"You are the only one to truly be allowed to say no to the king." Hydrangea tells me as I'm sitting in the cafeteria eating. I have been busy practicing crossbows since I returned from the castle.
"Huh?" I watch as Hydrangea and Jessica come to my side. "Eat."
Hydrangea winces. "I had a meal with His Majesty. It always seems to come with a request. Taking the two of you riding outside of city limits doesn't sound like a real problem. Except I had to figure where you were."
"Oh." I had forgotten the request. "Father wanted us to have a date. Since I am not trying to progress a relationship with my contracted wife, I decided to use my time for other things."
Hydrangea slams her hands on my table. Jessica has gone for food. At least she knows to grab a bite when it's in front of her. "As I said, I cannot tell him no."
"Should I send him a letter then? Telling him to push off the date for another time at least? I'm not against the marriage. I just would rather it be considered a true contract not a relationship until we're much older."
Hydrangea pulls back as Jessica sits down with her tray. She was quick to gather food. "I will return in a few minutes. Eat well and stay here. I must take you riding."
I make a face at her once her back is turned. I don't mind riding, but having it be required.
"Thank you." Jessica has eaten her meal quickly. "Once I heard it was the king requiring it..."
"You are marked as crown princess. Deny him if you want. I'll back you up." I focus on my plate. "Isn't that one of the reasons you didn't fight the contract? You cannot be forced to follow the noble whims just because now. Something stupid like a horse riding date? When we're not even dating?"
Jessica sighs. "I don't mind the idea. I was just hoping for a meal first."
I stare at her. She's focusing on her plate now. "Horse riding outside of the capital or a date? Because I can't complain about horse riding. My father knew I'd accept it more than likely. I am not agreeing to a date. Not now. We'll lose our status as knights if we start seriously dating."
"I know that." Jessica pouts. "Obviously I meant casually horse riding. It's not training. We'll be free of public attention. Hydrangea will make sure no one can hurt us."
"Are you stressed by the princess titles?" I frown. I have always had the titles, but they'd be new to Jessica. She never asked for this. The weight of the titles... It was just another thing to make me wish for escape. Now though we can use the titles.
"I went from no one important in Warton to being crown princess? People couldn't even recall my face or name before this contract was signed. Now I have guards ready to react if someone does not give me right of way." Jessica covers her face. "This is more than I can handle."
"Now you get why I became an escape artist." I stand up. Jessica looks terrified I'll leave. "I'm done eating. Want me to handle your tray too?"
"Oh. Okay."
I sit back down without concerns. Jessica seems uneasy. "You need to ask yourself, Is this really needed? As a noble. As a human. As a princess.'" I review her flinch. "Hydrangea is caught in things because she is a noble lady. To make sure she can continue on as a knight first and foremost she needs my parents support. At any point my father can say ladies are unable to become knights. That just being female with a title, you cannot join."
"But!" Jessica stands up eyes wide.
I nod. "My grandfather changed that rule. Said denying someone for such reasons didn't make sense. If you go back until my great, great grandfather's reign, women weren't allowed to join even as commoners. It's not that there weren't any women here, but they pretended to be men while at their job. It was a open secret. I want to change things to have no gender connections. A child being of the house within five years means neither parent can be called. A noble seeking a child cannot be called either. Then if there is a child under ten, one parent must be allowed to stay home."
Jessica slowly sits back down. Her eyes are on the table not on me. "No gender marks..."
"The entire gender thing is how Telligence thought they had reason to fight. My great aunt was older than my grandfather. She was born of the wedding night. Why was she denied when the queen must do everything the same as the king? The title has no differences in our country."
"So... You want to remove gender from ascension as well?"
I nod. "It's already the case for nobles. Although many will pick a son if it was born second." It sounds stupid. The first born is the first born. But they use the allowances for bypassing the first born to skip a lady. "All they have to do is create a test that is near impossible for a noble to deny them the chance of lead position. Isn't that the case here as well? You need to prove health before going on mission. Some knights will deny a woman as long as she can bleed."
Jessica shivers. "I... Would be denied then."
"I know." I lean back. It's normal for a woman to bleed. And there can be reasons to suggest that is dangerous to bring on a mission. "I listened to Hydrangea when she was denied several different missions for that fact. Mom has a counter to bleeding, but you won't be allowed it."
"Until I have two children."
I nod. And given the current laws, children at all would deny her access to the knight hall. Removing gender only helps us. "Besides those being marked to lady of a house or queen, the curse can be used. It times out after six months, but can be reenacted after four months pass."
"Does it compound?"
"No. Most curses do not compound." Which is generally a good thing. "You are still unable to have it. Just like I wouldn't be able to get a infertility curse." All the more reason we need to hold off on serious dating. Not that I mind us being friendly. I want to be close. "Mom created it for Hydrangea's sake. Hydrangea is very dependent on my parents, so I know she'll always agree as long as someone important to her's death isn't on the line."
"I understand." Jessica sighs elbowing the table. "I would've been refused such a curse even before we signed the contract." Because the contract existed. Unless I found someone else, she was by default crown princess. Now she can act it because we both signed. Still... At fifteen... We're limited in our actions.
"And a horse riding date really isn't a problem. Sorry if I am looking at it as just horse riding."
Jessica glances at me. "I don't mind. I probably would have refuse a more date like situation."
"Father made this request because he knows in the end I'll agree. I get to leave the capital and ride a little. He knows my desires and habits." Hydrangea will agree because she has no choice. I will agree because I enjoy the action. Jessica doesn't seem to hate the concept either. "Would what you be interested in for these required dates? Pick items that can get us caught on occasion. Or would be noticed without fanfare."
"Like the opera?" She watches me. "I... I like to watch stage productions."
"Have you seen a ballet? Mom has taken me before. It's a battle in dance form. That's how he explained it and honestly... That's how I'll explain it."
"I'm intrigued." Jessica says.
I grin. "Yeah. Stage performances are good options. We can be together in the same area where people can see us, but we're not expected to really interact."
Jessica nods. So she thought of that. "I'll come up with other options."
"For now, we're faking this. Can you manage that?"
Jessica turns aside. "I can try."
Watching her doesn't get me an understanding as to why she says 'try'. We're true loves. Shouldn't that make this easy? Or... "Do you want to date me for real?" I shiver at her refusal to answer. "Sorry, Jessica. We need to just be friends for now. There are too many threats. Being called adults doesn't really mean we are."
"I know." She rubs her cheeks. I notice the redness there. It has me look aside as well. "It's not like I want anything special."
"We can date as Odin and Mom are. Or we can date as my parents. Or yours. But... we cannot truly start acting as if we're in love... And that's it. Act like it. If we are in love, that doesn't matter. We cannot act it. Okay? Can you handle that much?" I reach out for her hand.
She doesn't let me have her hand. Her refusal causes an ache in my chest. This will be tough. Fake dating my true love and contracted wife.
"Let's go." Hydrangea shows up looking between us. "Horse riding date. I need to give a full report of all your actions to His Majesty."
"Yeah. Okay." I stand up. Horse riding is fine. And this type of date won't even let us hold hands. We just need to pretend.