The whole town of Sea Meet came out to watch their princess get married. Well, they came for the duel between Aurelia and Zinjo. At the beginning of their adventure, Aurelia felt great swarms of butterflies in her stomach at the very sight of Zinjo. The moments before the duel brought the same feeling to the princess.
She peered across the dueling yard at the local guardhouse. Aurelia's enhanced hearing picked up on all the people who bet against her. Three-quarters of the crowd came to see Zinjo victorious over aurelia. Once upon a time, such actions would've crushed her spirit. Today it left her with a deep thirst to prove herself.
Ayasu and Sophie approached the princess and smiled. The elder lioness held a red paste in her hand, "I will now apply the ceremonial markings." She dipped two fingers in the paste. Aurelia's nose detected fruit of some kind, "Zinjo is excited. I don't think he's stopped smiling since this morning."