𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫'𝔰 𝔇𝔬𝔩𝔩

Part 27

"She was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which we appear before the world."

- Kate Chopin

Kate felt like one of those girls in a cheesy high school coming of age story. Here she was getting ready for the gala with Ivan. Ivan was the only one to have seen both Kate and Fyodor's outfits. They had purposefully kept them a secret from the other. Ivan was the one who picked out the colours so that they would both match. Thank God he was sensible on the occasions he needed to be.

Kate absolutely adored her dress. It was a baby blue with butterflies sewed into the tulle fabric. It complimented her skin tone and hair colour very well. She felt like a princess. Despite the fact that she grew up in a wealthy household and constantly dressed up, her mother always chose what Katte wore. This was the first real fancy occasion that she had any say in what kind of dress she wanted. This was also the first real occasion she was given a real option of attending. She could have refused and Fyodor would have let her. This type of freedom was unknown to her, it was refreshing even if she didn't know what to do with it.

Kate kept her makeup very natural and simple, after all, she didn't really need it nor did she know much about how to apply makeup. Older sisters were always supposed to teach their younger sisters how to do makeup, how to talk to boys, and other girly stuff. Kate never had that kind of relationship with her older sister. The siblings were incredibly competitive growing up and were always pitted against each other. Kate never learned how to talk to boys, how to put on makeup, how to deal with her first period-- her sister never helped her at all with any of that. Even though they were okay now, that wasn't always the case growing up together.

"Is Fyodor ready?" Kate asked, turning to Ivan.

"Yes, he's waiting downstairs for you. I believe he made his way into the marshmallow package." Ivan nodded his head, revealing more than Kate asked for. This was how she knew they trusted her-- at least Ivan did now.

"Did he? Are you sure it wasn't you?" Kate teased with a soft smile. Her words alone were enough to make him turn away with a blush.

"We'll have to set another night for s'mores then, won't we?" She suggested as she walked past him. His face lit up as he turned to follow after her.

Kate walked down the stairs and made her way into the sitting room where Fyodor was sitting on the couch typing away on his phone.

"Master, Kate is ready," Ivan announced for her as he stood behind her. Fyodor looked up and nearly did a double-take when his eyes landed upon the sight of Kate. The dress was absolutely beautiful on her, Ivan did a wonderful job in helping her pick one.

Fyodor on the other hand looked angelic to Kate for the first time ever. His fingers were delicately bandaged in a much more elegant manner than before. His hair had been thoroughly washed and was fluffy even. His suit was a simple, all-black suit with a baby blue tie to match Kate's dress. Kate could've sworn Fyodor even had a little bit of eyeliner in his lash lines but she wasn't going to ask.

Both of them didn't say anything, they simply took in each other's presence with mouths open in awe.

"Fyodor, you..." Kate tried to be the first one to speak but she couldn't seem to find the words. Fyodor had made Kate completely and utterly speechless.

"Kate, you're absolutely stunning." He walked over within seconds, taking her hand in his. She blushed at his words, her heart fluttering.

"You also look utterly gorgeous." She mumbled as she spoke. Fyodor was now the one red in the face. Both of them were looking away with red faces and Ivan had never seen a sight like this one before.