Above All

-Ninety-Five-

Relaxing weather

Silent hush guarantees bliss

Failing in your eyes

Layton:

           We arrived the day before the Bourluçon Dive was scheduled to begin and made ourselves comfortable at Orji Castle located right in the Bourluçon region of Pita. I had personally never been to Bourluçon as prince; there wasn't a need to be up here because the Dive had been cancelled since the passing of former Empress Odette. But now that Amani had started it up again, I was very excited to really see what I had been missing out on since I was a kid.

            From what I knew, the planning had taken months to get to the final stages as it was at this moment. Even then, the castle was still littered with staff bustling around preparing for the numerous guests we had brought along with us to stay at the residence. Along with our group we had Amani's family—extended included; I think this was the first time I was seeing Prince Kader's side of the family that wasn't a formal occasion. They were very low-key kind of people, kind of like Amani's father, but unlike Prince Kader, their presence wasn't ominous at times when they stood behind you... glaring.

            But I digress.

            In addition, my own family was invited as well, but I'm sure they would've come regardless; it always seemed that whatever the Imperial Family was involved in, the Ruisii's never fell too far behind, always there as not only a support and addition, but family.

            The remaining guests of Orji castle included Rose, Jaala, Inyene, Fionn, Amory, Nyarai, Johnny, Éliane and surprisingly enough, her family. I had never met Élaine's family besides when she was gifted her Durmen and that was about it. Amani never quite told me why they were here, but it wasn't like Orji castle wasn't large enough to fit us all. Though if I was using a bit of my inclination, I could say that they were doing their best to capitalize off their daughter's immense success being as she was very close to Amani on the daily.

            I was thinking too heavily about that though, I was used to the large groups around Amani and I and I'm sure it would remain true once the Bourluçon Dive began; people would be flocking to her, especially since she was really showing now in her pregnancy; people wanted to get really close so they could flatter her and potentially gain favor on their end.

            It was all an exchange at the end of the day and as much as I was excited to see all the sports and do some betting myself, I knew most of the day would be stuffed with mingling and partaking in conversations with the nobles when I'd prefer to just keep my attention on my family and friends.

            The life of an Emperor was a tedious one.

            But I would absolutely do it for Amani, she was worth every second of this life.

            "You don't think I look extra chunky, Lay?" Amani stepped abruptly out of the grand en-suite connected to our heavily decorated suite. Orji Castle really had an "Imperial" style to it that some of the other castles like Ormshire didn't carry; it was definitely on the more luxurious side with pure gold finishes, exaggerated chandeliers and light fixtures, not to mention the grandiose and tall wall paneling that were embedded with the same gold trim that pretty much decorated the entirety of this estate.

            Our room in particular were one of the large suites that had one walking for a steady couple of minutes before reaching the other side of the space; this place was definitely not for the faint of the heart... or frugal.