&&.@carmenbelemonte
Nervous couldn’t have been the right word. No, Sebastián Navarette wasn’t nervous at all. Upset maybe, frustrated? Definitely. For his parents had only ever brought up the idea of a betrothal to him in the past. He wasn’t sure that they would ever actually follow through on their word. But knowing how strong-willed they were, he shouldn’t have been so surprised to find out the news that he was going to meet his betrothed today. They hadn’t said if he already knew her or not, but it wasn’t as if there was an overpopulation of Latinx noble families in Candoris. And with the borders closed off indefinitely, their reach couldn’t have exactly extended that far. Maybe he had been nervous, for her sake of course. There were plenty of arranged marriages that had gone right, where both parties would fall in love with each other. He just didn’t think that this was the case. For his heart had belonged to someone else. It had for a long time now. He guessed he couldn’t exactly be mad at his parents though. They simply wanted grandchildren, and he wasn’t entirely sure that was something Safiya had wanted anyways. Maybe it was for the better, if only it meant that they would stop pressuring him and begging him to finally get started with his life.
Seb wasn’t going to give a poor impression though, he had been dressed in his finest suit. It wouldn’t be fair to the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with. He was not a malicious person, and while this wasn’t his decision, there was no need to make it any more difficult for the other party. He was sure that whoever his parents had picked for him would have deserved happiness all the same as he had always craved. And Sebastián wouldn’t be the kind of person he was today if that meant he wouldn’t sacrifice his own happiness for the sake of another’s. So he would do what he had done his entire life-- he would give his all to this woman so that at least one of them could be happy. The cards that his parents had hand selected for his deck of life were never cards he had wanted to draw, but there was no use in everyone suffering.
It was arranged to be a blind date almost. Of course, the parents would be there initially to introduce the pair of them to each other, but they had wanted the interaction to be as natural as possible. Which was sort of hypocritical considering that they had picked out a person for each of them to spend the rest of their lives together with without so much of a warning. He stood in the foyer with his mother and father, hands clutched together behind his back as they waited for the arrival of his new betrothed. His mother turned to him, bring a finger up to his hair, twisting one of the curls back that had fallen out of place. This he hadn’t protested much, it was something she had been doing to him ever since he was a young boy, to that same pesky curl that would never fall like the rest of them.
However, when she licked her finger to wipe something off of his face, he pulled away. “Ay mami,” he brought his hand to swat hers away from his face, “está bien.” The tone in his voice was playful, laced with a little bit of frustration. No matter how old he had been, his mother was always going to do the things she had done to him as a child. “Solo quiero asegurarme de que te ves lo mejor posible. Tu esposa para ser es muy hermosa,” his mother mused for a moment before she tried reaching her hand up to the same spot again. Seb scoffed as he pulled away, giving his mother a slight smile before his attention had been drawn to the door.
He stood back, watching his parents go to hers exchanging hugs and words of gratitude. At least my parents and hers get along. We’ll never have to worry about the in laws fighting with one another, he thought to himself. After they had said their hellos it was time for them to meet. He let his eyes fall on her, and it was true what his mother had said-- she was awfully beautiful. Her features were soft, her smile was kind. If he had to live a life with someone at least she was beautiful. Without thinking much about it, he reached for her hand, bringing it up to his lips to press a gentle kiss upon the top of her hand. “You look lovely,” he mused before giving her hand back to her. “Sebastián Navarette, except that sounds too formal. You can call me Seb if you like.”