[center][h1]♚ [color=B48D51]Y D R I A N[/color] ♚[/h1][img]http://66.media.tumblr.com/51fc61ac770a524e9468f174afa94d7f/tumblr_inline_n1xc79Kcic1rb3m8r.png[/img][/center]

[center][color=black]♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ [/color][/center]

[b][center] — Imperial Courtyard, The Conclave —
— 6th Day of Summer —[/center][/b]

Once the speeches were over and done with, Prince Ydrian decided to take the closest door to him to effectively get out of The Great Hall before things got too out of hand. Fellow youths of noble birth as they may have been, it was apparent to even him that the scene’s tone was going to shift and as much as he would’ve liked to catch up with his friends and brief acquaintances he just couldn’t bear to witness it on his first day as a student of The Conclave as it became all so apparent how [i]far[/i] away from Hawk’s Rest he actually was. 

It wasn’t just a matter of physical distance, either. The imperial southlands were just so culturally, nationally, and aesthetically different. It was hotter than it was in his homeland with strong winds taking the desert heat and making it collide with the humid winds coming in from the eastern and southwestern seas. Whomever would wear extensive and superfluous amounts of clothing had to be [i]melting[/i] and he couldn’t understand how the cavalier knights who fought the sand orcs, desert monsters, and nefarious bandits could do so in plates of sandsteel armor. Sure, he had been to the occasional gathering out of Hawk’s Rest before but he had just never really noticed it before.

He wondered why as he shuffled over to the steel fences that lined the courtyard that overlooked the sea— the imperial capital in the distance, standing on the coasts of the mainland as they sat on this tropical citadel of education; locked away from the rest of the world in hiding as the floating imperial navy sat in the waters; the massive galleys looking over the oceans beyond to protect them and the imperial capital from notorious pirate raiders like [i]The Kraken[/i]. But really, it was here that looking on he realized how much it felt like the naval fleet was foreboding and not uplifting; almost like they were forcing them to life on this [i]bastille[/i]. But maybe such thoughts of The Conclave being a prison and not a paradise of opportunity was due to the reason why he was sent here.

He smiled warmly.

[i][color=B48D51]Stay postive. I have friends here and opportunities to correct my ruined reputation. I need to embrace that and remember [b]which[/b] of my friends is a student here.[/color][/i]

[i]Aleandra Pridedane.[/i] 

He hadn’t forgotten— he had noticed her during the speech; there was no one else it could’ve been. But he couldn’t just go up and speak to her during the speech. Sure, he could’ve stayed in the hall but he needed to get some air to clear his head. Hopefully in some way it was working, though mentally he was sure that it wasn’t. He had talked to dozens upon dozens of girls his age, some of them intimately so; so why was it so [i]difficult[/i] to clear his mind and talk to someone that probably was his closest friend six years ago? He knew he had this affection, but he didn’t realize what it would be like to try to rein it in here at The Conclave. 

[i][color=B48D51]She... she’s even more beautiful than I thought she could have become.[/color][/i]

He mentally shook his head as he turned from the fence with a heavy breath. There would be none of that— he was Prince Ydrian Hawkhart. “The Harem Prince”. His thoughts never ruled him and he refused to let that change him. Aleandra was just another member of the imperium and one that understood who he truly was more than anyone. She wouldn’t dismiss him, and he could talk to her. She probably felt this place as much of a prison as he, after all. He looked back to the exterior doors of the hall for a brief moment before returning his gaze to the gated off sea; he would [i]mingle[/i] later as for the moment he was thinking and appreciating his surroundings. 

After all, it was a very pretty prison.
  
[center][color=black]♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ ♚ [/color][/center]