Gentle music played, dresses swayed to the movements of slow dances, and the general atmosphere was lighthearted. There were only a few guests that no one knew before, one of them was tall, with a clean-cut jawline but soft features, looking at them with crimson eyes.

There were more than a handful of young noble ladies who couldn't stop looking at him, even though some of them had brought their own companions. It wasn't just adoration, some people understood who they were all ogling and felt respect well up inside of them.

The young Grand Duke was handed an exquisite glass of champagne. "May I offer you a drink to thank you for helping me yesterday?"

It wasn't a voice he had expected, but he saw no reason to refuse a friendly approach as he took the glass. "Thank you, Ms. Epstein."

"You're welcome, young Duke," she said, tossing back her long red hair before taking the hand of the child beside her, "I don't see the young lady. Did she decide not to come after all?"

Alan, not wanting to talk much about his sister behind her back, especially to a stranger, just closed his eyes and sighed. Anya Epstein was no child of sorrow, she could take a rejection or two.

With a gallant smile, she waved briefly and shrugged. "Anyway, if she shows up, please give her my regards."

She still had to show her newfound golden child a little bit of high society, and while she was at it, she would flaunt the fact that lowborn people like herself and the boy could stand on the same level as them, title or no title, if they just had the right kind of money.

It magically brought a crooked smile to her lips, a sentiment the man she was talking to could hardly understand. Then again, he didn't want to pry.

"I will remember to do so," was all he said.

Suddenly, one of the guards at the door cleared his throat audibly, gaining their interest.

"Attention!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, louder than he had shouted for any of them before, making the guests' ears perk up and their dancing stop, "His Highness, Crown Prince Lucan Vantus de Belheim Lodden... and Rowena Dynari van Varnhagen, daughter of the Arlen Empire, are entering!"

His face was flushed from the effort, and sweat pooled on his forehead as he finally caught his breath. He had slipped in through a smaller side door, usually used to lead troops inside in an emergency, to do his duty today.

He couldn't have waited to write a list and then come in to announce them one by one when the first in line was the Crown Prince, as well as one of their guests of honor. And as the door opened, the two new arrivals walked over the partially carpeted white marble floor.

Rowena arrived holding the Lucan's arm as if they were actually there as a couple. It made her quite nervous. All eyes were on her, or rather on the man next to her, the second most important person in the room by Lodden's standards.

They proceeded to the center of the main hall, where a high balcony was raised and only one person of significance was seated there.

"We greet Your Majesty, the Emperor."

"I am pleased to have both of you present on this joyous occasion," his father replied benevolently.

There wasn't much to say, except that there would be something to talk about later, and Rowena was aware of what was to come. For that, she placed a hand on Lucan's arm, which was still intertwined with her other.

"Let's step aside for a moment," she said quietly, moving toward one of the walls lined with tall windows to leave the center of the crowd.

"So, I guess you don't want to-"

"Rowena," someone else interrupted his question in a low voice, creeping closer from behind, "I hope you're not upset about the changes in our schedule."

When she turned, Alan was standing there with a glass in his hand and a brooding look on his face. She pursed her lips, not saying what she really wanted to say, as it could also be seen as an insult to His Highness. Saying things that weren't healthy in public was much worse than saying them in private.

"Well, I was neither happy nor particularly upset." It was true, she barely wasted a thought on how easily he had lent her out, because she could imagine what he might have been thinking. 'But you could have at least warned me about it.'

Their marriage talks weren't over yet. And denying the Crown Prince of the Empire that one was a mere guest wasn't a smart move either.

Admittedly, he had told the Prince that she would have had to agree as well. "Are you really comfortable with this arrangement?" he asked with a complicated expression, handing his glass to a passing servant.

The lavender-haired girl didn't want to sigh, so she held it in and smiled instead. "For one evening, it will be fine." With that, she made it clear that she wasn't going to argue about it, but that there was nothing else to be expected from her side.

"I understand."

Lucan, still at her side, felt a little stung by her comment. But he didn't reprimand her for her feelings.

Because she was standing next to the Crown Prince, people couldn't stop whispering when they looked in her direction. Adding the new hot topic of the ladies of society to the mix, with Alan standing next to them, chaos was bound to ensue.

Since all three of them had some understanding of Mana, to varying degrees, they could hear them. "Who's that tall man?", "That girl with the Crown Prince belongs to Arlen's Grand Duchy, right?", "I heard she's crazy and never leaves her room, though?", or "But the young Duke looks as handsome as rumored. Is he just as capable?"

It wasn't good for them to stand in one place and do nothing, because that would make them feel out of place. At worst, they would mistake their actions as brought on by the two Varnhagen siblings, seeing as the Crown Prince usually got along with most people, at least in official settings.

Just as Lucan was about to open his mouth to ask his earlier question, Alan held out his hand. "May I have your first dance, my lady?"

It wasn't so easy for a lady to decide about her first dance. It was up to her, but choosing a first dance was important because it set a tone for who was important around her at the banquet.

For example, if a woman danced with a man who was not her partner, it was like admitting that she no longer favored him. It was embarrassing to said partner.

If she had accepted someone else as her first dance partner, it would have meant that she was going with the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince was not good enough for her. In this case, it was different because Alan was her older brother, who was a well-placed wild card in her way.

Since there was no limit to how many times she could choose to dance with her brother before it became a statement about their relationship, she let go of her assigned partner to take the other's hand instead.

"I'd be glad to," she said. She didn't want to be a wallflower either, but it wasn't like she knew exactly what to do here.

When one song ended, Alan took his sister back to the center and aligned her with the others for a new tune. A piano played, several other instruments joined in, and the cordial atmosphere that had been slightly shaken seemed to return to its original state.

Just as she had done in the square, her feet moved in the same motions and distances, just a few inches in front of his. She smiled involuntarily, noticing how smoothly she moved, even if her stance was a bit awkward.

"There's something I'm still wondering," he said, "will you give me an honest answer?"

A little taken aback, almost losing her recently learned rhythm, her eyes met his. "That depends on the question."

"The weapon," he said, "where did you get it?"

She had collected it and hid it in the treasure chest, along with her broken sword and jacket. He had seen it briefly, but all he could make out was that it had the vague shape of a bow.

They turned around a few more times before Rowena finally whispered. "One day. I will tell you when the time is right."

With that, the song was over, and Rowena let herself naturally gravitate away from her partner, smiling softly. There would be a day when she would either come up with a good excuse or tell him the truth.

She knew she couldn't keep everything forever if push came to shove, but it wasn't something she really wanted. After all, with their limited knowledge of psychology, she wondered if they might think she was just having some kind of mental breakdown if she told anyone.

As soon as she left her first brother, there were at least five ladies waiting in line to ask him out, so he couldn't pursue the matter when she returned to the edge of the ballroom.

"I see, you can dance quite well on your own, young lady," a familiar voice sounded just as she managed to get out of a predicament, "I would offer to get you a glass of champagne, but if I remember correctly, the young ladies of the Grand Duchy have yet to make their debut."

"You are correct, Miss Epstein. You must have an impeccable memory."

"You know how it is, information is also something people pay a lot of money for. A trader has to know what's in demand, right?" There was a knowing glint in her eyes as she winked at her, as if that was supposed to tell her something.

When Rowena looked down, she was surprised. "You brought the boy?"

"I did. His name is Isaiah."

"They allowed that?" It could be seen as a harsh statement, but the kid didn't even flinch.

"The banquet is supposed to be open to everyone. At least all the nobles and the wealthy." If one had enough to buy a title, even if they didn't buy one, they could play a role in high society.

'But if she's so rich, why did she not pay for a baptism?' Frankly, it was curious. "Forgive me for asking, but don't you have a middle name?"

Blinking, Anya was silent for a moment, then started laughing loudly enough to make some of the people around her turn around and react in annoyance. They really didn't like her being in the room, especially with a child of even lower status than the merchant herself.

'Bragging with that vulgar attitude,' a noble woman thought as she saw the striking red hair move with her head.

"No, I would never waste money on something so obsolete," she finally replied, not afraid of the stares around her. In a nation largely abandoned by the Church, there was nothing for her to fear, or so she thought.

"Oh," was all Rowena could say, "I see."

"I'm sure you do," the redhead said as she sipped from her glass, "considering what happened between you and the Saintess." It was one of those stories that just got around very quickly.

A little red in the face, feeling like she had to apologize instead of the real Rowena, the noble lady tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked away. "We've cleared up any misunderstandings."

"Misunderstandings," in other words, not worthy of any attention.

"Hm," came from the older woman, "anyway, I see you are wearing a particularly beautiful dress today. May I ask where you got it? I have recently begun to expand my business a bit."

She had to recollect the man for a second, but there weren't many people she had met in this world, so it wasn't that difficult. "A talented tailor from Avarinth made it, his name is Silver Cain."

Her eyes widened with excitement. "My word! You actually have that fussy man working for you? I have to know your secret."

"Secret?"

"I tried to offer him some business, but he wouldn't even greet me. And I'm not the only one he shies away from. In fact, he hardly seems to take any customers lately, it's gotten worse now."

With a slight shudder, Rowena remembered that there were still clothes he had to make for her, and the way he had said he would make it a priority. "That's..." Unable to find the right word, unsure if her thoughts were even remotely true, someone approaching from the side provided a pleasant distraction.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your lovely conversation," an unknown man spoke in an elegant manner, "but may I ask you to dance, Lady Rowena?"

The only reason he interrupted like that was because one of the ladies wasn't a real "lady" anyway, so he thought he was doing a good deed by stealing Rowena away.

A little nervously, Rowena's eyes wandered from Anya Epstein to the stranger, not sure if she could just say "No" without leaving a bad impression. As she searched, a patch of black hair and a pair of green eyes came into view.

"I'm sorry, but there is already a man I promised to dance with," she said, alluding to the man she now knew to be the Crown Prince.

With that, all color seemed to leave the man's face. "Of course, I understand. I'm the one who should be sorry. I hope you have a good evening." He was gone faster than he had appeared.

But unfortunately for her, the stranger was not the only one who had heard her words. "So I understand you wanted to dance with me after all?"

'After all?'

"I will excuse myself now, my lady. It was nice talking to you," Anya said, as even a woman like her didn't want to feel like a shrimp caught between whales.

With a sigh, she took his hand, "I have to warn you, I'm not a very good dancer."

"But you danced well before, didn't you?" his smile was impeccable as he led her back into the crowd.

She stood there the same way she had before, but it felt different with this man. Was it because she didn't see him as a brother? But from her perspective, she hadn't known Alan for much longer.

Tensely, she started to spin under his guidance, but her rhythm wasn't the same and being so close to another person confused her even more. It only took a few steps before she managed to catch one of his feet.

"Did you do that on purpose?" he asked, smiling mischievously. He didn't really believe it, but she had indeed danced without a fatal mistake just a few minutes before.

"I didn't," she replied simply, "you're just shorter than my brother."

"What?" To say he was stunned by her answer would be an understatement.

"Your legs aren't as long, so your stride is shorter."

"Your brother is older than me, of course he would be taller."

Arching an eyebrow, she looked him in the eye while stepping on his feet again. "Would you grow any more at this age?" Besides, Alan was only three years older than the nineteen-year-old Lucan.

"I wanted to say that..."

It felt like no one got a chance to speak their mind today, but it couldn't be helped when Rowena let go of the Prince's hands to cross the room and open a glass door that led to a flower garden. As she walked out, her partner of the night following her confusedly, she looked up at the darkened sky.

It was past sundown, so it was hard to tell from plain clouds, but as she stood there, droplets falling on her pale face, she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Holy shit."

"What?" Lucan followed her eyes, seeing a terrible darkness hovering over them, unable to comprehend any of it.

'Why is Lake Iota all the way up in the sky...?'