The Grand Ball

THE WALK to the grand hall was not by means far.

After bowing to the princess, the guard immediately left her side as they arrived in front of the main hall. Once opened, it would showcase Idradale's youngest princess to the many guests that attended the ball.

The guard settled directly behind the doors and waited for the princess's signal.

Larissa allowed herself to inhale and exhale a couple breaths before deeming herself ready to enter. "I'm ready,"

The guard nods and pushes the doors in one swift movement. The lights from the numerous chandeliers that decorated the ceiling of the grand hall temporarily made Larissa wince, but she pushed herself to regain composure immediately when she realized that the royal orchestra stopped playing at her entrance.

Stepping into the light that allowed her entirety to be seen by everyone, Larissa steeled herself to remain as poised as possible when every single head turned in her direction.

The hall was silent as every guest stared at the sixth princess that slowly descended the stairs, her golden hair illuminated further by the chandelier lights above her. Her black gown, which reached the floor, seemed to resonate with an elegance that the princess was carrying.

Once she reached the spot where the rest of the royal family were, the royal orchestra resumed playing their instruments. It was as if they wanted not a single guest to be distracted by the music, for they wanted all the attention to be on Idradale's youngest princess.

The king leans forward and kisses his daughter on her temple. "You are absolutely beautiful, my darling girl,"

Larissa willed herself to keep the smile on her face, fighting the urge to move away from the alcohol that was evident on her father's breath. "Thank you, your Majesty,"

"Is that why you're late?" Her mother was trying her best to look irritated regardless of the proud look on her face at how everyone reacted to her daughter's entrance.

"I apologize, mother," Larissa curtsies and displays the best doe eyes that she could. "I only wanted to look my absolute best for everyone,"

Nympha scoffs but waves her daughter off. Nevertheless, Larissa knew that her mother was anything but angry as a smile slowly formed on her lips.

When the king was called by nobles from Silicia and her mother became preoccupied with a noble from Xenthon, Larissa shifted her attention to some of her sisters who have been staring at her since earlier and curtsied. "I apologize for making you wait, sisters,"

Jocelyn, the fourth princess, turns to Larissa with a smile. She was the only one among Larissa's sisters to treat her quite warmly, however, Larissa remains unsure if she was genuine or not. "Don't worry sister, you did not miss much,"

"Yeah, maybe it would've been better if you didn't show up after all," Katherine rolls her eyes, sipping loudly from her glass of wine. "You know, so some attention would remain on us?"

Larissa fought the urge to giggle behind a poised smile. "I don't think you would have difficulty keeping any guest's attention with how beautiful you are tonight, sister,"

The fifth princess scoffs. "Sure," She rolls her eyes again. "As if the duke that I was talking to didn't immediately leave my side the very moment you started walking oh-so-slowly down the stairs," She sips from her wine again. "And you know that you could've just run down the stairs, right? It's not like you're wearing ten-inches heels anyway and I'm pretty sure your mother had trained you in wearing heels as high as Gwendolyn is probably now-- and maybe I shouldn't have said that,"

A sheepish look appeared on Katherine's face as she awkwardly clears her throat, turning away from the confused looks that she received from her sisters. "I'll go find the duke that I was talking to earlier,"

Larissa and Jocelyn watched their sister go. Jocelyn chuckles lightly, catching her younger sister's attention effectively. "Katherine always had the tendency to say too much when she's tipsy,"

"Complete secrets when she's drunk," Larissa finishes for her. The two shared a laugh before Jocelyn excused herself to have a conversation with some Silician nobles.

Larissa soon found herself alone in front of the banquet table, absentmindedly looking at the huge variety of meals prepared.

Her thoughts seemed to still drift back to the stranger that she met earlier, especially since despite how much she looked around the hall she still couldn't find him.

Weird, was he her hallucination? Hallucinations don't talk though, and they especially can't be seen by somebody else.

Maybe she should talk to the guard from earlier? Just to make sure that she's not insane?

Larissa pinched herself on her arm to stop such thoughts. If she was alone then she would've slapped herself on the face, but she wasn't really in the mood to catch the attention of the other nobles near her if she would suddenly slap herself on the face.

Her thoughts drifted to Ciel and immediately started to search for her older brother. Her eyes stopped on a redhead wearing a lavish embellished gold tunic with a red coat on his back.

After turning down a few proposals for her first dance of the evening, Larissa made her way to her brother who had not moved a single inch since she spotted him earlier. Once merely a step behind him, she pokes him on the back before whispering lowly. "Everything set?"

Instead of Ciel's familiar smirk, it was Blaine's disgruntled face that turned to Larissa whose eyes widened in surprise.

Shit was the only word that her mind allowed her to think when Blaine's facial features darkened at the sight of her.

"I'm sorry, brother," She says a little louder than an apology should be said, just enough to catch the attention of nearby guests. "I didn't mean to startle you,"

Before Blaine can utter a single word of distaste, Larissa continues on to gather pity from the guests whose attention she already managed to get. "I was just really excited to see you and I forgot my manners,"

Whispers of sympathy for the princess and dissatisfaction for the prince came from the eavesdropping guests.

Blaine lets out an annoyed grunt and turns his back to Larissa, hand reaching out towards a glass of wine that a servant passing through was holding.

Satisfied, Larissa quickly makes her way out of the scene and searches around once more to finally see where Ciel is. After turning down five more proposals, she was finally able to see the right twin and in genuine happiness, was almost tempted to jump into his arms in relief.

This time, the princess didn't need to poke his brother in the back to direct his attention to her as he was the one who turned around and even bowed down to her lightly. "Larissa,"

Her feelings of relief were quickly replaced of annoyance upon realizing that her older brother had a knowing smirk on his lips.

He probably saw what happened earlier, she thinks. And of course, he happens to find it all delightful regardless of the fact that Blaine almost killed her with such a deadly glare. Almost as if she castrated him on their past life or something.

"Have you angered my twin brother once again?" The third prince of Idradale asks his sister, despite already knowing the answer to his question. "What have you done this time, sister?"

Larissa wanted to strangle him but guests were already once again eavesdropping on their conversation. Pouting, Larissa started to fiddle with her fingers. "I surprised him,"

"Is that so," Nodding in sympathy, Ciel places his hand on his sister's shoulder. "Don't worry, you know that Blaine can never stay angry at you for long,"

Because he apparently can stay angry at her forever, the princess thought.

Deeming the conversation between the siblings finished, the eavesdropping guests shifted their attention to something else and this allowed Larissa to finally get rid of the faux smile on her face as she stomped her heel on Ciel's shoe.

The grin on Ciel's lips broadened before he turns to Larissa with an amused look. "Is this your revenge, princess?"

Larissa fakes a chuckle and whispers to her older brother. "I will kick you in your royal jewels next if you tease me again,"

It was Ciel's turn to laugh. "Sure, princess,"

A few minutes later, the royal orchestra changed their piece into one that signified the start of a waltz. Couples quickly filled the dance floor, Larissa even managing to spot Katherine with the duke that she presumed is the one that her older sister is talking about earlier.

Before Larissa can tease his older brother about his lack of a partner, a noble suddenly appeared in front of them and bowed lowly. "My lady, would you do me an honor of being your first dance for the night?"

"Oh," Larissa glances at Ciel. "I--"

"My sister and I already plan on dancing together," The smile on Ciel's face was the fakest that Larissa had ever seen. He was never good at pretending to be decent, anyway. "You ought to find a different partner,"

The noble doesn't insist and walks away with his head hung low. It was the right decision.

"Shall we, my sister?" Ciel offers his hand to Larissa. "One last dance before you leave forever?"

Larissa takes it with a smile. "Of course."