Elenor was sleeping peacefully in her room when Denice, the last maid out of the three that always helped her other than Alec, burst into her room.
"Miss! Why are you still sleeping!" she exclaimed as she pulled the blanket off her body.
"Denice..? Why are you shouting so early in the morning…" Elenor sleepily mumbled, slowly getting up.
"Oh dear, it looks like she has forgotten she had a piano recital to go to." Paige said as she walked into the room together with Alice.
"Piano..recital?"
"Yes! By Baron Rochegner's son, Sir Gilberd." Alice said.
"I heard he is a piano prodigy that even people from other kingdoms are coming just to watch his recital!" she added on.
"Where do you even hear all of these?" Elenor asked as the ladies dolled her up for today.
"A magician never reveals her secrets," Alice said with a mysterious voice causing all of them to laugh.
Elenor was dressed into a teal coloured dress with an empire waistline silhouette. Matching coloured beads embedded into the dress from the top till her waist. The sleeves were long so she didn't need to add on accessories around her wrists. Only a necklace with small crystals and gem earrings were used. Her hair was put up in a braided bun before adding pearl hair pins around.
"Wasn't Alec supposed to wake me up?" Elenor realised once she was ready for the recital.
"He was but the others needed his help so he asked us to wake you up." Paige said, adding the final touches on her makeup.
"Ah speak of the devil,"
"My apologies milady," Alec walked into her room and bowed.
"It's alright, we should get going now shouldn't we?"
"Yes."
Elenor nodded. She turned to the three ladies and thanked them before leaving the manor with Alec.
"Elenor."
A voice called out her name just as she was about to get on the carriage. She turned around to see her brother walking towards her, dressed up nicely. She tilted her head to the side, wondering what was the occasion for him to be dressed up.
"I'm following you to the piano recital," he said as if he read her mind.
Elenor nodded, letting him inside the carriage. Richard sat opposite of Elenor together with Alec before the carriage rode off to the destination.
"How come brother suddenly decided to come to the recital?" she questioned.
Richard smiled, "Because I want to spend time with you."
Elenor blinked before laughing, "Brother if you keep caring about me only, you won't be able to find a lady."
"That is fine, I only care about our family." Richard waved it off.
"But you're the sole heir so you have to get married someday!"
"...We'll deal with that when it comes."
"Whatever you say brother." Elenor tittered.
It took some time before they reached the venue of the recital. Elenor could feel her butt cramping up from sitting in the carriage for so long.
'Damn they really should invent cars or at least make better seats.' she grumbled to herself internally.
"Were you uncomfortable in the carriage?" Richard asked.
"A bit but it was bearable. Shall we head inside? It seems like the recital might start soon."
Richard nodded and the three of them headed inside. It was filled with people from all around the kingdoms. Elaelind, Darenth and even Vaidia.
"Whoa Alice was right, there's a lot of people from other kingdoms." Elenor mumbled to herself as she tried to make her way to her assigned seat.
"Be careful Elenor, there's a lot of people so you should stick close to me or Alec." Richard worriedly said.
She nodded, trying her best not to fall back or step on anyone's shoes. Soon enough, they reached their seats without any misfortune happening. Elenor relaxed into her seat, tired from moving in the crowd of people.
"Milady," she felt Alec's breath close to her neck.
She nearly flew back but stopped herself and turned towards him. She raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue what he wanted to say. His hand reached out towards her, inching closer by the second. Unconsciously, she closed her eyes.
She felt him touching something in her hair before the feeling disappeared. Her eyes fluttered open again to see Alec back at his original position.
"Your hair pin was falling." he commented.
Elenor reached out and touched the hairpin. It was positioned at the same place it had been since she left the manor.
"Ah..thank you." she thanked and nodded at him before looking forward.
"Did milady assume I would do something?" Alec smirked causing her to roll her eyes back at him.
"Who would dare do something so shameless in public."
"I would."
Elenor glared at him who only returned a small smirk. She looked away, not wanting to speak another word with him. Instead, she paid attention to her brother who began talking to her. After waiting for a long time, Elenor even wondered if it would ever start, the lights dimmed out and the red curtains began to draw open.
Needless to say, Sir Gilberd was truly a piano prodigy. Elenor was captivated all the way till the final note he played before ending the recital. Now that the recital was over, many people were excited to meet with him and even try to get connections with him. After all, who wouldn't want to brag about knowing someone famous?
"I'm heading to the restroom for a quick take." she whispered to Alec not wanting other people to hear her.
This generation did not like it when ladies speak out about needing to pass urine or needing to do the number 2.
"Would you like me to accompany you?"
Elenor shook her head at Alec's suggestion, "It's fine just stay with brother here. I'll be back shortly."
Alec seemed to hesitate for a moment before allowing her to go alone. Elenor made a beeline over to the restroom and did what she needed to do for health purposes before leaving the restroom.
Following the way she had come to the restroom, she did the same as she made her way back to where Richard and Alec were waiting for her.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" someone shouted as Elenor accidentally stepped on someone's foot.
"My apologies." Elenor apologised before trying to maneuver her way through the busy crowd before bumping into a shoulder.
"Ow...shit." she silently cursed to herself as she rubbed her nose.
"Terribly sorry for bumping into you." a warm gentle voice spoke out to her.
A hand was extended towards her, waiting for her to take hold of it. She stared at the hand before looking up at the person. She seemed to have stopped breathing once she took a good look at the person, holding out their hand towards her.
He had white hair which was slightly messy but it suited him very well. As if it was meant to be his style. Eyes almost the same coloured as her own just a shade or two lighter. His skin was just a shade darker than hers. A beautiful sunkissed tan colour that many people from her world would want. To cut it short, he was beautiful, stunning. A very beautiful man that Elenor had never seen before or wrote about.
Elenor must have stared at him too long in silence until he had spoken out again, "Are you okay, my lady?"
She regained her composure and nodded, taking hold of his hand. "Yes. I'm alright, thank you."
"I'm truly sorry for bumping into you." he apologised again, his eyes downcast making him look even prettier than he should be.
Elenor swore she felt light specks poking her eyes as if telling her she shouldn't be looking at this masterpiece of a man. She smiled and shook her head,
"It's fine, we're in a quite crowded place so this stuff is bound to happen."
The man let out a lively chuckle, "Well then I'm glad I bumped into such a pretty lady."
Elenor smiled and covered her lips with her hand, "I'm honoured to have bumped into such a gentleman then."
'He must be a very high status noble if he knew he had to give some compliments to ladies before continuing to chat.'
"Since you are here, you must have come for the piano recital didn't you?" he asked.
Elenor nodded, "Yes I did. It was a lovely recital."
He smiled and he was about to reply when Elenor felt an elbow pushing her. She stumbled a bit before regaining her balance thanks to the help of the beautiful tan man beside her. She still wasn't used to his beauty so she averted her gaze away from him. He looked around before pointing over at a spot with less people.
"How about we head over there to talk? Standing in the middle of a crowd and talking isn't an ideal spot for talking."
Elenor laughed and agreed, following him over to the spot with lesser people around. With less people meant less eyes. Her tense body relaxed ever so slightly. Her gaze fell back on the tan man with her. She could tell he wasn't from this kingdom but from another. His looks were sharper and more defined compared to the people here who had slightly softer looks.
He noticed her gaze on him and smiled, "Is my looks weird?"
Elenor quickly shook her head not wanting him to think she was looking at him badly.
"No I think you're handsome, it's just rare to see people with tan skin in this kingdom."
The man laughed before a wide grin bloomed on his face, "You think I'm handsome?"
She nodded, "Of course."
"Even if I'm tan?"
Again, she nodded, "Skin colour doesn't matter. You're good looking either way."