Almost a Confession

All eyes and heads in the room turn to Cynane. Her palms start sweating as she feels the heavy gaze of the men at her. Judging by their reaction, they are obviously curious to know what kind of man does the General and Princess of Macedea likes. There is so much pressure on her shoulders. It does not also help that Michal is literally seating beside her.

'How did it come to this? Why am I suddenly being cornered? And why would brother ask that question in the first place?!' Cynane is screaming in her head. She glares at her brother, and he just smirks at her.

'How on earth am I supposed to answer this? The man I like? Well, guess what, he is right beside me.'

"You do not have to answer princess Cynane if you feel uncomfortable with it", Joram says. Cynane looks at him and gives him a smile of gratitude. Again, he just proves to Cynane that he is indeed a friend who is always there to save her whenever she needs him.

"Hmmmmm. But honestly, I do want to know what kind of man does our princess like."

Cynane frowns at Michal. She cannot figure out what his intention is for asking the question. Does he really want to know? Or does he just want to embarrass Cynane?

"Well, if you insist, then I shall tell you. My ideal man is..." Everyone leans on the table and focuses on Cynane. They all wait intently for her answers like puppies waiting for their mother to feed them.

"...is my brother."

"What?!" Michal exclaims in astonishment.

"Whoaaa. Calm there now princess, you must be kidding right?" Joram asks in disbelief.

'Things are going into a very weird direction now. Shall I go home?' Count Esteban thinks to himself. He has that usual unfazed look on his face.

"I am serious Duke Vernan", Cynane replies. She looks at her brother, and the look on his face in unexplainable.

"You do realize that that sounds inappropriate, don't you?" Joram responds.

Cynane cannot contain it anymore. She cackles at the men's reactions. "Calm down gentlemen. You do not honestly think that I meant it literally, do you? What I mean is that my ideal type of man is someone like my brother - a man who is wise, kind and reliable."

Kaliso nods in agreement at Cynane's explanation. "That makes total sense princess. Of course, your type of man would be just like one of your role models in your life, your brother. That I must say is a good taste. As expected from our princess, you have a high standard. Can there be a better husband than a man like our king?"

What Cynane said is half true. To her, the perfect husband is a man like her brother. She has seen how her brother treasures and loves his wife. Not only that, but he is indeed a very wise and reliable man, the kind of man that Cynane would not mind submitting to. That is her ideal man but the man that she is actually in love with is the total opposite of it. He is everything but her ideal type. She knows that and yet she still cannot grasp why he is the one that her heart wants. What is it that made her like him in the first place? Is it because of his face?

Cynane suddenly turns her face towards Michal who is seating beside her, catching him off guard. She studies his face - beautiful ocean blue eyes, long eyelashes, red lips, defined cheeks and jaw, and a snow-white hair - he is indeed a beautiful man. That is something that Cynane cannot deny, but she knows that what she feels for him is more than just about his outward appearance. It is deeper than that.

"What?" Michal asks, raising one of his eyebrows.

Cynane shakes her head. "Nothing. I was just thinking how ugly you are", she mumbles so that only her and Michal can hear her.

"Well, you're quite in the mood to fight tonight, aren't you?" Michal replies in amusement.

"That is enough chatter about our tastes in men and women. Now let us talk about something else that has something to do with taste. How about we feed ourselves now?" Filip picks his fork and lightly hits his glass. Several servants enter the room right away, bringing trays of food.

"Enjoy the food everyone. Let's dig in."

After eating their meals, the gentlemen proceed to talk about other matters. Seeing that Cynane has no room in their conversations, she stands from her seat and excuses herself.

"Excuse me gentlemen, but I shall be leaving now. Enjoy the rest of the night."

"Have a good night princess", Kaliso replies. He is followed by Count Piere. "Good night princess."

Cynane turns to Michal, expecting for him to also wish her a good night, but she gets none. He only nods at her and continues with his conversation with Kaliso. Cynane lets out a sigh. 'What am I even expecting? Honestly?' she thinks to herself.

"Thank you for joining us tonight sister. Have a pleasant night", the king follows.

"Thank you too, brother", she answers and bows her head. She is about to leave the room when Joram suddenly stands on his feet as well.

"I would love to continue our discourse tonight but I'm afraid I must leave now as well. Though I mentioned earlier that one of my men who is ill is already fine, I am still worried about him. So, please allow me to excuse myself now fellow gentlemen, and my king."

"I understand Duke Vernan. You need not to worry. Please do notify me as soon as possible about your servant's condition."

"Of course, my king. Again, I give you my sincere gratitude."

With that, Cynane leaves the room and Joram follows her. As soon as they were outside, Cynane grabs Joram's arm and drags him at the corner of the building.

"Why didn't you tell me that you are actually the new minister of finance? And more than that, why has nobody told me? Brother and Michal are obviously aware of it, so why didn't they tell me?" Cynane asks out of frustration. She feels kind of upset that she was the only one who did not know about it in the room earlier. Somehow, it makes her feel as if she is really stupid. In fact, being in that room just showed her again that even if she is one of the generals of the kingdom, she has really no place in their world. Seating there and listening to their conversations made her feel so out of place, as if she was not needed there and that she was useless.

"Hey now, please don't cry", Joram says nervously as he sees the look on Cynane's face. She is in the verge of crying, but she bites her lip, suppressing herself. He cups her cheeks and caresses her gently. "I'm sorry. I did not know that it would make you feel this upset. I told them not to tell you because I wanted to surprise you."

"It's fine. It's just that I felt so left out and out of place there", Cynane admits. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be acting like this. This is so childish of me. This is embarrassing."

"You do not have to apologize. You can be as childish as you want around me. You know that I won't judge you, and besides, I understand what you feel. I won't do it again. I promise."

"Okay. I believe you." Cynane replies with an innocent smile on her face. When Joram promises something, he does it. He has always had since they were young and so Cynane would always respond with the same words 'I believe you'. Joram returns the smile and pulls Cynane gently towards his chest. A man standing a few meters away from them stares at the two before disappearing in the darkness.