Into The Flames (Sebastian x Reader)

Events of the Evening

Later that evening, a few hours before the ball was supposed to begin, Mey Rin returned to my room to prepare me for the event ahead.

I stood in front of the full length mirror once again as she situated petticoats and tightened corsets and fluffed underskirts. When everything seemed to have been readjusted at least a hundred times, she finally stepped back, seeming to be pleased at last with her handiwork, and flashed me a large smile, her glasses beaming in the setting sun coming in through the window. "Now, my lady, which dress shall you wear? It's a very big event tonight, yes it is! Your debut is not something to be taken lightly. Of course, I'm sure you shall be stunning in anything you wear, yes!"

I studied myself in the mirror for a moment, running a slender gloved hand up the line of my waist and across the pale, revealed skin of my breast that showed above the line of the corset. I needed to be at my most alluring tonight. I needed Nicholas Irvine to want me so badly that he could hardly contain himself. I lifted my chin, refocusing my gaze on Mey Rin as I said confidently, "I need to look my best tonight, Mey Rin, of course you're right." A coy smile flickered across my lips, a hint of mischief dancing in my eyes. "Find the gown in the boudoir that has the lowest neckline. Plunging, even. I'd like to show off some of my best assets to the many wealthy and eligible men of London who will be vying for my attention this evening."

Mey Rin hurried to the wardrobe and dug through the dresses, flinging aside taffeta and chiffon and velvet before she emerged triumphantly from the depths of the many colored dresses, holding aloft her find for me to approve. "Here we are, my lady. The most daring dress of all, if I do say so myself."

She brought the dress to me and held it out, so that I could look it over and make sure it earned my approval before we started the arduous task of putting it on. I reached out a gloved hand and ran it down the front of the dress, noting the finely embroidered satin and the pleating of the fabric around the waistline. For a brief moment, as my eyes ran down the length of the emerald dress, I felt a sting of sadness. I was suddenly sure that the fine and ridiculously expensive fabric would feel amazing under my bare fingers. I was acutely aware in that moment that there were many things that would feel amazing under the skin of my fingertips, yet the gloves, keeping me safe, protected, separated me from all of that.

And most of all, more than anything, human skin.

Pulling myself from the dark turn my thoughts had taken, I glanced up at Mey Rin and gave her a slight nod, pasting a smile on my lips as I said, "Yes, this is perfect, Mey Rin. Exactly what I was hoping for."

She blushed under my praise and stuttered out a thank you, before she began removing the dress from its hanger and readying it for my body. I looked back into the reflection of the mirror, not really seeing anything anymore, as I stepped into the gown and Mey Rin pulled it up around my waist.

"Um. My lady?"

Mey Rin's voice pulled me once again from my brooding. I met her hesitant gaze in the reflection of the mirror as she worked the dress around my corset and up onto my shoulders. "Yes?"

She blushed again, her cheeks going pink, and looked down at her feet, her hands frozen now against my back. "Can I ask you something?"

I raised an eyebrow at her, even though she was no longer meeting my gaze, and shrugged a shoulder slightly. "Sure. I'm not opposed to questions."

Her fingers began moving again, pulling the corseted waist of the dress close against my hips as she laced upward. "This morning, when I helped you dress after your bath, yes?" She pulled on the laces, causing me to catch my breath as she cinched inward, tighter, before continuing. "I couldn't help but notice the scars on your back, my lady." She rushed through the last few words, as if worried I would suddenly rebuke her before she could finish her sentence.