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The Heroine Fells More like a Villainess to Me - Chapter Six
🕑 Added 2024-03-16 16:02:31 +0000 UTCGlittering lights and wafting perfumes filled my senses as I followed the Chernov family deeper into the ballroom. Tradition dictated that we had to present ourselves to the royal family before we’d be allowed to mingle and dance. The king and queen sat upon their thrones, propped up on a dais that lifted them above the crowd. You could see them from almost any angle, and they could see you.
The queen was dressed in a grand, voluminous ballgown in the same powder blue as the banners outside. Her hair was swept up and away from her face before being allowed to cascade back down in honey brown curls. Her blue eyes sparkled as we approached, a serene smile on her lips.
The king, on the other hand, was dressed in a formal suit of deep black, accents of red and gold catching the eye. Golden hair was cropped short and slicked back away from his face, the barest hint of grey at the temples on full display. He neither smiled nor frowned at us, his face schooled into perfect neutrality.
“The Chernov family greets His and Her Majesty,” the count said, bowing deeply. “And many happy returns on this most auspicious day to Her Majesty.”
I dipped as deep a curtsey as I could manage, keeping my head bowed. Just as my legs began to shake, the queen responded, our cue to stand once more.
“We accept your greetings and well wishes with a warm heart,” the queen said, her voice lilting and bright. “And offer them in return. Please. Eat, dance, and be merry.”
The count and countess bowed once more before ushering Anton and I off into the ballroom proper. I looked back over my shoulder at the queen, unable to contain my curiosity. She was mentioned occasionally in the game, but never shown. She had an army of her own to command, a corps of magicians who could rain fire down on the kingdom’s enemies. To me, she looked too kind for such a thing, too delicate.
The queen caught my gaze and flashed me a warm smile, for more sincere looking then the serene, practiced smile she gave us when we had given her our greetings. She waved like one might do at an infant who’s staring at you on the train, her eyes crinkling at the corners.
I waved back just before someone passed in front of me, blocking my view. When I could see the queen once more, she was back to her serene smile as yet another noble family approached the thrones.
I turned my gaze to the rest of the room, with swirling fabric of gowns and tailcoats and glimmering jewels filling my vision. It felt otherworldly, dreamlike, even compared to the daily life I’d almost grown used to as Elizaveta. Floral perfumes mingled with the scent of food in a way that confused my stomach. A table piled high with tiny bites of both the sweet and savory variety called to me, but the countess had a hold of my hand as she and the count led Anton and I through.
The hall went quiet suddenly, and the countess squeezed my hand even tighter. I glanced about, curious as to why the air suddenly felt so thick with tension.
Then, the page boy's voice filled the air. "Introducing Lord Alekto of the Honorable Calimeris family and his son, Iason."
I moved closer to the countess, hiding behind her skirts as the giant of a man moved through the crowd towards the king and queen. His hair was dark and slicked back, his eyes a similar pale blue to the queen's. There was no merriment in his eyes, no warmth in his smile. He towered over most of the other guests, who gave him a wide berth.
I watched as he approached the king and queen, watched the shifts in their expressions. Even as the king kept his face neutral, I could feel what little warmth that he'd shown drain from him. The queen wasn't much better at hiding her displeasure, her serene smile growing cold, like a porcelain doll's. Seemed despite the fact she'd invited him, she hadn't actually wanted Lord Alekto to show up. Perhaps it had been an obligation, or pressure from the family. I certain wouldn't want to see that man angry.
I could not hear their discussion from where I was, especially not once the whispers started. But I could see Lord Alekto's son now, Iason. He was so small compared to his father, it made me wonder how old he was. His hair was the same dark color as his fathers, though much softer looking as it hung down around his face.
"Elizaveta!" I jumped at the hissed whisper in my ear, turning to see Clara just as she latched onto my arm. "Who's that man? He's scary, right?"
I nodded, releasing my mother's hand to set a hand atop Clara's as she clung to my arm, as much comfort as I was able to manage at this juncture. "The queen doesn't look happy he's here."
"But...if he's not invited, then he would have been stopped at the door, right?" Clara asked. "Why would she invite someone she didn't want here?"
"Family obligations are scary things," I muttered, pulling Clara behind the countess as Lord Alekto was dismissed by the queen. His cold eyes scanned the crowd, a smirk on his lips.
"Elizaveta," the countess said, her voice tight, "You come straight to me if that man approaches you. Manners be damned. Is that clear?" She looked down at us, her lavender eyes barely containing her anxiety. "You too, Clara. If you can't find your mother, you come to me."
"Yes, ma'am," Clara and I agreed.
"Good. Now, go have fun." She tried to look reassuring as she smiled down at us, but it didn't quite work.
Clara seemed to hesitate, which was unusual for her. Lord Alekto's aura seemed to really freak her out, as it seemed to with everyone he passed. The conversations would quiet, their gazes becoming suspicious. I swallowed my own hesitation.
"Clara! Let's go see the fancy cakes at the refreshments table!" I said, probably a bit too loud.
"Oh! Y-yes!" Clara agreed as I started leading her away. "Lets!"
The cakes on the refreshment table were indeed fancy, as were the other treats that covered the white table cloth. Scallops from the southern sea covered in some unknown sauce, small bowls of rich, creamy pasta, single slices of rich, fatty steak, not to mention the rainbow of macarons, the perfectly even layers of mille feuille and tiramisu, and the intricately decorated petit fours. The food at the Chernov estate had been nothing compared to this level of luxury.
For a time, Clara and I whiled away the ball indulging in the delectable finger foods. I found myself going back for seconds of the pasta and the vanilla-rose macarons, while Clara seemed to always have one of the lemon-glazed madeleines in her hand. I lost track of the count and countess in the crowd after the first dance.
Then, a sudden quiet overtook the conversations around us. A shadow covered Clara and I, and I turned to see Lord Alekto towering over us. My blood ran cold, my stomach sinking. Clara moved closer to me, almost like she was intent on using herself as a shield. I grasped her trembling hand, trying to reassure her, to give her some of my fleeting courage.
"My, my, my," Lord Alekto drawled, his voice clinging to me like an oil slick. "Do all young ladies gorge themselves in such a way these days? Such greedy piglets."
I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. He spoke of us like we were livestock to prepare for the slaughter. If he spoke this way about girls as young as we were, then how the hell did he speak of women of actual marrying age?
His cold eyes settled on me more directly. "Such fire in those pretty eyes of yours, little one." His smirk grew wider, and my stomach sank further down. "It seems the Chernov family does not yet know how to properly train their girls."
"Elizaveta," Clara whispered, moving even more in front of me. "Run!"
I didn't need to be told twice, taking off into the crowd as Clara fled in the opposite direction. A felt the barest draft of a breeze against my neck, and in my gut, I knew that man had tried to grab me. All plans flew out the window as I dodged and weaved through the crowd, desperate to get as far away from that man as possible.
I only stopped when I realized I could no long hear the chatter of conversation nor the tittering of the orchestra's strings and woodwinds. The glittering lights of the ballroom had fallen away to the soft glow of the moon. The heavy floral perfumes gave way to the softer, more natural scents of actual blooms. I looked around, finding myself in the middle of the queen's gardens. I took a moment to catch my breath, clutching at the fabric of my dress as my heart slowly returned to its normal speed. As the pounding in my ears settled, I could swear I heard someone crying.
I pushed down the guilt at not returning to the countess like I promised, focused on finding whoever was crying out in these lonely gardens. I walked quietly, straining to hear the quiet sniffles and hiccups. Eventually, I found a small, trickling fountain, and sitting on its edge was a young child about the same age as Elizaveta was now.
"Are you alright?" I called.
The child's head snapped up, and I felt the breath leave my lungs. Wide, sky-blue eyes peered up behind golden hair. Red cheeks grew redder in shame at being caught. This...this was the face of one of the male leads in the game.
I was standing in front of Prince Cassender.
"I-I'm fine!" he insisted, his voice strained and higher than I remembered it being in the game. That was understandable, he was younger now than he would be in the game. "It's nothing."
It felt rude to push when he clearly didn't want to talk about it, but I didn't want to leave him alone. "Okay. But...can I sit with you?"
"Sit with me?" he asked, sounding confused and a tad suspicious. "Why?"
I fiddled with the skirt of my dress, casting my eyes down at the cobblestone path at my feet. "I ran away from Lord Alekto. And I don't want to go back just yet."
"Lord Alekto?" Cassender echoed, his own woes forgotten in the face of someone else's suffering. "What happened?"
I sat beside him on the edge of the fountain, the trickling sound of water soothing. "My friend and I were eating the treats at the refreshment table, and he called us piglets. And then he said the Chernovs weren't training their girls right. He reached for me, and I ran away." I felt my own tears well up in my eyes. I'd never really been the target of such things in my past life. To experience it now, when Elizaveta was such a young age, it was frightening. What could someone her age do against a member of one of the ducal families? Especially one so closely tied to the monarchs. Even the queen couldn't really stand against Lord Alekto. What was there I or even the count and countess could do?
Something soft touched my face, startling me. I turned to see Cassender holding out a handkerchief, dabbing at the tears that rolled over my cheeks with it. His eyes were still red and puffy from his own tears, and yet he showed me this kindness.
"I'm sorry," I murmured, rubbing at my eyes with the heel of my palm. "You're out here crying, and I come and dump my own problems onto you as well."
"It's alright," Cassender assured me. He smiled, bright and sweet. "I'm Cassender."
I swallowed down my tears, forcing a smile in return. "Elizaveta. Is it okay if we just...sit together for a little bit longer?"
Cassender nodded. "I'd rather be out here than in that busy ballroom, anyway. There's too many people."
"The perfumes were giving me a headache," I agree. "The flowers out here are much nicer. It's crazy how they can take something so nice and make it so...much."
Cassender laughed. "That's exactly it. It's so much!"
Our moment of peace did not last forever, though. Before we could say much more, there was a flurry of movement just outside our field of vision. Around the corner came the countess, accompanied by Clara and the queen of all people. The count and Anton, along with Clara's father were not far behind, then men looking enraged while the women simply looked happy to find us.
"Elizaveta!" the countess shouted, terror in her voice making way for relief. She gathered me up into her shaking arms, pressing my face into her shoulder. "I told you to come find me!"
"I'm sorry, Mama," I said, my voice small. "I couldn't see you. I didn't know what to do..."
She pressed a kiss to my forehead, and I wondered absently if her lipstick left a mark. "I'm just happy you're okay. When Clara said he grabbed at you..."
"I'm okay," I promised. "Cassender helped me feel better."
The countess looked at me funny before turning her gaze to the prince behind me. "Thank you, Your Highness, for looking after my daughter."
I played the part of the confused little girl, turning to Cassender. "Highness?"
Cassender smiled, but it looked a little sad. Like he didn't want to say it. "Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Cassender Vasilikos, son of King Leandros and Queen Maira."
I quickly ducked a curtsey, bowing my head. "I am Elizaveta, daughter of Count and Countess Chernov. Greetings to His Royal Highness."
The queen smiled, though there was a sadness to it. "My most sincere apologies to the young Lady Chernov. I am glad to know you are safe and unharmed."
I turned to the queen, hands trembling as I clenched them into fists. "Your Majesty, please don't make me go back in there while that man is still in the hall."
The queen looked uncomfortable. "I understand he has caused you distress..."
"Is that not reason enough to make him leave?" I asked, hoping Elizaveta's age would keep her from being punished for insolence. "He spoke to us as if we were livestock! He grabbed at me! I am but a child, Your Majesty. How will he treat me once I am of age?"
The queen paled at the implications as the countess held onto me even tighter. I felt a warm hand wrap around my own. Turning, I saw Cassender beside me, staring up at his mother with a determination I remembered from his route in the game. It was a look he'd once faced down an enraged Elizaveta with, but now he used it to defend her -- to defend me -- from his own mother.
"Mother..."
"The lass is right, Maira."
Our eyes all snapped towards the sound of this new voice. King Leandros himself stepped out from around the tall hedges, his face looking older, more exhausted, then it had in the ballroom.
"How much longer will the young noblewomen have to suffer your cousin's proclivities?" the king asked. "He attempted to lay his hand on one who has not even debuted yet. We cannot overlook this. It was too public. Too far."
The queen sighed, her face falling. "You're right. I know you are."
"You're the queen," Clara piped up. "If anyone can do it, it's you...Your Majesty."
The queen laughed, but it lacked any mirth. "If only that were true."
I pulled away from Cassender and the countess, looking the queen in the eye. "You can make it true."
The king chuckled, flashing the queen a smile. "The little one speaks true."
The queen smiled in return, her eyes glowing with a fondness as they gazed down at me. "Very well. I will be brave for you, little one. You and all the others who should not have to be brave."
She took my hand and then Clara's and turned back to the palace. She threw back her shoulders and held her head high. I gripped her hand tight. It was time to face down the monster.
