(Note: This is the last essay in my series on Hana’s diamond scenes for Book 1. I will be posting the Book 2 scenes shortly. Sorry for the deluge of essays, guys! I did this in such a hurry mainly to ensure I didn’t have too much backlog with her Book 2 essays. Like Liam’s, I’d like to post Hana’s essays as soon as the chapter is done. If you have missed the other scenes, check out my masterlist and you’ll find all of them there).
The group scenes are a lot of fun because they give you a good idea of the dynamics running between Liam, Maxwell, Hana, Drake and the MC, outside of their romantic interactions with her. In Book 1, Hana and the MC are still getting to know the three Cordonian men, whose bond goes way back and who already have developed a comfortable equation amongst themselves.
Cronut Run
The cronut run would be especially special to a Hana shipper, because it’s the first time you see her expressing an interest in the MC that goes beyond friendship. Not only does Hana seem hopelessly attracted to the MC, she also looks extremely confused by her own reaction.
If you choose to walk back with her on the way to the palace, she tells you that she hasn’t been invited to parties or gatherings. This may have to do with her being new to Cordonia - since the MC hasn’t been invited either - or with the lingering effects of the scandal behind her engagement. In any case, it is interesting that we have this exchange so soon after the MC’s last chat with her, where she talks about playing tea parties with imaginary friends.
The overall picture we get of Hana is that of a talented, beautiful, lonely, isolated woman, who hasn’t had many friends in her life.
Beach Bae
This really is a scene that unlocks if you wear the swimsuit at the beach party, and involves only Drake and Hana. The Beach Party chapter happens midway through the story, following Constantine’s dramatic resignation announcement. It serves as a breather after a slew of chapters where a whirlwind of events take place, and just before the Applewood chapters, where the competition becomes even more frenzied. The announcement changes the pace and intensity of the competition itself, considering that Liam’s wife-to-be will become Queen, not Crown Princess. It is essential therefore, to give the characters, and the reader, a much-needed break before the real drama happens.
If the MC buys the Beach Bae outfit, she gets to swim in the ocean with both Drake and Hana. Hana and the MC playfully attack Drake by throwing water at him, and Drake challenges her to a swimming race, which Hana volunteers to judge. If the MC wins, Hana dives to the bottom to give her her prize. (Correction: she gives the MC the shell even if the MC loses)
Drake, on the other hand, gets a sand dollar 😂
There’s not much to this sequence, besides some good old-fashioned fun in the sun with two of the main LIs.
Drake’s Birthday
When it comes to Hana, the birthday party at the American bar is all about learning to be imperfect. She feels nervous about dancing in the club because it’s not a choreographed dance routine that she knows the steps to, and she hesitated for a second in riding the mechanical bull because she doesn’t think she will be good at it. In both instances, it is her friends who convince her to loosen up and just enjoy herself, and not worry about what other people think. Drake’s birthday party is important for Hana because it teaches her the fun in being bad at something, for a change.
The Ruins
Each love interest has a different reaction to the ruins. Drake scoffs at them, Maxwell wonders what stories he could make up, Liam contemplates on the weight of his country’s history. Hana, on the other hand, looks at the mosaics and wonders at their hidden stories. She asks the MC whether she would have been an artist, or had a poem or work of art dedicated to her had she lived so long ago. Would she have a story that would survive the test of time? Would she be proud of the artist whose work she now admires, or be disgusted at them? Her questions seem similar to Liam’s, with one subtle difference: Liam asks about the possible legacy he may leave behind, Hana wonders at what the common man on the ancient street would have thought of her.
Truth or Dare
The MC and her friends play this game after the Beaumont Bash is over, hoping to take a breather from the wildness of the festivities. There are three things Hana can (if chosen) play a part in while the game is on:
1. If the MC chooses “truth”, Maxwell asks her who she would rather be stuck on an island with. Hana’s first reaction, if the MC picks her, is shock and nervousness. “Wouldn’t you grow tired of me after a while?” Part of this, I feel, stems from the fact that she has lived a mostly isolated life, surrounded by people who value her only for her usefulness in certain things. She also compares herself to Drake (“sarcastic”) and Maxwell (“funny”), and finds herself lacking. It is hard for her even now to believe that people want her for her, as a person.
2. When Maxwell asks her about her first kiss. Here we get a glimpse of exactly how lacking in chemistry Peter and Hana were, and how awkward the entire situation itself was. Also, it is interesting to note that her parents seemed more worried about her ruined dress than either Peter’s condition or whether the couple even wanted to kiss in public in the first place. The MC, at this stage, has the option of “doing over” Hana’s first kiss, and giving her an experience she deserves.
3. The MC also gets to choose whether Hana or Drake will streak in the ballroom, and whether they should join in. This is another experience Hana is not used to, which she finds strangely liberating.
Book 1 presents the MC and her friends at a stage in their lives where things haven’t gotten too entirely serious yet, where amidst the frenzy of the social season there is time for laughter and fun and childlike things. Liam can climb out of his window to visit a cronut shop, Maxwell can teach Hana the sprinkler, Drake can show off on the mechanical bull, Hana can play Truth and Dare. In Book 2, the stakes are higher and their mission immersed in intrigue. Their reactions to situations are different. The way they handle people are different. They are different. With the end of Liam’s coronation, and the beginning of the MC’s difficult journey towards clearing her name - it is almost as if an era has ended.
