"You should be! They're very exacting and high quality. Definitely an accurate assessment of a princess's worth."

"Ah-huh." She doesn't sound entirely convinced.

"Of course, if you'd like corroboration immediately, we can skip waiting for the party and go back to my rooms now for the complete multi-point inspection."

"It'll be a better birthday gift if it's a first kiss, you know."

She sticks her tongue out.

"I won't tell if you don't."

Smirk.

"An impressive first kiss is what I want for my birthday, though, and I expect punctuality there."

"Should we make it a sleepover the night before then? Stay up til midnight together?"

She laughs. "As long as you don't mind me ducking out to meet my dad for breakfast."

"There's lots of time between midnight and breakfast."

"Several hours, even."

"Then it's a date?"

She shouldn't agree to dating the Imperial Princess just like that -

"It is."

"Excellent."

Heeeee.

"You're cute."

"So're you. That's an important point on the princess grading scale, you know."

"What are the major points?"

"That," she says, "would be telling."

"I don't get to know how I'm being graded, then?"

"If you did, you might try to game the system. Can't have that."

"Wouldn't that just be self improvement?"

"A balanced and healthy arc of personal growth without regard for her stature is also an important princess metric," Dalia says virtuously.

"And how am I supposed to grow if I don't know my goals?"

"You set them for yourself."

Grin. "Something I'm also good at."

"You're multi-talented."