The day of the princess' debutante ball came.
Thanks to her mother, she graciously was put in a beautiful light burgundy dress, decorated with jewels and flowers on it. It flowed down to a bit below her knees, allowing people to see the heels she wore matching the dress.
Contrary to popular belief, she actually likes dressing up. From her nails to her hair, she likes making herself look pretty.
However, oddly enough, she doesn't like jewelry that much, specifically necklaces. To her, it felt like she was choking every time she wore one and so she tend to avoid them, despite the trend of wearing the biggest and sparkliest jewels. Honestly, they are cold to touch and way too obnoxious to her liking. She wasn't quite sure why they represent a show of power in the first place.
Growing up accepting these necklaces that she never wore, she learned to auction them off through the practice of selling and buying. Through her teacher and seeing the auction house for herself, she learned what it meant to do business at a young age which comes in handy when becoming a future aide.
But first, she had to fulfill her duties as a noble. So, with her hair tied up in a bun, styled so that the flower kept her hair up. She left earlier than her family to help assist the princess with her preparations for the debutante. She planned to discreetly meet her family once it started and together made their official entrance.
She quickly reached the palace after a short carriage ride and was guided by a maid into the princess' dressing room.
'It's still as marvelous as it was yesterday… Not sure why I thought it might change a bit.'
Arisanna went into the princess' dressing room where she found her fitting her dress.
"Princess, I have come to assist you," she curtsied.
"I told you not to be too formal around me," the princess waved her hand and motioned for her to get closer.
"I see you have dressed up," she smiled.
"Yes, I finished dressing up before coming here to make sure I won't be in a rush later," Arisanna said while sitting down on the couch in the room.
"Won't the dress be a bit messy by then?"
"Alterations can be done. Besides, this won't really be my first official entrance as Arisanna Blanchette. It is just the entrance as the Blanchette's daughter."
The princess laughed, "When will you be having her debutante ball, Ari?"
Faintly acknowledging she could be casual with her, "I am not quite sure, to be frank. From planning and hosting, I think I might need to start in advance."
"I also started planning this at a young age. I am of royal blood and therefore must throw a grand celebration," she sighed.
"Brid- Brie, you have much more to worry about than the entrance. You have to socialize and entertain those nobles. You also have to dance with many people. Honestly, being the main character of the debutante party seems much worse."
Bridgette, the princess, smiled as she heard Arisanna and laughed along with her.
"I did plan this to enjoy it. It is my coming-of-age ceremony."
"Ah- but will you really enjoy it?"
"Well, I would definitely enjoy the break after it is finished. This is only a couple of hours?"
"A couple of hours? This will last until the noble's bedtimes."
"Please make sure that attitude of yours is not shared with said nobles," Bridgette laughed.
"Princess, the dress has been fitted. Your entrance wear is ready," the maid chimed in. She seemed to have a small smile plastered on her face.
Bridgette turned around and gave a little twirl, "Well?"
"You look beautiful in it! The dress speaks volumes, it will make a great statement among the people," Arisanna lightly clapped her hand, "This is your entrance gown?"
"Yes, I need to gawk people's eyes out when making an entrance so I picked it out."
Bridgette then starts to look in the mirror, "But I am worried it is a bit much."
Just as the maids start to chime in, Arisanna spoke out, "You want to make a statement and put on a bold first impression, you can only do it in that specific gown that you picked out. I mean, you are decorated with so much beautiful jewelry that will outshine everyone, especially the people who want to shine brighter than you at the ball. I heard rumors you know? This is perfect."
Bridgette gave her a very warm smile after hearing her and cheerfully said, "Then I will wear this to make my entrance."
After Bridgette showed Arisanna all of the gowns that she will wear for the event, they both head out to check out the preparations for the debutante. This includes the decorations of the ballroom, the reception, and the garden which everyone is very hard at work. Arisanna saw that everyone was quite enthusiastic about the preparations, ready to throw a debutante to remember. They checked the food and Arisanna got to taste test some of the royal palace's dishes, which were simply out of this world.
Arisanna found Bridgette quite busy but also excited about everything, and she couldn't help but smile at the fact her eyes shined a bit brighter after she saw everything was going according to plan.
After walking around, Arisanna found that she didn't see the princes in sight.
"Both of them said they prepared something for my debutante so I left them to do whatever they planned to do."
"Really? Is it sort of a gift to you?"
"Well, whatever they are planning, I don't want to know what they will show me. Honestly, it's more like I am purposely trying to ignore them in order to make it a surprise."
"Have they met a lot?"
"Seems so."
"Well, I could sort of guess what they plan to do."
"You can?"
"It is the only personal thing they can give you that isn't a physical present-"
"Don't say it! I want to be surprised."
Arisanna smiled, "Then I think you are going to enjoy it."
***
The night quickly came and so Arisanna had to bid Bridgette goodbye.
"I promise to come to find you during the ball. You'll accompany me through the socializing," Bridgette smiled.
"What if I don't want to socialize?"
"Well, that's too bad because I will force you to come with me."
And so that was that.
Arisanna went to a quiet place in the palace and quietly raised her hand. She summoned a unique relic that she found after defeating a demonic beast that was lying in its territory.
What she summoned was a long black sword, a color similar to obsidian. It was matte and not lustrous like a normal sword but could cut better than a regular one. What made it "unique" was its ability to think for itself. That's right, the sword had a mind of its own.
It took a bit for Arisanna to tame it as the sword would always run away whenever someone tries to get close to it. She could only trap it in a magic field but it would sometimes cut through the magic and escape. She actually got tired of trying and so she decided to release it as it was something the sword wanted to do. Since she had no idea what the sword was, she just lets it go.
However, the sword seemed to linger a bit as it sometimes can be found somewhere near her. Arisanna never forced it to interact with her, so she just ignores it.
But it didn't last long when Arisanna was ambushed by a demonic beast. This was the period of time when she was only beginning to train using her magic. She was a bit naive and so it lead to her being careless. Long story short, the sword rushed to protect her and stayed by her side.
Until now, she still has no idea what it is as no one could find records of the sword. But since it seemed none hostile, her parents reluctantly agreed for her to use it but only after she has complete control of her magic, which was fair.
So, here she was. She seemed to reach an agreement with the sword and can sort of communicate with it. It seemed alright with being obedient under her and so she uses it as her way of fighting. She does so by manipulating it with her mind and completely controlling it with her consciousness. Since the sword can levitate, she can control it as she pleases, striking her opponents using her mind instead of physically doing so, which is of great help to her since she isn't as good at wielding a sword.
But she mainly uses it as a means of transportation.
So, she hopped on the sword and flew to where she saw her family's carriages.
She sent a telepathic message to her brother and the carriage stopped. She got in with no trouble.
"You should be careful flying with a literal sword," her brother scolded.
"I made sure we were invisible, everything is fine."
"You even got your dress messy."
"Well, that is something I can fix."
She waved her hand and magic enveloped her dress. She imagined its state this morning and the gown was fixed.
"You don't look bad yourself," she eyed her brother, lifting her hand to her face to cover her teasing smile.
"Shut up, we are almost there."
***
Her brother got out of the carriage first and turned back towards Arisanna.
He handed out his hand, which she took and graciously got out of the carriage.
She wrapped her hand around her brother's arm, back straight, and headed inside the entrance to the reception.
Her eyes glowed a bit, releasing a few red butterflies that landed on her hair and gown, glowing with magic.
Next to them, her mother seemed to have done the same, releasing purple butterflies instead.
An announcer suddenly called out, "Introducing, Duke Blanchette and his wife Duchess Blanchette, accompanied by the young master and lady of the Blanchette household."
A horn sounded, indicating their entry.
The large door opened.