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Isabela Madrigal was perfect. She had perfect hair and a perfect power and a perfect relationship with her grandmother Alma Madrigal.
She even had a perfect relationship all arranged for her by her grandmother. Mariano Guzman was attractive and charming. He could sing and was a respectable member of the Encanto. They would get married and have five perfect children to continue the Madrigal name and magic and everything would be perfect.
Except there was one problem: Isabela didn’t love Mariano.
She tried her hardest to like him or see him as her future husband. But the more time they spent together, the more she knew he wasn’t whom she loved. There was nothing wrong with him - and maybe that was the problem.
He seemed as fake as their relationship. Or maybe it was just that he was too amazing. Unlike her father, everything just seemed to go right for Mariano. Cat stuck in a tree? Mariano knew how to get it down without it scratching him. Something breaks? Mariano was always just around to help fix it. Feeling down? Well Mariano knew just how to cheer everyone up too.
It was almost annoying how perfect he was.
When they spent time alone - or at least out of earshot of a chaperone, usually one of her family or his abuela because abuela would never let them “court” without supervision. God forbid her perfect Isabela should be touched and tainted before her wedding. Even if Mariano was perfect he was “still a guy” and “guys knew what to say to convince you to give yourself to them before you were married.” So to prevent that they could date with a chaperone - it was like they didn’t know how to speak to each other. It was the moment Isabela looked forward to the least during their nearly daily dates. It was always the same conversations that went nowhere. It wasn’t like they could even get to know each other then either. The two of them had grown up together. Their abuelas were best friends and both of them would bring their eldest grandchildren with them whenever they hung out. Isabela felt like she knew Mariano even better than her own sisters sometimes and it wasn’t necessarily a great feeling.
The best part of any date the two of them went on would be when they were found by their chaperone and they’d say their goodbyes and make some vague plans about seeing each other again (even though Isabela didn’t want to but the family wanted her to and she’d never disappoint the family).
Isabela went back to her room to forget all about the date. Or at least try to. Most of the time she cried or screamed, not even caring if Dolores heard her. She would then go to bed and be perfect for her family. She would pretend that she wasn’t miserable and pretend that she was happily waiting for the day for Mariano to propose to her. Not even her parents or sisters knew she didn’t want to marry the man. No one knew.
Except Casita who heard her screams and cries each day. Luckily the magical home’s walls couldn’t talk.