" Abidemi. Can you please say that again?" the strained voice of her best friend made Abidemi gulp. She quickly hid her face with the fan, as her ocean blue eyes looked over to many people that had attended the ball. Their eyes were all on the crown prince and princess that walked into the room. They didn't pay any mind to the two young women that were across the huge ballroom.

Thank the Goddesses for small favors. She doesn't think she could stand to be the center of attention at the moment.

Abidemi, daughter of the Duke of Sealen had ocean blue eyes, deep dark brown skin, and long black hair that was in many braids. She wore a navy blue dress that had small little beads on it. She also had beads in her hair and wore light makeup. Her fan was dark blue with silver decorations.

Abidemi looked back at her friend who glared at her with fiery red eyes. Her face was also covered with a fan as well. Abidemi only laughed nervously as the young woman's gaze started to become more intense. Abidemi only smiled at her friend before looking back at the people.

Her best friend, Daisy, was the stepdaughter of the Duke of WheatFire. She had wavy strawberry blond hair, narrow fire-red eyes, and glowy fair white skin. She wore a lovely red dress that looked close to flames and wore expensive jewelry.

"I'm leaving home by the end of the week. I'm heading to Elov." Abidemi said to her friend once again. She could hear a sad sigh coming from the other woman which only made Abidemi mournfully smile. She peeked at the woman, her eyes were wet with unshed tears and her red lace gloved hand was clenching her pretty red dress.

Abidemi closed her eyes before facing the many people again. She moved closer to the young woman. She grabbed her hand and squeezed it." Do you need me around, Daisy? I could stay a little bit longer."

"No. I don't need you to stay." Daisy whispered which made Abidemi smile a bit. " You wouldn't even be here right now if it wasn't for me. I honestly thought you should've left a year ago."

Abidemi let out a small laugh. "Like I'll abandon you in your own time of need. To think, Gaston would leave because of his feelings for Mila."

"His name is Jeffery." Daisy said with a small laugh.

Abidemi just let out a small huff. " I don't care what his name is. He's still a massive…well you know what I mean."

Daisy only shook her head. "But still. You told me that you were leaving so many times. I knew it was coming, I was just hoping that we had a little more time together."

Abidemi smiled sadly as she let go of Daisy's hand. She moved away from Daisy a bit but she still stayed close. " I wish I could stay. Really I do but Valtis never really felt like home to me. I can't ask you to come along. You love it here way too much."

" And you feel more at home at Elov." Daisy said with a long sigh. Abidemi just shrugged her shoulders. Daisy let out a small hum before closing her eyes. "Did you tell your father that you're leaving yet?"

"Mmmm. Tomorrow morning. I'm taking Kanene and Shyla with me since I don't trust the servants at my father's estate." Abidemi said while she watched the crown princess talking to the young noble women.

"Are you going to tell him?" Daisy asked. Abidemi blinked before looking at Daisy with a cocked eyebrow. "You know who I'm talking about."

"Oh. Him." Abidemi blinked before looking at the royal couple. Her eyes fell on a tall dark haired young man with fawn-colored skin and dark blue eyes. He wore a mostly dark suit with many badges on it. He stood behind the royal couple as he waved at the people in the crowd.

She was happy that the fan was covering her frown because she really didn't need any misunderstandings.

Abidemi let out a sigh before looking away from him. "I'll just send him a letter. I'm sure that will be enough."

Daisy let out a small laugh. Abidemi could tell that she was scoffing at him from behind the fan. "I'm sure Lord Logan won't like that."

"I don't care what Lord Logan would like. The both of us are practically strangers now. He has no right to be angry at all."Abidemi said while she crossed her arms. "Now that I think about it. Maybe I don't need to send him a letter. Maybe Mila or my father could just tell him the news."

"Mmmm. That will be more convenient." Daisy said while she thought about it. "But isn't that poor in matters as well."

"Don't remind me."Abidemi said with a deep frown. Daisy only smiled and shook her head.

"Does Mila know that you're leaving?" Daisy asked Abidemi. Abidemi just shrugged her shoulders.

"My relationship with Mila is the same as yours. So no. She'll probably know from Father, her mother, or our brother. I want to avoid her if it's possible." Abidemi said while she cocked her head.

"Ah! I do feel the same way." Daisy said with a small sigh. Daisy frowned deeply when she noticed something."Unfortunately, we are not going to get that wish."

Abidemi and Daisy kept in their groans when they saw the crown princess walking over to them. Her long shiny light blond hair ran down her back. Her fair skin was like porcelain and her eyes were a light gold. She wore a light pink dress with many flowers and had a flower crown on her head.

'Be nice. Be nice.' the two young women thought at the same time. They tried to keep their expressions neutral as the princess walked closer to them.

"Hopefully she won't stay too long." Abidemi whispered to Daisy. Daisy only sighed.

"Well, aren't we being a little hopeful?" Daisy whispered which only made Abidemi bite her lips.

"Hey, one could dream." Abidemi said back.

As the princess appeared in front of them, Daisy and Abidemi both bowed at the same time. "Your highness." Abidemi and Daisy spoke gently. Both of them had small smiles on their faces and their eyes were closed.

"Oh. The both of you didn't have to trouble yourself." the crown princess said while she covered her mouth. "We are family after all."

"Family or not, it would be very disrespectful to be rude to royalty." Abidemi said with her eyes closed. She didn't dare raise her head as she kept her head low. Daisy only nodded her head in agreement.

The crown princess only smiled wider. " Very well. You may rise." she whispered while Daisy and Abidemi stood up again. " I am very happy that you both came today. You didn't have to."

"Oh. And missed you becoming crown princess, why would we miss it?" Daisy said with a fake smile. The crown princess only smiled wider.

"Besides, it would be in poor taste if the daughters of Duke of Sealen and Wheatfire weren't here to show our support." Abidemi said. The very same smile was plastered on her face. Yet on the inside, Abidemi was praying for this to be over.

"Oh. That is very kind of you." the crown princess said while looking at Abidemi. Then at Daisy. She cocked her head and looked at the two. "I do hope that you enjoy the rest of the ball. I should get going."

Daisy and Abidemi bowed their heads as the crown princess left. After a few minutes of silence, the both of them raised their heads to see the princess was gone but people were watching them.

"The princess has such a good heart. Talking to those vicious women just now." someone whispered.

"I don't think I would have the stomach to be nice to them." another person said while more people started to gossip.

Daisy and Abidemi only turned around as they both sighed. "Well, at least you are getting away from being a vicious woman." Daisy said quietly to her friend. Abidemi only nodded her head and sighed.

" You could take that as a good thing. It's a small price to pay. She didn't stay long after all." Daisy only rolled her eyes which made Abidemi smile. " You know, you can come to visit once I get settled over there." Abidemi said with a small smile. "Just in case you need to get away from your sisters and Mila."

"I'll take that offer. Even though I might have to brush up on my Elov's etiquette. Valtis and Elov are two very different places after all." Daisy said while she crossed her arms.

"Oh. I'm sure they also have scheming people, gossips, and liars."Abidemi said while waving her hand. Daisy only giggled. "But yes, you should do that. What is okay here isn't okay over there. I keep forgetting that every time I come back to Valtis."

Daisy looked at Abidemi with a twitch of the eyebrow. "How is that possible? You were born and half raised in Valtis?" Abidemi laughed.

"You could blame my mother for that. She taught me Elov's etiquette first then when she died I had nannies teaching me. I had a ton of Elov servants and some soldiers. Even after she died, my father still hired Elov people when I moved to my own mansion." Abidemi explained. Daisy just sighed. "Yet there is still so much I need to know about the kingdom. It is two very different things to vacation there and to live there after all."

Daisy only shrugged as she looked at the glass doors of the palace. She smiled. "Speaking of Elov. I heard that the crown Prince of Elov was supposed to be here. Yet he canceled at the last minute."

Abidemi shook her head and covered her lips. "Again." Daisy nodded her head which only made Abidemi sigh. " I'm pretty sure the King will get annoyed with Elov's prince."

"Have you ever seen the Elov's prince?" Daisy asked. Abidemi shook her head.

"Nope! My cousins saw him in person. One of them is in love with him." Abidemi said with a small smile. She crossed her arms. " The others said that he is a lackadaisical prince that almost always disappears when anyone needs him."

Daisy let out a sigh. "He doesn't sound capable. Does he?"

"Yeah. From what my cousins told me that the only reason why he is still crown prince is his element, class, and level. Or so she said." Abidemi said while she crossed her arms. "Then again I really can't say much about Elov since I don't know their noble customs so much."

"Aren't your relatives nobles?" Daisy asked her. Abidemi nodded her head

"The same status as Duke but it's very different." Abidemi said. "Plus the royal family follows different rules of etiquette, I never learned it because I'm mostly there to visit. So my Uncle never bothered."

"It would've been better if he had taught you." Daisy pointed out. Abidemi shrugged.

"Yeah, but he said that I'll never meet the crown prince so it'll be a waste." Abidemi said with a sad smile. Daisy looked as if she wanted to say something but Abidemi shook her head. " It's a good thing I'm not living with him. I don't think I could stand it."

Daisy nodded her head in agreement. "Me either."

The two continued talking as the ball went on. Ignoring the people around them and the looks of some people. They were mostly looks of disdain while there were a few looks of longing. Some even wore blank expressions but it was all white noise to the two women.

After a while, Daisy went to refresh herself while Abidemi nodded her head in understanding. Abidemi stood by the pillar as she watched the many people dancing and talking. Not feeling anything watching the scenery in front of her.

'My last Valtis ball. As expected I have no feeling of loss here.' Abidemi thought as she watched the people. She sighed as she closed her eyes. ' The only person I'll probably miss is Daisy and my little brother. Oh well. What can I do?'

Meanwhile, outside of the ball on the balcony. A cloaked figure was watching Abidemi with great interest. He smiled a bit as he watched Daisy come back to Abidemi sighed.

"Soon my princess. " the man said with a smile. He looked at Abidemi with warmth. "Very soon."