A Room Full of Bureaucrats
This is my first shot at writing Midnight Cinderella fanfic so I hope I did it justice and people enjoy it!
Leo sat in a room full of paranoid bureaucrats, tapping his foot on the floor and drumming his fingers against the desk, anything to keep him from dying of boredom. The people that surrounded him were arguing about what to do about the looming ‘threat’ that was the kingdom of Stein. Leo personally saw no reason to fear the mysterious nation or its young king. From his studies, he had found that the king of Stein, Byron Wagner, was a beloved king that in no way resembled his father when it came to ruling techniques. Unfortunately for him, none of the other bureaucrats bothered to keep their knowledge up to date - that is, none of the men did.
Leo glanced over to the other side of the room, where a young woman sat, flipping through the pages of a book. Her legs were slung over the side of the chair, her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her eyes were moving fast as she took in the words as quickly as she could. She wore a long, sapphire blue coat over a plain white blouse, black pants, and a pair of black, nearly knee high boots. One hand toyed with a small pendant hanging from her neck while the other supported her book.
She was closest to Leo in age, maybe a year or two younger, but also closest, if not equal, to him in intelligence. Anytime he bumped into her in the hallways, he saw her nose buried in a textbook of sorts as she tried to consume all the knowledge she could. He didn’t know her name, but, then again, he didn’t really pay attention to those in his bureaucracy. Maybe he would have to start paying attention to her.
His attention was drawn from the female bureaucrat when one of the older bureaucrats mentioned the new Princess Elect. The new princess had only been in the palace for a week or two, yet most of the bureaucracy was already pressuring her to find a prince consort. Leo found it ridiculous that they were pushing the young girl to marry after only a few weeks of living in the palace. Sadly, he was having trouble convincing his fellow bureaucrats to see it from his point of view.
“We could have our princess marry their king. Not only would that eradicate the fear of war among the citizens, but it would give Wysteria a powerful ally to call upon in times of need,” an older bureaucrat declared.
“I agree!” another man chimed in. “Should we send word of our decision to the chamberlain?”
The room burst into chatter as everyone began debating the pros and cons to the idea currently on the table. Am I going to have to step in? Leo sighed and decided that he had to step in on the Princess Elect’s behalf. He could not let these imbeciles decide the princess’ fate for her.
“Pardon me, gentlemen,” a cool, soft voice interrupted. The only other sensible bureaucrat in the room had decided to pay attention and step in. Leo watched as the young woman got out of her chair to stand before the group of men. “Personally, I don’t believe that we should be making these sorts of decisions, especially not without consulting our princess first.”
Leo felt an urge to figure out the woman standing before the group of men. She eluded confidence and passion whilst keeping the facade of being calm and collected in front of the judgemental glares of the bureaucracy.
The female bureaucrat barely flinched under the harsh stares of the arrogant men that surrounded her. “Think logically,” she insisted. “The Princess Elect has had no time to learn the proper etiquette for royalty, much less fall in love or even begin the search for a prince consort. What makes you think that you have the right to choose her partner? What gives you the right to decide someone’s life for them? The Princess hasn’t even been here a month, and you’re already pressuring her to wed. She has enough on her shoulders, don’t you think?”
The bureaucrats scoffed and rolled their eyes at what they thought to be a foolish girl letting her emotions get the best of her. Leo watched her carefully, silently agreeing with every word that came out of her mouth. This woman was eloquent and intelligent, everything about her screamed sophisticated. She thought rationally but took in the emotions of those that could potentially be affected by her ideas.
Leo’s eyes flitted from face to face, each displaying a look of impatience, arrogance, and lack of empathy. They wanted results and nothing more. “I agree,” he said, drawing the attention away from the young bureaucrat. He leaned forward and rested his chin in his palm, taking in the gazes of the other men. “She has multiple points. Our new princess has barely set foot in the palace. She knows very little about royal etiquette. In addition, I personally do not see Stein as a threat.”
“Yes! Precisely!” the young woman replied ecstatically. Her cheeks turned a light pink color as she realized how loud her outburst had been. She quickly composed herself before continuing. “The Kingdom of Stein may have posed a threat with the former king, but their new king has a completely different strategy when it comes to ruling his nation. He has shown no sign of becoming violent with Wysteria.” She briefly looked in Leo’s direction. “If your arrogance will not allow you to listen to me, then listen to him.” She gestured to Leo, who raised his eyebrows, smiled, and waved at the unamused men in front of him.
“Arrogance?” a middle aged man sneered. “You are quite bold, young lady. Bold and foolish. Don’t you realize that you are far outnumbered here?”
“Well I-”
“You are here because your father has no son. Since your father is a highly respected man, we decided to honor his wish to have his daughter, who he insisted was as intelligent as any man, take his place. But that can change in an instant.”
“You don’t seem to realize that our Princess-”
“Is expected to do as needed for her kingdom.”
“Is human!”
Leo was amazed by the determination that this young woman possessed. He sat back in his chair, his index finger trapped between his teeth as he watched her work. He had to get to know this woman.
“Your emotions are getting the best of you-”
“And your’s aren’t?” The female bureaucrat snapped back. “Everything you have discussed today has surrounded your fear of a war that is unlikely to occur. Fear is an emotion! It guides all of your thought processes! Not reason, intelligence, or whatever it is that you think guides your decision making! Fear!”
Intelligence guides her. Leo grinned and watched her in awe. Her eyes glinted with a mixture of anger and passion. Leo could practically see the gears turning in her head as she carefully calculated her words. He could see her asking herself how can I get these assholes to understand? over and over again. At one point, he could see her frustration building. Her patience was wearing thin. The bureaucrats were exhausting her mentally.
“Gentlemen, if I may,” Leo began as he stood. “I agree with everything this intelligent young woman has said so far. In addition, I don’t believe that the chamberlain would be pleased to know that we spent so much time discussing something that could easily be fixed by sending an invitation to the King of Stein to a meeting with our new Princess.” He glanced at the young bureaucrat that stood near the front of the room. She had a soft, almost shy smile on her face as she brushed a single piece of hair that had freed itself from her ponytail behind her ear. Leo found himself smiling as well. He had done something good. Not only that, but his good deed had helped the attractive, intriguing bureaucrat that stood before him.
“Very well,” the eldest bureaucrat sighed. “We shall send word to the chamberlain to send an invite to the young King of Stein and prepare the Princess Elect for her first encounter with another nation. This concludes our meeting. Thank you, gentlemen.” The eldest glanced towards the woman standing at the front of the table and begrudgingly added, “and lady.”
The men in the room quickly filed from the room until it was just Leo and the female bureaucrat. “That was really something,” Leo told her as she went to retrieve her book from her chair. “You were fantastic.”
The young woman turned and gasped when she saw the charming bureaucrat’s face was just inches from her. She licked her lips and watched as Leo’s crimson eyes followed the quick movement with an intense gaze. “You think so?”
She’s nervous. Leo smirked at the thought. He nodded slowly. “You know it, babe.” Her cheeks turned a slightly darker shade of pink than before. He took notice that she refused to meet his eyes. Is she intimidated by me? Leo thought it was adorable that the woman who could go head to head with some of the most influential bureaucrats in the nation but was intimidated by him. He chuckled and nodded to the book in her hands. “You studied for todays meeting.”
Her eyes scanned the title of her book before nodding. “I have to study. None of these men take me seriously solely because of my gender. I thought that, if I knew what I was talking about, then maybe I could actually have some say in these discussions.” She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “Obviously, today didn’t go as planned.”
Leo smirked and said, “Well these men aren’t exactly the best audience to test out your superior intelligence.”
The young bureaucrat before him giggled and finally looked up to meet his eyes that were filled with mischief. “What do you suggest then?” she asked.
Leo needed an excuse to get her alone. There was something about her that he found addicting. It could have been her intelligence, her unquenchable thirst for knowledge, her capability to hold her own, or her soft, shy side that Leo couldn’t help but find adorable. Her eyes were captivating, and Leo had a hard time tearing his eyes away from her lips, especially when she spoke. He smirked and moved their faces closer together. “Easy,” he whispered. “My office is right down the hall. Care to rendezvous after dinner?”
The sweet, young bureaucrat’s curious eyes finally met the charming bureaucrat’s taunting crimson eyes that dared her to refuse. His gaze sent chills down her spine. The woman gulped and slowly nodded. “It’d be a pleasure.”
Leo smirked triumphantly and bowed to the young bureaucrat before him. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“As am I.” The woman curtsied and then left, leaving Leo alone in the room.
He watched her leave before he quickly walked down the hall to his office. He scanned the titles of the countless novels and textbooks that occupied his bookshelves. “Here it is,” he murmured, pulling a thick textbook with a black cover out from among the others. He sat down in his chair and propped his feet up on the desk. He dug his glasses out of his front pocket, put them on, and opened the book. His eyes skimmed the pages as he attempted to refresh his memory on many aspects of the history of Stein. Deep down, he knew that the young, female bureaucrat was more intelligent than he was. If he wanted to impress her, then he would need to do a quick cram session before their rendezvous.
He may or may not have ended up skipping dinner completely, but in his mind, it was worth it to look good in front of her.
