Love is sudden, stupid and makes about as much sense as a tartary lamb(look it up, humans are weird).
The following encounter is gonna be told three times: once from the perspective of Santiago Ecaredies, once from the perspective of Zhen Yue, and once from the perspective of Zhen Liu.
Because what others consider a moment of Cupid being Cupid, others consider it a moment of stupid being stupid.
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Santiago’s perspective.
Santiago was in the middle of combing sand out his hair when the arrival of a maidservant interrupted him. Seeing this internal messenger, he stopped combing and stood in attention, following in suit with his father and sister.
The maidservant cleared her throat before addressing the prince, his father.
"Apologies for the wait, Prince Carlos. May I present to you, Miss Zhen Yue and Master Zhen Liu."
The maidservant proceeded to step to the side, bowing all the while while opening an arm out in the way one does when presenting someone.
’Alright then, let’s see how this Zhen Yue loo...huh.’
In this exact moment, Santiago assumed he had died and gone to heaven, for only a goddess or an angel could be as beautiful as the woman before him.
’She’s...nothing as I expected.’
Santiago was long informed about how Zhen Yue looked, but was a tad skeptical on the accuracy. For whatever reason, they never sent a portrait of how she looked to him. Regardless, he was still royalty, and it was only proper to meet someone face to face before rejecting them. However, he soon realized it was a blessing to not receive a portrait, for no amount of painting ability would be able to accurately portray the beauty before him...to him at least.
He was stunned speechless as Zhen Yue walked closer and closer to him, but he managed to get his wits back just moments before having to make formal introductions.
"It’s nice to meet you, Santiago."
"Likewise, Miss Zhen Yue."
From what Santiago could recall from his lessons, "Yue" in Roaring Tide tongue meant "moon", an apt description for a beauty such as her.
Hair as black as the midnight sky, eyes sharp and bright like Starlight Owl Hawk, complexion smoother and paler than the finest pearls and an aura that radiate warmth and aloofness all at once.
If he was told that the woman before him was a moon goddess, he’d believe it in a heartbeat.
Forget the desert, dust and heat.
It was worth it all, just to meet her here.
’Huh...this is the first time I’ve ever hoped someone likes me. Odd...’
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Zhen Yue’s perspective.
"Apologies for the wait, Prince Carlos. May I present to you, Miss Zhen Yue and Master Zhen Liu."
After making this introduction, the maid stepped to the side in order to present the two young members of the clan.
’Alright then, let’s see if the prince looks anything like his portrait or...huh.’
As Zhen Yue turned the corner, she finally saw with her own eyes how the prince’s son actually looked, and thought that whoever they hired to paint his portrait in the first place, should have been sued for defamation...libel?
’Huh... he’s cute...no... he’s handsome...whoever that artist was they hired, failed at his job to portray this guy accurately.’
In this moment, Zhen Yue couldn’t help but wonder if this was a dream, because it was only in her head that someone as fine looking as this could exist in any conceivable way.
"It’s nice to finally meet you, Santiago."
"L-likewise, Miss Zhen Yue."
Rugged, tough, muscular and eyes sharper than steel. These were the features Zhen Yue was used to seeing on the men around her, a consequence of living in a frontier city.
But the man before her was...different, in a good way.
He had soft features that looked almost delicately hand crafted, a figure that was more sylvette and light like a dancer than tough and heavy like the prospectors and explorers she was used to seeing, and eyes that were round and bright, as if they could see the beauty in the world around them.
Most surprising to her however, she found that the man’s curly, fluffy hair, actually fit him quite well.
’Portraits be damned, a live face is a much better sight to behold,’ she thought to herself, ’wait a minute...’ It was then she remembered that she never actually sent a portrait of herself either.
’Oh damn it all, I hope he isn’t too disappointed with me... he’s so cute though..."
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Zhen Liu’s perspective.
"Apologies for the wait, Prince Carlos. May I present to you, Mistress Zhen Yue and Master Zhen Liu."
The maid stepped away after introducing the two of them, giving them space to walk and meet the Ecaredies family properly.
’Alright, let’s see how this guy actually looks," Zhen Liu said to himself as he followed his cousin into the courtyard. If Bellona and Prince Carlos were anything to go off of, the man was probably gonna have curly, wooly hair at least...and if his father was an indicator on how this guy looked, he was probably gonna be kinda scrawny looking.
In the moment before actually laying eyes on the prince’s son, the kaijin were already taking bets on how he actually looked.
[Think he’s gonna be a strapping hunk of a man with washboard abs, or a sylvette looking twink with soft supple skin?,] Hurricroak asked the others, [My copper is on him being a twink.]
[He’s royalty, so he’s bound to be handsome with knightly training under his belt. I think he’ll be strapping,] Nepherage opposed.
[Frosttusk, what about you buddy?]
[I...think...both...,] Frosttusk grunted.
[Down the middle? A weird bet but aight.]
’Guys, quit speculating, especially since his mind reading sister is in the room,’ Zhen Liu chided.
In the next moment, the bet was settled as Zhen Liu finally got to see what this prince looked like for realsies, as opposed to a portrait. So far, he wasn’t impressed.
[Hah! Twink! Called it, point for Hurricroak!]
"It’s nice to finally meet you, Santiago."
"L-likewise, Miss Zhen Yue."
Granted, while he wasn’t impressed with the prince, he kinda look like a twinkly satyr/sheep boy...like that from a certain franchise...Zhen Liu could see that his cousin, Zhen Yue, was impressed with how the man looked, and that Santiago was impressed with how Zhen Yue looked. He also couldn’t help but notice that Zhen Yue was a little bit taller than Santiago...painting a picture of a "little prince meets Amazonian" type of deal in his his head.
In essence, the two had fallen in love at first sight...that or lust...{Oh she’s gonna go grab that dude’s horns like handlebars, that just fact.}
[Milord...why does it look like your cousin wants to devour the prince’s son? And why is the prince looking at her in the same way as that one guy from the Prospector’s challenge? The "step on me" guy?]
[Oh she wants to devour him alright,] Hurricroak said suggestively, [See if this "little ram" is as sweet as he looks, or if he’s buckwild like a proper beast can get.]
Before Zhen Liu could scold them for essentially putting that particular image into his head, he was interrupted by a more...physical presence.
"It’s good to see you again, Master Zhen Yue."
"Likewise, Miss Ecaredies."
’Oh good lord, I hope she heard none of that.’
Place your bets y’all, what do you think?