Soon eight heads gathered and they all started to talk to Leticia.
“What was his name again? Li? Lans?”
“Les Kishir. I heard he is a gentry?”
“I heard he was the top graduate in Beurwinsel and he’s from the same graduating batch as His Majesty the Prince.”
“Ah, is that why he was assigned to that unit?
“But besides his award he has nothing to his name, right? So where did he get the guts to reject the princess?”
“I wasn’t rejected!” She finally interjected.
“Oh please! We could hear your conversation from here. Why are you trying to deny a fact?”
They shooed the princess away and gathered closer to continue their giggling and discussion. Leticia nervously bit her lip as she could, her father crying out indignantly in the back of her head, saying how the reputation of the royal family had fallen. She didn’t necessarily want to join them but she didn’t enjoy the feeling of being isolated. So, she vented out her rage on the reporters around them that were busy flashing their cameras.
“I never gave you permission to take any photos! Ah! Stop it, really!”
The reporters of course weren’t going to be so obedient when there was a scoop right in front of them. Instead, they bombarded her with questions.
“Princess, is it true that this is the first time you’ve been rejected at a dance?”
“It was a different partner as compared to your usual choices, is it because he is the deputy of your brother’s unit?”
“Stop trying to come up with a story.” She frowned at them as hard as she could but the flash parade continued.
Coincidentally the king had called on all the reporters to advertise the victory banquet, so political and gossip reporters alike gathered around her like moths drawn to a fire. She bit on her lip as she could foresee the large headlines of tomorrow’s paper.
‘Damn it I am screwed today. Screwed for good.’
“Princess, please give us an answer. There is a rumor that your chosen partner of the evening leaked confidential information to the enemy. Were you going to spend the night with him?”
“No! I was being polite! And what is your name and the company that you work for? I should sue you for sexual harassment! You have no right to ask me that question!”
“This sounds like it does not support the citizens’ right to know. Is this a royal statement?”
Leticia felt like she had hit a wall and knew that she wouldn’t be able to answer them logically, so she emptied a glass of wine and tried to move away. The guards, sensing the chaos, quickly formed a human wall between her and the reporters.
“Princess! Princess! The question!”
“Please answer us! Your citizens require an explanation!”
“You cannot restrict the press of their freedom of speech!”
She heard the shouting voices over the human wall. Leticia shuddered in disgust and quickly left the banquet hall. Normally she would have posed in front of the cameras and answered their questions and enjoyed the attention. But for now, they all looked like insects that she wanted to crush.
‘Damn it, what a wreck’
Tomorrow, Linsy would probably whine about not being on the first page of the news and her father would be enraged at how his son was not getting the attention after all the money and effort he had poured in.
This was all because of Les Kishir. There was never a partner who had rejected her, even if they were her foes. But since she had failed to realize that he had a disabled leg she couldn’t freely curse him as she wished to.
“Argh! Damn it!” She groaned in annoyance.
She roughly loosened her elaborately braided hair and pulled out all the hair pins as she rustled her hair with her hand. She pulled at her hair and bit her lip while walking up and down the dark corridor of the palace.
She will find Les Kishir and apologize. Pretend the rejection never happened, seduce him again and make him beg at her feet.
“Perfect.” She grinned at her brilliant plan.
There was no one on this earth who could reject Leticia Levenstein twice.
She felt proud of her plan and couldn’t help but feel excited. Once her mind was set, her footsteps quickened. The crystal palace was used only for retreats or royal activities and opened up for the summer, so it wasn’t that large. Meaning there were only so many places Les Kishir could be hiding to avoid the crowd. The crystal palace, befitting of its title, had crystals along the corridor, blooming underneath the lights from between the colored crystals reflected off the milky white hallways and walls.
She searched a few rooms and shocked a few couples making love or those doing drugs and had the guards kick them out. Soon she had reached the beach. To her surprise, someone seemed to be drowning…