The Mysterious Stranger

LARISSA COULD hear how the ball was already in full swing as she stepped out of her room. She could hear the royal orchestra playing their instruments, and even the faint voices of the many guests present at the ball.

None of the servants that she dismissed earlier were outside of her room. It was a good thing, for she would rather not have to deal with the scandalized expressions on their faces once they found out how their mistress completely changed how she looked compared to how they prepared her to look earlier.

And perhaps it was due to the lingering feeling of doubt and fear in her heart that Larissa found herself making her way to the royal gardens instead of the grand hall. Inhaling the scent of the huge variety of flowers that filled the gardens, she temporarily closed her eyes to relish the feeling of being alone.

However, the concept of being alone in the gardens will never be true. Larissa knew that there were guards nearby. She knew that with just a single scream from her, whether it be due to her accidentally getting hurt by a rose's thorn or tripping over a lone pebble, they would quickly come over and check if she was alright.

Larissa knew that tonight when she would finally receive the right timing that Ciel promised, she would have nobody running to her with the intention to help and save her. She knew that she would have nobody but herself to depend on.

She would be alone. Completely alone.

The princess lets out a sigh before deciding to sit down on the tiled ground, looking up to see how the night sky was filled with stars that gleamed because of the darkness behind them.

Larissa always loved stargazing ever since she was a child. However, her mother forbade her from taking a single step outside her chambers past six in the evening. She always made her daughter promise to immediately return to her chambers once they were done eating dinner, much to the younger's disappointment at having to watch the night sky only through the single window in her room.

Despite the huge size of her room, the only window there was quite small and as Larissa grew, decreased her chances of seeing the night sky. The princess always had thought that her mother had it done that way on purpose, terrified of the idea of her daughter jumping off and escaping to watch the night sky that her mother had never been fond of.

It reminds me of my dark past, she tells Larissa once when her daughter was finally able to ask her about it.

But for Larissa, the vast night sky promised her thousands of opportunities. Just like the stars above that gleamed regardless of the darkness that threatened to cover them, they would always come out and shine brightly like harbingers of hope.

"Do you enjoy watching the stars?"

Larissa almost jumped in surprise at the voice that suddenly interrupted the comfortable silence. She turns to the owner of the voice, who ended up being a boy who seemed to be of the same age as her.

A boy with hair as dark as the night sky, and eyes as gold as the stars above. He was wearing quite an ensemble too, which made Larissa realize that he was probably someone of high noble status.

She willed herself to not stand up and curtsy immediately like her mother would tell her to do before when facing those with titles of nobility.

Last time at the castle, right?

"I never watched them for long," She decides to answer him instead. "I was always forbidden to do such childish things,"

You should avoid being childish, her mother would often chastise her when Larissa would choose to read the books in the library rather than attend her etiquette lessons.

Who knows what names they will call you if you make even a single mistake in court?

"Must be a boring life," The boy replies. Surprisingly, the princess was unable to recognize an ounce of pity present on the boy's voice. "Have you never tried defying their expectations of you?"

Larissa leaned back until her back met the hard surface of the ground behind her. She had a complete view of the stranger in front of her and the night sky full of stars behind him. "Never,"

The stranger remained standing but his golden eyes never left Larissa. "Why?"

"Maybe because it was easier that way,"

"But is it easier for you?"

The question caught the princess off guard. Her grey eyes met golden ones, and for a moment time seemed to stop. It was almost as if Larissa was looking at one of the paintings in the royal gallery, and the stranger in front of her was the centerpiece. The reason why people would stop and stare.

The reason why they would visit the royal gallery in the first place.

Clearing his throat, the stranger looks away from Larissa's intent stare and changes the topic. "Will you be attending the ball?"

"Not that I have a choice on the matter," She couldn't help but say out loud, pushing herself upwards and immediately dusting her gown after. "From which kingdom are you?"

Asking a noble, particularly someone with high status, from which kingdom they belong is considered to be exceptionally rude. However, Larissa cannot think of a single reason at that moment as to why she needed to follow the etiquette rules taught to her by the innumerable etiquette teachers that she had.

"Do you have to know?" The stranger asks instead of answering the question asked by the princess. "What difference will it make?"

Ah. He's probably from Xenthon. Most nobles that came from Xenthon, based on Larissa's experiences during the last grand balls held by her father, disliked saying out loud that they came from the Northern kingdom.

Regardless of how well known the kingdom is for their powerful guilds and the endless amount of monster cores that they trade throughout the four kingdoms that bring them a lot of money, they were still known to house criminals and evildoers.

It isn't exactly a great start in any conversation to introduce oneself as a Xenthonian citizen, and that is also the case for its nobles.

"I won't insist then," Larissa puts her best smile on for the stranger, in case her question offended him. Realizing that the stranger didn't have any plans to continue the conversation between them, the princess slowly stepped back and curtsied. "I will be making my way to the ball now,"

However, instead of a dismissive nod, the stranger stopped her in her steps with a surprising question. "What is your name?"

What a surprise. A delightful surprise, the princess thought.

"Felicia," Larissa replies with the fake name that she had wanted to use for so long. "I am called Felicia,"

"Felicia," The stranger repeats, the syllables rolling out of his tongue in a weirdly stimulating way. "I am Valentin,"

Valentin? Doesn't quite ring a bell.

Larissa smiles briefly, catching the stranger's golden eyes once again. Their second staring contest of the night did not last very long, for one of the guards caught the princess's attention by walking toward her in quick steps.

"The king is asking for your presence," Fortunately, the guard spoke in a hushed tone. "I will be accompanying you to the grand hall, princess,"

"Okay," Larissa briefly turns away from the guard and was about to bid her goodbyes to the stranger that was just in front of her seconds ago. "Oh, he left,"

The guard seemed to be confused as well at the stranger's sudden disappearance but didn't say anything. "Shall we go, your Highness?"

Larissa could only nod but the entire time that she was escorted to the grand hall, her mind was filled with thoughts of the stranger with golden eyes.