Aqua really was not happy about this state of affairs at all.
‘Marriage’ was really never an institution Aqua had ever wanted to be a part of. Of course she knew she was the only adult princess of Liber in her generation, but she was a Keybearer! She had a right to dedicate her life to that calling, princess or not. Terra and Ven were equally angry at the situation. Aqua suspected even her mother was unhappy with it, despite her politic words about it.
But it was her uncle the King who wanted a marriage alliance, and none of them were in a position to tell him no. Aqua would have to find some way out of it. But for now, her duty was to be polite. Prince Lea himself hadn’t done anything wrong, after all. Aqua forced herself to pay attention and pasted on a polite smile.
“Oh, this and that,” she said, avoiding the question a bit. It wasn’t that Aqua didn’t know how to have fun, but it wasn’t…exactly a priority in her life. “Actually, most of my time is taken up with my duties. What do you prefer to do?” A deflection; if the Prince was talking about himself, Aqua wouldn’t have to.
‘This and that’ sounded suspiciously like ‘none of the above.’ And Lea groaned inwardly at the thought of duties. At least maybe things would line up for them if she considered this, too, some kind of duty, but Lea reeled back from the thought of actually raising heirs or any of that business.
“I get kinda swamped with that too,” he said, figuring it made more sense to be honest with his disinclination than not. “My cousins all get off easy on that stuff, but it’s different for me. Still, we spend a lot of time together when we can, sparring, sailing, swimming...” Messing with the more pompous nobility and sneaking out of the castle in the dead of night, but that probably wasn’t good to mention with an audience. And it wasn’t, either, that Lea had ever been much of a fan of the ocean, but certain things became unavoidable on an island nation. “Same with my brothers--uh. My brother and sister, I mean,” he corrected. “You’ve got a kid brother, too, right?” he asked, leaning his chin in his hand. “What’s he like?”
