Trial Two~Bonds307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbstoj34CDm
By the next morning, everyone in the village had heard of the ball that the Crown Prince was throwing for his sister. It was a given that many high profile guests from other nations would be attending, many of which were the sons and daughters of friends that Illya and Callisto had sent invitations to. The country knew that Astrid was of age now and could start looking for suitors so it came as no surprise that the country was abuzz with talk of who the Princess might take a liking to. Come evening time inside the palace, guests began to flood in.
Sin made his way down the stairs to greet everyone. "Welcome to Solaria everyone! I do hope you enjoy your stay here! Tonight is a special night dedicated to my sweet sister. We thought it necessary to have a celebration in her honour to make up for the lack of festivities earlier this year when she was to have her coming of age ceremony. Do enjoy yourselves tonight, I hope you find our hospitalities to your liking."
The guests found their place, getting their food or swaying to the music and conversing. Everyone eagerly awaited the arrival of the Crown Princess. Illya and Callisto had gone to her room to fetch her. Upon entering, they found Astrid sitting at her dresser. The maids having just finished styling her hair, excused themselves once they noticed Illya.
Illya walked up to Astrid and place a hand on her shoulder. "Is everything alright Sea Star?"
Astrid exhaled, staring nervously into the mirror. "I'm fine mama."
"You don't have to be so nervous. Sin's already gotten through the bulk of the formalities. All you have to do is show up and say hi. See? Nothing to worry about!"
Illya and Callisto escorted Astrid to the ballroom. Seibel announced the arrival of the Crown Princess and she stepped into the ballroom. The entire room fell silent as everyone collectively shifted their attention to Astrid. She descended the stairs, smiled and greeted everyone and followed her parents to their seats. The music picked up again and refreshments were brought to the Queen and her consort. Callisto and Illya took their drinks and began to chat. Astrid stood up and went around to various groups extending warm welcomes and engaging in idle discussions. Though the ball was for her, it was ultimately Sin who had found himself entertaining the majority of guests. Ri-is simply followed Ea through his rounds and much to their surprise, Avarice had decided to show his face as well.
Astrid scanned the room. For the most part, people were busy socializing in their own little groups, but she could see that men were already beginning to scope her out for a dance. One by one, men began to crowd around her, all peacocking for her attention. Everyone was trying to make conversation but she couldn't speak with every single one of them at once. As much of a social butterfly as she was, she found herself a little exhausted already and had to wonder how he mother was able to do it when she was far more introverted than Astrid was at this age.
Among the men that had approached her was non-other than Cheng. She smiled as he maneuvered his way to the front of the crowd. He looked to be really putting on the extra charm today.
He bowed and extended his hand to her. "Good evening Princess. Would you do me the honour of allowing me a dance?" He asked.
The music picked up, signalling the real start to the party. She smiled happily as she accepted his offer. Taking his had, she stood up and let him guide her to the dance floor, oblivious to Illya's scrutinizing gaze on the pair. Illya glanced at Rather, who was seated a little ways away with his wife and daughter. He shook his head, earning a sigh from Illya.
"I'm going to see how the boys are doing." She motioned to Sora.
He nodded to her and continued to converse with the other Lords and Princes that had come. Illya made her way over to Sin and inconspicuously whispered to him.
"Keep an eye on Cheng," Sin nodded, taking a sip of his wine.
"Will do. You're suspicious of him too mother?"
"Too?" She asked.
"I don't know. I just feel...off. Ever since the night, I saw him fighting with that boy over Astrid. Just a gut feeling."
Illya had no time to be impressed by how Sin was able to pick up on the exact same feeling she had, despite not having foresight. Mostly because that part went right over her head.
"What boy?"
Sin laughed nervously, realizing what he had let slip. Illya looked like she was half ready to go and get Callisto, who would no doubt lose his mind and the thought of some random boy they had no idea about courting Astrid
"Nothing, nothing! Astrid was just taking a stroll in the gardens and I happened to come across Cheng expressing his want for a relationship with her. He said she shouldn't talk with other boys because he would get jealous."
Not exactly what happened but it wasn't a complete lie either. Illya seemed to be doing a lot of sighing as of late. She decided to let it go, remembering her talk with the doctor not too long ago. Unfortunately, it was impossible for her not to be stressed about something. Being the busybody that she is, one thing or another was always weighing on her mind. She let Sin get back to the other guests and turned only to spot a young man with silver hair that roots were the royalist of blues. His emerald eyes shimmered under the lights of the ballroom from beneath his mask. He noticed her just as she noticed him and both of them froze. For a brief moment, her eyes flickered in that golden, violet hue. She knew he most definitely didn't belong here, yet she didn't move to call for guards or draw attention to him. She simply stared as if she had, had some kind of epiphany.
He was confused as to why she had the expression that she did, given that it was their first time ever laying eyes on one another. It was like a lightbulb went off for both of them at that very moment. Slowly but surely, she turned away, as did he. She walked back to Callisto and grabbed the drink she had yet to indulge in. He spotted her distressed visage and gently slipped the cup out of her hand.
"You shouldn't be drinking this."
Illya was about to protest but she knew what he meant. She sat down next to him and pulled herself close. She clung to the ring that hung from the chain on her neck, as she did whenever she felt uneasy. He wrapped an arm around her and continued to converse as if it were the most natural thing in the world, all the while Illya kept her eyes glued to the dance floor.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Sometime later, Sin was being swarmed by women wanting to dance with him. While he could normally spend hours socializing and dancing the night away, he found himself getting a little tired, seeing as that he also had to keep an eye on Astrid the entire time. Luckily for him, it wasn't long before his knight in shining armour came to his rescue.
"Hey, Sin! Do you mind stepping out with me for a bit? There's something I'd like to give you," said Nikiro.
Sin thanked his lucky stars that Nikiro showed up when he did and all too eagerly excused himself. They walked out to a balcony from which Sin was still able to see Astrid over on the dance floor.
"Man, you're one hell of a lifesaver!" Sin mused.
Nikiro chuckled. "It's kind of my job."
Both of them laughed. Sin leaned against the railing and got comfortable. "So what was it that you wanted to give me?"
Nikiro had been holding something behind his back the entire time. He brought it around himself and presented it to Sin. "I felt kind of bad seeing as our sparring match ended in a draw so we weren't able to complete our bet. Plus I never did get you anything for you're birthday and you were the first friend I made over here. So I just wanted to get you a little something."
Sin took the box in his hands and ran his fingers over the intricate pattern. He opened it and quiet music began to play. Along with the music, a low voice emerged from the don't speakers inside, humming gently along with the music. The voice was unmistakably Nikiro's. Nikiro propped himself up on the railings beside Sin.
"I asked for Tobi's help in making it. I say we made it but it was more like I proposed the idea and design and he engineered the entire thing...I know you like to act like everything's okay but you tend to get lost in your worries sometimes."
Sin's head shot up. "Wha—No I don't!"
"Sin, the first time I met you, you were worried about me being some kind of power-hungry buffoon so you made up a silly lie. Then not long after that you almost drank yourself to death when you were worried about Astrid and believe me, you said a lot of things when you were drunk. You clearly have a lot more anxiety about things than you'd like to admit. I just wanted to give you something that could hopefully help you relax...y'know, like whenever you feel overwhelmed with your position as the First Prince, or you're just nervous or something."
Sin looked down at the music box again. His lips curled into a smile and he laughed shyly. "Thank you..." he whispered.
"Don't mention it."
Sin felt a little anxious with the kind of atmosphere they had created during their little talk and decided to crack back with his usual antics.
He punched Nikiro's shoulder playfully and laughed. "I didn't know you could sing though! This sounds really good!"
Nikiro chuckled and rubbed his shoulder. "Well, there's sill a lot you don't know about me. Hopefully, "
Sin's head went blank for a moment when he watched Nikiro smile. It wasn't helping that under the moonlight, he looked like an actual angel. Nikiro spotted his parents waving him over and excused himself. Sin turned around and stayed there for a few more minutes. As the moon shone down on him and the soft music drifted into the air, Sin did feel like the accompanying humming that emitted from the box was indeed soothing and in the midst of all this, something began to tug at his heart, something he'd later wish hadn't.
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