Michaelis leaned against the wall while looking around the grand hall. His face is stoic until no one wants to come near him. He was exuding a cold atmosphere around him, indicating to everyone not to come near him because he was in a bad mood.
He was forced to stay here if he didn't want to dance with anyone. Yes, he got caught by his mother later on. Zera tolerated that he wouldn't be dancing with anyone, but he must stay or talk with the others.
That is exactly what makes him in a bad mood right now. He didn't want to form any connection with anyone. That may ruin his plan to strip away the crown prince title.
"Gre... greetings, Imperial Crown Prince."
A slow and scared voice was heard. Michaelis turned his head in that direction and subconsciously sent a glare towards the owner of the voice. A girl with short ginger hair, whom he assumed was younger than almost everyone here, was standing and fidgeting in front of him.
He didn't know that someone below seventeen would come here tonight. Eh, he just didn't pay much attention to everyone who attended the ball tonight.
"Would... would you—"
"Hm?"
Michaelis just raised one eyebrow because he wanted this girl to speak faster, but the girl flinched and looked about to cry.
He blinked in confusion. What the heck?
"Would.. you have a dance with me?"
A meek and slow voice, almost unheard to his ears.
"Dance? Me?"
He asked slowly, more into questioning himself. Who would have thought that someone would invite him to dance? A meek and shy girl at that.
Michaelis thought again. If he danced with this girl, then he might be able to leave early. He won't need to stay here until this debutante ball is over. That is great! He also did not waste his energy asking anyone to dance.
He kills two birds with one stone. He would just cut short their dance so that he could leave faster.
"If... if... you don't —"
"Okay."
He grabbed the girl's hand. The girl widened her eyes in disbelief.
"Let's go."
Michaelis pulled her, or more like dragged her, to go where everyone was still dancing. The girl let herself be dragged while still dumbfounded by her situation. She managed to look in one corner, where a group of five girls were looking at them with wide eyes.
'This will not happen if it is not because of them.' The girl cried internally.
She was forced by her older sister to ask the crown prince for a dance. She knew that her sister just wanted to humiliate her because they had not seen anyone dance with the crown prince except the first princess. They will laugh at her when the prince rejects her offer.
But this situation right now was unexpected for all of them. Who knows if the crown prince would actually agree to dance with her? She was ready to be rejected just now. Her sister would be mad at her after this. She didn't know what choice was better right now.
That was a normal occurrence for her. She didn't know why her sister always wanted to humiliate her and hate her so much. She never did anything wrong.
She looked back at the white-haired crown prince. They stopped at the not-so-busy area to dance. They bowed at each other before he slid his arm around her waist and held her hand firmly. The girl gulped down her nervousness and put her other hand on Michaelis' shoulder.
"Ready?"
"Y.. yes."
They started their dance slowly. Michaelis lingered his gaze at the girl's movement. It was stiff, but he was sure this girl knew how to dance.
"What's your name?"
He tried to have a normal conversation to ease whatever made this girl nervous.
"My name is Cecilica Tuvrin, Your Highness."
She was not stuttering, but her voice was low. Michaelis just hummed slowly; he already had a name to tell his mother. But maybe it is better if she looks at what he is doing right now.
"You have a lovely name, Young Lady Tuvrin."
He didn't notice the blush that formed on Cecilica's face and kept looking for Zera. When he finally saw the empress, he grinned slightly.
"Your Highness, may I ask something?"
He looked back at Cecilica for a moment before he twirled her around and looked back at Zera, who was now looking at him. Perfect timing!
"Ask away."
Michaelis sent a winning smirk at Zera, and Zera just rolled her eyes and smiled slightly, somehow showing approval of his action. This made Michaelis smile even more and feel a little giddy.
"Why did you accept my invitation for a dance?"
"Hm?"
Michaelis looked back at Cecilica. Why?
"It would be rude of me to reject an offer from a young lady like you, am I right?"
They made eye contact for a moment before Cecilica blushed profusely and looked away.
'What with that reaction?' Michaelis raised an eyebrow.
"You are nice, Your Highness."
Michaelis internally scoffed. He was just using Cecilica to run away from this ball. There's nothing nice about that. Suddenly, Cecilica missed a step and stepped onto his shoe.
"I'm sorry!"
Cecilica almost stumbled back, but Michaelis gripped her firmly against his body.
"It's fine; it doesn't hurt at all." He whispered slowly, making the poor girl's face turn even redder.
They danced in silence afterwards. He twirled her for the last time before they ended their dance. They bowed to each other before he took his leave. But his eyes managed to catch Zera's firm gaze at him.
He raised one eyebrow and mouthed a 'What'. Zera raised her hand and made a kissing face. Michaelis was taken aback and shook his head. But Zera glared at him more before he gave up and went back to where Cecilica was.
Cecilica was with five girls around Helenis' age. He didn't understand why they must have surrounded her like that, but he just wanted to fulfil the task and get away from there. He could feel Zera looking his way. Her piercing gaze burned his back.
"Young Lady Turvin."
The five girls and Cecilica looked back. Their eyes widened when they saw him. He flashed them a smile.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince! Greetings!"
All of them bowed at him, and his eyebrows twitched with this gesture. So not to his liking. Let's just get this over with.
"Young Lady Turvin?"
"Y..yes?"
Cecilica stepped forward. Without wasting much time, he grabbed her hand and planted a simple kiss on the back of her hand.
"It was so rude of me not to say farewell to you earlier."
"Your Highness?!"
Cecilica widened her eyes.
"It's nice meeting you, young lady. I'll take my leave now. Goodnight everyone. Please enjoy the ball."
He let go of her hand and looked at those ladies one by one before he walked away. His smile vanished instantly after he turned around and met Zera's proud smile. He rolled his eyes. He just did what had been taught.
Unbeknownst to him, he had created trouble in Cecilica's life.
×××××
"You are a lady killer."
Michaelis flinched when he suddenly heard a voice behind him. He quickly turned around to look at the perpetrator. A pink-haired boy greeted him, and he clicked his tongue.
"You come."
"Of course! I can just stay inside the house when I know I got to eat much food here today."
Rezal flashed a grin. Michaelis looked at the well-suited Rezal. This older boy looked more presentable today than when they always met. He also saw two plates of dessert in those hands.
"Glutton."
He began walking back to get out of there.
"Hey, accompany me here. Don't leave just yet."
Rezal stood in front of him, blocking his way. Michaelis creased his forehead, and then let out a sigh. Just a little while won't be a problem, right?
"Fine."
Rezal grinned happily. He gave Michaelis a plate to hold and grabbed Michaelis to one corner, where there were chairs and a table.
"Here, I have dark chocolate cakes for you."
Oh. Michaelis took a bite.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Hey, do you know that you attracted many ladies today?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
He? Attracting ladies? Why would someone five years older than him be attracted to him? He is a literal child right now.
Rezal deadpanned. He had seen how everyone fawned over his friend when he made his entrance just now. Moreover, when he was dancing with that young lady Tuvrin just now, everyone looked like a hungry beast who wanted to have a dance with the crown prince; even Rezal shivered when looking at them.
Rezal knew Michaelis must not have noticed the young ladies around their age, just the older ones. There are actually more young ladies around their age than he expected coming today.
"You are oblivious."
Michaelis frowned and just continued eating; whatever was playing in Rezal's mind was none of his concern.