Libratum Vitae: Balanced Life

Chapter 3: Choose your Suitor!

I finally arrived to my mothers' office. As I arrived, I knocked on the door asking if it is now alright to come in. After her approval, I went inside. 

"You called, mother?" I asked, while standing still with my hands behind my back touching each other. 

"Clara my daughter! Get dressed and get pretty, we're meeting some gentlemen that are potential candidates to be your fiancé" she exclaimed while having a big smile on her face. My mind was confused for what I thought the meeting was until three days from now. 

"Today? I thought I still have time? I..... I don't think I am still ready yet" I proclaimed. 

"Well, there is a sudden change of plans by one of your suitors. We called the other 4 and they don't seem to have a problem in doing it today too. I know you're scared and kind of anxious, but you can't escaped from this. It's a family tradition. Well, if it's up to me, you can do whatever you want. But I'm not the one in charge. The head family of this clan is. And they are very strict when it comes to the family's tradition. Because of their strictness, the clan had always been successful, generation to generation. I don't think I need to explain myself since you already know this since you were a child" She stated. I looked down and sighed. 

"Well, you will be meeting five of them. You are to spend time with each of them for 1 hour. In those 1 hour, you might as well choose someone who won't give you a hard time" She said so to calm me. 

"I understand. What time do we leave?" I asked. 

"We leave in lunch time. I'll meet you up in the front. Oh and also, we are meeting them in Sheraton Diamond Hotel. So dress formally as you can please" She said with a smile and a strict and serious voice.

I left my mother's study and went back to my room again. 

"Marmog. Ami. Can you please come out?" I asked. The 2 being then suddenly magically appeared in front of me. 

"You called?" said by the 2 beings. 

"Umm so you heard her right? And I have a favor since you can now hear and see me and all. Plus you guys are my guardians and stuff. Can you please help me choose a suitor? You can talk to the other guardian's right?" I asked them a favor and took my mother's advice, which was to choose someone who won't give me a hard time. 

"Of course! We are here to guide ya after all!" Marmog replied with a big smile. 

"But we have to do it cautiously. We still can't let the other guardians know you can see them. We'll talk you through signs or through your mind. We'll alert you if they are a red flag." Ami added. 

"Thank you". 

I then sat on my couch mentally preparing for the meetup. Then I thought to myself, "Why do the head family is so strict about tradition. It is not like the ancient times were women are only considered housewives or a source of reproduction. Women are now capable in living independently without the help of men. Well maybe because to spread our bloodline. Like power, money and authority." My thoughts were suddenly cut off when someone suddenly knocked at my door. After knocking they suddenly just barged into my room. 

"Hey Clara~~ your bestfriend, Hannah, is here!" she exclaimed. I just stared at her dead in the eyes as if it was normal for her to just barge into my room. 

"Oh come one don't look at me like that!" she laughed all funnily. 

"What are you doing here?" I asked. 

"Obviously to help!" she stated. 

"To help me physically or emotionally?" I asked. 

"Silly girl! Physically of course! You only have 4 hours to prepare! Chop chop we need a move on!" she said all giggly and excitedly. 

"Well I do need help to choose an outfit since mother said it needs to be formal. I have a few formal dresses in my closet. Let me just—"My words were cut off when she suddenly shouted, "No! No! We will be buying you a new dress at your aunts' favorite designer's brand" she exclaimed. 

"Do we really have to buy a new dress?" I asked. 

"Yes! I insists! Besides, your aunt said to consider this a gift from her to you" She added. 

She was persistent and that led me to give up and proceeded with her idea. A maid suddenly came and interrupted our conversation and was asking for Hannah because of a phone call from her brother. Looks like she left without telling him again.

"Clara~ I think you forgot about us?" Marmog said. 

My expression really sold me out that I really forgot about them. Many things happening at once. 

"It's a good thing that she's the only one who can see us. Since we are still in our spiritual form and not our human form" Ami added. 

"You can change into a human?" I asked. 

"Yes. We basically don't have a specific gender and form. We create our own" Ami stated. 

"There are endless things to know about unfamiliar species", I thought to myself.

Hannah came back to my room as she was done with her call. 

"Come on Clara. Time to go! But before we go, I have another surprise!" She exclaimed. 

Then at the door someone came in. To my surprise, it was Eric Francisco. Eric was also one of my childhood friends, but they moved a few months ago. He is also a middle class citizen. 

"Aren't you supposed to be at the other side of the town?" I asked all smirking. 

"Well I heard that today is your hunting for suitors' day, so I ditched school to help you prepare!" he said all proudly like ditching school is so normal like breathing. 

"How did you know it was today?" I asked. 

"Oh. I told him!" Hannah said all innocently. 

"The 3 of us had always been together since childhood, it would be weird for us not to be here in your life changing event" She added. 

"I am only choosing a suitor. It's not the wedding yet" I stated. 

"Aww come on now. No harm done, right? Now let's go!" Eric exclaimed while putting his arm around my shoulder and dragging me outside of my house.

A few minutes by car, we arrived at the store my aunt frequently shop at. It was called the "Stella's Runway". A famous clothing shop targeted to young female adults. They also have several clothes for men and children, shoes and accessories.

At the entrance we were greeted by few staff. The place was so clean and organized I can see sparkles in it. Many looking expensive suits and dresses were displayed and aligned in the shop. I usually do not go to these places and just let my mother or the maids buy my clothes. While admiring the place, a staff came to us and we were led to a private room were Aunt Charlotte usually goes. Since my aunt is a regular here, the staff are quite flexible at her favors.

"I always wanted to come visit this place! But only VIPs and their companion can come to these places." The look in Hannah's eyes were full of excitement and amusement. Middle classes usually doesn't own a black ID to keep the economy stable they say. Then suddenly a big screen TV appeared in the wall and showed various selection of clothes. 

"Here in this device, you can choose several of clothes. Once you have decided the clothes you wanted, may it be one or more, they will send it to this room for you to try it on. At the back there is a door which leads to the fitting room". The staff explained. 

"So wait, this room is not a fitting room?" Eric asked. "Oh no dear. This is just a private room where you can just chill and wait with yourself or with your companions. But mostly this private rooms are for when you have other guest. At the other floor there are normal fitting rooms" the staff once again explained. 

"Ok enough chit chat! It's time for you to pick the right clothes!" Hannah exclaimed while pointing at me and while Eric was shouting the word 'yay' out of excitement.

As the staff said, there are lot of clothes to choose from. It took us at least 1 and a half hour to choose the right dress. I first tried on this light pink long dress with loose long sleeves and with a ribbon positioned at the center of my waist. Though the dress was pretty, the 3 of us disagreed with that one because they said it did not match my personality. The second dress was a long beige dress with laces on top unto its' long sleeves. Hannah said it was too lacey and my Eric said that the color was just not right. We tried on many dresses for the last 1 hour and a half. Finally we came into an agreement to this one elegant dress. It was a long burgundy dress with a slit at the right side. It was more of a flowy dress rather than just a straight tight one. It also has a crossed styled off shoulder. What was more surprising it comes with a pair of heels and accessories that matches the dress. The heels was a beige color with velvety texture and it comes with a diamond earrings. After choosing the dress, we proceeded checking out. Hannah said that the dress will be delivered at the hotel room my mother had reserved. 

"Oh by the way, I called your mother. I told her we're going to drop you off at the hotel" she stated. 

"What do you mean?" I asked. 

"In the remaining hours of you being single, let's go have some fun!" she proclaimed. 

"That's right! Once you are engaged, you might not have much time anymore to hang out with us. So let's make the most of it! Your mother also said to use her card when we go out. So no worries~" Eric declared and with that, we went out of the store and they dragged me around to different shops, café, libraries and arcades. It was a pain, but it was fun. Knowing they would take their time off to comfort me was already enough for me to feel at ease.

"Looks like you're having fun" the voice inside my head said. It was Marmog. "Yeah. Spending my last hours of being single" I replied all jokingly inside my head. 

"You better get a move on. Only 1 hour left until lunch time" Ami interrupted. 

"Oh yeah, it's almost time. Thanks" I replied. 

"Hey guys!" I said to my 2 friends walking ahead of me. They turned around to look at me. 

"I think it's time to go now" I said again. With that, they replied with a warm smile and we proceeded to going to the hotel by car.

We arrived at the hotel a little early since there were no traffic. The Sheraton Diamond is a 5 star Hotel. As we came in, the place was very grand and welcoming. A Chandelier and a water fountain can be found inside the lobby. The floor was made out of fine marble and the walls looks very elegant and refreshing. As I proceeded to get my room key, my 2 friends were stuck frozen in awe and was taking pictures of the place. I giggled a little seeing how cute they were. Though the system in the kingdom is fair and no citizen lives in poverty, there are still discrimination and criticism against middle class individuals. Without the middle class working under the much higher class, there won't be any working business to function the cycle of the world.

I had receive my key card and the 3 of us went to the elevator to go to my room. The elevator doesn't work unless you have a key card to scan it.

We arrived at my hotel room. The moment we arrived my 2 friends run towards the bed and jumped into it all giggly and laughing.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Well they say, the best hotels comes with the best beds. We were just trying to rate it" Hannah replied while pointing her index finger up all knowledgeable.

"So how is it?" I asked again.

"It's complete bliss~" both of them replied at the same time.

"Well that's good to know" I laughed and grinned.

Not long after the 2 of them started taking pictures and uploaded it in their social media account. They were like cute little curious children. A few moments later, while we were settling and making ourselves at home at the hotel, the doorbell rang. It was my mother. She came in to visit us and told me what exactly I would be doing.

"Ok, first in your schedule you'll have time for the two of you to eat at the restaurant. The food are already prepared so no time will be wasted. The rest of the schedule depends on your suitors. They prepared activities for both of you to enjoy" She explained to us.

"Mother. I have a question. Isn't like 1 hour not enough for me to know all of them? This will decide who I would be for the rest of my life" I asked to her.

"Well that is because it won't be only for an hour" she explained.

I was confused as why she said that as she explained earlier at our house that it was 1 hour per person.

"Well for today it is 1 hour for person. The next day will be a different schedule. For the 1 hour you will be spending time with them, you will decide who you favor and they are the ones who proceed" she explained again.

Me and my friends looked at each other and suddenly the 2 of them was holding their laugher. I just sighed and grinned a little because I know what they were thinking.

"What's wrong?" my mother asked.

"No offence Mrs. Frossard, but it just sounds like a dating sim game we know. So we just kind of laughed. Never knew it would happen in real life" Hannah explained while holding her laughter.

"Silly it may be. But this has been the process of our family in finding a suitor. Even I think it's weird. But tradition is tradition" My mother let out a grin and sighed while she was explaining.

"Oh and by the way. Here is the list of suitors you will be meeting" mother got the remote control of the television and an image popped out off the screen.

The first man who appeared had a dark brown hair and black eyes. He had a strong feature and tall height.

"His name is Mark Hernandez. He is currently the acting president of a furniture company. His family is well known for their good connection to some nobles because of their line of work. He is 26 years old. And graduated from Diamond Academy across town. He seems to be a good son to his family" mother explained.

"Ohhh so he's a good kid eh? Like Clara here~" Hannah said so teasingly. I grabbed the pillow besides me and put it on her face to shut her up

"Ok next one. His name is Erwin Cloud. He is 29 years old. He owns several merchant ships and luxury yacht for his business. He also has good connections with the royalties. Except for that one time he was caught having an affair with the royal commanding knight's daughter even though he already had a wife. That was a huge scandal" my mother explained with disappointment.

"Why is he on the list if he committed a******y?" Eric asked.

"Because of his power and wealth. Being married to a merchant also has good connections" my mother explained to us.

"Ok moving on we have Dr. Samuel Brown. He is currently 32 years old but very young looking. He serves as the royal family's medical staff. Since he works at the palace, he is called the Court Pharmacist or Court Herbalist. His family were once  middle class but because of his hard work, they were able to rise their rankings. Though I think if the rumors were true, he already cut ties with his family" she explained while looking interested.

Dr. Brown also had strong features. He was well-build and seemed like a kind guy. He seemed a little tanned. He also had trimmed beard and had a slightly long hair. He piqued my interest because of his hardworking personality. He also would seem to treat me right.

While I was thinking my thoughts, I noticed that Eric was kind of fidgety.

"What's wrong Eric? You ok?" I asked while looking worriedly. Eric is quite a sickly person, but recently he seemed to be getting better.

"No it's nothing! I'm fine!" he said while laughing nervously. He obviously seemed bothered by something. Me and Hannah just looked at him and looked at each other worriedly.

"So moving unto the 4th one. This man is Akira Wisteria. He owns the 5-star restaurant called 'Wisteria Cuisine'. He is only 23 years old. He inherited the business from his family. Though it was a family business, the charts went even higher after he took over the business. He proved his worth for the business. So no complains there." My mother once again explained to us.

Unlike the others, he doesn't have a strong feature. He was more of a feminine type rather than the masculine one. He had dark beautiful hair and silvery eyes. He wasn't tall nor short. He was only a few inches taller than me.

"He looks prettyyy~~" Hannah commented.

"We forgot you like the pretty type, Hannah" I said while me and Eric giggling and teasing her.

"Now the last one. And my favorable one. Gerard Smith, the second son of Duke Everard Smith. He is the founder and CEO of his own company called 'Lotus'. It is a brand for perfumes targeted to both man and woman. He is only 23 years old. He build his own company at the age of 18 with the help of his father and with the connections that he had gathered. Though he had help with the title of his father, the outcome was not disappointing. He is very successful and charming" my mother explained to a very obvious way telling me to pick him.

"It's true that his perfume are so famous right now. It's also affordable to us middle class! And that's what the public loves about him. So loving, humble and considerate" Hannah stated while having the energetic vibe and smile.

"Well that's it for the basic explaining. You'll have to know more about them later on your dates with them" my mother said while looking at me.

"Now go get changed to your wonderful dress!" Hannah exclaimed while pushing me to the bathroom to change my clothes.

I went to the bathroom to get change and to mentally prepare myself for this upcoming exhausting event.