Some undefined time period later, America skips dinner to meet with Aspen instead.

The queen was a little more relaxed when it came to running the palace.  Or maybe she was distracted.

Either way, the point is, she’s just not as good as the dudes, amiright?  That darn vagina, getting in the way again.

They cuddle, and she thinks lovey-dovey-angsty thoughts about Aspen.

If anything, you’re the one constant.  I know that if everything else turns upside down, you’ll still be here, in the exact same place.

So, originally, her conflict with Aspen was that he’d hurt her and she wasn’t sure she could trust him.  He left her once for stupid reasons, so what’s to stop him from doing it again?  So she held off picking him.

Now, apparently that’s not an issue at all.  But we’re still in a love triangle.  Because reasons.

They talk about Aspen’s soldiering, and he mentions how awesome it is being fed three squares a day.  Seriously, why do more people not volunteer for this?  He makes another casual reference to being injected with something mysterious, and that gets ignored as soon as he says it.  So he likes soldiering, but he still doesn’t like the way the royals are running the country. 

Seriously, did these people not screen their palace guards before choosing them?  He should have been out of the running right away just for being from America’s hometown, if they’re really that serious about casual affairs.  But this?  This makes him a prime candidate for “oops, I was ‘too late’ to save the king from being killed by a rebel.”

I have this feeling that things have gotten better than they were, though I honestly don’t know enough about our history to prove that.

Oh, well, as long as you have ~*~*~FEELINGS~*~*~

So Aspen basically explains patriotism to her, and to her credit, the reaction is more “oh, that puts good words to my feelz” instead of “okay, I guess I’ll feel that way, too.”

They make out for a while, then she goes to bed while thinking “who will I choose?” just in many, many more words.  Again.  How many times has she sat and ruminated over this very topic without adding any new information?  I’ve lost count.