An arranged marriage? Eliezer pondered over Raven's theory for a moment, finding it to be highly possible. His father and mother hardly spoke to him or Mathazar about each other. Such details were not important to their children as far as they were concerned. Anything that they felt was of no value in the upbringing of the princes was not spoken of, and Eliezer and his brother were raised not to care about such 'trivial' things. He had always thought that he cared sufficiently for his parents, though, as his lady had implied, a part of caring for somebody would be taking the trouble to find out more about them as a person, would it not?

He proceeded to cut into the steaming piece of meat on his plate as he continued with the subject. "You would most likely think it tragic that, if it were true, I would have found such a thing to be normal. That would have been the case, if I had not met you. You speak of the involvement of love and happiness in a marriage. For the longest time, I had accepted that this was a privilege not to be enjoyed by those of royal blood, that we were simply granted different entitlements. I truly am fortunate to have a lady as... special, as yourself granting me what I thought I could never have. Although it is still unclear why you seem to have developed feelings for me, I am convinced that those feelings are sincere."

Raven then brought her village up again in response to his next point. Thinking back to the day before when he had been under the guise of a commoner, he found her to be right. He recalled how much more he had learned about their struggles and their way of life being among them as compared to addressing them as a member of the royal family. What they were willing to share with the crown prince when he would engage them in conversation did not come close to what they were comfortable with discussing around somebody whom they thought was a fellow villager.

"You seem to think highly of your companions back at the village, and rightfully so. I believe I have much to learn from your people regarding these new, perplexing subjects."

After finishing his meal, he took a sip from his glass before standing. "It is interesting that you would mention isolation. You are correct about this tendency of mine, though, I never 'wait' for anyone to come to me. You see, I take pleasure in solitude. I find that those are the only times when I can truly rest and take my mind off my duties."

Eliezer then made his way over to the corner of the room, where a beautiful, intricately-carved violin was placed, and picked the instrument up. "During those times, I would either be in the garden where I have shown you before this, or I would be up here, relishing a few melodies by myself. The sound of the violin tends to calm me."

He instinctively positioned the instrument at his collar and took the bow that was beside it, as if preparing to play a tune right there and then. However, he stopped himself just as the bow touched the strings of the violin, remembering that he had company. It was not that he had forgotten that his lady was present, but he was unsure if he wanted to share this particular pursuit with her. He did enjoy her company, but playing the violin was something extremely personal to him, for it represented the few moments when he was actually allowed to be 'free'. With a nearly-inaudible sigh, he set the instrument back down and sat with Raven again.

"You mentioned wanting to know more about me. I believe that was an appropriate start."