The Princess With The Jet Black Hair

[Fiore's castle, Emily's room]

Once Emily reached her destination, she needed to get changed almost immediately. She entered her room and a long navy blue dress was laid on her bed. She grimaced as lifted the the dress and realised how showy it was and this was definitely something she could never see herself wearing, "...Must I really wear this? I don't w--"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

She placed the dress back down onto the bed and went to get the door. She swung open the door to see her mother wearing a beautiful purple dress, that perfectly complemented her purple eyes. She had makeup on, which enhanced her already attractive looks.

"Aren't you going to get change?" Elena asked as she let herself into Emily's room, "You... don't like the dress?"

"No, it's not that. It's just that... Erm, how should I put this..." Her hands were all over the place as she was trying to find the words for it, "...There is just wayyyy too much... Ventilation."

That was not the proper when to describe it but whatever, it was good enough.

"And, I don't know if I can wear this." Emily admitted as she looked away from her mother.

"Well, I think this is fine. I picked this especially for you, you know? Just try this on, if it doesn't suit you, I can get you another dress." Her mother suggested as she took the long piece of fabric from her bed.

"Okay..." She huffed as she reluctantly grabbed the dress from her hand. She went behind the changing screen that was in her room and changed into the dress.

The dress was way too long and most of her back was exposed. Also, the front part of the dress made her really uncomfortable. She slowly walked out of the changing screen, to avoid stepping on her own dress, while covering her... Well, ċhėst area.

Elena's eyes widened upon seeing her daughter, whom was blushing insanely because of how embarrassed she was wearing something like that.

"You look beautiful." She complimented her as she twirled around her daughter, inspecting ever inch of her.

"Wait, actually, sit down on the stool." Elena instructed as she pulled a mysterious box.

If her ears were not tricking her, Emily swore that she heard a hint of excitement in her mother's voice.

Raising an eyebrow, she did what she was told, but she was still confused, "Why? What are you going to do?"

"Just hold on and look straight."

Elena pulled out a couple of brushes from a box and she had that done. She began applying some substances on her face and then followed by some coloured powders, which Emily would identify as 'some makeup stuff'. Her mother then braided her long black hair into a braid crown.

"I'm done, what do you think?" Elena asked as she brought Emily to the nearby full body mirror.

Emily had the shock of her life when she looked at her reflection, "...That's not me."

Giggling, Elena rested her hands on Emily's shoulders, "What are you talking about? This is you. See, aren't you beautiful?"

Emily made a three hundred and sixty degree turn to see that she did indeed look completely different from what she usually looked like.

"You like it, don't you?" Her mother grinned as she saw how Emily reacted.

She was speechless, too shocked to say a word. Instead, she nodded her head repeatedly for a couple times like a three-year-old.

Looking at her, Elena could not help but to laugh. After a few seconds, she pursed her lips to contain herself, before speaking again, "Well, we are a little late for the ceremony, but no worries, we can just head there now."

Again, she nodded.

Just as they were about to leave, she remembered about the necklace that Erica said her to take care of. She went to her side table and grabbed the necklace and placed it around her neck, "I don't want this to get stolen." She then put on a pair of glittered silver heels and grabbed a silvery purse that were both also chosen by her mother. Afterwards, they finally left the room.

Both her mother and herself made their way to the ballroom. Just as they were about to enter, the queen reminded her, "Remember Emily, walk with confidence. When someone greets you, just smile and give them a solid handshake, alright?"

"Yeah, I got it." Emily replied as the doorman opened the large wooden door of the ballroom. She took a deep breath and walked right in. The ballroom was filled with decorations, music and food. Mary was right, it looked much more like a party than a ceremony. There were many people there, most of whom were unfamiliar to her, they were chatting, dancing and eating.

Everyone looked at her as she made her way through the ballroom. The sound of her heels echoed throughout the ballroom, her heart was beating insanely fast as a wave of anxiety swept over her. She could feel all eyes were looking at her as she made every step. "Calm down, remember! Confidence!" She chanted that in her mind. Of course, it did not help. How could someone gain confidence just by thinking of those words?

"Come on, Emily! Just fake your confidence at the very least." She thought while her expression remained stiff.

As her mind was in the state of mess, a familiar girl walked towards her.

It was Yukiko.

She was wearing a tight light blue dress, that was till her knees, and a couple of crystal accessories. She let down her long white hair, which made her icy blue eyes stood out even more. She was already beautiful, but today she was gorgeous.

Yukiko smiled at Emily, which actually sent chills down her spine. Most of the times, she almost never smile at all. The only time she did was when she had evil plans for Emily. "Is there something wrong with Yukiko? Why is she smiling?"

Emily smiled back and grabbed a drink from the tray that was held by a servant, "Thanks."

"Princess, you look really beautiful today." Yukiko complimented with a plastered smile.

"Seriously. What's wrong with her? This is making me uncomfortable, is she really Yukiko? Is Yukiko like Beck?! She had something seal in her that will change her personality?! Or is this castle haunted and she's possessed?!" Emily wanted to questioned her agenda, but she did not. Instead, she just smiled back at Yukiko and said, "Thanks, you too."

"Thank you." Yukiko replied as she came closer to Emily's ear, "...I'll explain everything to you later, just play along for a while."

"Oh, look. She does have a secret agenda. Why am I not surprised?"

Yukiko backed away and smiled, "I'll see you later then."

"Yeah, of course."

Emily walked towards Lavi, Mary, Ben and Beck, who were together at the tables located at the side the of the ballroom, where array of food were placed.

"Emily! You looked extremely beautiful today!" Mary praised, smiling, "...Actually, you're gorgeous."

Emily was little uncomfortable, she was not used to compliments. However, she smiled sheepishly at Mary and thanked her. Well, she did not need to be confident now, since she was with her friends.

Ben then hooked his arm around her shoulders, "Emily, are you trying to get me to fall in love with you?"

"No. " She deadpanned with a straight face.

"Wow, brutal." He winced as pretend to be physically hurt by her words, "I can't believe you got so pretty but it's not because because of me."

Emily punched his arm playfully, "Ben, stop that. Others might be judging us, you know."

"I don't care." Ben shrugged as he went closer to her. By now, she knew that he was just playing around, so she did not feel embarrassed or shy while he did these things.

"Pen, you're zure a pold one, huh." Lavi forced out with a mouth full of food, which muffled his words. However, Ben could understand it clearly, "Why do you say that?"

Lavi swallowed his food and glanced at Beck from the corner of his eyes while tugging a grin at the side of his mouth, "Emily's fiancé is just right next to you."

"Oh, sorry Beck. I just couldn't help myself, Emily is way too beautiful today." Ben smirked as he gently pushed Emily to Beck, as if she was gift, "You can have her back now."

Beck and Emily blushed upon looking at one another. Beck looked almost identical to Ben, but for some reason, she felt really shy when she was next to him, but not towards Ben.

"Um... Hey." Beck greeted as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"...Hi." Emily replied as she looked away.

Feeling like she could not take it anymore, Mary squeezed between the two of them with her arms folded, "Why are you two embarrassed? I mean, aren't you two already sleeping on the same bed?"

That was not true, Beck had always slept on the settee in their room while Emily slept on the bed. He always preferred to let her have the bed, even though she protested.

"...We don't do that." Beck mumbled as he shifted his gaze to the ground.

"What? Really? That's s--" Mary was cut as a unfamiliar girl rushed towards Beck. She enveloped her arms around one of his arms, "Beck! Did you miss me?"

The girl had beautiful blonde hair that was perfectly curled and she had nicest green eyes. Her features were also perfect. Her tight red dress that she wore completely complemented her sharp features and also her... figure.

Beck looked at her weirdly for a few seconds before he came into the realisation of who the girl was.

It was Ben's and his childhood friend.

"Isabella." Beck remembered.

"Yeah, did you almost forget about me already? That's mean." She pouted, which somehow pissed Mary off.

"It's been seven years, since I last saw you." Ben said with a smile.

"Yeah and I can't believe you two almost forget about me." Isabella retorted as she placed both hands on her hɨps, "I didn't even forget about you two, you know? I spotted you two a couple of distance away and rushed here."

"Um... She's?" Mary asked as she raised one of her eyebrows.

"Oh yeah, Isabella this is Lavi, Mary and the princess, Emily. And Lavi, Mary and Emily, this is Isabella." Beck introduced.

"Nice to meet you all." She greeted quickly, it was almost as if she did not really give a damn about them whatsoever.

Once she was done with that 'sincere' greeting, she tugged Beck's arm, "Let's go somewhere else, shall we? There's a lot of things happened so we absolutely need to catch up with one another."

"Um... Well." Beck looked at Emily, as if he was asking for her permission. Emily noticed that so, she smiled and nodded.

With that, Beck replied, "Sure."

Just as she heard his reply, she instantly pulled him by the arm to somewhere else.