“Please princess, you can’t! His majesty—“

Bam!

“Father!” Kalista Grey flung open the door to her father’s study and stormed inside. Her silver hair that was pulled into a high ponytail fluttered gracefully past the two frantic guards standing outside the door to the study. Her piercing hazel eyes sparkled and flitted over the various occupants of the room before landing on the tall, regal figure of her own father, King Zale Grey.

She slammed a newspaper down on the desk in front of where her father stood and glowered at him. Kalista shared the same silver hair and hazel eyes of the king. However, her face was softer and more delicate. She had small plump lips and a dainty pointed nose unlike her father’s thin lips and broader long nose. She had her mother to thank for her defining features. In contrast with her beauty, her outrage made her appear as if she was the goddess of war, beautiful yet deadly, graceful yet ferocious.

On the front of the newspaper were the headlines: “All Eligible Bachelors in Town for the Princess’s 18th Birthday, Who Will Be the Lucky Man?” While the headline was cringe in itself, Kalista was more concerned over the implications of the article over the originality of title.

“I refuse.” She declared coldly, ignoring the dead silence in the room and staring straight into her father’s eyes.

Her father sighed, and indicated with a hand for those in the room to be dismissed. “Marquis Elton, we will continue the discussion tomorrow,” he said unwavering to an older man in his 60s.

Kalista glanced over to the nobleman, who nodded and bowed first to her father, then to her two brother’s who’d she’d ignored up to this point, and then to her. “Your Majesty (to her father), Your Royal Highness (to the crown prince), Prince Iakobos, Princess Kalista.”

 When the door to the study finally closed, her father signed and sat down and looked gloomily up at her. “Kalista, that was inappropriate,” he reprimanded her, but she knew the tone he took wasn’t one of anger and so she quickly moved back to the topic at hand.

“I absolutely refuse to attend a party where I’ll be gawked at like some prize at an auction.” Kalista responded, this her eyes traveled from her father to her two brothers who stood to the left of her the desk. Her gaze finally landed on the shorter of the two, her second brother, Prince Iakobos Grey.

“Father, this is ridiculous,” her brother retorted in response to her look, “Kalista overstepped her boundaries today. A girl—“

“Excuse me?” Kalista raised an eyebrow at Iakobos, her tone was icy and piercing. She rarely saw eye to eye with her second brother, and his exclamation was just another reason why she couldn’t get along with him.

“You interrupted a matter of great importance!” Iakobos retorted, stepping forward in fury. He had the same silver hair as everyone descended from the royal family, but instead of matching hazel eyes as Kalista and her father, his eyes were deep black.

“Please,” Kalista rolled her eyes, “I know old man Elton was only there to coax father into granting him money for one of his so called “projects benefiting to the kingdom”.” She said the last part sarcastically, emphasizing how little she regarded Marquis Elton. Anyone who knew the Marquis knew he spewed nonsense and was a promiscuous gambler. But Kalista knew the only reason her father even batted an eye at the old man was because of the title he held. Kalista quickly wondered what the purpose of such a title was if the one carrying the title didn’t live up to the name.

“How—“ Iakobos started but was quickly interrupted by the loud laughter behind him.

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“Ahaha, that’s my sister for you,” the other young man exclaimed through his chuckles. Kalista’s cold expression melted away as she looked at her dear elder brother, Vasilios, the first prince of Ethaossi, and the Crown Prince. He had the same silver hair and hazel eyes as Kalista. His long wavy hair was pulled into a ponytail bounded by a golden cuff and hung over his left shoulder. He was taller than Iakabos, inheriting his mother’s lanky figure; and while his face was sharper than Kalista’s, it still possessed softness rare for most men. It was clear that while all three were siblings, Kalista and Vasilios were more closely related—which was unsurprising as both were blood siblings, birthed from the Queen.

“Brother,” Kalista acknowledge lovingly and her sweet lips curled up into a smile. Kalista and Vasilios were born 4 years apart, but they had always shared a tight bond since childhood. And out of the entire royal family, she believed and trusted him the most. Similarly, Vasilios reciprocated her trust equally with his own.

Growing up, Kalista and Vasilios shared everything. They attended classes together, mocked battled with swords, and debated over various matters. Since Vasilios became the Crown Prince, Kalista had supported him behind the scenes many times and him her. Out of all her siblings, Kalista knew she loved Vasilios the most. The only flaw she couldn’t turn a blind eye to was Vasilios’s perchance for beautiful woman—a flaw that she would often openly complain about, to which he would respond with a gorgeous smile and his most common phrase “what’s life without a bit of pleasure”.

However, this time, it was Vasilios who had given her the heads up. He had greeted her this morning during her private breakfast with the newspaper and an amused grin on his face. She had already complained to him that morning, and was about to see her father immediately before Vasilios suggested she pay her visit when Marquis Elton planned to visit in the afternoon. “Father would never admit it, but it’ll be a good excuse to free him from that old man’s stupid pestering.” Vasilios had defended his suggestion.

Kalista rolled her eyes, and readdressed the king. “Father, I don’t know where this silly rumor started, but I’m not looking for a husband. I won’t marry anyone who is less capable than me, or someone who is weaker than me, and I certainly won’t marry for political reasons.” Kalista declared confidently. There were few men of her caliber. From her youth, she had accompanied her brother in academic, military, and political training; she had excelled in all three subjects and even Vasilios’s brilliance could not compete with her immense talent. While she often she didn’t often stand in the spotlight—since her mother would always reprimand her for her unladylike conduct—all of her father’s closest advisors knew her contributions. Only recently, she had drafted a tariff and a negotiation plan between their Kingdom of Ethaossi and their neighbor, Karelith.

King Zale sighed again and spoke with a soothing voice, “Kalista, your mother and I worry about you.” He raised a hand before Kalista could respond. “We would never force you to marry against your will, but it’s never hurts to have a look, right?” He continued softly, tilting his head, “furthermore, this is not just any birthday, it’s the First Princess of Ethaossi’s 18th birthday. Of course everyone important has been invited and will be there.”

Kalista sniffled, a little peeved that her father had used her position against her. Despite how much she disregarded titles, she couldn’t abandon her so called responsibilities.

King Zale smiled, immediately recognizing Kalista’s change of mood. “The paper just loves to exaggerate, if you really oppose, I guess we could cancel it…”

Kalista immediately snapped back into focus. Canceling would mean hundreds of handwritten letters filled with appreciation for them coming and regret for canceling last minute. “No, no, no, don’t cancel it.” She quickly interjected, shaking her head.  If anything, if she went along with the planned party, she would only have to do her due diligence in socializing with some big nobles and ambassadors. The alternative was a hundred times more painful.

“Excellent, then everything will continue as planned. Brother Iakabos, would you reach out to the papers and let them know that they’d overstepped, writing about our sister?” Vasilios declared lightly, deeming the conversation concluded.

King Zale gave a nodding approval and Iakabos nodded stiffly once in response.

Kalista frowned as she picked up on Vasilios’s slight smile. He had a similar smile in the morning when he had first given her the paper. It wasn’t his typical courteous smile, but it had a kind of smug satisfaction behind it. Almost as if he had expected the conversation to turn out this way, and that he was pleased it did.

But giving no further thought to the matter, Kalista curtsied and turned to exit the room. Whether or not Vasilios had some ulterior motive, she doubted it be anything past one of his mischievous plots he used to entertain her.