Motheaten Memories [Yandere Prince x Enemy Princess Reader]

16. The Ball.

Lady Cascia had given Y/N the rest of the afternoon off to prepare herself for the ball while Issi assisted lady Cascia in getting ready, so Y/N took the borrowed ballgown and gloves into her tiny chamber to dress. She changed her shift and put her corset back on over the top before she began pulling on the crimson dress and the stained gloves which she had hastily dyed black to conceal the previous magenta ink stains. 

Once she was dressed and had her hair pinned up to the best of her ability she looked down at herself to try and gauge how she looked. The scarlet dress was tight and slender in the bodice but hung loosely around her legs and dragged on the floor a bit as she lacked the proper undergarments.

The red color of the dress conveyed a hint of danger that she liked, as did the plunging v neckline of the sleeveless bodice. Jet black gloves covered her arms past the elbows, adding to the mysterious aura around her. It had been so many years since Y/N had worn such a fine dress that she felt a bit self-conscious. Another part of her felt a sense of smug satisfaction that she, Princess Y/N of Vascini, would be attending the ball celebrating the Luccian King and Queen's wedding anniversary and the coronation of their son as Crown Prince adorned with her country's national colors; red and black.

Taking a calming breath, she stepped out into the hall where the two other women were waiting for her. Her eyes widened as she saw lady Cascia standing there in all her glory. Lovely ebony curls had been piled on her head, entwined with shell and pearl hairpins, glittering around her dark throat was a string of pearls, and her new pink dress cascaded around her body perfectly.

"Oh Y/N!" She gasped, her hazel eyes going wide as she looked her handmaiden up and down. "You look so beautiful! No one would ever believe it if you told them you were a lady-in-waiting! You need to be careful, as beautiful as you are you're bound to catch the attention of several lords!" She exploded in joyful praise for her friend.

"You are too kind," Y/N smiled, still feeling rather unsure of herself. "Out of the pair of us you are certainly the most beautiful Cascia."

"Oh stop it Y/N, you're making me blush!" She playfully shoved Y/N before latching onto her arm and taking off at a run down the hall. "No come on, let's go! Issi, you have the evening off we'll be back later!!!"

"Cascia slow down please!" Y/N begged, unaccustomed to running in formal clothes after all those years. "I can't run in this dress!"

. . .

The two ladies arrived in the ballroom and Y/N had to stifle a gasp as she viewed the magnificent room. It was at least five times the size of the ballroom in the castle of her family. Great chandeliers hung from the gold-plated ceiling, reflecting glittering light over the equally glittering throng of lords and ladies milling in the ballroom below. There was a banquet hall adjacent, separated only by the massive golden pillars that supported the ceiling, and on the opposite side of the archway through which the two women had entered was a grand balcony overlooking the blue ocean.

"Sooooooo," Cascia said smugly, leaning into Y/N's ear. "what do you think of the ballroom?!"

"It's," Y/N struggled to come up with the words to describe the awe she felt for the room's beauty, "Like nothing I've ever seen before."

"Yeah, it is impressive, isn't it?!" Cascia squealed, taking Y/N by the hand and dragging her further into the ballroom. "Do you like the decorations?! I hope you do, my mom was the one in charge of them. Aren't they great?!"

"Yes, Cascia," She smiled gently at her friend's clear enthusiasm, remembering with a pang that her own mother had been responsible for the decorations at the banquets that they used to have in Vascini. "They're beautiful."