The next couple of months went by quickly and the next thing Elena knew, it was Christmas. The palace was decorated for the upcoming ball and the smell of food lingered in the air as the feast was being prepared – the princess had caught Armando lurking around the kitchen, trying to get a taste of everything that was being made. Everyone was in the palace, including Esteban, was in high spirits.

As the hour of the ball approached on Christmas Day and the guests began to arrive, Elena changed into her ball gown and carefully placed her tiara on her head before going downstairs. She was crossing the entrance hall and was making her way towards the throne room when she heard someone call her name.

"Psst, Elena!"

The princess turned around and found Mateo standing by the hall closet, motioning at her to come closer. Elena grinned and made sure no one was watching before hurrying towards him. The royal wizard smiled and pulled her inside the closet, quietly closing the door behind them.

"Hello, Mateo," Elena said cheerfully. "Feliz Navidad."

"Feliz Navidad, Elena," Mateo replied, giving her a kiss. "You look stunning."

"Thank you. You look amazing as well. What are we doing in here?"

"I know that we said that we'd exchange gifts later on your balcony but I'm too excited to wait to give this to you. Don't worry, it's small and you can wear it."

Mateo gave her a small box. Elena took it and opened it, gasping at the sight of a beautiful heart-shaped pendant that was made out of the finest Avalorian crystal. The princess gently ran her fingers over it, unable to take her eyes off of it.

"Oh, Mateo... It's so beautiful," Elena said, smiling softly.

"You like it?" Mateo asked hopefully.

"I love it. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Do you want to put it on?"

"Yes, please."

Elena gave the necklace to Mateo and turned around before moving her hair out of the way. The young wizard unfastened the chain and slipped the necklace around the princess's neck. Once the chain was fastened, Elena turned around again and kissed Mateo. He happily responded, wrapping his arms around her.

"I love you," Elena whispered.

"I love you, too," Mateo replied.

The princess smiled. "We ought to go the throne room. I need to greet the guests," she said.

"Of course. What do you want to do with the box?"

"Here." Elena put the box on the shelf. "I'll come back for it later."

"Perfect. Let's go."

Elena nodded and opened the door, freezing at the sight of Esteban gazing down at them. She felt Mateo stiffen next to her and they both stared at the chancellor with wide eyes.

"Ah, Princess Elena, there you are. You do know that you have guests waiting for you, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Elena retorted, hoping she sounded much more confident than she felt.

"Then what are you doing hiding in a closet with Mateo?"

"We needed to talk about a private matter. That's not a crime now, is it?"

The chancellor raised an eyebrow. "No, but was it a royal mater? You know that those should be discussed with the members of the Grand Council."

"It wasn't a royal matter and why can't I talk to Mateo about them? He's the royal wizard; he's bound to be involved in royal matters."

Esteban appeared to be unable to find an answer to that statement. Satisfied, Elena motioned at Mateo to follow her to the throne room. But as she led the way there, she became uncomfortably aware of her cousin's eyes on them. The princess took a deep breath and marched on, praying that Esteban was not going to cause trouble.

The ball was wonderful. The guests were lively, the music was beautiful, and the dancing was fun. Elena had opened the ball with Mateo, who was fairly reluctant to dance in front of countless of people. But once they had started to dance, they flew across the dance floor with ease as the royal wizard's nervousness melted away. It would have been like a dream, if only Elena had not noticed Esteban watching them through narrowed eyes. She knew very well that was far from being a good sign but she had tried her best to ignore him; she was not going to let her cousin ruin her evening.

Now that the ball was over, the princess was waiting for Mateo on her balcony with his Christmas present in her hands. She looked at the sky and smiled at the sight of Luna flying towards her with the royal wizard on her back. They landed neatly in front of Elena and Mateo jumped off Luna with a smile.

"Hello again," he said, kissing Elena's cheek.

"Hello," Elena replied cheerfully. "I have something for you."

She gave him his present. Mateo took it with a smile and unwrapped the gift. Elena watched him eagerly as he took out a new set of wizard robes from the box. Mateo examined them with a grin.

"These look amazing," he said.

"They're for special occasions," Elena replied. "You like them?"

"I love them. Thank you very much, Elena."

The princess grinned as Mateo gave her a kiss. They only pulled away when Luna awkwardly cleared her throat.

"Uh, I hate to interrupt, but Mateo should get home before his mother realises he's not back yet," she said.

"Of course..." Elena mumbled. She looked at Mateo. "She's right: you should go."

"I know," he replied, giving a solemn nod. "Goodnight, Elena. Sweet dreams."

Elena kissed his cheek. "Goodnight, Mateo."

The young wizard smiled softly and climbed onto Luna's back. Elena blew him a kiss before they took off and she watched them fly away into the distance. The princess returned to her bedroom and closed the doors, making her way towards her dresser. She paused in front of her mirror and smiled at the sight of her necklace. Elena traced her fingers over it, a sigh of happiness falling from her lips. She could not believe how lucky she was to have a guy as sweet as Mateo; the princess was glad that she had listened to Naomi and took a chance with the young wizard. It was truly paying off.

Her happiness was short-lived, however. Elena's mind wandered to Esteban and the look he had on his face while watching her dance with Mateo appeared in her mind's eye. Her cousin looked far too suspicious for her liking; she also swore that she saw him cast disapproving glances at her necklace whenever she was near him. That was far from being good news: her cousin had a strong penchant for rules and an even stronger dislike of Elena being the ruler of Avalor, so any rule-breaking on her part would bring much more trouble than she could possibly imagine. If he discovered that the crown princess was secretly dating the royal wizard, Elena was more than certain that Esteban would accuse her of high treason.

She sighed heavily as she undid her hair. If she was lucky, Esteban would forget everything by New Year, but she knew all too well that would be unlikely. Elena changed into her pyjamas and went to bed, resolving to pray to the heavens with all of her might to endure as little difficulty as possible.