𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 || rini au

29. dark red

𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲

𝗶 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴

𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝗱, 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴

𝗶 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗲

== n i n i 's p o v ==

my shoes make a clicking noise as i walk though the halls of the castle, ricky and i having taken separate routes to the kitchen to avoid being seen together again. i walk into the kitchen to see ashlyn and gina struggling to gather all of the golden trays of gourmet food and drink made for the dinner.

"oh thank god, get over here and help us balance the appetizers," gina sighs. she's wearing a lacey black dress (again, we were all instructed to wear black) that flows at the bottom, black heels, and a purple masquerade mask with feather detail.

"those are just the appetizers?" i chuckle, quickly putting on my own mask and adjusting it to sit in my long, loosely curled brown hair.

i make sure my earpiece isn't visible, tapping it to see if it's on (when no one was looking, obviously). after our little run in with ashlyn, we had received a memo from vivian about what was expected from ricky and i on this little mini mission.

tonight is supposed to be sort of like a practice run for the actual ball, testing out all of our gear and making sure nothing happens to the prince. we're also supposed to get intel on the downstairs situation, and of course i'm planning on using what ashlyn told me earlier.

"alright!! everyone!" carlos claps, gathering all of the workers-including ricky and i- in front of the big golden doors that lead into the dining hall.

my finger accidentally slips on the heavy tray as he goes on to say some boring speech about how we all need to be on our best behavior, nearly making me drop it-

until ricky's hand comes up and catches the other's side, making me notice how close he was standing to me. thankfully, the slip goes largely unnoticed (at least by carlos, but that's all that really matters).

i give him a small nod as a thank you, not wanting to attract any attention by being overly affectionate towards him (don't get me wrong though-i definitely want to be, i just can't right now).

••

after serving the guests the first course all of the other workers start to make their way back to the kitchen and other assigned places for their jobs.

ricky and i, however, take detours-we're still on a mission. i make my way into the security closet (knowing it'd be empty at this moment, the guard has a brief dinner break that spares me just enough time).

"neens? you there?" i hear on my earpiece as i finish casually picking the lock and heading inside, taking a seat at the desk chair in front of the multiple camera monitors.

"you know it's nina while we're on duty, and i'm here." i start, using the password i was given to get into the system. it's pretty standard and way easier than i was expecting for the castle, which just goes to show how terrible the security is here in the first place.

"okay, i'm in."

i take a look at all off the different rooms and halls throughout the east and west wing of the castle, my eyes searching for him on the cameras.

"can you see me?" he asks.

"yeah, i ca-richard."

i see him blow a kiss at me right into the security camera, the smirk on his face growing.

i roll my eyes, feeling my cheeks flush. "get back to the mission, dumbass."

he winks, clicking his tongue, "should you really be calling me dumbass on a mission? not really professional of you, nina."

i roll my eyes, letting myself smile because he can't see me, "i hope you know you're gonna get yelled at after this."

he adjusts his mask as he walks down the hall, "by you? yes please."

"ricky! i swear-..."

i pause when i see something on the camera, the smile on my face fading.

"nini?"

"hide behind the corner to your left. now."

== r i c k y 's p o v ==

i do what she says immediately, moving to hide myself around the corner against the wall.

"nini?? fill me in-"

"there's no time," she says hurriedly, "go offline, meet me at the spot asap."

"got it," i nod, disconnecting my headset and nonchalantly abandoning it into the nearest trash can.

i peep my head around the corner and walk normally down the hall, nodding as i pass by another older castle worker.

i make my way to the spot (having actually memorized the castle layout), which is the same hallway ashlyn was taking about earlier. the one with no doors, windows, or exits except for one *locked at all times* storage closet.

i prepare myself as i walk, not sure what to expect. something had to of gone completely wrong for nini to change the entire plan, but i trust her complet-

oh.

yeah, i wasn't sure what to expect-but i had my ideas.

rounding the corner to see the prince making out with my girlfriend/partner in crime at the end of the hallway was not one of them.