“Duke Jaspar Rosenberg, and Lady Maude Holloway!” the announcer shouted, while Jaspar began to gently escort Maude through the door.

The light of the room they entered was much dimmer than it had been outside, which caused Maude to squint in confusion. After several blinks, she saw there was a young man, who was most certainly Jaspar’s age, sitting on a gold encrusted seat in front of them. Jaspar bowed deeply. In the weeks prior to the ball, Jaspar had Maude practicing her royal etiquette everyday. As a result, Maude knew exactly how deep to curtsy, and was able to do so without giving it much thought.

Prince Erich smiled a warm, toothy grin. He was handsome, though nowhere near as attractive as Jaspar, and he had thick, dark black hair, which was cut fairly short. His warm brown eyes looked weary, but they seemed to be lighting up a bit with Maude and Jaspar’s entrance.

“Duke Rosenberg!” Prince Erich exclaimed in a voice deeper than Maude had expected from him. “It’s been a while!”

Jaspar smiled widely at the man in front of them. “It has been quite some time,” he agreed.

“And you brought Lady Maude with you to the ball, how daring of you,” Prince Erich said, his voice changing to a slightly huskier one for the second half of his sentence.

“Daring?” Jaspar asked.

“Bold,” Prince Erich confirmed. “Have you not heard the rumors going around about the two of you?”

Maude felt her eyes widen. “Rumors?” she asked.

“Indeed, Lady Maude. Yourself and Duke Rosenberg are quite the talk of Aulbert at the moment. Pleasure to meet you, by the way. Duke Rosenberg has told me so much about you.”

Maude looked over at Jaspar, who’s face looked embarrassed.

“It’s lovely to meet you as well,” she murmured.

She noticed that some red color increased on Jaspar’s cheeks. “Must you tell her everything?” he asked Prince Erich.

Prince Erich just laughed. “From nearly the moment that you stumbled into this man’s life, he has obsessively talked about you. Has he ever informed you of this?”

“Erich!” Jaspar exclaimed, his face reddening further. He had lost all sense of manners from Erich’s chiding behavior.

“He has told me no such thing,” Maude replied, her heart skipping beats in her chest.

Prince Erich laughed again. “I told him that it was only a matter of time before he grew feelings for you, but he insisted that he would not. Now look at him.” Erich was grinning at Jaspar as though Erich was Jaspar’s father, watching his son grow up.

“Not every woman is attractive to me, the way they seem to be for you,” Jaspar replied, covering his face with his hand up to his nose.

Maude blinked a few times. What does that mean? She wondered. I supposed I never asked him about any romantic partners he’s had before… She trailed off in her thinking.

“Yes, but the empire’s sword saint!” Prince Erich exclaimed. “I would have never imagined.”

Next to her, Jaspar sighed. “So what sort of rumors are going around about us?” he asked, changing the subject.

Prince Erich looked coyly at the pair as if he knew that Jaspar was intentionally changing the subject. He didn’t seem to want to acknowledge it though, nonetheless.

“Do you really want to know?” he asked.

“That would be helpful,” Maude said. “If there are rumors going around, it would be good to know what we are getting into before we go into the ballroom.”

Prince Erich smirked at her. “For claiming that you don’t know anything about war strategy, you sure are calculated, Lady Maude,” he replied. He turned his attention back to Jaspar. “The rumors aren’t too terribly specific, but it’s along the lines of ‘Lady Maude seduced Duke Rosenberg, and he dumped Lady Von Wickten as a result.’”

Jaspar glanced at the ceiling in frustration. “So the source of the rumors is Lady Fronica herself, then?” he asked.

“Most likely,” Prince Erich said with a short nod.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

“That woman doesn’t know when to move on,” Jaspar said with a sigh. “Does she not realize that she is only hurting her own reputation?”

“She is truly foolish,” Prince Erich agreed. “But nonetheless, you both ought to watch out. I know you both do not want other people to know for the time being. You will have to ensure that no obvious emotions spill out in public if you want these rumors to die down,” he advised.

Jaspar nodded. “Do you mind if we temporarily borrow your balcony to discuss a plan? I know you have other guests waiting.”

Prince Erich nodded. “It’s my pleasure to loan you my balcony,” he said.

“Happy birthday,” Maude said with a small curtsy. “I hope that we get to meet again soon.”

Prince Erich looked at her intensely with his brown eyes. “Thank you, Lady Maude. I hope that we get to meet again soon as well.”

Jaspar took Maude’s arm in his, and he escorted her off a different way from where Maude could hear the chatter of the ball guests coming from.

“How kind of him to lend us his balcony,” Maude remarked. “You were right. He is a very warm person.”

“I’m glad you liked him,” Jaspar replied, looking down at her with a smile. She smiled back at him.

“I would love to hear more about what he was talking about with you obsessively talking about me?” She felt her smile turn almost playful.

Color found its way onto Jaspar’s cheeks again, and he looked away from her. “I hate that he told you that,” he stated, as they began walking up a grand staircase together.

At the top of the staircase, there was a giant portrait of a man who looked similar to Erich. That must be the king, she thought to herself. At the top of the stairs also split off into two different directions. Jaspar gently guided her to the left side.

“Is it that embarrassing?” Maude asked, a giggle finding its way out of her throat.

“When did you start liking me?” Jaspar asked, turning his face back towards Maude, and covering his face with the back of his freehand.

This time, it was Maude’s face that warmed. “Ah, I see,” she replied, turning away from Jaspar. “It is embarrassing.”

She hadn’t even considered the fact that at some point, he may want to know when she started liking him. I’ve already done more embarrassing things than this, she thought. Why is telling him my feelings so much more embarrassing than those?

“What, you’re not going to answer the question?” Jaspar asked. “You get to know my answer but I don’t get to know yours?”

“You want to know right now?” she asked, as Jaspar led her through a door and out onto a balcony. They were surrounded by the warm air, with the stars twinkling above them.

“Is there any better moment than the present?” Jaspar asked with a little smirk on his face.

Maude swallowed hard, feeling her stomach twist at the idea of sharing with him. When did I start liking him? She wondered to herself. She thought back on all of their wonderful memories together.

She was thankful for the dark to help cover some of the blush spreading across her cheeks, and she said, “It was pretty early on.”

“At what moment did you know?” he asked.

“You weren’t even there with me at the moment when I understood what was going on,” she replied. “Lady Melissa and Lady Cristyne had suggested that it was possible that I had some feelings for you,” she said. “And I couldn’t get their words out of my mind. So I went to go practice with my sword alone, and realized that my memories of you were everywhere in the courtyard. I also realized that they were probably right.”

“Wow,” Jaspar replied, his voice cracking a little. “When did that happen?”

“Well,” Maude replied, feeling like she was choking on her words in her throat. “Immediately after you were asking me to dinner and I was trying to avoid you.”

“Ah, I remember that,” Jaspar said, pulling her in close to his body.

Her breath hitched. This was the only time they would actually be able to act like lovers for the entirety of the ball. In some ways, she hadn’t even been looking forward to the ball because she wouldn’t be able to be seen as Jaspar’s partner. What was the use of spending time with him if they weren’t able to act like the lovers they were?

“So you realized not long after I did,” he said. “I was so angry with you for trying to avoid me. All I wanted to see was your face.”

Currently, Maude’s face felt as bright as the moon. “I didn’t know if there was any possible way for us to be together,” she said. “And I didn’t want my feelings for you to keep growing if there wasn’t.”

“That’s understandable,” he said, putting his head on her shoulder. She shivered at the contact. “But do you know at what moment it was you fell for me?” he asked.

“Hmm,” Maude replied, thinking back again, on their early memories together. “It was…probably when you showed me Aulbert’s advanced techniques for the sword,” she said.

“Why that time?” he asked, gently kissing the top of her ear.

Maude bit her lip, enjoying his affection more than she wished she would in that moment. “Probably because you were so kind and gentle with me,” she replied. “Most people have not been anywhere near as tender with me in any capacity,” she answered. “It was unexpected for anyone to touch me as softly as you did, let alone for a duke from an enemy country to do so.”

He chuckled softly in her ear, before gently biting on it. Maude had to hold back her gasp of pleasure.

“That’s probably the moment his highness was referring to for me as well,” Jaspar murmured softly in her ear. “You were so much more different than I expected, and you were unlike anyone I’d ever met before.”

Maude’s heart fluttered in her chest. “I was?” she asked.

“You are,” he said, kissing her on the cheek. “From that comment on, I started trying to figure out a way for us to be together.” He spun Maude around in his arms, and kissed her. His tongue explored her mouth, and she let out a groan. He intensified the kiss, making Maude wish they were back at the Rosenberg manor, rather than a ball at the palace.

“We should probably go soon,” Maude managed to get out between Jaspar’s relentless kisses.

He paused, sighing and taking a step back. “You’re right,” he agreed. “We just so rarely get to spend so much time together that it feels like a waste to be at a ball where we can’t even act like a couple.”

Maude giggled a bit, covering her lips with her hand. “Our thoughts are aligned, then,” she said.