamond scene (which I didn't mind, actually). Along with an exploration of her anxiety issues, her closeness to her support animals and how Madeleine's behaviour has affected the way she looks at court.

Convincing Kiara to join the tour? Takes less than a minute. I'm serious. The entire scene - her recommendation of Zeke showing them the estate included - clocks around 58 seconds from beginning to end. And her own brother (who I love, he's amazing, but who we've never heard of until today) has way more importance in her story at the moment than she does.

• I'm hoping there will be more of her tomorrow, but I highly doubt it. There's already way too much going on, and Kiara has already agreed to make it to the wedding. I loved her drive and determination to do something for Cordonia in that scene, but I feel she deserved more than that.

• I feel like a broken tape recorder saying this - but when was the last time Maxwell had anything substantial to do? He and Bertrand have barely there, and Maxwell is supposed to be an LI. So far Liam has had 3 individual scenes, Drake 2, and Hana 1. Why hasn't Maxwell gotten one yet???

• I feel like next chapter we won't get a Liam scene, and that's more than okay. He's gotten two major scenes in two consecutive weeks, it's time for the rest to get some attention now.

• Next chapter is Chapter 8! In Books 1 and 2 these chapters ended up being the one where all the LIs got a diamond scene each (hot-tub/piano/cellar at Lythikos, and runway/Eiffel Tower/meeting Savannah in Paris). There's a chance that might happen, except maybe the scenes may be given to Hana, Maxwell (I hope!) and Drake. That is...if the writers remember Maxwell is an LI and deserves individual scenes 😒

#the royal romance #liam x mc #king liam of cordonia #trr liam #lady hana lee #lord maxwell beaumont #drake walker #duchess olivia nevrakis of lythikos #countess madeleine of fydelia #lady penelope of portavira #lady kiara of castelsarreillan #duchess esther dupont of valtoria #cordonia #castelsarreillan #trr quick thoughts #quick thoughts #long post

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