Live action role-playing

The thought that the royal family would store two prized crowns in a random unlocked closet, was mind boggling to say the least. Elegast hadn't been kidding when he said that the nobles had grown complacent after 80 years of peace.

The thieves had assured us that they would take care of the extraction, so I wasn't worried about not being able to get out for the time being. Instead I wanted to focus on keeping Chiyo in high spirits with a silly idea.

I carefully took one of the crowns, walked over to Chiyo with it, and placed it on her head. She looked like a proper noble now, especially with the way she was lazily slumped back in her chair.

"What are you doing?" Chiyo laughed weakly.

"You said you wanted to be a princess, right? Now is the time to fulfill that dream!"

Looking at her more closely, she looked beautiful wearing that crown. It fit her perfectly.

Chiyo perked right up now that the crown was on her head, and got a rather dangerous idea of her own.

"O unworthy servant. Fetch me my finest ball gown, and make haste!" She commanded haughtily.

"As you wish, my lady." I made a mocking bow and left the room in search of a dress. It wasn't safe at all to be sneaking around the palace, but the adrenaline rush of breaking in gave me confidence. Not a sound was to be heard around me, save for the pitter-patter of my footsteps.

Soon I came to a door in which a coat hanger icon had been carved. Correctly assuming this must be one of the many royal wardrobes, I hastily entered, grasped around in the darkness until I found a soft fabric, and went outside again. In the moonlight shining through the windows I could clearly see the loot: a long black dress with a wide skirt and frilly sleeves.

I successfully snuck back to the room where we'd initially teleported to and paraded around with the dress I'd found. A wide smile appeared on Chiyo's face when she saw the gown and she clapped in excitement.

"You have done mighty well, servant! I do quite like this dress. You are dismissed for now."

Pretending to leave, I instead went over to the gold leaf cabinet and took out the second crown, putting it over my hat. I gracefully walked back to Chiyo, who had gotten up with some difficulty and was trying to put the gown over her clothes, without much success.

"My dearest, allow me to aid you in wearing these fabulously fashionable clothes."

Chiyo had to suppress a snicker when she saw me with the crown, sitting on one knee and with my hand outstretched. She humored my request.

"I didn't notice your presence, my beloved. You are most welcome to help me fit into these garments."

I helped her stand to put the gown on, it ended up fitting her nicely. I took a few steps back to admire the result. She swirled around, which made her dress' skirt flutter. Her radiance made me break character for a bit.

"Chiyo, you look beautiful."

She smiled with a blush, but stayed in character.

“Haven’t you heard? I’m the most stunning, gorgeous, not to mention humble princess in the land! To call me beautiful is like calling fire hot. If you want to impress me, step up your compliments!”

Chiyo was anything but humble, but I decided not to retort and instead played along with our shared delusion.

“My heartfelt apologies lady, I hope you can forgive this blunder of mine. I am truly unworthy.”

Chiyo slowly shook her head. “Not quite, you make for a fine companion. I suppose you are an entertaining fellow in your own right.”

Unable to contain herself any longer, Chiyo burst out laughing, and so did I. I questioned to my self what we were even doing, especially under these tense circumstances. I could tell that us role-playing as nobles alleviated some of the stress that Chiyo had felt, and it was a fun way to pass the time while waiting for the thieves to return.

Feeling that the gag had run its course and with Chiyo now feeling better, I took the heavy crown off her head and put it back in the closet where it came from. Before closing the closet, I carefully pried a single large green gemstone from its socket and pocketed it. A welcome payment for our efforts indeed. I turned back to her and made a suggestion.

“While I was looking for that dress, I noticed that there are no guards around. I guess the royal family supposes that nobody can get past the barrier, and has focused all their attention on the outer premises. Why don’t we look through some other rooms while we wait for the thieves to finish their heist?”

“Hey, you get some fun ideas from time to time! I feel rested enough to walk now, and I’m pretty curious to see how real royalty lives. Let’s see what this place has to offer.”

With me still wearing the crown, we quietly snuck through the overwhelmingly large palatial hallways until we reached a double door, behind which lied a wide room that took up two floors. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling and the floor was covered in a thick red carpet. The walls were decorated with tapestry, portraying heroes, dragons, and dark figures being struck down by bolts of lightning. This must be the ball room.

“So this is where the nobles hold their parties, it’s like something straight out of a fairy tale! Hey Oliver, why don’t you show me your best dance moves? C’mon, entertain me!” Chiyo said as she smugly crossed her arms.

Instead, I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to me.

“Did you really think that I would just dance on my own when I have this fair lady, who shines as bright as tonight’s full moon, with me? Let us dance together.” I said, getting back into character.

Chiyo, surprised by my sudden boldness, stuttered a few disconnected syllables before falling silent. I nodded to the rhythm of imaginary music as we began to waltz. I twirled her around and pulled her along while she struggled to find the right tempo. She quickly adjusted and also got into it. The room spun around us as we danced, the only onlookers being the figures on the tapestry surrounding us.

Without either of us saying a word, the dance came to a close. I was left standing in front of her, gazing into her bottomless black eyes. My gaze wandered to her lips; I felt like it was now or never. I slowly leaned in and instead of pulling away, she questioningly looked at me and then closed her eyes. I felt her breath against my face, and then...

We were interrupted by the slamming of doors behind us.

I let go of Chiyo in surprise and turned around to see who had arrived. I prayed that it was one of the thieves telling us that the heist had gone well and they were ready to extract us, but I instinctively knew that this was not the case. Instead a massive, dark figure stood in the doorway. The moonlight didn’t reach there so I couldn’t make out any features. The behemoth stepped forward into the light and I felt my stomach drop.

Before us stood an impossibly huge man, dressed in red, wearing a flat-brimmed hat. Verus had returned to finish the job.