Jin
Jin's feet eventually carried him back to his quarters. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it looked a great deal like an extension of the library and archives, with three of the walls lined floor-to-ceiling in bookshelves, which were crammed nearly to bursting with works on mechanics, engineering, mathematics, physics, philosophy, battle strategy and even medicine and poetry. The last wall had a large bay window, which helped a lot in keeping the dust from gathering too much as it tended to do in the presence of old things and paper things a bit more readily than it did with things that were neither.
Resisting the urge to climb out that window and to go just about anywhere besides a meeting (for dinner was not all this was, he was certain) with his father, Jin instead tried to make himself somewhat presentable. The ease of this seemed to get progressively less as one moved down the line of succession: Jin had some conscious difficulty on occasion, but then he rarely had to worry about, say, picking leaves out of it. The thought made him smile- he really was fond of both his brothers, no matter how different they all were. It was true that they all lived very different lives, but there had been a time when they had scarcely more to rely on than each other, and even now they were perhaps the people that understood the trials of their position the best.
He did not change, but he did straighten out his sleeves and put his jacket back on over his vest and shirt. He observed idly that he had clearly endured a bit more frustration than usual today, if the state of his blond coif was anything to go by. Shaking his head, he put everything to rights as best as he was able given the time (while being less-than-impeccable in appearance was a slight to his father, tardiness was even more so) and departed, reaching the dining room just after Adio did. While in most situations this would have been sufficient to induce a greeting from him, one did not speak in the presence of the king unless allowed, and so Jin made his way up the left side of the table, taking the midway point between Adio and their sire, but on the opposite side.
After that, the affair would be a waiting game until everyone arrived and then were instructed to sit. He was not idle in the meantime, though, and noted the presence of the high priest with well-concealed apprehension. Jin was too gentle, perhaps, to hate, but that did not mean he liked the man, especially since he had a fair inkling of what would be said this evening. It did not help that His Holiness was cool at best in demeanor towards science. Regardless of what may or may not be metaphysically true, the second prince simply could not understand what moved person who was supposed to have the well-being of others at heart to reject out-of-hand a way of doing so much good.
Perhaps it was best not to think of such things right now.
Lenore
Lenore, upon reflection, determined that she'd been in a rather strange humor today. Or maybe it was because she'd had so many different causes for her mood to change. Her life before had not been entirely one of routine, but there was a certain underpinning of stability to it that was missing now, and that left her reeling more than she cared to admit. It was... difficult; she could admit that much to herself, at least. Truthfully, she was unsure if she would be able to handle it effectively, but there was little room for such doubts. Like it or not (and while in some senses it was certainly not, but surprisingly the jury was still out on the rest), this was her life now, and with it came an entirely different set of duties and obligations.
At the very least, it would take some getting used to. Maybe this part especially, she could not help but think as she stared down at the dress. She'd never had cause to wear such a thing in nineteen years of life. Her present attire didn't count, as there were leggings underneath and it was just as easy to move in as trousers. She wondered if this was some kind of regular expectation. It struck her as silly, and impractical, but she'd take it in stride as she'd tried to do everything else. She hadn't succeeded well thus far, but she supposed now was as good a time as any to start.
Of course, why whomever was in charge of these things had chosen black was a bit beyond her. Sure, it wasn't exclusively a funeral color or anything, but... hm. Well, maybe it suited her mood. Not that she could decide what her mood actually was at the moment. From this morning to this moment, she'd gone from unspeakably happy to angry to accepting if bitter to pleasantly surprised to contemplative to scared to satisfied, and now she was just... unsure.
Well, if she was going to be punctual, she didn't have time to decide right now. Lenore slipped the gown on, mildly surprised to find that it fit fairly well. She was of a more athletic construction than anything, and musculature was not usually accounted for in these things, was it? She would have expected a tighter fit at the bust, hips, and especially around her arms, though the sleeves were loose and sheer, edged with lace, rather than fitted. Forgoing the ribbed corset was not an option here, as the back laced up with sturdy satin ribbon. She did not attempt to stop herself from breathing, however.
Deciding that the twin tails probably weren't going to cut it if she was to be meeting a king, she let them down and braided her hair around the crown of her head instead, though the end of the plait still nearly hit her knees. Well, it would do, only... she didn't have any knives to hide up her corset, having only brought her father's sword. Shrugging to herself, she adjusted the straps so that it would hang loosely about her waist instead. It was her job to be a bodyguard, not an ornament, and she wasn't going to take the chance that something would happen and she'd be stupidly powerless to do anything about it. Her hand-to-hand wasn't bad, but it had nothing on her bladework.
She had to move a little more quickly than was proper to get to the dining room on time, though you would never guess by the dignity with which she comported herself. The steward took one look at the weapon she bore and raised a perfectly-groomed eyebrow, but said nothing. She realized she had no idea where to sit, but apparently it was not something she had to worry about, as she was placed to the left of Adio, which made some degree of sense. She inclined her head in silent greeting to the bookish one- Jin, perhaps- and stood tall, hands clasped in a graceful twist behind her back.