Chapter 50: She Prepares for the Ball
Several minutes later, a cry rang down the hallway.
"Save me!"
Keith was running away from a berserk Robin, who was chasing down the hallway after him with an unsheathed Hero's sword, a cheerful smile upon her face, which was covered by a mask. Upon seeing such a scene, both the maids and the guards felt goosebumps crawling up their skin and swiftly made themselves scarce.
"Hold on there! Can't we talk things through peacefully?" Keith yelped. as he dodged yet another swing from the razor-sharp lethal weapon. Of course, if Robin truly was trying to kill him, he'd be already dead. But she kept up the act. She could be very convincing when she was pretending to be mad.
Keith needed to learn that there were some people that one should never cross.
Robin chuckled darkly. "Peacefully, huh? You mean just like how when I was running my butt off yesterday, trying to make sure an incident of national concern didn't happen, and you were 'peacefully' just sitting by and doing nothing!? Even worse, you practically filmed the whole darned thing! Do you think that such actions which wreak of scheming against my honor can be solved 'peacefully' HUH!?"
"I wasn't scheming against your honor!" Keith protested.
"Oh, so you were scheming against the Prince's honor, then!? I don't know what you call that here, but back home, we call it treason! I'm sure you know what the price for treason is, right?" Robin grinned wickedly, as she interrupted him.
"N-no, I wasn't scheming against anyone! I was just documenting the case to make sure I had video evidence in case things needed to be clarified in the future!" Keith insisted, feeling cold sweat beginning to drip down his forehead.
"Ho? Somehow I don't believe you, though?" Robin narrowed her eyes and swung again, narrowly missing him once more.
"Believe it! I have not shown it to anyone else aside from the king and the prince." Keith felt like crying. 'I'm a loyal man of the king, you know!? I would never disclose such a shocking scandal outside of the castle walls.' In fact, he had only shown Christian the recording in order to witness his reaction. He would never have shown it to anyone else.
"But, I heard from Christian that there are more of these out there?" Robin said.
"Well...I was..simply saying a joke! There's no way I would put such confidential information in a place outside of my sight, after all!" Keith ducked around the corner as he continued to protest. 'Darn that Christian! He sold me out!'
Robin also whirled around the corner, stabbing her sword into the wall right before Keith's nose. She spoke softly into his ear.
"Oh? A joke is it? I've been dealing with a lot of crap ever since I arrived here, and am not in the best of moods. In fact, I was already willing to write off the fact that you didn't help me yesterday...But, the next time you try any more of these 'jokes' and involve me, my hand might accidentally 'slip'."
"What-What do you want?" Keith finally asked, visibly rattled.
Robin smiled an angelic smile. "Even if there are any copies of this recording, by this evening, there shouldn't be. Understand?"
"Cl-clearly." Keith replied, as he looked at his reflection in the Hero's sword. Robin pulled the sword out of the wall, sliced the recording orb in two halves, and then finally returned the sword back into its sheath.
"Oh no! Someone has marred this beautiful wall! I must ask the castle artisans to find some way to cover it up. We can't have the guests see this!" And, just like that, Robin returned to her usual cheerful hero personality. Satisfied that things had been arranged properly.
At that moment, Keith resolved to never again piss off the Hero. But, right after that, he recieved a summons from the King to explain why the Hero would go on a rampage.
'Oh boy.' He felt a headache coming on.
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Returning to her rooms, Robin found that the clothes for the ball had already arrived, and were sitting in a neat pile on her bed. It was a good thing that Robin was pretending to be a guy. If she hadn't then there was no way she would have been able to finish getting ready before the ball began. Glancing at the clock, she only had a half an hour to get ready.
She took a quick bath, and quickly changed into the cotton white shirt, the cotton-lined silk brocade tunic, and matching pants. There were no shoes included. She simply wore her own boots-which fit quite well with the royal-blue and silver color scheme. This color also matched with her blue eyes.
'Come to think of it, wasn't there some sort of saying not to wear brown shoes with a blue suit?' Robin thought as she looked at herself in the mirror to comb her hair. She had never really understood that rule, because she thought that brown and blue went quite well together. Well, if it became some sort of problem, they'd probably let her know ahead of time.
Just when she was getting confuse about how to wear the white neck-tie...ascot-thingy, she heard a knock on the door. Robin quickly put on her mask, which she had taken off before changing.
"Come in!" She called out as she turned to the door, slightly confused over who it could be.
The door opened.
"Hello, it's me~!" Christian said with a cheerful grin as he waved his hand. To be honest, when he had heard of how Robin had handled Keith, he had burst out into a grand fit of laughter. He had only recently been able to contain his mirth.
"Oh, it's just you, Christian." Robin sighed in relief. "I was afraid it was someone else."
"Are you ready?" Christian asked. Looking at Robin in a blue outfit, he seemed more like a blubird than a robin.
"Almost. I just can't figure out how to tie this thing..." Robin frowned as she turned back to the mirror.
"Here, let me do it." Christian offered.
"Maybe I shouldn't accept your help. I'd probably earn the ire of all the women attending if they found out it was you who tied it." Robin joked. Of course, that would only happen if they knew she was a woman, first.
"You do realize that they are all coming to see you, right!?" Christian pointed out, as he concentrated on the ascot. He didn't even notice the absense of an adam's apple. Of course, he was not looking for one, though. "They see me so often it's like I'm a centerpiece instead of a person. You're the main attraction this time."
"Whatever do these young ladies do with their time when they're not on the lookout for new attractions?" Robin muttered as she allowed Christian to tie it.
"Gossip, go shopping, daydream, and scheme about how to land themselves a husband, no doubt." Christian replied. Inwardly, he was wondering. 'What kind of perfume is Robin wearing? It smells nice.' Then he noticed Robin's damp hair. 'Oh, he took a bath. It's probably some sort of scented soap, then.'
"Sounds boring. In that case, I'd rather go hunting." Robin chuckled.
"Do you want to know a secret?" Christian asked.
"What is it?" Robin replied.
"Me too." Christian sighed. "But even to walk out the door I need special permission, and hunting with an army is as dull as a history lesson. Sure, we might get more game, but that's not the point of hunting!"
"Actually, I think it is." Robin pointed out. "Nobody has a successful hunt without catching game, after all."
"Where is the thrill? The long hours of chase? The fated shot? Where is the exhausting hard work that goes into a hunt? Before I even begin a good hunt, it's already finished! How am I supposed to avoid the ladies that way?" Christian shook his head.
"Why are you avoiding them, though?" Robin asked, bemused.
"Why else? Quite frankly, I'm glad you're the main attraction tonight." Christian shook his head. "At least now I won't get swarmed."
"Why are you talking about women as if they were a hive of bees?" Robin snorted.
"Because they all want to become the queen bee." Christian replied, dourly, as he finished tying the ascot. "All right, it's done. Does it feel too tight?"
Robin shook her head. "No, it doesn't feel that tight."
"Good. Let's hope you feel that way before the end. Sometimes I swear these things are meant to strangle a man." Christian joked as he and Robin left for the ball.
On their way there, Robin remembered something.
"Oh, right! For the entrance, I don't have to escort anyone, do I?"
Christian shook his head. "No. I'm the prince, and I don't need to escort anyone, either."
"Oh? What was that about not needing to escort anyone?" the Queen said, as she stepped out from a side hallway in a bedazzling green gown. Jasmine, in a shimmery yellow version of the queen's gown, stood behind her.
"Mother? What are you doing here?" Christian asked.
"I'm here to remind you not to forget to escort your cousin, Jasmine, during the entrance." Queen Emeline said. "Or have you truly not been informed?"
"Mother, I can understand that you want to allay any unfortunate rumors, but why must I go with her!?" Christian pointed at Jasmine, feeling very unfortunate. "She obviously hates me, so why would she agree to my escorting her?"
Jasmine flashed a dazzling smile and said. "Oh? When did I say that I hated you? I know about how you dislike being approached by the ladies, but entering alone will make you a standing target, regardless of whether Robin is here, or not."
"Then, I'll just enter with the Hero, then!" Christian said, not quite getting the point.
"Normally, that would be fine." Jasmine agreed. "But, considering yesterday's unfortunate circumstances, the rumor might begin that the Prince has somewhat exotic tastes? Moreover, just like you, I do not enjoy being swarmed by men. Thus, we can kill two birds with one stone, right?"
Jasmine inwardly chuckled. 'There's no way I'm going to give you more time to discover Robin's real gender that easily.' She thought.
Christian's face grew purple as he held in his temper. In his head, the odds were 100 to 1 that if he did not escort Jasmine, then she would spread the rumor herself. Moreover, his mother was nearby giving him an icy stare that claimed hell was not too far away.
Swallowing his pride, Christian smiled. "Then, it would be my pleasure to escort you to the ball, my lady." He bowed graciously.
'Let's see what kind of horrrible thing you are planning.' Christian thought to himself. The two scheming royals faced off against each other with polite smiles on their faces.
'Yup. They're related to each other.' Was what Robin thought to herself, as she observed them.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
BriarRose
BriarRose Sorry about the wait!
It seems like I've been hit back-to-back with health issues lately. I've been to the doctors, and he told me I had a kidney stone. >_< Ouch.
So, because I was in agonizing pain, yesterday, I didn't have a chance to write anything until today. Hopefully, I may have another chapter out later on tonight, but, it depends on my condition.
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