Chapter 15

I was pleased to have survived the dinner with little trouble from Andrei. The weird flashback with Kitty was concerning but I could chalk it up to being a quirk of the mechanism that brought me here. 

For the first time today I felt myself relax slightly, the party was mostly over. Quite a few people had left immediately after dinner and the remaining guests were standing in the ballroom talking amongst themselves in small groups. All three of the men were here but I couldn't see Natasha, I felt myself relax a little more upon making this observation. 

I was dead tired and wanted more than anything to go to my room and sleep. That feeling had been quite pervasive the entire night but it was hitting its peak right now. Unfortunately I could not shamble off to my room and pass out. Since I was the hostess it was proper procedure for me to thank the attendants for coming. I dragged myself to group after group of similarly tired nobles and gave them my thanks. I had briefly considered asking Anna to come with me in case I ran into more people who treated me like a freak for their viewing pleasure but I couldn't find her.Thankfully the curiosity towards my change of personality had been mostly sated throughout the course of the party but I still got a few prying questions I deflected by imitating Anna. 

Finally having finished attending to guests I found a chair in the outskirts of the ballroom and slumped into it. I knew I should sit in a more refined position but I couldn't summon the willpower to care. 

Who knew that social functions were so tiring? Even if I couldn't remember my previous life I could tell I was naturally inclined towards introversion from my actions in the short time I had been Kitty. Still, I didn't expect to be so thoroughly mentally and physically exhausted from the whole ordeal. I watched the small crowds of stragglers slowly thin out until there were only a handful of people in the ballroom. 

The chair I was sitting in wasn't particularly comfortable but I could still feel myself slowly falling asleep. I lightly slapped myself on the face, I shouldn't make a habit of falling asleep on random chairs. My efforts to stay awake were only half successful, although my eyes were open my mind was, for all intents and purposes, asleep.

"Kitty," Nikolai sighed,"come on you can't sleep here."

I looked up at Nikolai, eyes bleary. I blinked extra hard before looking back up at him and realizing he wasn't alone. Flanking him were Leo and Andrei, the former looking amused at my choice of sleeping place and the latter looking at me with a mix of apathy and disappointment. Before I could say anything back I heard a door open and Anna came walking in. 

I wasn't sure how long I had been sitting there in a fugue state but it must have been a while. The ballroom was empty asides from the five of us and the house staff had been beginning to clean up.

"I've been looking for you everywhere," Anna said with slight exasperation.

"Me too," Nikolai echoed her sentiment.

"Was I supposed to go somewhere," I asked, still dazed.

"No, I just didn't expect you to wander off to a nondescript location and fall asleep," Nikolai sighed again,"not only is it improper, it's dangerous for a young lady such as yourself to be so publicly vulnerable."

"The Princess seems to be attracted to dangerous things, I'm unsurprised she takes to napping publicly," Leo made an offhand remark at my expense.

I was too tired to engage in a verbal sparring match with him, especially one where I needed to conceal information from others.

"And what would you know about that," Andrei asked. I was surprised Andrei took Leo's bait for me.

Leo looked contemplative for a moment before responding,"well I guess I don't know much about that. Still, something about her makes me think she'd go running off into the woods at night to investigate something that's caught her interest."

"No, she's far too cowardly for that. She's the type to flinch from the faintest unknown sound. I don't blame her for this, it's only natural when you're so vulnerable," Andrei said this with a mildly threatening edge to his normally apathetic way of speaking.

Ugh were the two of them going to sit here and remind me of why I don't like them? Neither of them knew me as a person, they just amplified whatever personality trait of mine they liked the most and pretended that was me. Truth be told, I was a coward but my cowardice could be overridden if my curiosity was peaked enough. I hadn't planned on indulging either of them by responding to them but I was having a hard time listening to them blatantly mischaracterize me to my face. The anger was sufficient to rouse me from my half-asleep state but before I could voice my discontent Nikolai butted in.

"Now now, we're all friends here but I would appreciate it if you refrained from speaking ill of my fiance to her face. Or my face for that matter."

"My brother is right. It's quite rude of you to pick on her when she's clearly indisposed. What sort of manners have you been taught? Are you sure you're princes and not some schoolboys who wandered in off the street," Anna giggled a bit at this last part. 

I joined her in laughing.

The two men wore vastly different expressions. Andrei looked vaguely stunned, like he had just heard news that the world ended unexpectedly. I suppose he was so used to thinking of me as his property that being told he had to treat me politely and not as he pleased was like being plunged into a pool of ice cold water.

Leo, on the other hand, looked as if he was going to blow a gasket. Much like Andrei, he was clearly not used to his actions having consequences. Being chastised by someone he considered his peer and the mockery from someone whom he hated caused a seething rage which was painted all over his face. Not being one to waste an opportunity to fuck with him I simply looked at him and gave him the smugest grin I could muster. 

Truly Leo brought out the worst in me, even though I knew that poking and prodding him would lead to physical retaliation I couldn't help but want to press his buttons. Enraged by all that happened, he pounced on me. He had his hands wrapped around my throat and was squeezing as hard as possible before anyone could react.

The pain was unbearable, I could feel my trachea starting to groan due to the pressure and the skin on my throat start to bruise. 

Andrei and Nikolai rushed forward to get him off of me but the one who really saved me was Anna. Almost immediately, she was behind him with a small knife she was pressing into his throat."

"Get off of her. Now," she commanded.

He let go of my neck and held his hands up. I coughed feebly and tasted blood in my mouth. It took a few moments of breathing before I could feel my pulse begin to slow down.

"Leo Sherbatsky, you are forthwith banned from the Rostov estate and lands for the foreseeable future," Anna said coldly.

"Isn't that a decision for Nikolai to make," he spat back.

To my surprise Nikolai didn't look in the least bit sympathetic to Leo's implied pleas to turn over Anna's verdict. For the first time I saw the sibling resemblance between him and Anna, his eyes were as cold as hers.

"I agree with her. You've always had problems with your behavior but I brushed it off because you hadn't hurt anyone. In honor of our now dead friendship I will keep your banishment confidential but if you can make it public if you so wish," Andrei said.

"Bad decision on your part, Nikolai. How you can stand to live with these impudent bitches is beyond me. Just know you'll face repercussions for this," he threatened.

"I'm sure we will have public support after disclosing you insulted and assaulted the crown princess at her own ball," Anna said,"oh, and if this isn't already obvious, consider our engagement called off. I'm sure your father will be ecstatic to learn that you ruined relations between two of the most prominent houses in the country. I wonder how many months, no years, of house arrest you'll be put under. Maybe he'll strip you of your rank and turn you out of the house. Still too light of a punishment in my opinion. If you ask me, you should be hanged for assaulting a member of the royal family," as she came up with punishments it was clear she was having fun winding him up while he was helpless to do anything. 

I was surprised when even Andrei assented to the situation,"you've gotten too easily led around by your emotions as of late. Some time reflecting privately will do you some good."

With everyone against him, Leo sputtered a few seconds looking for an insult but figured he should spare the last vestiges of his dignity and said nothing as Anna lead him at knife point out of the room.