It was already past the declared time but there were still people staying in line outside the Great Hall where the Twilight Party was held.

"Where's Yves?" I asked, trying to spot my brother.

Normally, for events like this, Yves had to escort Willow since they were betrothed but he was nowhere in sight.

"I mentioned it earlier, right? I'm sacrificing my romance for you today. I told him that he could go on his own," said Willow, smiling broadly.

"...?"

"Well, I wouldn't have this chance again seeing how overprotective King Enmir was. It was not every day you could leave the palace."

Overprotective, huh? I quickly erased before any thoughts came about my father. I didn't want to dampen my mood.

We fell in line and I could feel eyes watching me. More like I could clearly see them. The men in front of us kept looking back without even bothering to be obscure about what they were doing.

"Welcome, Prince Elyar, the second prince of Gallace," the herald announced with his booming voice that was discernable even with the chatter below the halls.

I stood with no one behind me while Willow was in front. We both waited for our turn to be introduced. It was like this for all royal balls. Guests could only walk through after the herald announced their name.

I may not have been invited to parties but I snuck into this kind of event many times already. But of course, I was disguised and did not truly enjoy it.

"Welcome, Princess Willow, first princess of Relandey."

Willow headed first. She went down the stairs with much more elegance than any other princess I had seen. Her gown was made of different shades of blue and her hair flowed behind her back. She was like a water nymph coming to life. It was mesmerizing, even the herald standing could not help but keep his eyes on her.

It was then my turn but he didn't notice me and I had to clear my throat for his attention. He crooked his head and his mouth hung open when he saw me. He just stood there in a daze.

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" I prodded and handed him my invitation.

"Pardon me, Your Highness," he apologized, and read the invitation.

He was frowning yet he continued, "Welcome, Princess Carline, the Fifth Princess of Ezriel."

It was not an exaggeration when all heads turned to me. I could totally read what they were thinking, 'the mysterious princess of Ezriel had finally shown herself'. I could see some of their faces as I stepped down. Some were awed, some were scrutinizing, and I particularly noticed my sisters were contorting their features in their obvious distaste for me.

As soon as I reached the landing, almost everyone crowded around me. They were peering at me like I was an unknown creature. That only showed how intriguing my existence was to these people.

I was somewhat overwhelmed by their attention but I didn't know how to escape. They were all powerful people and I might offend them. But since it was my first time attending a party, they could not strike up a conversation without a proper introduction, unless they were the host themselves.

"Welcome, Princess Carline," greeted a voice from behind.

The people made a way for him. It was the King of Deliora. His crown caught my attention. It was made of gold and ornamented with rare black pearls. It was a treasure a thief could never resist. If he wasn't one of the good rulers I knew, I was sure his crown would definitely be on my mission list.

The king stopped right in front of me and I curtsied.

"Thank you, your majesty. It is my pleasure to be here," I responded with a smile, hiding my revulsion.

He was a good king, alright, but I didn't like him for personal reasons.

"I should say the same. I'm glad to see you came despite suffering an illness. Please allow this King to escort you." He offered his wrinkled hand and I took my time to take it.

But before I could even do so, Father was already beside me.

"Greetings, old friend," stated Father. "We congratulate you for a peaceful stepping down. It's a pleasure to be invited."

"I should say the same. I thought I would never see the fifth princess of Ezriel all my life. Thank you for accepting the favor, Enmir, and indulging my insistences," conveyed the King of Deliora.

"It was a favor from a friend how can I even refuse? Besides this Twilight Party is yours," replied Father amicably with his facade on.

"Well, I guess I understand why you kept her from everyone," said the woman who appeared beside the King. "If I had a daughter as beautiful as her, I would too."

My father smiled at the comment like he was proud that I was his daughter but I knew he wasn't.

"You don't look sick at all. I heard it was quite a rare disease that you needed to be confined. I was surprised to hear a name that had been a mystery from all people," the woman, who was a royal of Nurien, continued.

"I concur. So I guess it's true when they say some of those people could heal with their own abilitie---" The King of Winlore was immediately desisted by his wife before he can finish his statement.

The atmosphere precipitously became tense as they focused their gazes on Father and me.

"Yes. My daughter had already been healed when she became like this," came Father's reply, his tone laced with deep anger that was unnoticeable to those who did not know him.

But what caught my attention was his words. Did that mean I was out of the shackles of pretending that I was sick? It was utterly out of the blue that I shot a glance at him but I had no idea what the hell was going on in Father's wretched mind.

Or perhaps this was another one of his farces to keep up with his image as the one entitled to be the Gallant Sovereign in the continent.

"Oh, that is such good news! I guess I'll be seeing the Fifth Princess in a lot of balls from this moment onwards," the Queen of Areska commented.

"It still depends on my daughter as I respect her wishes. As you can see, she had been isolated in the palace for many years and hadn't coped up yet."

His statement stifled me and thankfully Willow was in time to save me from all of this. I could not stay any longer with Father beside me.

"Kings and Queens, may I excuse Princess Carline for a moment? It had been a long time since we saw each other," stated Willow with all due politeness.

They nodded their approvals and she pulled me from the crowd.

"So, how was it? Did my plan work?" delved Willow as soon as we were far from them.

"It was different than I expected but what plan are you talking about?"

She had her full smile plastered on her face and then said, "Your grand entrance."

"What?"

"Allow me to explain. My plan was to take all their attention so that they wouldn't notice you at first then when you entered all their mouths would hang open when they saw you but the second part didn't go right. They gaped as soon as they heard your name."

I could not help but scoff. "You really like to overdo things!"

She just giggled. "I know but it was perfect, right? Did you see all their reactions? It was very amusing."

"That, I have to agree. They looked funny with shocked and flabbergasted faces."

We started talking about little things. It was frequently like that with Willow. She never ran out of topics to talk about. Just by being with her, I discovered two kinds of men at this party.

One was those men who were asking for Willow's hand to dance. Second, men who wanted Willow to introduce me.

They were all flatly rejected and they just kept on staring at our side. That actually made me feel awkward. Maybe because I never had this much regard. I was a well-known thief but not everyone knew me with my outfit on. This was the opposite. I was completely exposed. It was a foreign feeling, indeed.

"Let's go get some drinks, Willow," I suggested to distract myself from the eyes lingering on me.

"Sure," she agreed.

While we walked towards the buffet table, I took a glass of lemonade and Willow got her favorite grape wine. We were far enough from the dance floor which was currently filled with pairs but I could not take my eyes off the several people who had violet irises. 

"...and Princess Carline is definitely a monster."

I flinched once I heard that detestable word and searched at the crowd. A bunch of women was gathering quite a distance from us but their murmurs traveled in the wind as we sauntered across the halls.

Willow's steps paused and I glanced back at her. She had her brows bunched together as she glared at those women. With the same enhanced senses as me, the was no doubt she was able to hear them as well.

"Don't listen to them, Carline. They are just jealous. How dare they say we are monsters when they were the ones who clearly look like one," Willow stated in an attempt to comfort me.

"A monster born from crazy gods. How matching!" said another one.

I was pretty bemused. I knew about the legend of my family. It was said that we were descendants of the Fallen God, causing our reputation of having a bloodline full of insane people. I could not deny it myself since I witnessed how deranged the family was personally.

However, I tried so hard to suppress the ire as they kept on calling me a monster. I loathed that term. It was my Father's 'pet name' by any means. I could have assumed that was my name on who called me that on a regular basis when we were alone.

Willow appeared like she was going to confront them so I stopped her beforehand.

"Just leave them alone."

She groaned the pointed at the door leading to the balcony. "Fine. Why don't we go over there?"

"Sure, but don't you want to see Yves?" I asked nosily.

"Later, let him enjoy his time because, after this, I'll have all his attention." She winked and had a broad smile.

If I didn't know better, I would have believed looking at how confident she was. She genuinely liked Yves but he had an iron defense. He only did usual things like escorting and greeting her but I think they never went more than that.

However, before we could even step out, my sisters appeared in front of us.

"Oh look who's here," said Erodessa, her voice dripping with arrogance.

"Where did you even get that dress?" inquired Lian when she noticed the gown I was wearing.

"It looks gorgeous, but honestly, it's a pity it doesn't suit you. It will look beautiful to me," said Erodessa.

"No, it'll be better if I wore it," Lian objected and crossed her arms defiantly.

Despite the fact that they incessantly conspired with me, they did not get that along all the time either. Erodessa was overbearing and egotistic since young while Lian simply did whatever suited her.

"I'm the oldest so it's better with me," insisted Erodessa.

The two of them started arguing about who suited the dress better. This was why I didn't even bother responding to them but Willow didn't let it pass. She didn't like the way my sisters were acting and hated them more than me.

"Oh gods, Carline! Let's get out of here. The air is suffocating me! We're unquestionably surrounded by jealous bitches," Willow complained and she pulled me away from my sisters.

She was outwardly furious that she didn't even agonize about holding me. I pulled my hand away from her. I just followed her and it seemed like we wouldn't be getting to the balcony since we were heading in the opposite direction.

She was walking hastily and didn't even notice the group in front of her. I tried to stop her but it was already too late, and she collided with a man.

"Sorry," Willow apologized.

"Well, isn't it one of the greatest beauties on the whole continent, Princess Willow!" the man she bumped greeted enthusiastically.

"Oh! It was nice seeing you here, your highness," said Willow and curtsied.

"The pleasure is mine." He knelt and kissed Willow's hand before noticing the fact that he was accompanied by ladies only.

The man was familiar and I was trying to put a name on his face. I could not normally ask since it was a proper courtesy to have a mutual acquaintance be introduced to each other at this formal ball.

"My! Why are you treating her so special?" One of the women who were with him asked.

The man pulled her closer. Their faces were close and he caressed her cheeks. "But you're much more different than any others, Princess."

The women started squealing. I met different kinds of people as Ace but I still couldn't believe that daughters of nobles and princesses could actually act like this in public with how conservative the society was. 

"You're still the same, Lander." Willow addressed him intimately by calling his name which showed their relationship while ignoring the women who were clinging to the man.

Oh. So it was the Crown Prince Lander Carrion. He looked different from the portraits. He was more frivolous in person. This guy was what you would definitely call a skirt-chaser. It was my first time seeing one and just looking at it made me feel weary of his presence.

His eyes landed on me. "What a precious gem you have there that no man could resist! Please introduce your friend to me, Princess."

"Is he okay?" I whispered to Willow.

"Don't worry, you're safe with him. He's always like that," she whispered back.

"She's a rare beauty," he added.

"That's because she's my friend!" said Willow proudly and turned to me. "Carline, this is Lander Carrion, Crown Prince of Carrion Kingdom. Lander, this is Carline Ezriel, Fifth Princess of Ezriel Kingdom."

"So you are the rumored Jewel of Ezriel, the treasure of the king. I had to confess you are different from what I expected. Especially those eyes," he remarked, his eyes fixed on me.

I could say the same to him. That was why I could not put a finger on him earlier since he did not have violet eyes on the portraits I was shown. I had a great memory as part of my ability but there was a strange downside as well. If one feature had changed, I could not easily recognize them right away.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness," I said and curtsied.

"Likewise, Princess."

He was already kneeling and was about to hold my hand when another man interrupted. He was clearly out of place. His entire face was masked and covered in a black hood that reached half of his full mask. It was quite similar to her outfit when she went out.

"Please excuse my rudeness, your Highnesses. The King of Deliora had requested for the presence of the Crown Prince Carrion," informed the man.

Hm. That voice... I knew I heard it before.

Crown Prince Lander turned to us and the women he was with. "I must bid my goodbyes to you, ladies, I pray that we will see each other again."

Then he and the man left but his voice persistently replayed in my head. It was awfully familiar.

"See you next time then, little damsel."

That sentence echoed in my head. It was the man in the forest!

"I need to go!" I spoke and ran off.

***

Note: Hello, cutiefries~ Here's a lil dedication for RashmiChauhan418. Thanks for appreciating the story ^^