Yes

"It was an act, Gwen." Liandra spoke up

"An act?"

"Yes... to free the helpless daughter from an unwanted marriage. Did you his aunt? She is just the same as your parents." Liandra wanted to avoid unnecessary questions., but still Gwen deserved to know.

"So... he just pretends to be displeased to free us?" Gwen sounded incredulous. Liandra nodded. "That must be the most stupid plan I ever heard of."

"Wait a moment, first you call Kendal a jerk, then you call him stupid...can we just pretend some courtesy is due to the Nocterian Emperor?" but despite the words, Kendra was hardly upset. Gwen explained her point "I know these events can be clumsy, and even burdensome... but what does he expect to do, live alone forever? If there was someone he already loved, then he should be with her. Otherwise..."

"You have to know." Kendra explained. "Kendal has an entire empire to run and he prefers a hands-on approach. This leaves him with very few free time. So if you want him to pay attention to you, you'll need to show him you're worth paying attention to.
This caused Gwen and Liandra to fall silent for a moment.

"Did you want to meet him, Gwen?" Kendra challenged, and Liandra poured more wine for her. "At first... no. I didn't know anything about him, and my aunts **** the meeting on my mother. But I didn't walk on him decided to make him not like me." Kendra then went to describe some of the past interviews, the great political marriages Kendal walked out. His subjects didn't care all that much, but the losses didn't go unnoticed.

"You have to admit though, he is cute" Liandra noted, and the two other girls looked at her. Then they all started laughing. "I would say handsome. Or really sexy" Gwen volunteered, as well as lewder comments.

"... we used to be best of friends. When we were growing up." Kendra had a light tone. "he was brilliant, even back then. It is silly. We learnt shadow magic from the same teachers, and we usually ended up together because our names are so alike" Kendra had a few childhood tales, which she was glad to share. Liandra noticed the fondness in her voice, and felt a pang in her heart. She didn't recognize it, but it was jealousy.

"So, did you love him? Do you love him?" it was the wine, usually Gwen wouldn't be so forthcoming. But Kendra looked at the princess, and didn't hesitate to answer. "No, I love another" Liandra felt her cheeks burn "We were too young, I suppose." She completed to Gwen.

Their conversation meandered to other topics, and they didn't notice as Kendal came closer.