Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5583089-20140615101048/@comment-4975807-20140615221728

Well, it's known for certain that "The Miller's Daughter" does take place sometime after the flashback events of "Bleeding Through". So by "The Miller's Daughter", this was already Eva and Cora's second meeting. I listened to an interesting theory on a OUAT fan podcast that theorized Cora started working on a milling farm because after "Bleeding Through", she may have been banished by Prince Leopold for her trickery. So I guess it can also be theorized during the events of "The Miller's Daughter", Eva had probably/likely resumed her arranged marriage with Prince Leopold (judging from what she said at the flashback end of "Bleeding Through"). It's possible they were already married by "The Miller's Daughter", so her status as the future king's wife is a very elevated position. That could be the reason why King Xavier spoke of her as a "very important woman". Before "Bleeding Through", I had always assumed her appearance in "The Miller's Daughter" was King Xavier's way of trying to play matchmaker with her and Prince Henry, but that doesn't appear to be the case with the further backstory explored between Cora, Eva and Prince Henry in "Bleeding Through".

The issue is we still don't know what happened to Prince Henry and why he became a valet. Could it be King Xavier's kingdom collapsed? Did he forfeit his line to the throne? Not sure if King Leopold and King Xavier have a familial connection, but with the current time gaps, it could be possible. I would say King Xavier looks older than Leopold if we are going by how Leopold looked in "Bleeding Through". I'm unsure about Leopold ... he seems to have this aging look about him despite being "young". In "Bleeding Through", I would guess his age to be at least in his early 30's. For Eva, she looks like she's 19 years old in both "Bleeding Through" and "The Miller's Daughter". It wouldn't be uncommon for an older man and a younger woman to have an arranged marriage if you think about some royal marriages in history and the age gap between some spouses. Since the marriage has been arranged since Eva and Henry were children, I would assume this means the marriage itself is more about securing kingdom alliances than it being a marriage built on love.

We haven't seen Leopold and George interact as of yet, but for whatever reason, George appeared to be keen on having a kingdom alliance with Regina (when she was Queen). George really depended on Regina for gold to supply his kingdom, it seems.