-The Fourth Chapter-

An Exhilarating Experience

As the night deepened, pairs continued to dance across the dance floor, changing their partners after some time of dancing. The townsfolk were very delighted to experience this event, as it was evident in their happy faces. While these dancers were busy waltzing to the rhythm, a group of ladies stationed near the walls were getting impatient to get their turn.

These ladies were really excited for the ball that they couldn't help but wander around the great hall, fixing their elegant and fashionable dresses to garner attention from the gentlemen. However, this gesture was kinda contradictory to what they actually wanted to happen. Every time someone offered them to a dance, they refused, no matter how gentlemanly the guy was. In reality, they weren't showing off for the gentlemen; they only wanted Anton to notice them for him to offer them to a dance! They actually went to the ball just for the young duke. But this isn't something surprising, since Duke Herzen used the offer of giving them a chance to be his son's future partner as a lure for the girls to attend the party.

Clearly, Duke Herzen's plan was successful. He did manage to lure these ladies to the celebration... and it was even much more than he expected. The number of guests not only doubled... but tripled! This was what he meant to his son by "taking this celebration seriously". He assured that Anton will find his woman in this ball. No excuses, no escape, no room for refusal. With the large number of ladies who attended the ball, there's no chance that his eldest son couldn't find that someone who he will marry in the future, right...?

Well, that's what the duke thinks, anyway. Who knows if what Anton believed in was right, that everyone in the party were just fakes? Or if Duke Herzen was right with his assumption, that there's definitely someone destined for his son who attended the event that night? We'll see.

Anton was still skeptical of the idea of dancing that night, since he was forced to pick a girl from all his dance partners. He knew this was no easy task... and that his decision will affect his whole life. Either way, he still had to do it, because it was required of him and that his father told him to do so. He couldn't do anything to make his father change his mind.

While Anton stood in place beside the stairs, thinking about these things, Nigel came near him and tried to cheer him up, despite having bad news to tell him...

"Master, the duke has informed me that you are to dance with every single lady in this hall. I know you would not like to hear this, Master Anton, but-"

Anton put a hand on Nigel's shoulder, making the latter cut off his words. "No, it's fine, Nigel. I've seen this coming anyway, so I should have known better than to defy Father's orders. Don't worry, I'll be fine." He tried his best to put up a smile, but still, his butler wasn't convinced that his master has felt a little better about the announcement. Just after he turned his back and faced the hall, his younger brother swooped in and blocked his way. Fredrich looked up at his older brother with genuinely worried eyes, and with conviction, tried to encourage him on doing what he desired to do.

"Brother, you don't have to do this. This is your life, and Father doesn't have any right to control it. You should follow your heart instead of just following that old man's orders like a mindless robot!"

Anton just shook his head in reply. "I couldn't do anything. I'm destined to be the next duke of Folsense, so I must do these things for everyone's good. Besides, I couldn't do this job alone, so I need to find that someone tonight to be able to carry out my task as future duke. I'm sure you would think the same when you're in my shoes, Brother."

Nigel and Fredrich, both worried for the young duke, stayed in their spot while watching Anton walking away from them. Fredrich tried to go after his dear brother, but before he was able to get close to him, Anton said a few more words. "Don't worry about me, Fredrich. I can handle myself. You should take a rest and worry about yourself instead. Rest well." Knowing Anton was already firm in his decision, the little brother stopped in his tracks and held his pained arm. "No doctor could ever cure that old man's eyes. If he only knew how Anton felt...", he mumbled to himself.

The group of ladies quickly noticed Anton walking towards them. In fear that others could steal their chance to dance with him, they raced for the one who will be the first to dance with the young duke. In an instant, he was surrounded by a stampede of overly-eager girls and women. He felt horribly uncomfortable, being pushed by them, and even pulled in every direction. He was like a rope being pulled in a game of tug-of-war!

"Step aside girls, Duke Anthony's mine!", one girl exclaimed while pulling Anton from behind.

Another disagreed and pulled Anton's left arm. "How dare you say that! I'm going first!"

"The young duke wouldn't like girls like you. He'll be mine for sure!"

"Anthony, you're so handsome!"

"Marry me, Anthony! Fate has brought us together!"

"Please, pick me! I love you!"

Anton kept silent throughout the outrage of his "fangirls", but deep inside, he was getting irritated... very, very much. Every single word he heard fueled his annoyance even more, and when he felt his heart was about to burn in rage, his pent-up emotions were released in a way he has never done before.

"S-Stop this instant! Calm yourselves!", Anton cried out as he nearly lost his balance. Apparently, these girls didn't heed his plea. The atrocity of these girls then went on without restraint...

As one of those girls stepped on Anton's foot, he fell down backwards in pain. He couldn't bear this any longer, making him totally lose his composure. "Just listen to me, will you, ladies?! I COMMAND YOU TO STOP, RIGHT NOW!" Anton rarely gets mad, and when he does, he reacts in the calmest and the most respectful way possible. However, this was already too much for him to handle, so he lost his temper and couldn't help yelling at the girls. This caused everyone in the hall to stop and look at the source of the sound. Seconds after Anton shouted, he got so embarrassed and guilty of what he'd said and done that his face turned deep red, causing him to hide his face.

The girls got so scared of him that they stood up straight in a flash, as if they their life was threatened by an outlaw. They even went to fall in line in an orderly manner without saying... After Anton recovered from shock, he cleared up his throat and talked like his usual self, albeit with uncertainty. "I-I'm truly sorry for my unethical behavior a while ago. Going back, I appreciate your initiative to fall in line, ladies. Let's go on with the dance..."

Anton offered his hand to the first girl in line. The girl was so excited that she jumped several times out of joy, nearly tripping on herself while the young duke was escorting her to the dance floor. Just to show courtesy, Anton suppressed his dismay towards his partner's reactions and focused on dancing. Most of the other girls, like what he expected from past experiences, acted the same. They either praised him with every single praise they could think of, reacted impulsively during the dance, or tried to "hook him up" with suggestive words and phrases. He felt terribly drained one dance after the other, up to the point that he wanted to run away from this "madness"... but simply he couldn't, since he had to find someone to marry.

After so many turns of dancing, there was no one left on the queue to dance with. Anton Herzen felt so much relief knowing everything's over and that he could rest afterward for the night. However, a thought had surfaced in his mind. "Phew, this was so tiring... I'm glad it's over. But, I don't feel even a little bit of satisfaction. As I've suspected, no one here has matched my tastes... Everyone seemed so fake and unreal to me."

Feelings of fatigue and sadness suddenly took toll on Anton. Seeing an empty table nearby, he took a chair and sat down, putting his head down until it touched the table's surface. He didn't want to move anymore... His arms felt so heavy, his back was aching, his feet felt sore, and he can only move his head up a bit to see the things around him. He felt that he had almost no energy left to spare. Due to exhaustion, he closed his eyes slowly, until everything faded to black...

...There was something that caught his eye before he completely took a break. He tried to get up again, turning his head around, finding that something that piqued his interest. And there it is: a young lady sitting alone on a table at a distance. She had long, wavy purple hair of waist length, dressed in a light purple dress, topped with a pink overdress with white, ruffled sleeves. She had beautiful green eyes that seem to warm one's heart when she looks at you. Something about this girl just seemed to give Anton the drive to talk to her...

Anton stood up from his chair, feeling invigorated and motivated once again despite his fatigue from the night's events. "There's something about this girl that feels... odd. I'm sure she's a new face around these parts. She's all alone and seems so lonely though... Maybe I should offer her to a dance," he thought. With all his energy, he approached the girl with a smile spread across his face, and with much enthusiasm.

"Good evening, Miss. How are you enjoying the night so far?"

The young lady was startled, causing her to take a while before she got to reply back. She gave off a soft smile to return the young duke's greeting. "Oh, Duke Anthony Herzen! Sorry for my behavior just now... It's been a pleasure for your family inviting me to come to the celebration tonight. I must say, everything is marvelous so far. What can I do for you, Your Highness?"

"You didn't need to ask, good miss. I'm glad to hear that." Anton didn't expect this rich-looking girl to reply to him in such manner. He expected her to show off or idolize him, but she conducted herself quite humbly, contrary to the young duke's first assumptions. He felt like he already warmed up to the girl despite just saying so little.

Anton felt that there was a need to cheer her up, remembering her expression when he first noticed this fine lady. "Say, are you all by yourself now? I noticed that you seemed to be so quiet and alone over here."

The young lady, despite giving off a smile, couldn't help but reveal a bit of her sadness in her face. "Actually, my family was supposed to be here too, but due to personal issues, they sent me here all by myself. I came with my friends, but it seems that they went home early after getting the chance to dance with you, Duke Anthony."

"Is that so? Come to think of it, I've danced with every woman in this party so far, with you being the only one who didn't do so yet. So, umm..." Anton blushed a bit after speaking those words. He then offered his hand and stretched it out to the girl, gathering all his confidence.

"...Would you like to dance with me?"

The girl's green eyes widened in surprise, and her face turned a bit red as well, since she got shy from the fact that duke's son was offering her to a dance himself. She didn't want to embarrass herself by rejecting the offer, so she gave out her hand to him. They then went on to the center, and readied themselves for the dance.

As the music started, they gracefully waltzed through the ground, their feet moving in sync with the tune. Anton felt nervous during the course of the dance, but for some reason subsided upon looking to this lady's eyes. They were looking through each other's eyes while one of their hands was held onto the other's. They moved with so much passion, dancing without a speck of coarseness... Everything around them seemed to be warm and full of life, making them smile throughout the dance. It was obvious: they were enjoying themselves.

Finally, the party had ended. After the pair danced, they happily sat on the same table for a quick chat. Unfortunately, the young lady had to return home already, since it was past her curfew.

"Oh, look at the time! I'm so sorry I have to go home now. It's really an honor to meet someone as nice as you, Duke Anthony."

"That's okay. I enjoyed today's events really much, especially our dance. And yes, I'm certainly am glad to be able to meet a humble and sincere lady like you."

"Off I go now. Farewell, and thank you so much!"

"Take care. I hope we meet again..."

Both of them felt a certain sadness upon bidding farewell... but also hoped to see each other in the future.

The next day, Anton, sitting on his majestic chair, still couldn't get over the events earlier. "Alas, I didn't even get to know her name... She was such a nice girl. I wonder when we'll meet again..." He accidentally put his sight on an item placed on top of his desk. It was his diary, with a gold garish emblem decorated on its hard, violet cover, and also with locks sealing the pages. He didn't write on it since ages, since there was nothing significant to write about during that idle period of time. That night, however, he was inspired to write about the ball.

"Maybe I should write down last night's events. It's been a long time ever since the last entry I wrote on this diary. There wasn't anything of worth to write down for a long time... Hmm, I'll just start a new sequence of entries this time." He then grabbed a pen and wrote on the book.

- o – o -

Entry 1:

I met the most enchanting girl at the ball we held last night. These parties are usually a complete bore, but her presence changed all that. As the duke's son, the unfortunate reality is that most people are overly polite and fawning towards me. But this girl was warm and real, and treated me like she did everyone else. It was very refreshing indeed. I do hope to see her again.

Wow, all of this in one day?! But actually, I had so many problems on how to start this chapter... so I thought it out in a week XD

Aren't they sweet?! Aww X3

Expect progress to be slow though, because I have exams this week. Don't worry though, this is still going to be one of my top priorities ;D

So, how did you find the first major chapter which events are shown in the game? It took a lot of effort to improvise things, but I'm glad I was able to incorporate them in the chapter. I was so eager to finish this part once and for all... And yes, finally, the girl of Anton's life was introduced! I feel so relieved :'D

Alongside this fic, I'm also enjoying drawing Anton, Sophia & Descole stuff for my friend's AU fic called "Bonds Through Horizons". If you're ever interested to see, check out the link of my drawing blog in my profile.

Well then, see you on the next chapter!