A Sora Interlude

Sora didn't want to be here.

Wearing the clothes of a servant, carrying a tray of refreshments, he felt like he was going to get a knife in his back at any moment, even as he kept his face in a servant-ly smile as he offered his trays to visitors. Their eyes barely glanced at him, taking from his tray and completely ignoring his existence, save for the few guests who looked at him to undress him with their eyes. Most he gracefully ignored, while a few of the cute ones who met his gaze got a flirty wink. It was something to distract himself as he kept counting down, waiting for trouble to start.

All through the international Assembly, he'd been running around identifying people who'd been under the influence of Dark Magic, and either undoing it—difficult, since he'd been disguised as a servant—or passing the knowledge on so they could be taken care of either the Shadow Director or one of the other Light Magic wielders in the castle. And now… on the last night…

He glanced at the other servants out of the corner of his eye. The other servants in the room looked completely unremarkable, seemingly just the same servants as before. There was absolutely nothing to mark them out as different from the servants who'd been serving in the previous social events of the International Assembly. Sora himself only knew for sure since he'd been introduced to the King's Blades beforehand. He'd asked if he could also be replaced by someone else, but his request had unfortunately been refused.

Almost, it reminded him of working for his old boss the Marquis Mason, being ordered to do dangerous and risky things with no consideration of his opinion. Ugh, if it weren't for how much he liked working with the people of the Magic Tool Laboratory, he'd defect to the first pretty girl who said he was cool!

At least the Shadow Director had warned him this was likely before he'd agreed to volunteer. Still, he was a sneaky spying build, not a sneaky assassin build! He was a kidnapper at best, not a backstabber!

Thank the dead gods he'd been allowed to carry as many knives on his person as he could fit under his jacket. The Shadow Director had even let him borrow a glove-shaped magic tool to help enhance his weak Fire Magic, which bumped him up from making little flames to making a weak but intimidating stream of fire. He couldn't hold it for long before it made him tired, but it was meant more as a distraction and deterrent while he got one of his knives.

Not that he had any intention of standing his ground and fighting. No, if the trouble everyone expected reared its ugly head, he was throwing his tray and running. Leave fighting to people suited to it, like all the knights among the nobles, the magic wielders that didn't need magic tools to help them, and all the King's Blades pretending to be servants. When danger reared its ugly head, he was bravely going to turn tail and flee!

Despite how full of nervous 'run away' stamina he was, Sora still managed to remain calm as he went about his servant duties. If nothing else, he had some pride in his ability stay in character and present the face expected of him. He wasn't going to be the one who'd give away the subterfuge. Not that there was any risk of that, anyway. The only way anyone would be able to see through the switch was if they knew every servant in the castle, and who among those invited was capable of that?

"Oh, you're new! What's your name?"

There was a snap as Sora turned his head towards the source of the voice. Oh no. No, no no nonononono—!

They'd only met once, but he could never forget her. Katarina Claes, the fiancée of the Third Prince, who Sora was fairly certain had tried to have horrible things happen to him if it weren't for the relative protection of being employed by the Ministry. And right now, she was looking at one of the King's Blades disguised as a servant and had just asked a very awkward question.

Fortunately, no one who mattered seemed to have heard, since Claes was in the company of… oh dungpies, that was Selena Burg, who no doubt remembered him, and her fiancé the Second Prince, and there was the Third Prince who he'd never personally met but had seen over the past week…

"You're ladyship?" the King's Blade disguised as a servant said, pretending to look confused. "I've worked here in the castle for years."

"No, no, I'd definitely never seen you around here before," Katarina Claes said guilelessly. "And I know everyone! Don't worry, there's no shame in today being your first day. What did you say your name was?"

"Uh, I should really get back to my duties, your ladyship," the disguised King's Blade said nervously.

"But I don't even know your name yet—!"

"Sister, this probably isn't something that something a lady should be doing…" a man who was probably Katarina Claes' brother said.

"Nope! I checked. There's nothing in the 'The Noble's Proper Etiquette Reference and Manual of Propriety and Action, Seventh Edition' against finding out servant's names," Katarina Claes said cheerfully. "In fact, we're actually supposed to know our servants as part of our noble duties to properly provide for them, and to appreciate their service! So, what's your— huh? Where did she go?"

Katarina Claes looked around in confusion, not having noticed that the King's Blade had slid into her blind spot in the moment she'd been turned away and was now making her way away from the woman. Word was probably going to spread that the King's Blades should avoid Katarina Claes for the moment,

Well. Not his problem. He'd just have to avoid her so he wouldn't recognize him and—

"Smith," he heard a voice speaking as if someone as whispering right next to his ear, "take charge of serving in the vicinity of Lady Claes. She knows you, you can distract her from breaking all our cover. Acknowledge."

Sora twitched. Stupid Wind Magic wielders. "Go try jumping," he managed to say without moving his lips.

There was a tinge of amusement in the voice as it said, "Acknowledgement received."

Ugh, this was the LAST time he allowed himself to be talked into doing something like this! He was a Ministry worker, not some kind of spy! He didn't want to end up a newbie like Larna Smith!

A Katarina Interlude

Katarina couldn't get that servant out of her head. She said she wasn't new, but Katarina couldn't remember her name, or who she was friends with, or what her favorite food was… Argh! It was so frustrating! If she wasn't new, that meant Katarina had forgotten about her, which was so embarrassing! When Katarina properly remembered what her name was, she would have to apologize for being so thoughtless!

However, she couldn't dwell on it, as she had other things she needed to take care of, like making sure all the relevant women knew about the dance schedule she'd arranged for Keith! She couldn't go very far from the Third Prince, since she was being his shield, but that was fine since eventually people started coming to them. Fortunately, the ball was only in its beginning stages and the dancing hadn't begun yet, so there was plenty of time to let the women know, as well as to reassure the women who wouldn't be dancing with Keith that sitting next to him while he rested wasn't a lesser position.

Honestly, Katarina probably wouldn't have been able to organize everything so quickly if it weren't for the older princes as well as Selena and Susanna Randall's assistance. Her good friend Selena was absolutely enthusiastic about helping Keith find love for himself, while Prince Ian was more than happy to help with anything Selena wanted to do.

Susanna Randall, for her part, seemed to enjoy helping, doing so with a big smile on her face and she and Selena made the same sort of friendly conversation that the Third Prince and Keith did. Ah, it was so nice to see that the two of them were so close! The two of them must surely be looking forward to when they were both married and officially sisters-in-law!

Prince Jeffrey helped in his own way, assisting his black-hearted younger brother with talking to all the foreign lords who wanted to have a chat. He seemed to get on really well with the La Sablican lords. Their dates stood to the side, looking a bit awkward as they stood around holding teeny-tiny glasses of drinks, nervously gripping their swords.

Nicol and Hyetta were sitting near us to spare Hyetta having to move around, and she and Sophia were chatting happily about books, while Nicol sat nearby and smile as he watched the two. Directly behind the two women was an empty corridor on which lay the occasional fallen body of someone who fainted from accidentally moving directly into the path of Nicol's smile.

Somewhere in the ballroom, Katarina heard the sounds of the band warming up, signaling that the ball was truly beginning, and that the dancing was going to be starting soon. She glanced around and met the eyes of Lady Markson, the one whom Keith would be dancing with first, nodding to her to get ready. The woman, an Etrani who apparently worked at the House of Argent Silver as some sort of… private knight contractor support officer?—smiled widely in acknowledgement, her triangular earrings swaying as she approached Keith.

"Lord Keith," Lady Markson said with a smile, "I believe I have the first dance with you?"

For some reason, Keith looked nervously towards Katarina. She gave him a wide smile and a thumbs up to encourage him. It was cute that he still turned to her when he was nervous, but she knew Keith could handle something like this on his own! All he needed was some confidence!

Nervously, Keith got up, even as the women who'd been crowding around him because they wouldn't get to sit or dance with him until later all pouted or gave Lady Markson jealous looks as she took his arm and began to lead him towards the dancefloor, where other couples were already congregating. Katarina watched him walk away, sniffing a little. Agh, careful, careful, she was wearing makeup!

"Lady Katarina, are you crying?" Susanna Randall asked.

"No…" she protested, then realized how tsundere she sounded. "Well, yes…" Katarina admitted. "It's just… little brothers grow up so fast, you know?"

"Ah, yes, I perfectly understand," Prince Jeffrey said, joining us as he'd just finished speaking to some La Sablican lord. "It's like only yesterday they were cute little babies that I swore I'd protect forever and ever, and now they're grown up, planning to get married, taking charge of hunting down slavers making nuisances of themselves…" The First Prince sniffed as well, dabbing at his eyes. "Time is moving so fast… did someone disturb Princess Filianore or something?"

Katarina had no idea what that meant, but she agreed with the sentiment. "I know," she sighed, dabbing at her eyes. "It's like I just broke open his door with an axe, and now I'm watching him go dancing with a woman who isn't just a friend because we're looking for a wife for him… "

"Wait, what was the about an axe…?"

"My dear Katarina!" the black-hearted prince said, having finished talking to the lord who had approached him and turning away from anothr trying to get his attention. "Would you do me the honor of dancing with me, as we'd practiced?"

Eh? But she'd been hoping to get some snacking done while she didn't have to do anything… ah, but if she didn't someone was probably going to bother him about dancing with him! She supposed he needed his shield then…

"All right, but just one," she said.

"Surely you have time for a few more than that, my dear Katarina?" the Third Prince said. "Perhaps two… or three… or four…"

But… food….!

"…and then we can end the dance at the buffet for you to have a snack."

"Well, all right then!" Ah, the food will taste better after a little exercise! Oh, and if she was dancing, she could keep an eye on Keith to see how well he got along with Kate!

Katarina allowed herself to be guided towards the dance floor, trusting him to lead her as she looked around to spot Keith. Nicol and Hyetta weren't joining the dance floor, but they were standing up and…

Ah, SQUEEE! Oh, Nicol was leading Hyetta to a little space at the edge of the room, Lady Zorayas a discreet distance away as she chaperoned them, even as the latter woman watched the two with a fond expression. The two awkwardly got into a dancing position, clearly intending to dance where Hyetta wouldn't have to worry about running into people. Hyetta was laughing nervously, but she never stopped smiling.

"Finally… I finally have you all to myself. These last two weeks… the lectures… it's all been worth it just for this…!"

Katarina blinked, and turned away from Nicol and Hyetta. "Hmm? Did you say something? I wasn't paying attention."

His hand rose. "I was just saying—" he began as he touched her cheek.

"Ah, wait, wait, don't touch my cheek, you'll smear the makeup and mother will get mad at me!"

The hand wavered, and he sighed. "Well, we wouldn't want to make the Duchess mad, I suppose."

Katarina nodded fervently. "Yeah, she's scary when she's mad. "

His hand settled down to her shoulder, on top of the small pauldron under the mantle. A pause, and his finger tapped on the armor, making it ring. "My dear Katarina… are you actually wearing real armor?"

She blinked. "Uh, yes? That's why it's formal armor, after all."

He stepped back slightly and looked down at her waist. "Exactly where does the armor cover, exactly?"

"Oh, all over," Katarina explained proudly. "Dame Maria wanted to make sure I was fully protected against arrows and throwing knives and things. She says it won't stop dogs though."

"Well… could you at least take off your gloves?"

"But they're part of the set. Besides, it's not like I can put them anywhere." All her secret pockets were full.

For some reason, the black-hearted prince sighed heavily.

Katarina perked up as the opening bars of a familiar dancing tune began to rise from the musicians. "Ooh, they're starting! Your hands, your hands, let's get ready!"

With a weird look on his face, the black-hearted prince put one hand on her waist and to her hand with the other. Katarina was worried he'd do it wrong again and start standing too close like he had during practice, but thankfully he seems to have finally learned, because he stood properly this time, not trying to stand to close. She was glad for that. If he'd done it wrong the way he'd been doing at practice, he'd have rubbed up against her armor, which would probably have been uncomfortable for him.

Still, even as she kept watch on Keith out of the corner of her eye, she got ready to dance, a part of her glad she didn't have to worry about a strict sempai with a boken—

"FOR THE GLORY OF LA SABLE!"

And then the screaming started.

A/N: Kate Markson exists for all private knight contractors.