Glitter glamour and suitors

The Annual Summer Palace Ball was already in full swing. Carriages rolled steadily through the palace gates as guests arrived one after another, each entrance more extravagant than the last.

Royal wealth was on full display. Elegant outfits, chic hairstyles, exquisite jewellery, and rare perfumes lingered in the air long after their wearers had passed.

Nearly every guest arrived with a full entourage of attendants, guards, and servants. The entire palace shimmered beneath chandeliers and candlelight. It was a night of glitter, glamour, and excess.
* * *
Rowland stood outside Sybill's room, anxiously pacing the corridor. 

Inside, Elena glanced towards the door.

"Sybill, I think someone might be waiting for you."

"Hmm?"

Sybill looked at her in confusion.

"For me?"

Elena merely smiled.

Sybill opened the door and stepped into the corridor. Rowland immediately stopped pacing. Behind her, Elena and Silvi looked at each other.

"Finally."

Sybill stood in front of Rowland, studying him with mild confusion.

"Is the Sammy okay? Are you okay?"

Before he could answer, she reached up and cupped his face between her hands.

Rowland smiled nervously.

"Yes. Everyone is fine, Sybill."

He gently removed her hands from his face, but instead of letting them go, he intertwined his fingers with hers. Sybill looked down at their joined hands, then back at him.

"Will you go to the dance with me?"

For a moment, she simply stared, then Elena's voice returned to her. Earlier that evening, Elena and Silvi had prepared her for this exact possibility.

"If someone asks you to dance and you want to go with him, you nod like this."

Elena had demonstrated with an elegant little nod. Back in the corridor, Sybill remembered, and she nodded.

Rowland's face immediately brightened.

He leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on her cheek. Sybill froze, her heart beginning to beat unusually fast.

Before she could understand why, Rowland reached into his pocket and produced a delicate diamond necklace. Tiny stones glittered beneath the corridor lights.

"For you."

He stepped behind her and fastened it gently around her neck. Sybill remained perfectly still.

A few moments later, Rowland left to prepare for the ball. Sybill continued standing in the corridor long after he was gone.

Her fingers slowly rose to the place on her cheek where he had kissed her. Her heart was still beating far too fast.

* * *
Sammy served tea to the guests diligently. His attention was caught, however, by a familiar face among the crowd—a man wearing a badge bearing the goddess's face, smiling as he chatted animatedly with several guests.

Grandmaster Erasmus.

Before Sammy could watch him any longer, the powerful blast of a ceremonial horn echoed through the grand hall. Conversation began to fade as heads turned towards the entrance.

"His Majesty, King Andrew Savant!"

Sammy's heart stopped.

A handsome man in his late forties entered the ballroom, walking slowly with the aid of a cane. His blond hair was neatly styled, and an elegant beard framed his square jaw.

His vivid green eyes swept across the hall, though their once-sharp gaze had been dulled by his failing sight. King Andrew Savant had joined the ball.

Sammy stood perfectly still. The person his heart had been craving to see was finally here.

His father.

Harold, Erasmus, and countless others approached the king. Andrew laughed and spoke warmly with them while Sammy watched from a distance, smiling despite himself.

But he was engaged in espionage, and espionage had no place for emotion.

The gang had followed Leo for days, yet they had discovered nothing unusual about his routine. From dawn until late at night, his life revolved around Harold—his chores, his errands, his endless requests.

At night, Leo played poker with the royal chef before retiring to his room. Nothing suspicious. Nothing secretive.

Nothing that connected him to Sammy's attempted kidnapping. Yet the evidence of his involvement was overwhelming.

They could no longer afford to merely watch him. Leo had to be cornered.
* * *
Elena entered the grand hall in a delicate gold gown, strings of pearls serving as slender straps across her shoulders. Matching pearl earrings framed her face, while her makeup had been kept light.

The princess had long been renowned for her beauty. Heads turned as she passed—young and old alike.

But several gazes soon wandered towards the lady walking beside her.
Sybill wore a white sequinned gown with delicate straps, her long black hair gathered into an elaborate braid decorated with tiny pearls. Diamond studs glittered at her ears along the necklace Rowland had given her, while a small purse rested in one hand.

Grandmaster Erasmus noticed them almost immediately. Holding his favourite glass of drink, he made his way through the crowd towards the two girls.

"I have missed you, my ladies. The castle isn't the same without you."
Sybill gave him the practised smile Elena and Silvi had spent so much time teaching her.

Elena smiled beside her.

"Good to see you too, Grandmaster. We wanted to talk to you about so many things."

"Perhaps it's time we all returned to the castle," Erasmus said warmly.

Before the conversation could continue, another young noble approached, then another, and another.

Elena's arrival had attracted the attention of nearly every unmarried young nobleman around her age. A queue was already beginning to form for invitations to dance.

Marriage proposals were hardly new. Duke Seinfeld of Carrington had already submitted one on behalf of his son, Robinson.

Dame Darlene of Wostshire had been equally determined to arrange a match with her grandson, David. Duke Nigel of Winland was another name frequently mentioned whenever Elena's marriage was discussed; his father, Duke Cedric, had been a close friend of King Andrew.

Elena was, after all, the king's daughter. And with Sammy believed dead, the royal succession had become increasingly complicated.

Although Rowland currently stood as crown prince, Harold's son taking the throne was far from universally accepted. Several nobles and neighbouring kingdoms still viewed Elena's bloodline as the stronger connection to King Andrew.

Harold and Zeena, however, maintained a tight grip over the Royal Eastern Frontier, a powerful stretch of provinces along the kingdom's border. Several neighbouring kingdoms also openly supported the Longbottom claim.

Another young man approached Elena and bowed. She looked pleadingly towards Sybill.

"Sibi, you're on your own. I have to keep up appearances today."
With an apologetic smile, Elena accepted the young man's hand and allowed herself to be led towards the dance floor.