Over the past year or two, the Byzantine Empire had been engaged in reconstruction efforts, both in terms of the territory that had been devastated as a result of multiple wars, and their economy, which had been completely and utterly crippled.
At the head of these efforts was the young prince Alexandros Palaiologos, who had been named the sole successor of Emperor Vetranis Palaiologos. Though the boy continued to live in Kufstein, he had begun spending a considerable amount of time in the lands he would one day inherit.
Alexandros was not even in his teenage years, and yet he had proven a more capable ruler than his grandfather. Whether it was overseeing the defense of Constantinople during the previous invasion by the Golden Horde, or simply managing the Byzantine Empire's economy, Alex had begun the process of recovery for the lands he would one day inherit.
Currently Alexandros was within the confines of the Byzantine Palace for another one of his biweekly visits. However, rather than travelling to the Byzantine capital on his own, like he normally did, this time around, the young prince had been accompanied by his mother and siblings. After all, Honoria had wanted to introduce her newborn daughter, Valeria, to her parents. Which she was currently in the act of doing so.
After retiring from the glamourous life of piracy and exploration, Honoria had spent nearly every waking hour with her children. An act which had caused both Alexandros and Helena to forgive thier mother for the neglect they had received during their early childhood.
While Honoria was catching up with her parents. Alexandros was hard at work overseeing the proposal for the next year's budget. There were many projects that the Byzantine Empire had to invest in if they hoped to repair the damage that had been dealt to their nation. However, there was also a severe lack of funds. Thus, it required quite a bit of effort on Alexandros's part to achieve the maximum benefit with the Empire's limited income.
It was during this intense process, the door to Alex's study crept open, where the faint sound of feet slipping across the tile made their way over to the boy, whose focus was entirely upon the budget. Before Alexandros had even realized it, a pair of hands had reached out, and wrapped themselves around his eyes, while the youthful voice of a young girl called out to him in excitement.
"Guess who!?!"
Alexandros sighed heavily as he placed his pen down before responding to the intruder.
"Zenobia... I have told you a thousand times not to interfere with my work."
The young girl named Zenobia immediately pouted as she withdrew her hands and averted her gaze from her young fiance. As the granddaughter of Palladius, she had been selected by the Byzantine Emperor to marry Alexandros when the two of them came of age. This was purely a political marriage, one that Alexandros personally did not approve of.
Zenobia was roughly the age of Helena and appeared to have quickly become infatuated with her young fiance. No matter how cold Alexandros remained to the girl, she still insisted on visiting Constantinople every time her grandfather visited the Byzantine Capital.
The girl named Zenobia had long and wavy flaxen blonde hair, light olive skin, and hazel eyes. She was practically a living doll, and yet despite her energetic personality and cute appearance, Alexandros found her company to be nothing but tiresome.
Despite this, the girl continued to intrude on his work, and pester him about stupid things. For example, at this very moment, she began to bother Alexandros about something she had forced him to promise her.
"When are you going to finally take me to Kufstein? I want to see your homeland and whether or not it is truly as amazing as you say it is!"
Alexandros completely ignored the girl as he continued to write away at the budget he was currently in the act of carefully crafting. It was only after the girl began throwing a tantrum did he finally respond.
"I will take you to Kufstein when you are older! Besides, no offense, but a savage like you will clearly be out of place in such a modern city. For christ's sake, you people don't even have electricity here! Your military is obsolete in both structure and equipment. And If that wasn't bad enough, you require an adolescent child to make a properly balanced budget. How are you all so incompetent when the origins of your civilization are thousands of years old?"
After being berated by Alexandros once again, for things that were clearly out of the girl's control, Zenobia pouted once more, as she began to lash out at the Prince for his cruel remarks.
"Who are you calling a savage? Quit acting like you are not one of us. You are the Prince of Byzantium who will succeed the Emperor. If you keep pretending like you are a German, then don't blame me for running away and marrying someone else like your mother did!"
This remark had clearly gotten under Alexandros' skin, causing him to place down his pen, and glared at the young girl with fierce eyes. His words were filled with an enraged tone as he hissed out his thoughts through his teeth.
"I am German... That's why I have the right to call you a Savage. Your civilization is clearly inferior to ours!"
Despite the anger in Alexandros' voice, and the rage in his emerald eyes, Zenobia did not falter under the pressure, and instead doubled down on her previous remarks.
"No, you are not! Your father is German, but you are a roman like the rest of us. You want further proof of this, just look at your last name. You are a Palaiologos, not a Kufstein. If your father actually considered you to be a German like him, he would have made you a member of his dynasty. Face it, you are one of us!"
By now, Alexandros' fists were curled with rage. He had never been so inclined to strike a girl before in his entire life. However, Zenobia knew exactly what his weakness was, and how to exploit it. She was far more clever than she acted. The fact of the matter was that Alexandros had never quite gotten over his mixed heritage, and still considered himself to be a German above all else.
The blow to his pride after being told that he was actually a lowly Roman was something that he was still too immature to handle. Thus, he quickly kicked over his chair and thrust his finger towards the door, which just so happened to land right in front of Zenobia's nose.
"Get out! This instant!"
After seeing that she had once more gotten the better of her fiance, who continually flouted his superior German heritage and education, Zenobia stuck out her tongue in an act of victory before skipping out of the room with a satisfied smirk on her cute face. Once she was gone, it took Alexandros some time to calm his nerves before he was able to get back to his work.
Every time Alexandros encountered Zenobia, the girl would do her very best to start some childish argument between the two of them, before reminding him about his mixed heritage. Which usually resulted in the boy flipping out and sending her running off. It was a game he had never been able to win, and it was starting to get on his nerves.
As for Zenobia, after she had left Alexandros' study, she rushed into the room where Vetranis, Olympia, and Honoria were all gathered and fawning over the infant girl, Valeria. When the emperor saw his future granddaughter in law, he smiled before asking Zenobia whether she was enjoying herself.
"Are you and Alexandros getting along well?"
Despite the fact that Alexandros had just lost his temper with the girl, Zenobia did not inform the Emperor that she had successfully managed to piss him off, instead she wore a cute and innocent smile as she nodded her head before responding to Vetranis like a good little girl.
"Oh yes, Alex and I are getting along just fine. I believe he is starting to fall head over heels for me!"
This response evoked a smile on the three adults' faces, causing Honoria to nod her head in approval and speak to the little girl as if she were already her daughter-in-law.
"Good, you take care of my little boy, After all, one day soon you two will be married, and Alex will have to rely on you instead of his mother."
An innocent smile erupted on Zenobia's cute face as she nodded her head before responding to Honoria's statement.
"Don't you worthy mother, I will make Alex a very happy man!"
Thus, while Alexandros was still in the process of cooling down after his most recent outburst, Zenobia had successfully ensnared the boy's mother. Ensuring that she would one day be the future Empress of Byzantium. As for whether or not she actually cared for Alexandros, only she knew the answer to this question.
