Chapter 17

Kingdom of Alba…

Avery's pov:

I finally reach Alba and currently I am in the backyard of Ethera's house , Heizel is right besides me for I guess backing me up just incase someone comes and sees a limp body doing weird motions due to exchange of souls. This is still very bizarre in all honesty.

"Hello Heizel" I acknowledge her and she smiles at me while handing me a glass of milk , she always does this when I come over . I love the strawberry milk here.

"Avery I think Ethera already told you about the debutante ball , it was supposed to happen a few weeks ago but due to the death of the royals it was postponed. Now it is planned for tomorrow night so we have to go over the lessons together to make sure Ethera gets a pass" this ball really is important, I'm gonna do my best for Ethera.

"Um Heizel I want to ask something about this ball actually. I read somewhere during my research back home that during debutante balls each year , concubines / consorts are chosen for the king's harem if he so desires so and if he is to find ladies that catch his eye. Is that true?"

Heizel sighs then says "Yes indeed it is true. It is part of tradition and usually the kings have enough ladies in their harems so they don't select more during debutante season but for this one it's probably going to be different because there is a new king and he only has a wife as queen. His harem hasn't been formed yet so he will for sure choose from the ladies at the ball tomorrow night."

Damn I was right . Now I don't see why Tobias needs that many ladies at his service , it's kind of perverted if you ask me. Polygamy is quite rare in our world but very crucial in this world apparently.

"Does Ethera know about this? Does she know she might be chosen and live in the palace and probably never know true love as she will be King's property?" I look at Heizel and she nods her head yes.

"Actually, Ethera's parents are hoping she gets picked because then their lifestyle will improve as the palace has to provide for the consort's families.

Ethera agreed because she is a good kid and wants to help her parents as much as she can. I do feel bad for her because she will miss out on the lovely things such as finding a man she truly loves and she will loose her freedom" Heizel seems distressed about this as I am too. I get where Ethera is coming from though.

"It's her decision anyways, what we can do is be there with her all throughout." Heizel nods and she tells me to follow her where we will be rehearsing from.

We rehearse the slow dances as we will be doing paired dances with guys , I try on the shoes or more like high pointed shoes we are to dance in , they are quite tight with no cushion so it's uncomfortable *sigh . Let's not even talk about the gigantic dress I am to wear which resembles an umbrella . Not the best for dancing in my opinion but then again who I am to object the rules of this era?

"Hey Avery" Ethera whispers in my head, "yeah what's up?"i reply out loud which is fine since I'm with Heizel preparing some food for our dance rehearsal break.

"I heard what Heizel told you earlier about my parents wanting me to marry into the royal family. You don't have to worry about me , seriously, I can manage and plus you will be there with me so I won't be doing it alone"

"Ethera why are you putting me in this mess?" I say being dramatic and she laughs at me , "Do you imagine how scary it is to be a consort of the king? I've read horrific stories about the disappearance of some of them, the mysterious deaths and jealousy among the women in the harem . They will eat us alive" Heizel looked at me and laughed same as Ethera , I'm not joking though, those Chinese royal dramas have created a terrifying image in my mind about royal concubines.

"Avery you are exaggerating a little bit" Ethera tells me and Heizel still struggles to hold her laugh at the stories I narrate to them.

They really don't take me seriously huh? Anyways I will have to suck it up and just do it. *sigh.

The next day in the evening I am in Ethera's room looking at myself in the mirror checking the outfit I was given , it's honestly not that bad if you forget the shoe part , converses would of been a saver right now , maybe I should bring some along next time I come here because Ethera for sure needs to start wearing bearable shoes , these are torture machines . I hear Ethera laughing at the back of my head . It's still weird to have someone else in my head and someone seeing through my eyes but at least we get along right? Imagine if I was stuck with some over the top princess who had a big ass ego and treated me as a slave *shivers , God no.

Heizel enters the room "Avery dear it's time to go , the ball will start soon and your parents are waiting outside" I nod and follow her outside to the carriage.

We arrive at the venue which seems to be a dome shaped infrastructure and inside is an immense radiation of light because of the many candle lights and the big chandelier in the middle of the room, the dance floor is spacious like really spacious.

On the stage I notice there are two chairs of honor which I assume will be taken by the king and Queen Tobias and Thelma , besides them other chairs which I assume are for the women who will judge the ladies by performance.

The lights are dimmed only to dramatically introduce the king and Queen as they take a seat on the podium. The judges enter as well and the ball officially begin . Ethera's parents go take a seat at a different table while I am pushed to go dance with my partner for the slow dances.

My partner holds my waist and right hand as the music starts. All the ladies form lines as we dance as rehearsed in class.

Surprisingly or not so surprisingly I do well in the dancing part , maybe partly because my mom used to force me to take dance classes when I was little , at the time I was mad but now it actually serves it's purpose.

At the corner of my eye I see the King glancing in my direction, I mean you could be like oh Avery he must be just looking at everyone in his peripheral view but no trust me , when someone is blankly staring at you , you can feel it.

I glance back and he nods his head which I do so back in respect. Odd though.

The dance part ends and I go find my parents table to rest my sore feet , we danced for 30minutes straight I am dying.

"Oh sweetie the dance was phenomenal. You made us proud out there." Ethera's mom says as she kisses my cheek and I smile at her.

The women judging us scored us and I was top of the crew with two other girls. Ethera's mom was clapping and pointing as me as her daughter like football moms. Embarrassing .

Oh and King Tobias also kept glancing at me and clapping once my position was announced.

We kept going with the ball as we were evaluated for etiquette and such things and I was in top 3 the whole time which is good for Ethera.

At some point the mc lady of the event came at the center of the room for the final ratings.

"Ladies and gentlemen thankyou for your attendance at this annual event that shapes the future of the young ladies of our kingdom.

Let's clap for all the ladies that worked hard this season" everyone claps and cheers us on .

The lady then calls all of us on stage.