I went to the ballroom where the banquet would be held and tried to help make sure everything was ready for when the guests arrive. James was frantically shouting orders at everyone working.
I walked up to him and asked, "how is everything looking? Should will we be good to go by the time people start arriving?"
James was surprised when he heard my voice, he must have been too focused on his work to notice me coming in.
He bowed and explained, "don't worry my lord, I am just a bit of a perfectionist. Even if guests started to arrive now, the ballroom is set up well enough to not bring any shame to the Duchy."
I nodded my head, "that's great, then I'll just sit back and wait for Becca."
James pointed to the stairs at the other end of the ballroom. "There is a room on the second floor you should wait in. You and my Lady will come out from there to make your first introduction to the guests. My Lady will meet you there when she is done getting ready and I'll let you both know when it is time for you to come and meet the guests."
"Ok, thanks James. Let me know if you run into any problems before then."
I walked into the room upstairs and waited patiently for Becca. I was slightly nervous about my first time interacting with the nobles of the Duchy, but I was a lot more comfortable now that I had memorized everyone with the photographic memory potion.
Plus, I needed to act confident, so that I could be a rock for Becca, who I knew was very nervous about hosting for the first time. I took a deep breath and reminded myself to 'fake it till you make it'.
After waiting for about an hour, Becca finally came in from a back door. The moment I saw her, I jumped up from my seat and my jaw dropped.
Becca slowly walked over to me with a nervous look on her face. She asked, "what's wrong, Nick? Do I look funny?"
After she asked, I realized I had been standing around awkwardly like a teenage kid who was having his first love.
I shook my head and took her hands in mine. I smiled, "you look stunning, Becca. You were so beautiful that I was speechless for a second."
Becca blushed and looked into my eyes. "I tried my very best to look good today, so I could stand beside you with pride. I even put on makeup for the first time…"
Becca's makeup matched her very well. She went with a natural look overall. Instead of thick dark red for lipstick, she used a clear lip gloss that just make lips look plumper and kept her naturally cute pink color. She had some light foundation to highlight her smooth skin and kept the eye shadow and liner to a minimum to show off her long natural eye lashes.
I took her hand to my lips and kissed the back of her hand. "I'm glad you went with this makeup style. It highlights your natural beauty instead of trying to cover up who you really are."
Becca's eyes turned up into crescents. "Thanks, Nick. I always hated the noble girls who tried too hard and caked makeup on themselves. It's kind of like saying you don't like how your face really looks…that's why I put on light foundation and did not hide my few freckles. I hope you don't mind I chose to still show my blemishes?"
I grinned, "they are not blemishes! I really like your cute little freckles. Your markup is the perfect way to highlight my wife who is already super cute every day."
Becca laughed with a sparkle in her eyes, "you are the one person who thinks that way! haha."
"After today, I bet all the nobles won't be able to stop talking about how beautiful the Duchess was at her wedding banquet. Like she was a butterfly that suddenly came out of her cocoon."
Becca rolled her eyes and smirked, "you really have a way with words. You love to butter me up."
I keeped looking at Becca's great look. "I also really like how your hair came out. The noble ladies will be hounding you to learn how to style it like that."
Becca had her hair up in a bun hairstyle that I showed her a few days earlier. It had a braided pattern on the sides of her head and left a few strands of hair to fell down her head with light curled ends. It was a stylish hairstyle to go with a ballroom gown.
Becca's eyes lit up when she got to compliment me this time. "Yes! The hairstyle you come up with is perfect to go with my overall look! And it has never been done before by any other nobles. It will for sure become a big talking point today and in the future."
I still had more to compliment Becca's look. "I also think I made the right choice. That dress looks like it was meant for you to wear."
Becca smiled and did a 360 twirl so that the frills at the bottom of her dress swayed. "It really is an amazing design and quality. I need to give my thanks to Linda when I see her next."
I nodded and muttered in thought, "you are right. We really need to let all the nobles know that the Duchy is opening up a shop with the designer of this dress…but I don't want Linda to be so busy that she won't have time to make all the dresses that I want to see you wear…"
As I sighed thinking about the waiting lines Linda will soon have to make a dress, Becca brought my attention back to her by putting one of her hands on my chest.
"You know Nick, I have been feeling nervous the whole time I was been getting ready today, but the moment I am with you, I instantly feel my nerves go away and instead I'm filled with joy and laughter. You are amazing."
I hugged Becca's waist, "I'm not the one that's amazing. It's our relationship with each other that's amazing. Because you do the same thing for me. Whenever I'm with you, I feel like a can succeed at anything I try. Any weight I feel on my shoulders instantly vanishes once I am with you. That's why I believe we can really reach all of our dreams if we are together."
Becca's eyes widened, "all of our dreams?"
I wasn't exactly sure where she was getting at, but I nodded, "yep, all of them."
Becca's mouth opened, but hesitated to say anything. I titled my head in confusion, but before I could ask what was wrong, there was a knock at the back door.