Slave to the Emperor

're both welcome to my humble house. I hope everything around is to your liking," he said, grabbing my father's hands for a handshake as I simply stood there, having a good look at his face.

to me, made me very irritated and uncomfortable. "There's no need for that Stephen. What we ought to do now is go directly to why we're here. You've already met my lovely daughter Amara and I truly believe it's better that I excuse myself so that you two can get to converse quietly," my dad said unexpectedly and my heart immediately fell to my stomach. Did he really just suggest abandoning me here? All by myself? With this dude that appears like he wants absolutely nothing to do with me? Just how could he even conceive of doing that to me? What precisely is wrong with my dad? I turned to look at him and tried giving him a sign that I didn't like his suggestion at all and I was momentarily relieved that he had seen me but instead of staying back like I wanted him to, he simply ignored me and walked out of the living room, leaving me all by myself with this guy that looked like he was going to get up and leave any second from now. We both just kept silent after Dad left us and if there was another thing that I despised very much, it was these types of awkward and silent times. It was one of the most uncomfortable circumstances in the world and I despised how stifled I felt anytime I found myself in an unpleasant scenario. I cleared my throat anxiously before mustering up the confidence to speak out first instead of dealing with this. "So Mr Ericson, is there anything in particular that you'd like to know about me? Like, do you have any questions before we get married?" I said. "Well, is there anything you'd like to tell me about yourself?" he answered with his own inquiry and I didn't notice when I scoffed out loud. "Did I happen to say something wrong?" he asked innocently and even though I wanted nothing more than to be anywhere else but here, I opted against simply walking out and made up my mind to grab the reins and carry this awkward discussion. "Listen Mr Ericson, I came over here today because my father explained to me that you and I have to get married as some sort of business arrangement or something like that and although I still don't get what it has to do with me, I'm still willing to make an effort at the very least to talk to you but I don't think you're making any effort at all," I said to him, expressing my frustration. "I'm aware this isn't exactly typical but can you at least look me in the eye? You've been avoiding looking at me since you stepped in here and it has been really distressing just so you know," I said, trying not to seem too angry even though I was now seething. He didn't say anything for a long and merely glanced at me with an inquisitive look on his face. I felt quite uncomfortable under his attention so I