Belle Astley sat in the waiting room in the government building in the beautiful downtown section of the city of Delmar. And my, was it beautiful, she sighed staring out the window. Women in big blue dresses with matching floppy hats and curly brown hair walked in groups down the streets, laughing and chatting about whatever women here talked about. Widely ranged colorful flowers bloomed in almost ever windowsill. Men stood outside, smiling and trying to sell their local goods to pedestrians. The weather was perfect, the sun shined brightly and only a few small clouds floated in the sky. In the distance, she could faintly see the ocean between two freshly painted light blue buildings.

She would rather be outside, doing as tourists do and wander the streets and experiencing the sights. But sadly, she was stuck inside this stuffy room with bouncy, giggling girls of varying ethnicities. She was probably the only one in the room who had not chosen to come here by choice. Maybe that was why she would rather be outside and free than here waiting for her chains.

Jessica nudged her with her thin, bony elbow, smiling a big happy smile. Belle looked over at her close friend, silently admiring her beauty. Jessie, as Belle liked to call her, was an Rutilian like herself, however they looked liked exact opposites. Jessie had skin like a natural Rutilian; dark, tan, smooth and flawless. Belle had pale white skin, like that of a foreigner in Nygan or Albinida. Jessie's hair was raven black and full, not to mention long enough to touch the back of her knees. Belle preferred her brunette hair short, but grew it out before coming here; it barely reached the middle of her back.

"Why are you being such a downer?" Jessica's raven black hair fell down into her eyes as she turned her head to meet Belle's slouch, despite all the fuss Jessica had made earlier trying to pin it back smoothly on her head. Belle put on her best happy smile met Jessie's curious slanted ice blue eyes.

"If they were going to make us wait so long, they could've at least let us look around," Belle sighed, emphasizing her dismay by throwing her arms up to her right, motioning them to the window, and turning her head away from Jessie's gaze to the window beside her. "Outside is much less depressing and could lighten the mood of this whole ordeal we have going on here!"

Jessie laughed at her. "This isn't that bad you know. You said you weren't sure when you were going to marry anyway." Jessie scoffed. "What type of guy would want you if he sees you frolicking around outside anyhow? Probably some low-class guy who doesn't even know how to take baths by himself."

Belle snapped her head around, sticking her lip up in disgust, leaning away from Jessie as if Jessie was the man herself. "That's horrid. I wouldn't even let that type of man give me an offer."

Jessie winked at her in amusement. "That's not what you had said on the ship. I do believe you mentioned something about how you are oh so sure that your father would marry you off to the first man who even presented an offer to you."

Belle playfully nudged her. "I can always abandon my family and join yours. I'm sure if my father ever loses his mind to that extent, your father will give me a roof to sleep under, since you'll be married off and an extra room will be available."

Jessie rolled her eyes. "You might think so since he seems to be so nice to you, but he's killer to live with, the moment you move in, he'll put you back out on the street since they're is no reason to keep you."

Belle giggled. "Be nice to that sweet old man. All he's ever done to you was take away your dolls when you turned thirteen, and you were much too old to play with them anyway."

Jessie looked at her with feigned shock. "But I loved those dolls!"

Both girls had grown so engrossed in their conversation that they had not noticed the rest of the girls filing out of the room. A young woman in a professionally looking sky blue dress working the desk walked over and tapped them on their shoulders.

"Misses, it was said that the Matches have arrived. Please exit the room through that door please."

Again, everyone sat down in yet another waiting room, this time one with no windows to look out of. Most of the girls sat quickly powdering their faces or fixing their hair or smoothing their dresses, each wearing a dress of the colors of their home country. It may be the last time they ever have anything to remind them of home, Belle thought. Thinking of this, she decided for laughs she'd do the same, smoothing out the creases in her bright red open-naval silk dress and brushing through tangles in her dark brown hair, adjusting her hairpins to hold her hair correctly. When she finished, she untied and tied a golden ribbon on the front of her dress repeatedly. She had just realized she had lost count of how many times she had done it until Jessie's humored voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Nervous?" Jessie laughed. Belle blushed immediately.

"Not - not at all," Belle looked down to hide behind her hair so Jessie couldn't see her face. "My hands just need something to do…"

"I'm nervous too," Jessie admitted quietly. Belle looked up at her. Jessie sighed. "I've never really dated guys before… Now look at me, signed up for something like this…"

"Jessie…" Belle started.

Jessie smiled and looked back at her. "How does my dress look?"

Belle awkwardly smiled back. "As red as ever. It really brings out your eyes."

Jessie smiled genuinely. "Then I will use my eyes to win over my future husband!"

Belle laughed. "My, if I had eyes like yours, I could confidently win over anyone, just with a glance in their direction like this…" Belle tried her best to make a sexy face by widening her eyes and smiling with a clenched lip.

Jessie burst out laughing at Belle. "What in the world is that?"

Belle winked at her. "That's my 'I'd be even more incredibly amazing if only I had blue eyes' face."

Jessie stuck out her tongue at her. "Then promise me you will never do that again as long as you have brown eyes."

Belle smiled. "I promise."

"Excuse me everyone!" A man fussed as he walked in the room. He waved his hands somewhat frantically, trying desperately to tone down the speech levels in the room of laughing young girls. "Excuse me! Quiet please!"

The girls earnestly stopped their talking and looked in the man's direction. He was very lanky and skinny with glasses and straight blonde hair that fell over his eyes. He wore the traditional sky blue business attire Marian government officials wore.

"Cute," Jessie whispered. Belle coughed on her laugh.

"Maybe to you," Belle whispered back.

The man quickly cleared his voice when he gathered the room's attention. "Um, well. Let's see… Oh, right! The process we're going to do this… Right," He stuttered nervously, sticking his head into the papers he held. "Um, OK, this is how we're going to do this. We're going to stick everyone into smaller groups according to age so we can get to better know each other…" He turned the paper over. "And then in 15 minute intervals, we are going to switch up so we can continue solely with the other candidates in our age groups," He looked up. "OK, so girls between ages sixteen and eighteen please exit the doors here at my left," he motioned with his hands, "and follow the attendants to the seating area where the other Matches are located."

Belle sighed and whispered to Jessie. "Sixteen to eighteen? Either we're too old or they're too young."

Jessie whispered back, "Too young. No one should be getting married at sixteen or eighteen years old."

Belle scoffed. "No one should be getting married through this kind of set up either."

Jessie rolled her eyes. "We're helping our country by doing this."

Belle whispered quietly, "So they say."

Once about 20 girls left the room, the man stood up from his chair beside the door. "OK everyone, if you're between ages 19 and 25, please exit through the doors now!"

Jessie smiled, "That's nice. We should be next then. I was scared they might be saying this time '19 to 21' and then '23 to 25' first."

Belle nodded. "Yup, 26 is definitely next in line unless they skip us for some reason."

Jessie nudged her. "Be careful with that 'yup' stuff. If you want a good pick, be formal."

Belle rolled her eyes. "Ya, ya, I know."

The man stood up again after the group had made through the door. "Women between 26 and 30, please exit through the doors now!" The rest of the women stood up along with Belle and Jessie and made their way to the door. The man smiled and attempted to walk away toward wherever he was to go next. He tried to walk through the line of crowded women and tripped, falling backwards towards Jessie. Jessie, wide-eyed, quickly grabbed him before he could hit on the floor.

"Are you alright?" she said quickly, helping him up.

"I-I'm fine!" He said, readjusting his glasses. "I'm sorry! I just…" He looked up at her face, dead in her eyes, and trailed off. "Wow…"

"Excuse me?" she asked confused.

"UH, I mean, thanks! Not 'wow'!" He laughed loudly but nervously. "Funny how those things mess up in your head when you mean something else, am I right?" He laughed.

"…Are you sure you're fine?"

"Y-Yes, thank you for your help!" he blushed.

Belle rolled her eyes, smiling. She grabbed Jessie's dress, distracting Jessie's worried face away from the obviously uninjured boy and nudged her through the door. "Come Jessie, we're holding up traffic."

"Jessie…" the man murmured.

"Yes?" she immediately answered.

"N-Nothing!"

Belle pulled her out the door into the narrow corridor. She looked back at a dumbstruck Jessie, looking back in the second waiting room's direction.

Jessie looked at her and said quietly, "I don't think he's OK."

Belle smiled and said back to her, "I don't think so either.

2: The Men's Room

Edmund Clarke calmly closed his eyes as he slipped another cigarette into his mouth, promptly lighting it. He deeply inhaled the smoke and slowly opened his deep blue eyes, removing the cigarette from his mouth and held it loosely in his left hand, slightly parting his lips to let the toxic cloud escape his lungs. He scanned over his fellow men in the room with him. They were of different sizes and various personalities. None of them were major competition – some too skinny, some too fat, most with faces their mothers probably weren't too proud of – except for a boy sitting to his left who had short spiked jet black hair and a wicked smile with a glare to match, perhaps gained from certain experiences Edmund would rather not know about. The boy was dressed in traditional black Nygan clothing, but the boy had not worn formal clothing, instead dressing in a stylishly ripped sleeveless black cotton shirt and a waist-length leather jacket. His pants were more formal, being black floor-length trouser pants.

Most of the men in the room were talking confidently to the men beside them, bragging about their better qualities and how sure they were they would catch the lucky lady to notice them. Edmund would not dare say anything that could come back to bite him later, instead calmly listening to each man's attribute as he mentioned it, taking a mental note if it seemed something worth noting. A few men did mention negative factors, and Edmund ensured he remember those. He planned to use whatever he could to pick the best of the lot that would come in, even if it meant exposing potential competition. He didn't come here because he wanted to come home with just anyone as a mate.

He took another puff of his cigarette and laid it down in the ashtray dish. He turned to the dark-haired boy who was bragging to a skinny auburn haired boy beside him.

"What's your name, kid?" Edmund motioned towards him to gain his attention.

The boy stared at him from the corner of his eye, stopping his conversation with the other boy. After a moment, he turned to the older man and smiled a wicked grin, leaning his arm on the back of the couch they sat on.

"Name's Tony. How about you, old man? Were you given a name or has your senile self forgotten–"

"How old are you, Tony?" Edmund quickly cut him off. He got annoyed quickly when subordinates got out of line, and he'd rather try to keep his cool as long as possible.

The boy squinted his eyes at him and, after a moment, chuckled, "Old man's got a bark, eh? I'm 26 years old. But that'll be the last question I'll answer unless you return the favor."

Edmund stared at him a moment without reaction and then calmly looked down at the floor before lighting another cigarette.

"Can I bum one, guy?" Tony motioned with his hand. Edmund tossed one at him without looking in Tony's direction. Tony smiled and lit his. "That's more like it."

"If you had called me 'old man' when you asked for it, I would've burned you with mine," Edmund replied calmly, breathing in the cigarette. He blew out the smoke and immediately tossed the rest of the cigarette in the ashtray.

Tony took a deep breath into his and laughed as the smoke rushed out of his body. "Ouch, that's pretty harsh, dude." Tony glanced at the ashtray. "That's a waste. That's, like, a whole cigarette in there – two if you count the other."

Edmund leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes, and silently replied, "I'm trying to quit."

"If you're just gonna do that, pass me all of them. I swear I'll use them well," Tony snorted.

"It's not that easy," Edmund argued, but he took out his pack and took out all but two of them and threw them at Tony. Tony bent over and picked up some of the cigarettes that fell on the floor and counted them up.

"Man, that's 15 cigarettes. That's a brand new pack. What, did you just decide to quit before you got here?" Tony scoffed, sticking them all in his jacket.

"My mouth needs something," Edmund simply replied.

"Chew gum," Tony said, taking another puff of his cigarette. "Alright, it's my turn for questions, guy. Let's start with a name."

"Edmund." Edmund closed his eyes again.

"OK, Eddy, how old are you?" Edmund cringed at the nickname but answered anyway. "30."

"Damn, Edmunster, you're right on the edge. One more year, and you'd have the Corps on your doorstep."

"That's why I'm here. Shut your mouth if you aren't going to say my name right."

"Sure, whatever. Kinda dangerous to wait until the end though. You're not gonna be able to go next year if you don't find a girl to your tastes. You might end up with an ugly one just so you don't end up dead."

"I realize that."

"Why wait?" Tony asked impatiently.

"I didn't think I'd live until now."

"That's depressing." Tony yawned.

Edmund opened his eyes and glared at Tony. Tony gave him a wicked smile. "Cigarettes killing ya?"

"Not quite."

"What then?"

"I'm Military, front lines."

"…Holy shit."

Tony's amused expression dropped and grew deadly serious. "For how long?"

Edmund thought about it for a moment. "About four years now, in the front. Ten years in the Military."

"How are you not fucking dead?"

"Luck."

"That's badass, man." Tony looked straight ahead with wide eyes and took another puff of a cigarette. "You better hope for a woman who likes that and doesn't care if you're a dead man walking."

"Now we're on the same page," Edmund said quietly. He turned his head and asked. "Now, you tell me, why are you here?"

"Obviously to get chicks."

Edmund lifelessly chuckled. "I suppose you can do that. You still have four years until you have to find a wife."

Tony shrugged. "If she bangs hard, I'll keep her. No reason to wait four years to have no one I like that year."

Edmund closed his eyes and genuinely smiled, "Of course. I suppose you expect women to just fall into bed with you to have confidence like that."

Tony chuckled, "Wouldn't have it any other way." He leaned in close to Edmund and whispered, "Wanna know a secret?"

Edmund glanced at him, "Go ahead."

Tony smiled.

"The trick is to tell them you 'like them' and that they 'seem different' from the rest of the lot, and you've already 'set your eyes' on them to be your partner. Even if they initially refuse you, chicks love the attention and will eventually come around. Then you bed 'em, and if you like 'em, then you keep 'em. If you don't, then you go home, and they'll never find you. Well, for me I can just go home. But once you marry one of them, the other girls won't find you either. Just make sure the girl you marry doesn't find out. Tip though: Don't try it on a girl from your country. I had a girl from two years ago stalk me for months – months, man – until I changed my entire identity just to get the bitch off me. Learn from my mistake, Ed. Don't do that."

"I see. Thank you for your insight."

"No problem," Tony grinned and slapped him on his back. "And if you need help, I'll be here for ya."

Edmund lifted a corner of his lips in a smile back at him.

Two women in light blue business suits opened the big double doors at the other end of the room. They each pulled a door back towards the wall. A few men stood at the action.

The women, after finishing their task, walked in front of the doorway and bowed. After raising their heads, one spoke.

"Greetings, Male Matches from around the Continent. We, the Oceanic Republic of Marino, welcome you to our fair city of Delmar." The other woman smiled and opened her mouth to say her line.

"It is our pleasure to host this year's Resuscitation Holding. We do hope that you will help us to make this event go as smoothly as possible without any trouble."

"We do hope that everyone here is seated comfortably and has settled well into their rooms. The Female Matches were shown to their rooms early this morning and are now being held in the waiting room to await further direction. They will be separated into age groups as you men were. The age group of women age 26 to age 30 will arrive in this room shortly."

"You will be allowed thirty minutes to view the entire group. After that time slot, you will be matched in pairs. Volunteer pairs will be matched first. After that, pairs will be selected by random."

"There are an exact number of men and women selected to be matched in pairs so do not worry you will not be matched with a partner."

"After thirty minutes paired, if you and your partner wish to view other partners, a switch will be allowed. Please only switch if you truly feel the partner you are with is unsatisfactory."

"We wish to thank you for your support of the Resuscitation Program our beautiful countries have graciously agreed to offer for us so that we may become closer to our brother and sister countries, and enjoy an era of peace and prosperity for our children."

The two women bowed and walked outside into the hallway, both facing opposite directions and ushered towards people hidden by the walls to come and enter the room.

Edmund had barely been paying attention to the speech the two women were giving, sitting bored on the couch when the women had walked out. However, when the two women re-entered the room, the Female Matches wandering behind them, his eyes stopped on one woman with a bright red dress, brown eyes, and dark brown hair.

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He unconsciously jumped to his feet.

"Sister…?"

3: Meeting New People

"Sister...?"

Belle looked up at the sudden voice that echoed from the other side of the room. A tall man with shoulder-length silvery blonde hair and white Albinidian clothing stood at the back of the room, almost looking at her. She looked behind her trying to catch who he was looking at. Some of the women looked at the man; the rest looked at her. The men did the same. The room was completely still.

She turned back around slowly and looked him in the eye. She was sure now: He was speaking to her.

"...What?"

The man furrowed his brow and stepped forward towards her a few steps. She stepped backwards to match, running into some of the women behind her as she did. They quickly stepped out of her way when she touched them. The man paused when he saw she was retreating, turning his head to break eye contact. She paused as well.

After a moment of silence - with even the Marian officials holding their breath - he looked her back in the eye.

"Are you not...? Can you not...?" he started, unable to finish any real thoughts.

She took a breath and replied back to him, "Do I know you?"

She already knew the answer. She had never been to Albinida, nor has she ever met anyone from there. There was no way she had any idea who this man was - and she was sure that he shouldn't (not to say that he doesn't) have any idea who she was either.

Confusion altered his expression, and then he looked away. "Sorry, it's nothing. You just look a bit like my sister." He turned and sat down, like nothing had happened. He nudged the guy beside him and snatched a cigarette out of the boy's pocket, lit it and leaned hard back on the fancy couch he sat on.

Belle coughed and nudged herself to the back of the crowd to where Jessica was standing, to hide her blushing face and embarrassment of being called out. Jessica moved close to her. The two Marian officials cleared their throats and began to speak again. Belle wasn't paying attention to them. She turned to Jessica and tried to smile.

"That was interesting," Belle whispered.

Jessica put her arm around her waist, pulling her close. "That was strange. I wonder who that guy is..."

"Me too... I wonder about his sister," Belle inquired. "I wanna ask him."

"I don't know Belle, maybe we should just let it go," Jessie said nervously.

"Why?" Belle asked, curious why Jessie would say that.

She motioned in the direction of the man through the people. He looked incredibly irritated: His eyebrows were narrowed, his eyes were closed, and his teeth almost chewed the cigarette until his hand finally yanked it from his mouth.

"He seems rough. You should - We should stay away from him," Jessie said softly.

Belle sighed, "I suppose so."

After a few minutes, the Marian officials left the room, leaving only the Matches and guards next to the doors. The women wandered over to where the men were sitting. Belle took the time that everyone was moving to view the room properly.

It looked as if three rooms were placed together, with everyone standing in the center room. Obvious doorways were in between the rooms with folded sliding doors on the ends. The walls were painted gray with red bricks lining the bottom. The ceiling was very tall, chandeliers hanging in the rooms. The floors were made out of a dark hardwood. A fireplace with various furniture surrounding it was in the room to her right. Tall bookshelves filled with different colored books lined the walls. The room to her left looked as if it was a dining room, a long table occupying the majority of the room. Silver plates hung on the walls.

The center room was a sitting room. Five coffee tables were placed in the room, each with two couches, one love seat and two chairs around it. The men were sitting around two coffee tables. Instead of sitting around other tables, the women flocked around the two tables where the men sat, standing around their seats. A few men jumped up, offering their chairs to the prettier girls. Other men leaned back in their seats as if they would fight anyone who would try to take it from them.

Belle stood behind on of the chairs that a smug looking Virian man in green and brown dress attire had given to a young, fit looking Flavian girl in a bright white blouse with yellow trim and loose yellow dress pants to match. She smiled at both of them and tried to make a good distance between the Virian man, who now stood beside her, leaning over into the chair to talk to the Flavian girl. Most people in the room were now making small talk with each other. She figured she should at least try to make friends. She walked around the front of the chair, smiling at the nervous looking dark-skinned girl sitting in it.

"That's a beautiful dress," she said to her. The Virian man stood up straight, a huge grin on his face. He was very tan, with dark brown tussled hair pulled back in a loose low ponytail. He walked beside Belle, immediately wrapping his arm around her so they could both have a full view of the Flavian girl. Belle stiffened.

"Isn't it?" He spoke, his thick accent clear in his voice, his free hand motioning with every word he said. "But I think what makes the dress most beautiful is the girl inside. No matter how beautiful the dress is, a dog could never make it look even half as great."

The girl grew wide-eyed and looked away. The man's smile somehow grew bigger, and he turned to Belle. "Don't you believe so as well?"

Belle cleared her throat, obviously uncomfortable with the man's actions. She expected as much when she saw him there, however. Virian people tended to be very straight-forward and tried very hard to get reactions out of people. Virians were known to be the wisest people on the Continent; every word that came out of their mouth was pre-planned and for a purpose.

This man obviously felt that to get this girl, complimenting her enough that she grew nervous was the way to do it. Belle was also sure that he probably grabbed herself for a reason too. Maybe to make the girl jealous, or to force Belle to compliment her as well. Virians scared Belle; she didn't like the idea of people playing her like a game piece.

"Y-Yes, of course, she's beautiful as well..." Belle smiled half-heartedly at the man.

He returned her smile, releasing her. "Very beautiful, like the raven. I love your people. Flavians look so different from all the other countries; they all look pale in one way or another, but Flavians? They have skin the color the color of the panther. It is so, so very beautiful."

He knelt and took her hand. "Promise me, you'll at least consider a man such as I?"

The girl looked incredibly nervous, opening her mouth to answer and then promptly closing it. Belle felt so uncomfortable watching this, she reached forward and grabbed the man's shoulder.

"Do you even know each other's names?" Belle said to him, attempting a smile, knowing she was crossing the line that the man had planned no one to cross.

He stared her down in a second, opening his mouth to simply say: "No. There is plenty time to discuss small details later."

Belle narrowed her eyes at him. "Small details? A name is not a small detail. It would be around the first thing I'd ask someone, way before I ask someone to marry me."

He scoffed. "You're a woman, you wouldn't be asking anyone to marry you unless you were desperate or barbaric."

Belle returned the gesture. "You know exactly what I meant. You are a Virian after all; you aren't stupid. Or are you?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Of course I'm not stupid; I would never shame my people in such a way." He turned back to the girl. She was fidgeting and looked almost ready to bolt. Gently, he laid his hand on her knee.

"I'm sorry, I started out wrong it seems. My name is Fernando, Fernando Vega. I'd be most honored if I was to know yours," he said slowly, this time with a somewhat honest looking smile.

She awkwardly returned his smile. "I... am called Adia, Adia... Diallo." She looked down at her feet. "I am... sorry. My... My language is not very... clear. Not... fluent." She rubbed her hands nervously.

Fernando leaned back, understanding lighting up his face. "Ah, I see, I see. My mistake then. I must've been talking all over you."

He looked over at Belle, slightly smiling in thanks, and turned back to Adia. "Would you like to walk?"

Adia looked at him in confusion. Fernando tried using hand motions to clarify. "Would you..." He pointed to her. "...walk..." He stood up and walked around in a quick circle. "...with me?" He motioned to himself, smiling wide.

Adia smiled at him, amused at his actions, and nodded her head. He offered her his hand, and she took it. Belle watched them as they walked around the three rooms, Fernando motioning to everything they passed, maybe to try to talk about things. They spoke some, and they sometimes smiled or laughed. Belle smiled, but dropped it after she thought suddenly, There might be a language or cultural barrier here when I speak to people... I should be careful not to offend anyone.

Belle sat down in the now empty chair. She looked over the people sitting around the tables, now all five surrounded by people. She scanned the crowd, searching for Jessica. When she found her, she saw her laughing and giggling with a Nygan boy. Belle smiled, happy Jessie had found someone already. When she looked harder, she recognized the boy to be the same one the man from earlier took a cigarette from after he asked her if she was his sister.

She sighed, "Of course Jessie would fall in love with a smoker."

"Something wrong with smoking?"

Belle turned around to face a man with silvery blonde hair and a white uniform. Speak of a Devil...

"Certainly. It smells awful." She smiled at him, standing. "Would you like to sit? I was thinking of walking anyway."

He shook his head. "No, thank you. I believe I'll walk with you if you'll allow me."

"Oh," she replied quietly, unsure of how to answer. Jessica told her to avoid him, for a good reason. He seemed violent. She cleared her throat.

"What's your name?" she said, trying to change the subject. She wanted to walk with him, but she really wasn't sure if she should. He might think that she's trying to view him as an option, but all she really wanted to do was ask more on his sister.

"Edmund Clarke." He replied quickly. "Yours?"

"Belle Astley... How's Albinida this time of year?" she stalled again.

He raised an eyebrow. "Beautiful, as is any time of the year. Harvests are going on now, so most people are happy."

"I've heard Albinida to be a satisfying place to live... You must be happy there then." She attempted a smile. Ok, right after he answers, I'll go make an excuse to go talk to Jessica.

"Not very." He crossed his arms.

"Oh?" Belle said, caught off guard. "Why wouldn't you be? Because you're not married?"

"I could live happily unmarried, I'm sure," he replied. "I'm just too busy."

"Oh," Belle said. "I'm guessing you're an official there? Because of your uniform?"

"I'm a military officer," he replied, nonchalantly. "You were talking to that girl earlier, correct?"

"Huh?" She turned to meet his gaze. He was motioning towards Jessica. "Oh, yes. She's my best friend, ever since we were young teenagers. Why?"

"Keep her away from that guy," he said simply. "He's got a history for womanizing."

"What?!" she said, turning to look him in the eyes.

He nodded, motioning back over there. "You may want to go tell her now. Group time is almost up, and they may pair up when we get into pairs."

"Oh, you're right... Thank you very much!" She curtsied and began to make her way across the room.