Kyle had just woken up not long ago, and had just finished getting dressed. He blushed hearing Aliana at the door. He opened it his face still a little red. "Um...I...I guess so..."
Aliana gently brushed a hair off Kyle's suit, then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and took his hand.
"I expect guests will be arriving shortly... shall we go down to the lobby and greet them?"
Kyle didn't seem entirely thrilled with that, but nodded. "Okay, I guess so..."
Aliana nodded and smiled, then led Kyle down the corridor, to the balcony overlooking the lobby. The servants had done a spectacular job of decorating this part of the castle - with lilies and white roses lining the edges of the room, and blue and gold curtains draped around the roofs, to represent both Lennart Kingdom and New Atlantis. A young male servant was standing next to a table of over a hundred glasses of red and white wine - while one of his female counterparts was standing ready to serve apple and orange juice.
Already, they spotted two couples waiting in the lobby. One was Prince Fyodor and Princess Sabine - who had got married not too long ago. Another was King Demas IV of Leocadio, with a beautiful gold-haired young lady whom Aliana didn't recognise.
"Kyle... do you who she is?" Aliana whispered, pointing to Demas's partner.
Kyle looked at the girl and shook his head. "Not really. I never really kept track of who other royals were really. Don't even remember who he is."
"That's King Demas IV," Aliana whispered. "We'd best keep him away from Henrik, if he comes. He's never liked any of the Demases... apparently he had a nasty falling-out with Demas I when he was still a prince, and he's kept the feud going for nearly 200 years now..."
She then looked awkwardly at Kyle. "Did we invite Henrik
?"
"Really? Isn't that kinda dumb?" Kyle said rolling his eyes. "And I don't remember if we did invite him or not...though wouldn't put it past him to show up either way..."
"Yeah, nor would I," Aliana agreed. "I hope our servants cooked enough biscuits..."
Demas and his partner then took a glass of orange juice each, and moved along into the Great Hall. A few minutes later, another coach arrived - this time bearing the characteristic black bear of Waldia. Out climbed Archduke Otto and his wife Annika, both in radiant silky green attire. Then came Rommel, who was smartly-dressed in his jet-black suit, but looking rather sorry for himself: he didn't have a partner.
Aliana snorted, and tried her best not to laugh. "Poor Rommel..." she whispered to Kyle. "He's so pathetic!!!"
“Why?” Kyle asked. “Just cause he’s by himself? Isn’t that kinda mean?”
"Yeah, but he's a prince," Aliana whispered. "Princes
always get girls! Well, maybe not Andy - but, we didn't invite him
..."
Meanwhile, Rommel turned nervously to his parents. "I will find a partner, won't I
?"