"Have you brought them in?" Berniss asked, spinning around and making firm and precise movements on her dance with the First Prince of Frost.
It was their third moment they danced together in a ball. The first time was a nightmare while the second evolved into immense progress. For the legs of hers and him were not fully blessed in possessing that talent.
"Needless to say, Your Royal Highness. I-ow!"
"Berniss. Just Berniss. I told you a couple of times already~," she giggled, after smacking the platinum blonde-haired man with a strong hit by her palm.
In the depths of her deceitful heart, the princess was glad Prince Claus accepted the invitation personally written by her.
She could ever imagine how their connection went hitherto to be steady— his and Prince Albert's summer visit in the castle which the princes and second cousins had been a custom— as well as his faithful replies on her sent messages fluttered her whole system.
'He's gorgeous, surely gorgeous,' she talked by herself, appreciating the charmer who fell short in hiding the achy pain. She could even attest and shout it to every being, nation, tribe, or clan that her cousin was a real man among men. His well-toned figure, ivory skin, and grey irises may melt your anger and frustration in one's soul away.
Howbeit, Berniss suspired as a notion occurred upon her head. She said, 'It is a little surprise he always receives a plethora of gifts, dozen of letters, boxes of jewels, and freshly picked flowers from the ladies and princesses.'
'Is there a chance for a fifteen-year-old lady like me?'
"Are you a sadist?" Claus collectedly asked, easing the discomfort on his forearm. The naughty princess shrugged, and wagged her brows, bantering with the prince whom she admired. Claus, who was stunned by her brutal honesty, wide-eyed as he figured it out himself, "Oh lord..."
"Kidding!" she took it back, turning around once more. "Teasing and inflicting the First Prince is a force of habit and a window of opportunity for me, Claus."
"Thus, I feel sorry for your future mate if it is true that you are one," he dramatically shook his head which made the princess pouted her lips, but Claus recanted, "Nevertheless, the cadence of the royal title fits you, 'Berniss'."
Princess Royal flustered and bent her head, hearing her name from Claus kindled her giddiness. "I-I value and respect your opinion."
The enchanting pair (as foretold by the king and his family) stole the spotlight amongst the crowd in the ballroom. Nobles, influencers, and their corresponding partners led their way to the side, following they beheld the princess and prince's fetching chemistry.
"Will there be something that we shall be seeing great to befall soon after the His Majesty's coronation?" one of the lords commented.
"Her Highness and The Frost's Prince should better be together!" said a quirky maid, nudging her friend.
"They are a perfect match!"
"Definitely!"
Receiving a commendation which derived out of from the servants and any other grandeurs could not wholly provide Berniss one confidence a princess must acquire. But he was different; he may have cast a magical spell upon the young darling. "Claus."
"Yes?"
"Do you ever reminisce when you two were fourteen and I am ten?" she asked, avoiding eye contact for she was shy. "Albert and we used to play tag, though the players were the three of us. It was enjoyable."
He bobbed his head, condescending his might. "Truly! You were a weakling, I daresay."
'As expected from a narcissist. I should have hit you harder.' she chided in her mind and mentally rolled her eyes, but Berniss posed a demure nature to impress the man.
"But a belle as the light... I am there to save you from Bert like shining armor, protecting you against the odds. He was a fast runner; we are meant to be winners of our little game," he segued.
"Oh, what makes you think so, Your Highness?" Berniss began to relish this superficial chatter, looking at the prince likewise.
Even if they rarely saw each other in person, Berniss missed him inch by inch. Marking her calendar grew into a routine and counting weeks of expecting meetings compelled her to fall for him because she knew herself too well Prince Claus was way out of her league...
Spinning the princess around, Claus asserted in a charismatic tone. "Let us say, I have a vision...and my vision shall be earned to be true. I shall do everything it takes to make it to the top. If anyone gets in my way, I'll destroy them. If anyone believes in me, they deserve to be reward with elation."
"Isn't my belief the same as yours, dear Berniss?" he whispered his point; Berniss moved back (Claus was near on her face which brought her to be self-conscious) and curtly nodded in agreement. "Indeed. However, I do not see how your dreams to be aligned with mine, Your Highness."
"?!"
"Shall we discuss this matter somewhere else, only the two of us? " Berniss feigned a smile in concert felt troubled as she told him something that Claus would oppose. She compressed his hand and mouthed him, "Please, Claus."
The prince figured that they must flee from the ballroom with her, for he gave the princess the ample time she needed— to show the whole audience including her family that they had a good relationship and a potential marriage for them is not a question— and his visible disbelief remained itself.
The spotlight which centered on Berniss and Claus a while ago concentrated on the quirky couple who danced in an uncanny style. Because that pair was notorious for being an attention seeker at a party, the public got hooked on their weirdness; the performers altered their song pieces into dynamic music which every being took a liking.
"Lead the way." he frigidly spoke, walking away alongside the princess. Berniss and he strode forth to the secluded gazebo where watchful eyes could not be able to discern them.
The gazebo was comprised of an old Victorian style with a plethora of ornamental plants, lining up to its hexagonal sides. It used to be Berniss's favorite spot until she saw that Tree of Olivia where none of the servants and highborn men would discover except Liza and now, Mila.
The moon waned its glint in majesty which passed through Berniss and Claus's shimmering apparels as they stopped by the gazebo. The youthful royals then sat down on their rustic perches to take a break.
And to resolve their unspoken plans and misunderstandings, they must speak. But, they were tight-lipped. Berniss stroked her thumb with the other in dread; Claus began to mistrust the lady beside him so he dared not to initiate. The boiling of his blood did he strive to cease but went awry. What did she try to tell him? The plan which they established beforehand... would it be crushed?
'No, I have to steal the throne! By all means, I must assassinate him and that childish and good-for-nothing daughter of his! Connick will be the territory of my own. I will kill them, the entire family and relatives of mine shall go to hell!' Claus wandered his eyes on the ground sideways. He became impatient in accomplishing his ambitious goal.
'He and I shall be espoused in this outlandish land that I will conquer in a twinkling of an eye. He is my strength; I hold him, dear, most.' he said in himself, overthinking the possibilities of defeat, 'Just you wait, Jair. I'm coming soon with a present which shall gladden you. Bear the hardship in Frost.'
"I cannot push our plot through any longer," Berniss mumbled, biting her lip. "Exterminating him is unacceptable."
"Why not?! Do you not wish to go outside these boresome walls?" Claus rebuked and shook her arms in turmoil. He was desperate. "Berniss! You said so yourself, 'I wish I can get to see the world out there, I wonder how it looks like.'"
The First Prince of Frost put his hand onto his chest as if proclaiming he is the princess's savior. "I am here to help you to fulfill your childhood dream!"
"I know what you mean! And it isn't simple to kill a sire; I lost my loved ones, Your Highness! I-if I had a half-life to give, I am willing to sacrifice all of it. You have no idea how much I've experienced. The grief. Sadness. Longing for someone." Berniss answered him with a stern look on her face. "Now, you are with me. I-is there no other choice?" she squeakily asked; a tear fell on her left cheek.
The prince was taken aback and somewhat felt a bit of ache. Seeing the young Berniss in sorrow wounded him. She was his friend and second cousin, since the beginning, "None at all. For both of us, there is no option left."
But it was for his male lover's sake— his priority among priorities— that he must be selfish enough to brainwash an innocent girl out of his personal gain.
The princess bawled her eyes out, having adverse thoughts in her head. She covered her face to the man and quietly wept. Claus reached his arm to the lady to console her, yet she scurried from him.