The Princess With The Jet Black Hair

[Fiore's Castle, Ballroom]

A round of applause echoed through the ballroom as the Yumemiya family played their final note. They smiled and bowed at the same time, perfectly in sync.

"Whoa, they are really good." Emily thought, oblivious to how loud she was clapping. As the entire family walked down the stage, Emily quickly made her way through the crowd to meet Yukiko.

Once she got hold of that white-haired girl, she whispered into her ear, "...Do you know what's going on?"

Yukiko raised her eyebrows in surprise and led her to the corner of the ballroom.

Once they reached, she returned to her usual cold self.

"You don't know what happened?"

"No." She replied as she scrunched her eyebrows, "Is there something that I'm supposed to know?"

Yukiko grabbed onto her chin and mumbled to herself, ignoring her question, "So, Jai didn't tell you..."

"Tell me what?" That came out more eager than she wanted it to be.

"Well, since he decided not to tell, then you should not know, right?" Yukiko huffed, "If that's that, then we should just let that be."

She wanted to walk away from Emily, however, Emily did not want that. She grabbed hold to her wrist and looked straight into her eyes, "Yukiko, What. Happened."

Her words were stern and with much emphasis, which did throw Yukiko a little off guard.

She stayed silent for a while, before breaking out into a sigh, "Are you sure you want to know?"

Emily nodded, "Yes."

"Alright then. First, let go of me." Yukiko said as she eyed into Emily's grip. Emily retracted her hand and laughed nervously.

"Ah, the normal Yukiko."

The white-haired girl sighed for the second time, before folding her arms once more. "It's about Ethan. He was ȧssulted when he was on duty."

"What?" Emily asked, panicking, "Is he okay?!"

"Lower your volume and... I don't know." Yukiko whispered back loudly, as she furrowed her eyebrows. She then looked down for a moment, before raising her head once more to meet her eyes, "...Jai didn't mention anything about his condition. I was going to go look for him. Do you want to come?"

"Yeah, of course." Emily agreed as she followed her.

Just as they opened the large door, someone flew past them and hit the ground at the end of the hallway. Their eyes widened as a loud thud was heard as the figure fell onto the ground.

"What...?"

The two looked to their right side to see Jai, who was clenching onto his forehead.

"Jai?" Emily called out as she rushed to him, "What's going on? You okay?"

"I'm sorry, Princess But, just let me be for a minute." Jai requested as he took a couple of deep breaths to steady himself.

"Okay..." Those words unwillingly forced its way out of her mouth as if it was prompted by the intimidating air surrounded Jai. She backed away from him and hurried to Yukiko, whom was with the guy who flew past them, "Who's that guy?"

"Who knows?" Yukiko replied while squatting near the place that the guy had landed, "He just vanished, leaving his beige cloak and this weird ȧss mask."

Jai walked up behind the two girls and informed, "He was the guy that attacked Ethan. Maybe he still around the castle, I'll go find him."

"No, I doubt. If he was sent here to do something secretive and he is, in fact still in the castle, there's no way he'll leave these things behind. Otherwise, if we saw him, his identity will be revealed. Also, don't worry if that guy goes in the ballroom, if he does, the king and queen will be there. There's no way they wouldn't notice an uninvited guest." A sigh then escaped her lips as she stood up and looked at Jai, "Besides, you're a little off too. I wouldn't want you to go on finding intruders."

"Now, where's Ethan? In the infirmary?" Yukiko questioned, ċȯċking her head.

"...Yeah." He muttered as he broke his eye contact.

"Let's go then."

As they made their way there, she looked over to Jai. Quietly, she inspected his face. He looked disquiet, and his features were not as warm and welcoming as they always were. "It's rare to see Jai like this, he is always composed. I've never really seen him this off."

However, something about his current features had their own alluring ring to it.

After a few hallways and turns, they reached the infirmary.

"Looks like Mary is done." Jai deduced as he opened the door, allowing Yukiko and Emily in before himself. Just as Emily wanted to enter, Jai grabbed her wrist gently, "Are you sure you want to go in?"

"Yeah." Emily nodded as she patted his hand, "I'll be fine."

His expression softened and he huffed, "Okay, but feel free to leave when if you feel uncomfortable. I don't want this to affect your ceremony later."

"Got it." She nodded as he let go of her, letting her in. She walked to last bed where Mary, Anna and Yukiko were.

"Mary, how is h--" Emily's words died on her lips upon seeing the unconscious Ethan on the bed with blood stained sheets. Bandages enveloped almost his entire body and most of them were already bloodied.

No matter how she looked at it, he was at a terrible state. A wave of nausea swept over her as her hands started to get clammy. She started shaking when she saw him, "He is still alive... Right..?"

Suddenly, a hand was placed over her eyes, blocking her vision.

"You don't have to look at him, if you don't want to. Or in this case, if you can't, just don't look." A familiar voice whispered in her ear, "...Don't force yourself."

That person then turned her towards him before lifting his hand away from her eyes. She opened her eyes and saw Ben and Lavi.

"How is this idiot doing?" Ben asked as he walked to Mary, while looking at Ethan, "Still alive?"

Her gaze saddened as she replied, "Yeah, but bȧrėly."

"Dammit, I thought he can finally die for good." Ben cursed, "I guess I am just unlucky."

No one responded to his remarks, leaving the room in absolute silence.

"I'm joking." Ben surrendered, before continuing, "The phantoms attacked him? Are they still here?"

"Yeah. We don't know where he is, he just vanished. However, I doubt he's here." Yukiko answered without looking at him.

Again, the room went back to deafening silent.

Luckily, Lavi was able to break it.

"Guys. We need to head back soon, they are about to serve the main course." Lavi remained as he smiled, "No worries, I'm sure Ethan going to be fine. He have a pretty strong body, so trust me and... His body. Now, we should go before the guests suspect something."

"Yeah, Lavi's right." Ben supported as he walked to the door, "We should head back for now. There's no point staring at a bȧrėly alive person."

"I'll be here, you guys can go first." Anna volunteered in her calm and cool voice.

"I'll be here as well." Jai added on.

"Okay, if anything happens, just call me. I'll rush straight to here." Mary huffed as she stood up. She grabbed on the Emily's arm, "Let's go, Emily."

"Y... Yeah." Emily replied, even though she was still a little shaken by Ethan's condition. The three girls made their way to Lavi and Ben, who were at the door, waiting for them.

*****

[Fiore castle, ballroom]

Ben swung the door open and the four of them walked to the largest table at the center of the ballroom, while Yukiko went to another table where her family was at.

The king and queen were already there, on their personal seats. The four sat down on the seats as quickly as they could.

Just then, Beck came by. Isabella's arms enveloped one of his arms, while a huge smile was spread across her face, revealing her charming dimples. Emily took a quick glance at the two as Beck looked down at Isabella and said something to her that made her pouted.

Emily immediately shifted her gaze onto the ground when Beck approached the empty seat next to her. Just as he was about to sit down, Emily felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and looked up to see who it was.

It was Beck's childhood Friend, Isabella.

"Sorry, but can I sit next to Beck?"

Everyone at the table heard that. They had their eyes on the two girls.

Beck attempted to stop her just as he heard that question, "Isabell--"

"Sure." Emily nodded as gave Isabella a smile, "You can sit here--"

"Erm... No, we need to discuss about some things. We can't have an outsider here." Mary cut in almost instantaneously as she stared at the king and queen, prompting them to say something as well.

Isabella's expression saddened, "Can't I be in this group discussion as well?"

The king cleared his throat before he spoke, "We weren't discussing much either, why don't you take a seat?"

"Really?" She replied cheerily, "Thank you so much, your majesty." Just after that, she gave a sweet yet, courteous bow. Emily then took a seat between Mary and Isabella.

The scrumptious food was then served on their table as the fragrance penetrated the room with every scent of the food being more overwhelming than the previous ones. Emily could not help but to get hungry, seeing a plate in front of her with a salmon fillet on it, that was perfectly cooked and it was drizzled with a sauce of some kind. There were couple of greens that were placed on there as garnishes.

Emily started slicing one of the fillets just as everyone had their plate of share. Everyone at the her table was eating silently, without talking whatsoever.

Even Lavi was quiet, which was incredibly rare.

But, you can't blame them.

It was pretty awkward considering the fact that they had an uninvited guest at their table. Isabella forked a couple of her greens and placed them on Beck's plate, "I don't want them."

She took a couple more bites, before cleaning her mouth with a nearby napkin, "Beck."

Beck turned his head slightly to look at her, signalling that he had heard her.

"In about five months time, are we going to discuss about our marriage?"