A/N: A Cinderella AU with a little Pride & Prejudice It's actually SO LONG ugh why.
Lights flashing, people dancing. Everybody was joyous, clinking glasses of champagne with people they did not even know, dancing till the sun came up, and basking in the eternal buffet. The annual ball of the Commonwealth had arrived and people from Manila, Tokyo, New Beijing, all diversities of people within the Commonwealth had come around to participate in the most wonderful time of the year! A most magnanimous decision from its most magnanimous emperor, Rikan, who had declared this ball the moment he had been crowned at the age 17. To make sure everybody had a good time and never got tired of attending, he assigned a different theme each year. Now?
Masquerade.
The left string of Cinder's mask fell off her ear once again. Every time it fell she had to stop walking and end up bumping into the guest at the back from her. Frustrated, she entered the washroom and tried to knot the strings to make them tighter. She was getting more impatient every time it would slip from her fingers, she could not risk a single second of her mask falling and showing at least a single inch of her face. Due to Iko and Peony's endless begging, she had agreed to go much to her and Adri's disagreement.
"Adri wants me to stay here and continue working." Or she just didn't want people acknowledging her as my guardian.
"No one will even be buying from you, they'll all be at the ball!" Iko had exclaimed most excitedly. Iko offered to take Cinder's place because she loved Cinder dearly and she wanted her to spend some time having fun once in a while.
"It's masquerade themed!" Peony practically screamed. She bounced to the other side of the living room wherein she picked up a mask with bright blue, yellow and white colors from on top of the dresser. The left half was painted white and the right half painted blue. The eyes were surrounded by a dark blue and yellow sequins outlined the mask. Not only that but there were white dots which collided with yellow waves and curls all over. The most exquisite part of the mask was it's two feathers sticking out from the upper left side which curled. "She won't even notice you'll be there."
She didn't want to disappoint the two of them even though she didn't like wearing dresses or going to public events where people would actually try socializing with her, she just wasn't that kind of girl. It's not like you try to make friends with your neighbourhood mechanic anyway. Peony sneaked one of Pearl's old dresses for Cinder to wear. Although they were not luxurious, Pearl could still care less about the importance of saving money and would splurge all day on clothing.
Finally. Cinder evenly tightened the strings on both sides and the mask fit just right. She left the washroom immediately only to see Adri, Pearl and Peony standing right outside. She could feel her face going pale. If she could tell that that was the three of them, Adri could probably notice that Cinder would be here.
But then she recalled her being smarter than Pearl and Adri combined together.
She was never the most gracious girl and she never tried to be. She slouched and she walked with such roughness all throughout the ballroom. She wore a simple baby blue dress that actually had a few oil stains. Peony spotted her and gave her a reassuring smile before Adri called out her attention and started bringing them along to where Prince Kai and the emperor were sitting. Many mothers and daughters in the Commonwealth do the same in hopes of bewitching the prince into marrying one of them. Sometimes it did not even have to be the mothers, Prince Kai was the most popular and wanted boy in the country after all.
"Emperor Rikan." Adri said. The three bowed before him.
"Prince Kai." They bowed again. Even from a far distance Cinder could tell Peony was going to burst from excitement. She had nothing to be embarrassed about but she could see the red in her cheeks ready to explode. Prince Kai could do wonders like that. "These are my darling daughters, Pearl and Peony."
"It is very nice to meet you." He gave a short bow to them and a shy smile.
Cinder chuckled. She turned away from where they were to avoid meeting eye contact with Pearl or Adri. She walked over to the buffet in hopes of grabbing a meal she would probably never eat again in her lifetime. By the time she arrived she was surprised to say she was just not that hungry or interested. She wanted to leave as she was not having fun at all. It was a big ball, Peony would probably never notice as well if Cinder was gone. To avoid Iko as well, she could just go out and wander through the streets for all she cared.
But in this dress?
"Would you like to dance?"
Cinder jumped in surprise. A boy- no, an important boy stood in front of her holding out his hand. He appeared with sashes which usually meant that he was of royal blood. She hardly knew about the other officers in the countries of the Commonwealth and could not think of other young princes. It was even harder to decipher with the mask he wore. He wore the colors of the Commonwealth, red and yellow on his top and white slacks.
Stars, Prince Kaito!
She had not noticed him making his way down from his throne. Making matters worse, all the ladies had been watching him and Cinder, some horrified that he picked her to be his first dance and some sobbing that they were not indeed, his first pick.
Cinder was not the prettiest or did not appear the most beautiful lady in the ball but she was by far the most interesting. Who comes to a ball with a dress with oil greases that are very obvious to the naked eye? She did not have a single lesson packed into her brain about ballroom dancing and she was more nervous than a pig in a butcher shop.
"I-I, Prince Kai." She stuttered and bowed to him. Oh no no no no why me!
Kai chuckled because he was the one in fact trying to court her. "It is nice to meet you. Um, my offer still stands you know. Would you care for a dance?" He took a step closer and offered his hand once more. She stood stiffly realizing the prince was even closer to her than ever. She had never been so nervous since the time of her first sale in fixing a car. Who could ever think that the very own Commonwealth's heartthrob would be approaching you in the annual ball?
Rather, she accepted his offer out of obligation. She hated how every girl would give up their time and money on the prince, even though those girls included her very own stepsisters. Sure, the prince was astonishingly handsome but Cinder never believed in love at first sight and she never read anything about the prince to make her assume on how his personality could be.
She was basically taking a huge step.
Before she could say no and recall that she was uncultured in dancing, Kai had already taken her hand and brought her to the center of the ballroom. She expected of course that all eyes would be on the two of them but she also remembered that she was wearing a mask and no one she knew could recognize her.
Kai was extremely elegant while Cinder was clumsy and heavy-footed. She would step on his foot at least once a minute. Kai, being the very nice boy he was, inferred that she was having difficulty and proceeded to dancing more slowly. A waltz after all, was usually a quick dance wherein they had to move to each beat. Emperor Rikan was indeed a "cool" father and requested fast music most of the time. With every turn and every step they made, she would slip almost momentarily but his grip on her waist would become tighter, trying to steady her. She couldn't help but curse at herself for appearing so uneducated in front of somebody and embarrassing herself.
"I apologize, I'm really not a good dancer." She whispered so only he would be able to hear her words.
He shook his head. "It's alright, it was my decision to pick you anyway."
This got Cinder even more flustered. His sense of humour did not make her feel more comfortable as it should have. Yet, he had never looked at something with much interest. She was of tan skin rather than the usual pale skin the people of the Commonwealth had. It wasn't rare, it was just uncommon. After all, there were many salons that offered self-tanning devices. Not only that but the fact that he did not remember her coming up to his throne to introduce herself, unlike what every lady would do. How peculiar. Her dance manners didn't bother him a single bit.
Some time after that the musicians stopped and it was the finale of the dance. Many adults clapped but the ladies were mostly furious at how someone so uncouth would actually have the guts to even walk into the ball. Cinder and Kai stepped apart from each other and bowed.
"Excuse me, but may I just ask what may your nam-" Kai started but before he could even finish his sentence Cinder had already turned around and started walking to the opposite direction.
Her heart was beating. Peony would pester her endlessly of how lucky Cinder was! Not to mention she would be telling Iko all about it and they both would never let her hear the end of it. His eyes were in fact of warm copper brown color and the fact that his bangs were so long that he often had to shake his head a bit to continue looking at her all throughout the dance. She was indeed, very lucky.
"Excuse me?" Cinder looked up from where she was seated. She had earlier vanished into the crowd and sat on a seat near the wall, far away from where the prince or anybody else could see her. After the little dance Cinder did not feel as so bored and she sat through watching others have fun and dance in their very drunk state. But of course, she shouldn't have expected no one would notice her anytime soon.
"Oh. Stars." She whispered, sitting up straight and trying not to face him.
"I'm sorry, I just didn't catch your name and I really hoped to catch it."
She sighed and stood up. She dared to look up at him, as she was annoyed. She hoped to never see him ever again let alone engage in another conversation and embarrass herself. "I apologize but I would like that to remain a secret." In case he announced her name or something like that, Adri would have a fit.
He stared, confused. Why would somebody keep their name a secret? "I- I respect that...I think. But I was hoping to offer you another dance more properly by respectfully pronouncing your name." He smiled more this time.
"Very charming indeed, but no thank you Prince Kaito."
Kai was more confused as ever. "Please?"
Her face rose in shock. "Why?"
"Why not?"
"I mean, why me? There are still about 1,000 girls walking around that would gladly accept your offer. Besides, we already danced, alright?" She would not like to repeat that little scene of her constantly slipping.
His eyes looked dead straight into hers. His expression was not amused at all, but more of a little boy's who had just heard from his parents that they could not afford to get him this toy. "1,000 girls. Why not you?"
A dirty mechanic whose manners was of a peasant's and feet weighed like metal. He deserved to spend so much more of his time with another girl, maybe even somebody like Pearl. They stared at each other in silence, waiting for one of them to say something. Cinder noticed that Kai's eyes were not just fixed on her, but fixed on her eyes as well. He reached out to his face and took off his mask and gave her a big smile.
His eyes are twinkling, Cinder thought. Her left hand twitched, as if she wanted to take hers off as well.
"Cinder!"
Cinder's body jumped in surprise, breaking her out of her trance. Peony ran into the both of them and stopped short once she noticed who she was talking to.
"Oh. My. Stars. I'm so so sorry for this interruption P-p-prince Kai." She bowed almost too quickly. "I just need to borrow her, excuse me. Peony pulled Cinder away before Kai could even say anything. Unexpectedly, she brought Cinder into the crowd.
"Peony, what-"
"Mom just told me that we're leaving soon. You need to get back home right now, I can stall her for you for as long as I can but Pearl is having a fit over her feet getting ached because of her high heels." Peony had a habit of being easily panicked and she left Cinder to act quickly.
Kai found Cinder in the crowd and grabbed hold of her arm. "I'm sorry, did she say your name was-"
"I am extremely sorry to have to do this, but I have to leave." She exclaimed. She started running towards the exit, dodging hundreds of people. She noticed Peony dragging her mother away from the door of the palace so she would not notice Cinder. What she didn't notice was that Kai was running after her as well, but unfortunately being stopped by all his admirers. He might have even shouted 'excuse me!' a hundred times. Cinder was already halfway on the steps until her shoe fell out of foot.
"Wait!" Cinder turned around and saw Kai chasing her but she noticed Adri as well walking towards the door as well and she knew that she was running out of time. I am sorry.
The air was extremely windy at this time of the night and she had a hard time resisting. The wind was so strong it snapped the string of her mask and flew far, far away. It flew against her destination, unknown to however far back because she knew she couldn't turn to watch or Kai or Adri would see her face. But little did she know, the mask felt right to the feet of the prince himself.
"He offered you to dance with him!" Peony giggled. "Twice!"
Cinder sat up from on her bed. "You heard that?" She sighed from exasperation. "Please don't remind me."
"You were the belle of the ball, Cinder! And everything worked out great, my mom does not suspect a thing." Peony's mouth was put into such a wide smile it was as if her entire face stretched. "Do you remember Prince Kai's expressions when he was with you? It was as if you were five times prettier than all the girls to him."
Cinder was exhausted, that's for sure. The conversation ended right then and there for she didn't want to argue that Peony shouldn't be so sure that that was what he was thinking. Still, it invaded her brain and she stayed up the entire night, thinking about her words. Thinking about Kai and her lost shoe and mask, how he could be staring at them right of this moment.