"Wait a minute," he stopped Armstrong from tightening his shoe. "Why am I doing this again?"
"To hopefully make some progress on your quest to find a wife."
"That's it? I'm out of here."
"To enjoy the company of the kingdom's young girls?"
"That's more like it," he sighed to himself, ruffling his hair up.
"Prince Roy--"
"Please, just call me Roy, for heaven's sakes."
"Roy, we just got through making your hair exquisite," Armstrong scowled, tightening the other shoe.
"If a girl can't love me because my hair isn't slicked back, what's the point?" Roy protested, stepping away from the mirror, fully ready for the dance.
"That's aside from the point."
"Is it?" Roy put his hands on his hips."If a girl loves me, it won't be for my hair. And if it is, she isn't a possibility for marriage."
He gave a long, heavy sigh as he stepped over to his large window, staring out into the kingdom. "I don't know, perhaps somewhere out there, my true love awaits me. But what if she doesn't come? What if I never meet her? I'm not going to marry if I can't see myself being happy for the rest of my life with the girl I marry."
"If it makes you feel any better, Your Highness, we called upon King Maes Hughes over tonight so you might feel a little more comfortable with the situation."
"What!?" Roy gaped at him, not sure if he was overly excited or if he was overly nervous. His friend was crazy about him getting married sooner or later, and he was always showing him pictures of his princess and his queen. He would just bug him about marriage. But at the same time, he would be a big confidence booster.
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"Wait!" Riza called as she ran down the steps. "Please, wait! I'm coming!" All three women stopped dead in there tracks as they watched her run towards them with a beautiful dress on. They gasped at her. Lustette noticed something right away.
"What exquisite beads you have there," she examined. "And that shawl. Don't you think so, Envie?"
Seemingly envious of her beauty more than ever, she turned away. "No, I don't think so. I think-- Wait. Those are my beads!" she yelled, pointing to them before she ripped them violently off her neck. Riza put her hand to her neck, wishing she could have allowed herself to scream. The necklace had violently ripped across her soft skin.
"That's my shawl!" Gluttona grabbed the shawl and ripped it away from the other fabric, leaving Riza with a distressed face.
"Stop it! Please!" she was loosing her cool. If she had a gun close to her, she would have aimed for their heads.
"Those are mine!"
"Give those back!"
"I can't believe you!"
"These belong to me!"
They yelled several things before ripping off different parts of her dress and throwing them to the floor, leaving her distraught. Her neck was aching and her dress was ruined. There was no way she could go now. And after all that hard work Hayate'd put into it.
"Girls, girls, that's quite enough," Lustette waved them along. "Goodnight, Elizabeth," she said, and shut the door. The whole house was silent until Hayate came running down the steps. Another dog had been licking her face.
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"Did you get a wife yet or what?" Hughes stood on the balcony with Roy as they stared down at the carriages coming down.
"Maes, I swear," he held up a fist.
"Come on, just look at those beautiful girls coming out of those carriages," he went on, and Roy gave up. He was going to be lectured all night.
"Yes, they are quite pretty," he observed, shrugging his shoulders. He couldn't base love off of beauty.
"Not handsome enough to tempt you, eh?" Maes laughed, putting his hand on Roy's shoulder.
"I can't see myself with any of those ladies down there. Not until I've spoken with them," he told his friend, shaking his head. "You were lucky and all to get someone like Gracia, but how can I expect to be as lucky?"
"There is no woman like Gracia, but there is one out there for you. Hopefully she'll be here tonight," Hughes leaned against the stone fence that kept them from falling off the edge. "Speaking of Gracia.."
"No, Hughes! I do not want to see another portrait!"
"But I even had a small pocket sized one painted of my little princess Elicia. She's three now, you know."
"Yes, I know! You tell me every time we speak to eachother!"
"Do I?"
"Yes, you do," Roy gave a heavy sigh, shaking his head.
"The introductions are starting," Armstrong called from inside his room, and Roy's body tensed.
"Calm down, man. They're just girls."
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"I don't understand," Riza dried her tears, doing her best to remain calm. "I did everything she asked. I even gave Carl a bath! But she.. she.. they.." She stopped speaking, pausing for a moment to keep herself from crying. It was just a stupid ball. She didn't need to cry over such a thing. It was too much water for one day.
Suddenly there was a flash of light outside the house, she she looked up immediately.
"What was that?" she asked Hayate, as if he could give her an answer. Slowly she stood and stepped to the door, opening it to find a black haired woman scowling at herself.
"Oh, oh, hey. Are you Elizabeth Hawkeye?" she asked, wiping her clothing off.
"Err.. Well.. Yes. Riza Hawkeye," she answered, closing the door behind her with Hayate in her arms. "Who are you?"
"I am Izumi, your fairy godmother," she said in a rather annoyed tone. It was almost like she'd said it more than once. "What do you want?"
"Excuse me?"
"What do you want? You know, like a geanie? Wish for what you want?"
"Oh yes, yes, of course. I'm sorry. I'm a bit overwhelmed with this dream," Riza put her fingers through her clipped up hair.
"Dream? Not this again," Izumi gave a heavy sigh. "You aren't in any dream. This is real. What do you want?"
"Ouch!" Riza grabbed her arm.
"What is it now?"
"This isn't a dream, is it?"
"Why do you suddenly believe me?"
"I pinched myself."
"That old thing? Pathetic.. What. do. you. want?"
"I.. I want to go to the ball. But I can't now," she sighed lightly, looking towards the ground. Hayate wimpered.
"Is that all? Well jeeze, you could have said that. Now where is my chalk?" she dug around her pockets until she found a large piece of chalk.
"Chalk? I thought fairies used wands," Riza reminded her.
"Wands? Oh no, wands are used for magic."
"Isn't that what you're doing?"
"Ha! Magic is for amateurs. I'm using alchemy," she said simply, using a pumpkin to create her carriage to the ball. "Now, do you have any animals?"
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Okay, I know Izumi doesn't need chalk to make an alchemy circle, she just claps her hands. But still, I needed something to represent the wand. xD
