Another night of illusions People immersed in hypocrisy

*Past*

Rabanastre - Royal Palace 703 High Valendian

* During Ashe's engagement party "

Vossler's exhortation towards Princess Ondine had not had the desired effect, the girl gave the firm idea of wanting to remain of her ideas.

-But I'm already doing the facts Captain ...- reiterated the young princess with a rather bored air.

-It's just that I find this life so boring ... How can one pretend to be mature and be in a certain way Captain, if in fact the foundations and experience are lacking? How can I be as mature as you in my comparison have seen more things than me and have you done much more? You want me to behave as expected from one of my rank, without even being aware of what this charge entails.

And from a life I am told how I should be, how I should behave or appear, when they should be looked at for how they look and not me. You will realize how unworthy the soul of others is, so I don't want to share the same fate as my sister at all. I'm fine as I'm clear? - Ondine said with firm decision looking into Vossler's eyes, who tried to answer but the more he looked at the girl the more he realized how unsustainable her gaze was.

Ondine had the same firmness as Basch, he never gave up on the various issues and keeping up with them meant only one thing to challenge her and very few dared to challenge her.

One of these was Basch, who was not afraid to have his say and take back the princess if she somehow disrespected her. Despite the slight provocation between the two, the situation had never degenerated.

Both knew how to respond to the top so as to always keep their heads up and never put themselves in a difficult position.

Wrapped it seemed that Ondine found us flawed in openly contradicting General Von Ronsenburg, who unlike Vossler was really one who had an incredible patience. If he had been in his place, Vossler would have answered her in a much harsher way.

Vossler had also noticed a slight change in behavior and behavior in Princess Ondine whenever Basch was nearby. It was something he did automatically and instinctively, without even noticing. Suddenly becoming calm, respectful and posed ... just like her sister Ashe was.

While when Ondine was with him, Vossler noticed how the girl tended to become very impertinent than was already enough. And there was not something that did not hold.

-Lady Ondine ...- exclaimed Vossler, who tried to say something but was promptly interrupted by General Basch who tried to prevent his comrade in arms from making a huge mistake.

Rather Basch invited Princess Ondine to give him a dance, surprising not only the girl, but also Captain Azelas himself. The gesture did not go unnoticed by other eyes that from afar followed with vivid curiosity the exchange of jokes between the young daughter of the king and Captain Azelas.

Ondine at the request of General Ronsenburg could not refuse, that was the first time that the general invited him to dance, an occasion like that would not have happened another time.

The princess knew General Ronsenburg well, above all she knew his fame before him, but the reality was better than any rumor circulating about this beautiful or ugly man he was.

Of Basch, Ondine knew mainly the side of the knight and not of the man who hid under that armor. Despite his thirty-three years Basch was a man who by the standards of the Dalmasche traditions was already to be married.

Many knights including Vossler had long been married to other nobles of the same rank or not, yet despite General Von Ronsenburg he was one of the few who had not yet married.

This side of his person was quite talked about among nobles and soldiers. In particular he "embodied the ideal of man" that every woman at least once in her life had found herself fantasizing.

Yet reality was going to break what were only fantasies, Basch, despite having a flashy and unusual beauty for the Dalmaschi canons, had no small success with women.

His only flaws if they could be defined was his "total devotion

towards what were his duties as a knight "and his stoic being that was often mistaken for indifference by the ladies of the court.

And his constant refusals to court ladies were as legendary as they were famous, he held the record. For some strange reason General Ronsenburg had never expressed a desire to marry or have a family. Indeed these arguments seem to upset him not a little whenever someone asked him questions about it, he withdrew from giving his opinion.

Many married and unmarried women, young, old, noble or not, had all fallen victim to the general's charm and fame. Most of the women in the palace had had their eyes on him for several years already, and they competed to compete for his attentions or some of his company.

There was no woman who could not resist him, but despite the general's affable ways made him truly lovable, there was nothing in him that was wrong or out of place.

Although many women agreed, at least the most malicious ones who had taken the captain's refusal badly, that Basch was the number one enemy of the female gender.

Ondine was certainly no stranger to these gossip, which she found truly useless, such as those who constantly circulated about her or her sister.

While showing indifference to such voices, within himself, he got easily nervous with the result of harshly commenting on these women.

Coming to destroy these publicly, socially and verbally with the result of attracting even more the antipathy of many ladies.

And punctually Ondine was recovered for her lack of education, as well as by Vossler also by Lady Arla, her companion, at least ten years older than her.

But the young princess knew well how to respond and stand up to Arla, with the utmost despair of Arla.

Lady Arla had no excitement had something to complain about Basch, often and willingly found himself at odds with him, and there were not a few times when the two had had discussions about the education of Ondine.

Vossler always kept away from that woman, knowing all too well how persuasive Arla knew.

The few times Vossler had had the misfortune of stumbling upon a discussion with tones quite brisk with this lady, he had always been exhausted.

Lady Arla with her character was well suited to Ondine's temperament.

If that evening Lady Arla had known that Princess Ondine would have danced with the General, she would certainly have had a fault. In fact, Lady Arla was in the hall where the engagement party was taking place, the woman was in the company of the two princes, where she was having a pleasant conversation with them.

When their attention was soon captured when they saw the entrance of Princess Ondine accompanied by General Ronsenburg into the hall. That most unique and rare apparition had captured the attention of everyone present, including Ashe herself with Prince Rasler.

The White Beam in his formal dress was spectacular, even more splendid and majestic than it usually was. His entry into the hall was truly unusual, indeed it was sooner known that Princess Ondine was particularly reluctant to participate in mundane events held at the palace.

Preferring to limit his presence only in official events to which he could not necessarily escape, and Ashe's engagement party was just by chance it was one of those events.

Despite his questionable conduct, when Ondine decided to make his appearance, he had the ability to snatch the scene from everyone and to silence anyone with his mere presence.

She didn't even seem herself anymore, but she seemed to be totally another. It seemed to shine with its own light under the suffused light of the crystal candlesticks, a star shining in the midst of a flood of faces.

Ondine walked with Basch under his arm, into the room at a slow pace as he had been taught, his back straight, his chest out, his head high and his eyes proud.

Showing off an elaborate hairstyle in which some hydrangea flowers had been inserted.

She wore a precious and elaborate long ivory-colored dress, whose precious blue embroidery stood out in bright contrasting fabric. The gold of the jewels gave even more prominence to its beauty, giving it a solemn and majestic air.

The gaze of the young princess was fixed in front of her, while carefully trying in every way to ignore the looks on her.

Ondine silently felt the feeling of general astonishment that originated from his entry into the hall. He felt it on himself, a feeling he never got used to.

He read their sentiments and thoughts with ease. There were those who were amazed to see them together, who thought it was a beautiful couple, who envied them and finally who admired them from afar.

Ondine followed their eyes closely, catching their smallest change, being careful not to draw Basch's attention upon himself. Ondine knew that the general was carefully watching her.

They danced for a long time that evening, in which Ondine showed that he knew how to behave as one of his ranks was not aware of the lack of etiquette that he shows off several times with the most absolute carelessness.

During the whole dance, having removed the usual sensations that Ondine perceived from the people in the room who were soon bored, he decided out of curiosity to scrutinize the soul of his dance partner.

Basch had always intrigued Ondine because of his foreign origin. The general was something different, he was always very attentive to Basch's stories, when he rarely spoke of his past or his experiences.

Nobody at the palace knew what kind of life the General had led before becoming one of the leading Knights of the kingdom of Dalmasca.

Ondine at first found nothing of what Basch was already showing in public, General Fon Ronsenburg was as he appeared unlike many other people. He seemed to have nothing to hide.

Yet that evening there was something unusual and different about him, a slight anguish regarding the war with the empire. The empire of Archadia, Basch did nothing but think about these.

In one corner of his mind he did nothing but rethink what the Empire had taken away from him so many years before.

When the music ended, the dance also ended, in which both Ondine and Basch separated. Ondine had taken on a rather troubled air as soon as General Fon Ronsenburg started to move away from the girl a few steps, which the young girl suddenly grabbed his forearm holding him.

The sudden gesture surprised Basch, who did not expect such a gesture to come from the princess. Even more disconcerting were the words the girl addressed to him.

-Why don't you find peace? Why do you have all these regrets? - said Ondine looking in the eyes Basch, who felt violated and caught off guard.

He didn't know what to answer to that question, he had perhaps underestimated the girl's abilities. Perhaps for her there were no secrets.

Basch knew he had to do something immediately, if he didn't want to attract too much attention, as Order used to do.

He felt his eyes on himself, he had to hurry and escape the gaze of the girl, who stared at him with an infagious look.

General Ronsenburg's face had changed color, had turned white with bewilderment. Those words had shaken him, not a little, a lot.

The huma did not want to answer, he considered that thing by now a thing of the past, and yet it was not so past if the young princess had noticed it.

The question of the young girl had been heard by many people in the room, which had made Basch uncomfortable. The General scrutinized the girl, closed his and sighed looking in his mind for a way to break free from that unpleasant situation.

He did not respond to Ondine's request, Von Ronsenburg merely apologized to the princess and immediately distanced himself from her, in a slightly abrupt and cold way, leaving, and then leaving the room.

Basch left her there in the middle of the Ondine room, which was displaced by the unusual behavior of the General who makes sense to provide the aforementioned stupid justification to the girl.

Ondine saw the figure of the man go away, while thousands of eyes teeming with curiosity had followed this scene with keen interest. A murmur and a series of whispers rose from the back of the room.

The young Ondine could hear the thoughts and comments of them vividly, someone said what a humiliation must have been for the young royal, having been treated in that way disrespectful by the acclaimed General.

Others suggested that Princess Ondine finally had what she deserved for her arrogance.

Those who instead commented negatively on General Ronsenburg's behavior, calling it regrettable as well as disrespectful, many argued that the general had given a great show of elegance that evening by not following the girl's whim to stay.

In the midst of all those voices Ondine did not feel scratched, he knew well that in the world there were people like that from whom he had soon learned to distrust and treat them as they deserved.

He was not afraid to tell the truth to his face and expose their dirty business in public, reminding them that before attacking them they had to take an examination of conscience.

For this frankness, Ondine had made enemies, but she didn't care, for her only her family and the people she knew she could trust counted, they were very few.

Despite Ondine's rebellious and at times angular nature, the girl showed that she also had many positive sides, and showed off without any problem.

In the meantime, Basch had left the hall with great strides, quick and determined, taking refuge in what were the gardens of the royal palace. The cool evening breeze that came from the west desert brought with it many scents, compared to the torrid heat of that early summer evening.

Basch had to deal that evening with himself, and with his past, that since things with the empire were getting worse often and willingly he found himself thinking about his old homeland and his past.

For the first time in almost twenty years in his life Basch felt vulnerable and unprotected and the cause of all this had been the question of a girl of just sixteen.

The disconcerting thing is that the same girl had said those things in the most complete naivety of her age, driven by her unusual curiosity to know. He did not like at all that Ondine had looked at him so deeply, that his power was terrible, he was able to intimidate and annihilate anyone.

Basically that was the demonstration that Ondine was not at all normal, but it was the proof that it was the incarnation of the goddess Galtea.

For years, Basch had found himself in all sorts of subtractions, beautiful, ugly or desperate. He had experienced every type of experience that a man his age had been able to experience in thirty years of life.

How many people could say the same thing?

If there was one thing that Basch had not had the courage to face on that land, it was two, his mother and brother. Many years had passed since he had never seen them, he had not even known what had happened to them and what fate had been touched.

He as he was made, was the kind of people who after making a decision pursued to the end, whatever his outcome was. He was not a person who could say he had regrets, many had called him so.

Impassive to everything. Basch, on the other hand, knew it was not true at all, it was not as it appeared. He was human like everyone and like everyone he had made mistakes that he was not proud of.

He had done his best, he justified himself in this way but he knew that what he had done could not remedy it and that persecuted him.

Ondine was still in the middle of the room, with all eyes fixed on her waiting for his reaction. Meanwhile the young woman was still meditating on the General's behavior, she felt at a crossroads divided between instinct and reason.

Her instincts advised her to follow Basch regardless of what would happen next, reason said to stay. But between the two instincts had the upper hand, regardless of all the guests Ondine decided to follow Basch regardless of the rest.

The girl lifted the flap of her dress to reveal her feet and ankles, she wore golden sandals embellished with stones, and despite the high heel and the ban on not running through the corridors of the palace. Ondine, as usual, I send everything to hell.

And gods! Believe me if that gesture had no consequences, in the race towards the exit of the room, with the sound of heels that echoed throughout the room, the young woman also lost some hydrangea flowers that broke away from the elaborate hairstyle that within a few minutes she dissolved, letting the princess' long and gorgeous blonde hair fall back.

Across the room Lady Arla was thrilled with the behavior of her young lady, Ondine, that evening she had truly exceeded all limits. It was shocked, while the two royal princes, Valiant and Ronnah were by no means scandalized.

Once again Ondine had made people talk about himself. The two princes smiled at her sister's gesture, nothing seemed that even the elaborate court label could hold her back.

Ashe from a distance with Rasler and his father watched the show in surprise and speechless. The next day everyone would speak.

Until then, however, nothing should have disturbed that evening.

General Basch stood under columns near the gardens, trying to calm his riots, when he heard the sound of heels behind him banging against the marble corridors and her breathless breathing. His face snapped as his gaze settled on the young huma, his worried expression on his face said it all.

The man noticed with accuracy of details, the hair was all disheveled, and what once remained of the elaborate hairstyle was only long blond hair that reached the hips.

Basch heaved a long sigh, that girl had done something again, they would have said about them, she wasn't supposed to be there.

Ondine tried to apologize, she was visually sorry and agitated, she had used her power recklessly. But he had been stronger than her and certainly hadn't counted on his reaction.

Basch looked at her imperturbably, deep down he knew that the young woman did not want to harm him in any way. The huma tried to calm her down, telling her not to worry but it was useless inside it wasn't like that, Ondine was just reflecting her mood.

Once again the General tried, albeit with little result, to return the princess to the hall, where her whole family was staying. Suggesting that it was inconvenient for her to be there, but Ondine was of a completely different opinion.