After slipping past the swarm of faces and names that’d already jumbled together in her mind, Lycoris finally made it out into the connecting hall. Though it wasn’t stuffy inside, she still breathed a sigh of relief as cool air blew through the hall.
Though, the chill was a touch uncomfortable on her exposed shoulders.
“Once again, I find myself wishing I could just wear a normal dress,” she grumbled to herself, a nice pair of pants somehow the furthest thing from her mind.
“C-Congratulations, Your Highness.”
She sucked her gut back in and stiffened her posture when the sudden words from behind caught her off guard.
Pivoting on the spot, she frowned up at the guard mid-salute. He wore the same suit of polished coal-gray ceramic armor that was issued to every guard, his reflective helmet hiding whatever expression was on his face. However, as an extra accessory for tonight’s celebration, they’d been outfitted with luxurious indigo cloaks sporting the Aphtangloa crest.
Technically, this was the first time that any of Lilianna’s royal guard had learned of Lycoris’ existence either.
…Aside from the pair that may have found out when she snuck out roughly half a year ago. She never did ask her mom what happened to them. Maybe Lilianna erased their memories or something.
Though Lycoris couldn’t see his face, her reflected frown on his mask was harsh enough that she thought she might’ve gone a little overboard. There was no need to vent her frustrations on the poor guard, he was probably already nervous enough just speaking to her. No, she could definitely tell he was nervous, she could practically smell it on him.
“My apologies for speaking out of turn, Your Highness! It was just… a magnificent showing. You put His Grace in his place quite handily.”
“You saw that, huh?” She tapped her chin, glancing toward the door she’d just exited. “As a show of benevolence for my… debut party? Or whatever you’d call this… I’ll pretend I didn’t hear you admit your dereliction of duties to sneak a peek.”
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
The faceless guard saluted once more as she turned around and walked away.
Lycoris felt a slightly conflicting mix of emotions as her private frown deepened. It was nice to be respected, and it was one thing when it was only Athena heaping praise on her for being capable of breathing, but the thought of having every single person she encountered act just as sycophantic while walking on eggshells was utterly exhausting.
No wonder Lilianna always seemed so much more at ease to be with her in private.
Now then, the main ballroom was supposed to be on the lower floor…
That would be where her guests of honor were located, and frankly she’d rather spend time associating with them than watch more nobles try to ingratiate themselves with her. She had no interest in their politics or gifts or words; to her, succeeding the throne from her mother was simply a means to end a tyrannical empire.
I certainly don’t need to befriend anyone if I’m just going to cave the entire thing in on itself anyways. Though… I know Mom will be disappointed when I—
Before she could finish her thought, a woman marched through the doors she was about to open. She was unaccompanied, and as she happened across Lycoris, her gaze sharpened like a drawn blade. More striking than her piercing eyes, however, was the pitch-black suit and white tie she wore, like she was attending a funeral rather than a party.
Her dark ash-gray hair was cut into an angular bob, as sharp as everything else about her, and her posture exuded casual hostility.
But what gave Lycoris pause and brought her stride to a halt were the steely gray eyes that’d fixed themselves on the little girl, reminiscent of a certain witch. Whoever this woman was, she gave the impression of a mortal incarnation of death given human (vampire?) form.
“Congratulations, Lycoris.”
Her voice was like a bucket of ice dumped over the Princess, who forced herself to blink to break her stare as she looked away.
Lycoris felt compelled to curtsey, but refrained. The woman didn’t treat her as a superior, but Lycoris wasn’t sure what rank or position she held. Her mother had made it quite clear during her “Princess Training” that there was none other than herself that Lycoris was required to show deference to.
“My thanks. Your name?”
“Lesath Unglaria. Executioner.”
Lesath looked down at Lycoris with overwhelming disdain. Considering just how “well” her debut had gone, Lycoris assumed that the woman was one of Speaker Cedric’s followers. The name Unglaria didn’t sound familiar at all, though. And even if they were privately fuming about her, the other nobles beneath House Idra that spoke to her at the party at least put on a pretense of deference towards her.
It was as though Lesath was intentionally trying to be as unsettling as possible. Or, maybe that’s how she naturally was. Perhaps Mother would know more about her, especially considering…
“I wasn’t aware Executioner was a formal title,” Lycoris lightly chuckled, hoping to ease the tense air between them.
“It isn’t. I kill in Her Majesty’s name, that is all.”
Lycoris’ eyes widened slightly. “My mother? I… see. She hasn’t really gone over every member of her staff with me.”
“It would be far too long of a list,” Lesath nodded.
“Um… have we met before, then?”
Lycoris was at a complete loss. Everyone else who worked for her mother was almost frustratingly sycophantic, as though spiting Lycoris would be equivalent to a slight against her mother.
But this woman was spitefully curt. Maybe she was lacking in education on proper etiquette.
“I would hope not.”
“Right…”
Lesath didn’t seem to be one for conversation, either.
“Then, I’ll be going…”
“Then go. My permission is unnecessary.”
After turning around and walking away—with a brief awkward pause as she waited to see if Lesath would salute or bow or… anything to her—Lycoris hurried away toward the elevators, almost tripping over the hem of her dress as she was distracted by the sensation of the Executioner’s eyes on the back of her head.
The woman was just that unnerving, which said a lot considering one of the two people she saw on a daily basis was the Exaltare, tyrant to humanity and all that.
As she approached the elevator panel, she looked up at one of the ceremonially clad guards.
“I wish to go to the main ballroom.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Accompanied by their relaxing, cutesy chime, the elevator doors slid open when the guard operated the navigation panel for her.
＊ ＊ ＊
Calm live-performed music drifted into the hallway connecting to the grand hall. The last time Lycoris had been in this room was when she’d popped out of a side corridor, and did her best to avoid standing out.
She’d do no such thing this time, instead she puffed her petite chest out pridefully and gracefully stepped forward. Her entrance was momentous enough that the entire room froze—down to the music temporarily halting even—as her presence immediately drew the attention of every vampire present.
“Announcing Her Highness, Heir-Significate Lycoris has arrived.”
One of the guards helpfully declared her arrival after the fact, ensuring that not a single soul was left unaware. Glancing to her side and doing her best to avoid scowling with displeasure, Lycoris nodded to the now-kneeling guards as she raised and lightly waved a hand to the crowd.
How am I supposed to go find and blend in with those two now!? She groused internally, scanning the massive ballroom for any sign of them.
There was an entire forest of hair tones filling the room before her, the greens and pinks and blues and golds all blending together into a pastel tapestry that would’ve fit right at home among Fawaris’ collection.
They were all lesser nobles, meaning the overall hue was darker than those attending the party above, but it was no less beautiful of a display between the wide assortment of wealthy noble attire and hairstyles.
As Lycoris walked forward, the crowd slowly pulled away from her, like the ocean tide withdrawing, or a shadow being chased away by candlelight.
Should I just… call out to them? Maybe that would attract too much attention…
“Please, do not mind me. Continue to enjoy the party. I did make the journey down to ensure everything was proceeding smoothly, after all.”
Lycoris opted instead to mimic her mother, smiling amicably to everyone.
But the reaction was completely different, as several of the attendants affectionately smiled at her as they cooed and giggled.
Did I mess up somehow? Why are they looking at me like a puppy!?
She pouted slightly as she continued forward, the crowd parting and spreading around her as they resumed their dancing and conversations, though the excited murmuring seemed to have shifted in topic to the girl wandering the hall.
“Excuse me, Your Highness?”
Surprisingly—or rather, irritatingly—someone approached her and spoke up while she navigated the crowd. Lycoris adopted a polite smile and turned to the surprisingly portly vampire. Somehow, she hadn’t considered they could be overweight or out of shape, but the man twirling a sky-blue moustache bowing to her demonstrated otherwise.
“Greetings, to whom do I owe the pleasure?” she answered in pitch-perfect politeness.
“I am Bartholomeu Vanas, Viscount presiding over the city of Delskaad. I must say, I’m quite taken in by your beauty. You truly are the very image of your great mother.”
Lycoris did her best to keep her smile from wavering as she responded, “Why, thank you very much.”
Ah great, another one. And a Vanas? What’s he doing down here? I was hoping to avoid having to deal with the vultures…
“Pardon my rudeness, but I couldn’t help but notice that you came to the main ballroom alone, rather than remain above. Perhaps it is presumptuous of me to ask, but would you care for a dance?”
A… what.
Lycoris hadn’t considered it, but this was a ball. It was only natural there’d be dancing, there were people dancing all over, after all. But… she had never learned how to dance.
Whenever she was present at a party in the capital of Traskia, it’d been as part of security. The only times she’d ever been offered a dance was when Princess Fawaris would tease her, to which she’d shoo the girl off to go find some noble eyeing her or something instead.
In retrospect, that had been terribly rude of Lycoris; having taken Fawaris' position, she didn't want to deal with a bunch of strangers either, much less dance with them.
She wasn’t sure if there was any sort of particular etiquette for accepting or refusing dances either, though she vaguely recalled something Mizar once said about nobles having their first dance with their parents… Which brought to mind an obvious question she’d never considered before, How did Mizar even know that?
“Your Highness…?”
“A-Ahh, um—”
“There's the little princess! Over here Emma!”
“Sera! I know it's loud in here but you can’t just go around shouting and charging about!”
Hearing the two familiar voices, Lycoris turned away from the uncomfortably sweaty man and looked toward the source of them.
Seraphine, garbed in a lavender dress that matched her eyes and with her blonde hair tied back into a tight ponytail, was rushing straight at her. Emma, sporting a subdued red suit that made her hair look quite bright in comparison, was being dragged along with a rather disgruntled look on her face. But as she locked eyes with Lycoris, the redhead’s expression softened.
“Sera! Emma! There you— wait, you stole my line!”
Lycoris’ expression immediately brightened upon seeing the pair of them. Expunging the man stuttering and stumbling over himself from her mind, she rushed over to greet them.
Although, they immediately tensed up and looked away as soon as she reflexively curtseyed before them.
“Hmm? What’s wrong?”
“Um, well… You…”
“I can’t believe you’re a princess, Lycoris! Or like, the princess! Hm, actually, has there ever been a princess before? …You didn’t say anything about it!”
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“She obviously couldn’t say that, Sera. And bow your head before Her Highness. And address her properly!”
“You two don’t have to… You’re my guests, so… Ugh here, just… come with me!”
Lycoris gripped their hands and tugged them forward to get the pair moving, as she made her way toward the drinks table where there would be fewer people staring at them.
“Erm, but uh, congratulations, Your Highness! You put on an amazing performance!”
Lycoris paused mid-step and turned around to look at Seraphine with abashed concern.
“Per…formance? What do you mean?”
“I admit, I didn’t expect you—Your Highness to be capable of doing something like that after watching you play with the dracybara,” Emma muttered quietly.
“Doing… what?” A bad feeling began to settle in the pit of Lycoris’ stomach.
“What else? We’re talking about when you swung the Speaker around like a stuffed animal that doubles as a stress toy, of course!”
Seraphine gripped an imaginary air-scythe with her hands and mock-swung it around—though her form was atrocious.
For the briefest moment, Lycoris felt as though the entire party had frozen, becoming hyper-aware of all the party-goers around that still had their eyes locked onto her. Glancing to the right, she saw a pair of nobles whispering to each other, who quickly averted their gaze and moved away as she caught sight of them. To the left, she saw another small group that were eying her companions, sipping their drinks just a little too slowly.
Looking up, she saw a massive banner hanging over the hall that was currently projecting various scenes from the festival, along with some catchy slogans about Her Majesty Lilianna and her pride and joy, Her Highness Lycoris.
“Was… I…” she mumbled, a deep sense of embarrassment staining her cheeks purple, “being broadcast to the entire palace?”
“Not just the palace!” Seraphine cheerfully clapped. “Her Majesty’s Moonsend speech is always broadcast throughout the entire capital of Llosdeyja. And of course the live stream is available throughout the entire Empire for whoever’s staying at home like a humbug rather than celebrating!”
“A-Aah…”
Lycoris wobbled unsteadily, clasping her hands over her mouth before she made a noise she’d regret in public. Emma helped support her with a hand, shooting a glare towards her partner.
“Just because I’m usually on-call during the holiday season…”
“Ahaha, I don’t mean you in particular, honey~”
Emma sighed and shook her head, glancing down as she deferred to the highest authority in the room.
“Nevermind my partner, Your Highness, shall we continue to the drink table? Perhaps something to help calm your bout of nerves?”
“Ah um, well. *Ahem* Mother said I’m not to drink any alcohol, as it’d stunt my growth.”
Technically, Lilianna had said nothing of the sort. It was just an excuse Lycoris rehearsed to get around the fact that they couldn’t very well serve animal blood at the Moonsend banquet in the Exaltare’s palace.
Though, Lycoris also wasn’t too keen on the idea of drinking alcohol in general. It might’ve been fine, setting aside the strange issue of her possibly being underage by vampire standards, but her vow to Mizar was more important.
“Also… I’ve had some unpleasant experiences with alcohol in the past,” she added.
“In the past…?”
Seraphine and Emma shared a look.
“Far be it from me to dare say I know better than Your Highness, then! But tonight’s a special night, and it’s also your birthday apparently!? I totally forgot! Or rather, I had no idea until Her Majesty brought it up… Hmm, I wonder what we should do about a gift? Hey Emma, do you think they serve anything non-alcoholic here?”
Emma rolled her eyes and grumbled, “They’re not going to have set aside kid’s meals at the grand palace, Sera. Don’t be ridiculous. Though… I suppose Her Highness could simply order a servant to fetch something…”
Lycoris couldn’t help but giggle as the three of them moved through the crowd, making waves as those closest naturally separated and bowed or nodded to her, staring at the two commoners behind her with confusion or envy.
Fortunately, having them serve as her conversation partners seemed to keep anyone else who thought about approaching her at bay.
The three of them were able to reach the drink table without incident, though Lycoris saw the sky-blue moustached man from before glancing toward them with a look of vexation. Had he been following her? Before she could brood too heavily on the matter, her attention was pulled away when Seraphine picked a pair of glasses off the table and passed one over to Emma, who promptly downed the entire thing in a single gulp. Perhaps her nerves were even more shot than Lycoris’…
The bright red liquid inside glittered in the ballroom light, causing the young princess to choke down her thirst.
“By the way, who was that man you were talking to, Your Highness? He seemed kind of important.”
“Everyone here is important, Sera,” Emma sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“Just some random guy trying to ingratiate himself to me,” Lycoris responded near-simultaneously with Emma. “Mother told me to just smile and politely shoo them all away.”
Seraphine peered around the hall from behind her glass. “But Your Highness walked away from that guy mid-conversation. Is that really alright?”
“If he was down here, he isn’t important enough to be worth speaking to anyways… Er, I mean… N-No offense, you two.”
The pair laughed it off nervously.
“None taken, Your Highness.” Emma politely bowed. “The fact you even thought to invite us is already more than mere commoners like us deserve.”
“I’ve had to attend formal parties before, but never one in the palace! H-Honestly I feel sort of out of place here, haha… But who are we to turn down an invite from the Heir-Significate herself!”
Lycoris frowned, lowering her voice as she cautiously kept her eyes on the crowd around them.
“Do you really have to call me that too? Aren’t we friends?”
Emma offered a wan smile. “We’re already drawing an unnecessary amount of attention just by associating with you, Your Highness.”
“Then why not go all the way!”
“‘Cause that’d piss your mom off,” Seraphine flatly said, “and I’d be heartbroken if my darling Emma died before my eyes!”
“S-Sera…”
The blonde laughed it off, dispelling the tension that’d gradually been mounting between the three of them.
“Also, shouldn’t you be trying to take advantage of this too, Your Highness? Like, y’know, find some people who’d want to throw their support behind you?”
“I’d rather trust in people who offered me a helping hand without knowing my position. If I’m going to have to play the faction game, I can’t really make any headway at my very first event. It’s just going to be a bunch of people trying to take advantage of me. Plus, Mam— Mother never actually taught me how to dance.”
“Wait—”
“Are you serious!?”
Seraphine raised her voice a little too loudly, drawing the attention of several other individuals milling around the drinks table. Some of them had rather obviously approached after the trio moved over there.
Lycoris put a finger to her lips and glowered.
“Shh, shhh!! Are you somehow drunk already?”
“Of course not, it’s just… unbelievable is all. Isn’t that kinda important for nobles and stuff?”
“I had the same thought… but, would it really be that weird for me to turn down everyone? I mean, I’m a little child right now. Wouldn’t it be weirder for me to dance with adults?”
“I don’t think either of us are really experts on noble balls, Your Highness… But I can’t imagine it’d be that strange for the Heir-Significate to dance with people older than herself. I guess you are kind of… really young though, no offense. Shouldn’t you have asked Her Majesty about this!?”
“I didn’t think about it! This is the first time I’ve ever had to do something like this! And I wasn't really thinking about being this far away from her side…”
“That’s… true. But even if you decide not to accept anyone’s solicitations, it’d probably look weird not to dance at all.”
As the two of them stewed in silence over the predicament, Emma stared on with a steadily souring expression. As the song playing ended and the next one began, she finally caved to the tension and spoke up,
“Oh fine, fine! I’ll do it, then! Honestly, was this your angle to begin with, Your Highness?”
“H-Huh?” Lycoris looked up at her in confusion.
“I’ll take the lead, and you can be the follow. I’ll guide you through the motions and if you mess up, we can just pass it off as a bumbling commoner making a scene with the Princess.”
Sera crossed her arms in front of her, spilling a bit of her drink. “What? No way! You can’t dance with the Princess! …I wanted to,” she admitted after a beat.
“Pff…”
Lycoris put a hand to her lips, stifling her chuckle.
Even if it would’ve been awkward and might have attracted the wrong sort of attention, Lycoris would have been perfectly content to stand in the corner of the ball sipping drinks with her pair of companions.
Metaphorically, at least. She was still doing her best to avoid thinking about what everyone here was drinking—or who.
“Well, If you’re offering, it’d be silly of me not to accept. While I’d still prefer you not think of me as a princess, and treat this as an ordinary party, I guess it’s somewhat unavoidable in front of a crowd.”
She daintily held her hand up to Emma, who knelt down slightly as she took it.
Emma led her out onto the dance floor and began to lead her in a proper ballroom dance. The sea of colors around them blurred together as Lycoris had no time to focus on who was looking at them anymore, her full effort spent on just trying to follow the tall woman’s movements.
While dancing with Emma, even moreso than when she’d sparred with her mom, it came into stark relief just how short she had become. Emma had to keep her arms awkwardly situated by her hips in order to properly hold Lycoris’ hands in position.
And yet, in spite of that… Lycoris’ heart throbbed in her chest as she stepped in tandem with the steady beat of the music; the airy feeling as her dress swayed and brushed against her legs; the satisfying clack of her heels on the floor.
This was actually kind of… fun.
It reminded her of fencing; the focused footwork came naturally; she could already envision the synchronized motion between her and her partner; the trust that Emma would be ready with the next step as soon as she took hers; the slight tug-of-war… might’ve been because she was messing up, but she wasn’t tripping over herself.
“Are you sure you’ve never danced before? You're better than Sera… don’t tell her I said that.”
“Maybe I have a hidden talent for it…?”
Her hair twirled about as Emma began to take bolder steps, apparently confident that Lycoris would be able to keep up despite her short legs. They glided across the dance floor, blending into the crowd as they focused entirely on their own performance.
As the song built up to its climax, Emma let go of Lycoris’ hand and twirled her about with the other. Feeling momentarily dizzy, she let go with the other and let herself go with the flow as she held out her hands, coming to a stop with a wide smile on her flushed cheeks at the exact moment the song ended.
But even when the music had ceased, her ears were filled with noise. After she came back to her senses and calmed down slightly, Lycoris realized she was in a clearing in the crowd, surrounded by vampires clapping vigorously for her.
Some had even taken their phones out and had them pointed at her, while others cheered.
“Her Highness is so elegant!” “What a darling smile…” “Did you see who she was dancing with?” “No, but they gotta be around here right?”
Having become the center of attention once more, Lycoris momentarily froze like a deer before a hunter. Not because she was afraid of them, but… she was rather embarrassed having been caught acting candidly.
She grounded herself enough to at least regain her dignified pose, putting her hands together in front of her as she smiled—with just a hint of awkwardness left over—at the crowd as she scanned around for signs of familiar faces.
Regrettably, and perhaps expectedly, she found none. The audience gathered around her seemed as though they were waiting for something, maintaining their distance from her even as the applause gradually died down and the music resumed in the background.
I’m going to have to get used to this, aren’t I? Is this why Mama gave me basically free reign tonight? I never was all that good at giving speeches to the troops… Uhh, let’s see…
“A pleasant evening to you all. I hope that you have all found the banquet enjoyable thus far. Mother has spared no expense for the sake of my first formal appearance, immature and inexperienced as I may be.”
“It’s been great!” “Her Highness is so modest!”
Considering the reception she’d gotten up above, and how she was received initially, she wasn’t sure what to expect… but the pendulum had almost exaggeratedly swung in the opposite direction. Worse, she couldn’t tell if it was because they genuinely felt that way, or because they were privately terrified of her taking vengeance on them… even though she’d handed her scythe over to her mother.
Thinking back to her mother’s words, and how Fawaris or Albireo before handled these sorts of situations, she mastered her voice and began orating,
“I’m flattered by your words. Your kindness is a balm to the worries I had over my initial reception.”
“Your Highness’ grace is second to none!” “Yeah, screw that Cedric guy!” “…Er.” “Ignore him, he was joking.”
“… …*ahem* Indeed, you all witnessed that somewhat embarrassing affair, didn't you? I suppose I do take after my mother, and momentarily lost myself. Call it… childish impulsiveness, I suppose…”
A polite ripple of laughter ran through the crowd.
“But that is not who I am, or wish to be, in my heart.” She placed her hand over her chest, where Mizar would have rested if she hadn’t been forced to leave her locket in her room. “I intend to be a fair, magnanimous, and thoughtful leader… W-When the time comes for me to take Mother’s position, that is. It won’t be for many, many years I’m sure, but I hope that these words resonate deeper with you than my previous outburst.”
“Long live Her Majesty’s daughter!” “Ancestors bless our new Heir-Significate!”
The crowd erupted into applause once more, as Lycoris began to wonder if maybe she was actually better at the whole public-speaking thing than she remembered. Maybe her practice with Lilianna and Athena hadn’t been for nothing after all.
She’d have to apologize to the maid for reacting overly obsequious to her attempts at speaking formally, considering the crowd was almost putting her to shame.
“Ahaha, you’re all too kind… But it is past time I return to the upper floors, I believe. Thank you all for attending, and please, enjoy yourselves to your heart’s content.”
She wanted to return to Emma and Sera, and offer her thanks, but she had already probably pushed it. The fact Emma separated from her as stylishly as she had during their dance had to have been a message.
Inclining her head ever so gently, Lycoris quickly pinched up her dress and turned on the spot, taking care not to move too hastily as she retreated through the crowd to the elevators.
Fortunately, the audience not only parted to make way for her, but they allowed her to leave uncontested.
Hearing the crowd resume their usual affairs behind her, she breathed a small sigh of relief.
And yet, her heart continued throbbing excitedly the entire elevator ride back up.