Chapter 9: The night of the Ball
"Won't I be hot like this?" Madeline asked as the Duchess's servants finished putting her in the masquerade costume.
The Duchess laughed and then spoke as a mother to child, "Everyone will be hot after they dance, besides the palace ballroom will feel cold at first."
"I don't want to stink, what if I dance with someone who is offended by my smell?" Madeline blushed as she thought of Guy de Montfort.
The Duchess raised an eyebrow at her daughter and then giggled, "You took a bath already, didn't you? You also put on perfume, that deodorant the Montfort family has started to sell recently, didn't you?"
"I did, but..." Madeline started to whine.
"You will look beautiful, and smell as nice as a flower. Your young lord will not be offended." The Duchess chided her with a chuckle, "I wonder, which lord have you taken a fancy toward?"
Madeline blushed hard looking guilty and then looked away from her mother's gaze, "Th... There is no one, I just... I just don't want to smell."
The Duchess laughed at her daughter's obvious embarrassment, "I must say, these bathhouses that you have on campus are quite extraordinary. I have asked for them to be built at our estates here and in our territory after using it. The one who thought of that idea must be quite a genius."
Madeline blushed as she nodded in agreement, "Yes, he also thought of the Deodorant and many other new inventions. That is the young lord of the Montfort family, Guy de Montfort. He is the top student so far in my class in both academics and swordsmanship."
The Duchess flinched at the name, "Guy the Molester? I met him this week, he was quite different from the rumors. It was with his help that I was able to solve our little issue with the girls from House Foix." She sighed, "His solution was much more elegant and wise than your father's. Your father had planned to have the girls assassinated, but the young lord of the Montfort family managed to convince us to back the third prince with his own family thus taking away any chance for the second prince to rise up and cut one of our families down. I suspect his Majesty was secretly hoping to cull one of our four great families from the Kingdom if we each backed a different prince. The first prince was born stupid, the second prince is too concerned with social engagements and the third prince seems to be shrewd and wise. Of the three, it is clear the third prince was the best choice, so it was an easy decision for your father to make. Although, it pained him to join forces with his old rival, Gerard de Montfort. Did you know, they both courted me and fought over me?" She giggled as she thought back to her youth.
Madeline looked at her mother with a wide open mouth, "It was Guy de Montfort who saved me?"
*****
A line of carriages queued up at the palace, as a guest after a guest was escorted into the palace ballroom by attendants. Some of the poorer Lords and Ladies came in rented carriages while other houses came in decorative carriages with their own house crest on the door. Since the ball was meant to be secretive in nature, each guest was escorted one at a time to the ballroom so that people would still need to guess who was who once they were inside.
Once inside the ballroom, it was only easy to spot poor from wealthy lords and ladies by the quality of their costume. The first floor of the ballroom was left for the younger generation of lords and ladies, while the older generations, the Dukes, Duchesses, Counts, Countesses, Barons, and Baronesses all gathered on the second floor.
Unlike most events at the palace, the guests were not announced, the only exception to the rule was the arrival of the royalty, the three princes and the two princesses. Each was announced with great fanfare. Their costumes were pure white with royal purple accents seemed in gold and each came out with a different mask of similar make. The first prince wore the mask of a dog, the second prince had the mask of a wolf and the third prince had a small half mask that was on a stick, which he only put next to his face when greeting the guests, he handed it off to an attendant each time he danced with a different lady.
Madeline wandered around the ballroom wondering who was who, at one point she thought she saw Olivier only to realize it was just the third prince, so she continued to wander around. As Madeline made her way through the room, a man in a black costume with a devilish mask that fully covered his head lightly tapped her shoulder and asked, "M'lady, may I have this dance?"
Madeline smiled and nodded. The man she danced with was extremely graceful and almost made her feel embarrassed for her own inadequate dancing. By the end of the dance she felt her heart beating, he made her feel safe and protected, it reminded her of the time Guy de Montfort caught her from falling when she stumbled. Madeline couldn't help but blush, she was glad her own half mask covered most of her embarrassment. He gave her a gentlemanly bow and then said, "Thank you m'lady, I enjoyed the dance."
She gave him a curtsy in return and said, "Thank you m'lord, I too enjoyed the dance."
A moment later another man dressed in black lightly tapped her shoulder, "M'lady, may I have the next dance?" His mask was a decorative half mask much like her own. In fact, her dress and his costume looked as if they were made to be a matching pair. He wasn't as graceful as the other man, but he seemed to match her own dancing much better, she didn't feel as self-conscious about dancing with him. As they danced, he moved close to her ear and whispered, "You look beautiful tonight, Lady d'Aumont."
Madeline felt as if her heart was going to burst from her chest as she stammered, "T-Thank you, M'lord."
He gave her a twirl and then pulled her close again and whispered, "The scent you are wearing suits you, m'lady, may I ask what it is called?"
She blushed hard and then answered softly, "It's the perfume called odor of the rose, by House Montfort."
He laughed and gave her another twirl bringing her closer and he whispered into her ear, "I'm afraid I didn't quite catch that, could you repeat it?"
She spoke a little louder, "It's the perfume called odor of the rose, by House Montfort."
The music ended just as she spoke 'House Montfort', causing her to blush again and look down at the floor. The gentleman she finished dancing with gave her a gentlemanly bow and smiled at her, "And all this time, I thought you just couldn't speak my name properly."
"Y-you... You're Lord Molester?" Madeline spoke loudly, causing more than a few heads to turn their direction.
He shook his head and then moved close to her and whispered into her ear, "It's Lord Montfort."
Right at that moment, another guest arrived at the ball. The gathered guests all gasped in surprise. It was obvious to most who knew her that she was Alicia de Foix, but for those who didn't her bright red dress that revealed her deep ample cleavage and perfect hourglass figure immediately caught the attention of everyone else. Only Guy de Montfort knew this event would happen in advance, as the heroine in otome games always steals the show at any kind of Ball or social event.
Madeline found herself standing side by side with Guy de Montfort, the two looked like the perfect couple, in both outfit and physical build. The other man in black slowly moved up to stand at Madeline's other side. Most everyone else at the Ball was wearing light, bright colors aside from the three in black so they stuck out among the crowd.
Alicia slowly made a circuit through the gathered attendees until she found the three princes and the princesses. The first prince was hungrily eating from the buffet line, while the second prince chatted with some of the Lords, Alicia's sister holding on to his arm. It was the third prince who walked up and greeted Alicia, "It's good to see you again, Lady Foix, I see you are fashionably late."
Alicia couldn't remember ever meeting the third prince but she had met the second prince a few times so she must have been introduced and forgot, she thought. She gave him a curtsy and then said, "Greetings your royal highness, congratulations on being named the crown prince."
Behind, the second prince turned and glared at Alicia. He whispered into Lady Foix's ear angrily.
Alicia continued, "You know, my sister will be wed to your royal highness's brother soon, have you already found a woman to marry as well?" She smiled and acted coquettishly.
Olivier laughed, he leaned forward and asked, "If I did have an engagement, would that excite you more? Would that convince you to try and break it so that you could have me for yourself?" He laughed again, "You House Foix women are a despicable bunch, aren't you? As for your sister marrying my brother, I think you overestimate your family's value in the kingdom. My brother might keep her as a mistress, but the main wife? No, no prince will be wed to a mere count's daughter."
The second prince smirked and nodded, causing Lady Foix at his side to shudder, her legs felt soft like she might fall over at any time she blurted out, "Is that true, your highness?"
The second prince turned to her and said, "You won't be mistreated, but it will be like my brother said. Father won't allow me to marry a mere count's daughter."
Olivier continued talking to Alicia, "I wonder, what happened to your pursuit of Lord Montfort? Have you given up trying to snatch him away from Lady d'Aumont?"
Alicia was too stunned to talk, how could he know so much about that, did he have spies that detailed the lives of all the nobility? She thought. Her whole body shook as she became extremely anxious. She quickly turned to her sister to see if her sister would be able to save her only to find that her sister was in the process of collapsing. Alicia cried out as her sister fell to the ground.
Olivier, the other royalty and the other guests all got quiet as the servants carefully helped her up and moved her off to another room. Alicia followed close behind. Once they left, the second prince signaled to the musicians to play another song as Olivier said loudly, "Please, everyone, she only had a little too much drink, let's get back to the Ball." Olivier found a pretty young Lady and invited her to dance. The other guests quickly fell in step.
The other man dressed in black lightly tapped Madeline's shoulder and asked, "M'lady, may I have this dance?"
Madeline shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, I am not much for dancing, if you don't mind I would like to sit this one out, m'lord."
Guy laughed and then motioned for a servant carrying a tray of champagne, he handed a glass to Madeline and then a glass to the other man dressed in black, he took one for himself and asked, "Lord Rouvroy, would you care to make the toast or shall I?"
Claude lifted his mask and asked, "How did you know it was me?"
Guy shook his head, "Olivier asked her what color her dress would be, it was obvious when the two of us showed up as the only two lords dressed in black, wasn't it?" He smiled at Claude and then said, "Speaking of Olivier, have you two said hello to him yet?"
Claude snorted and then said, "Why would I?"
Madeline tilted her head, "I don't believe so, but everyone is wearing a mask, how would I know him?"
Guy looked over and saw Olivier dancing with a girl, he gave him a wave and pointed at their group. Olivier smiled and nodded. After the dance ended, he headed over holding his mask on a stick, his mask attendant closely following behind.
Claude stammered, "I... I think the third prince is coming to greet us in person!"
Madeline smiled and looked a little anxious. Claude dropped to a knee and greeted him, "Your royal highness, it's an honor!"
Guy laughed and said, "Olivier, look at how Lord Rouvroy is treating you tonight."
Olivier laughed and put an arm around Guy's shoulder, "Guy, you should have heard him the other day, he said he would be my toady." Olivier handed his mask to his attendant and then reached out taking Madeline's hand, he gracefully kissed the back of her hand, "Lady d'Aumont, you are looking as beautiful as ever."
Claude stammered, "Y-y-you really are the third prince?"
Madeline gasped, "Olivier! I mean... Your royal highness, it really was you!"
Olivier gave one of his usual goofy smiles and then introduced himself once again, "Olivier de la Marche, crown prince of Pays De Abrutis."
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