Yurina Bellone stood near the end of the dance hall, sipping wine, observing the dancing couples and chattery crowds cheering that were on them. The cool breeze from the open balcony near her made the curtains fly gently, obstructing her view. 'Its all a waste of time', she thought. She had neither a dancing partner nor did she make any effort to meet anyone. She wanted to leave as soon as possible. If she hadn't gotten a warning letter from the king's office, she wouldn't be there. If invitees missed more than three balls, they had to provide an official explanation to the king's office. The king was known to have a temper, and she didn't want to put her family name in jeopardy. After all, they were granted a title due their generous partake in charity. They were originally merchants who made a fortune exporting raw minerals, the extraction process which was invented by her grandfather. They were only given a title, not counties or land like the other people in the ball. A lot of the people in the ball ruled over land, some as small as a few villages to some spanning multiple counties.
It was clear who the stars of the show were, it was the crown prince of her kingdom Mansegia; Crown Prince Eustoff Claris and the lady he had right next to him. She was clearly the most beautiful lady Yurina had ever seen. Despite wearing a simple blue dress and no accessories to go with it, the lady shone through the crowd. Perlina Astair was a noble of another country called Kalsere. But what made her special was that she was a healer. She had healed the sea sickness of the crown prince during his recent expedition when he had to suddenly stopover at Kalsere due to his illness. . Her pink hair also made her stand out from the rest of the crowd filled with blondes and brunettes. People of Mansegia had never seen such pretty pastel pink hair, and admired Lady Perlina with awe..
It was clear everyone wanted to be introduced to the crown prince and the healer. There were also rumours that he was trying to court her. Looking at them, it was clear he was so smitten. He kept stealing glances at her even if he was speaking to someone else. It seemed like he couldn't hide his infatuation very well which was funny considering a lot of people were observing them. Perlina seemed to enjoy the attention he provided.
There was a small uproar at the entrance, and soon it was clear why. This person was one of the most famous people in the empire. This person towered over everyone so much that Yurina could see his head over the crowd even though she was across the other end of the hall. In fact, he was taller and stronger than anyone else present, including the crown prince. Felix Trueheart was famous throughout the kingdom for his bravery and strength. He had recently returned from the border wars and was the only one in the entire kingdom who had been bestowed with the marquess title.. His luscious brown hair covered some of the massive scar on his face, which began from the neck to the tip of his eye. 'Sword scar?', Yurina thought. His eyes scanned through the crowd, and he took massive strides towards the crown prince and the healer.
She looked at him intently, for this was the first time she'd seen such a striking man. And then the crowd that was talking to the prince and the healer made their way towards him, to introduce themselves. He then turned his gaze towards the healer, and said something to her. The healer looked visibly troubled after hearing what he said, and the prince looked puzzled.
Suddenly, he stared right at Yurina all through the crowd. Yurina's heart skipped a beat and she quickly hid behind the curtains. She peeked out after a few seconds. The healer now wiped the sweat off her and still looked quite shaken. The crown prince was talking to someone on his side.
A realization hit Yurina, because the entire scene seemed familiar. When she was twelve, she suddenly got memories of her past life wherein she had read a book about her kingdom. It was about a healer who was courted by multiple people, all belonging to different occupations and personalities. One was the mage tower head magician who was cheerful and fun. The crown prince was calm and thoughtful. The third male lead was a soldier who was obsessive and manipulative. At the end of the book, the healer chose the crown prince. However the book was only the first part of a trilogy, and the author didn't get to release the remaining parts ever making the story incomplete.
She hadn't given much thought to her memories because, quite frankly, she didn't care about the characters. There was nothing written about anything that was related to her, so she had dismissed it as a silly dream or some random memory. So what if it was a fictional world from the book? She had her own life to live.
She didn't remember the names or anything else much. 'Perhaps I should have written it all down somewhere?', she thought. 'Anyway, I don't care who meets who or who chooses who.' It was a silly memory. The mage tower head in her world was known to be a recluse, and she had never seen him in any party.
She went down the stairs towards the well manicured garden, lost in thoughts. 'What an eerie coincidence. I wonder why these memories got planted in my head?' Yurina thought. 'Let me observe what happens.'
She made her way towards the centre of the garden, near the fountain.
She suddenly heard a male voice, "Now that I have caught you, I am never letting you go."'
'Leave me alone.' A trembling female voice said.
'You can never get away from me.' The male voice said furiously..
At this point, Yurina got afraid for the captive lady. She ran towards the voices and got the shock of her life.
It was the healer and the war hero. How did they even get here so quickly?
What was happening? Yurina had to help the poor lady.
"Let go of her immediately, my lord. Otherwise I'll shout at the top of my lungs." Yurina said in what she hoped was a bold voice.
She grabbed the lady's hand and freed it from the marquess' hand.T he two of them looked surprised at her actions.
The healer gave her a short look and swiftly ran towards the castle. The marquess looked at Yurina furiously.
"Why did you do that?" He said, and drew his sword at her.
Yurina was taken aback, for as much as he was a brutal obsessive war hero in the book, he was right in front, flesh and blood, and his fierce temper cast a massive loom around her. She knew a little bit of swordsmanship for self defense but she'd be no match for him.
"Drawing a sword in the vicinity of a ball is forbidden according to the law, Mr Trueheart." She said, hoping he'd catch her disrespect when she addressed him as mister and not one as befitting his title as marquess. 'I'll shout if he does something to me.' She thought.
'I don't care about silly laws when I have the enemy in front of me,'
'I am not your enemy, Mr Trueheart.I was merely helping the lady from what looked like a difficult situation."
"She's in a very, very tough situation, all right." Felix Trueheart replied. It seemed like he slightly cooled down, after the lady had escaped. "But I can always catch her later."
Yurina wondered why he didn't mind not addressing him by his honorifics. Perhaps because he was a commoner before he became a marquess?
Yurina decided to be chatty, for she'd probably never get a chance to speak to him ever again.
"It's not good to be too obsessive, Mr Trueheart. Some women don't like it." She said,
He let out a very sinister laugh.
"Yes, I am afraid I am very obsessive, indeed." He replied, though it was in a weird tone that she didn't quite know how to interpret.
"Us women like to read about obsessive men in romance books but not in real life. It's a huge turnoff actually." Yurina advised. Perhaps this was why she'd had the memories of the book, to advise him. And then he'd change himself and become calm and caring towards the healer and change the course of the plot of the book.
"What is the type you prefer, miss?"
"Someone kind, caring and respectful."
"What's your name?" The marquess asked. His brown hair shone in the moonlight.
"Bessy Norton."
"I know a fake name when I hear it, miss." Felix said, with an amused expression on his face.
Yurina was taken aback. Despite the circumstances of their meeting, they seemed to be getting along quite well. Why hadn't he made a fuss of her disrespect towards him or his title?
"Um-that-"
The sound of footsteps interrupted them. In a short distance, the silhouette of a man and a woman was visible. The marquess gave a hush to Yurina and motioned to walk towards the figures.
"I rushed out to look for you when you ran away from the ball, Perlina." The male silhouette said, no doubt belonging to the crown prince."
"I was just a bit sick, your majesty." Perlina said, looking a bit forlorn. Her eyes landed on Yurina and Felix.
"A healer being sick is ironi-Oh it's funny to see you here Sir Felix." The prince said. His eyes darted from Felix to Yurina and he looked amused.
"Let us not disturb these love birds' secret rendezvous, your majesty." Perina said, her expression turning into a brilliant smile, as though it was not her but Yurina that was a minute ago being manhandled by Felix.
Felix Trueheart gave a small chuckle as though in agreement as Yurina looked stumped. What was with the three of them?
Was it a love triangle? Or a secret affair? Or an obsession?
Anyway it didnt matter.
Yurina felt a loom in her chest, like she was going to be the scapegoat for something a lot more sinister.
'