Review Responses:
pretty-on-point: Ren and Fabia's love story is a combination of both the enemies to lovers trope AND the bodyguard trope! Small spoiler alert, but Christina isn't in this chapter - the ballgown fitting is only for the three noble women. The reason why the whole community is surprised at Keith and Mira staying with Alice is because of how private Alice is - it's been mentioned in the very first chapter/prologue and throughout the fic that Alice lives a rather humble life for someone of nobility so it's just surprising how a king and princess are choosing to stay in the house of a poor (in terms of nobility) duchess rather than someone with a higher rank and more wealth. Oh, when Ace made that comment about Runo, I meant for him to imply that the reason why she doesn't have a long line of men waiting for her is because of her temperament, lol - but it also helps that she is already committed to Dan. And ah, I'm so sorry, I should have specified! When Shun said "free night", he meant that they are able to steal from whatever houses they want to - they usually make plans to steal together but this time it's a solo night type of thing. Hopefully that clears things up! （*＾-＾*）
Innocent-Diamond: And I didn't know that! Thank you for letting me know, I'll check it out asap! And while Fabia's situation is similar to Japan's former princess, the difference here is that Fabia will still maintain her title - when she and Ren get married, Ren will get the title of 'prince consort'. And AMEN! We don't accept empty proposals, not back in the day and ESPECIALLY not now in the 21st century! ( ˘︹˘ )
MagicxMusicxMelody: Ah no, that's okay! Hopefully it's somewhere in the sea of Bakugan fics and not deleted. ＞﹏＜ And yep! If only real wars were resolved as semi-peacefully as hat of Neathia and Gundalia, the world would be a better place. :') And honestly, what I have in mind for the ballgowns aren't historically accurate - you can literally search up '[insert color here] ballgown' and whatever picture of a modern ballgown pops up is most likely similar to what I envisioned lol. ⊙﹏⊙∥
cherry-tree-of-life: Small spoiler alert but yes, Ren will also be in attendance! Another small spoiler alert, but I'm planning on writing a little bonus scene between Ren and Fabia when I get to the ball scene where they talk about any rude comments thrown their way, so please look forward to it! And ah, nothing like that will happen at the ball! But...But there is a chance that you-know-who will be making an attack on a certain prince... ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯
Chapter 13
"Oh, this one is - "
"Oh, Alice, please don't pick that one! You already have enough yellow ballgowns as it is!" Julie whined childishly. The day that Alice half-dreaded finally came - the day that she alongside Mira came to Makimoto Manor to be fitted for their ballgowns with Julie. The invitation was also extended to King Keith but he refused, choosing to rest at Gehabich Manor. The fitting portion of the appointment went normally, as the seamstress simply needed to take the noble women's measurements. It was the picking of the dress that Alice feared the most. The redhead duchess rarely ever kept up with the latest fashion trends and tended to wear the ballgowns that she had until they looked either old or were beyond mending. Which explained why she was currently in a bit of a squabble with Julie about which color ballgown to wear.
"Julie." Mira narrowed her eyes at Julie, causing the silver-haired duchess to cower at the princess's blue eyes flashing in disapproval. "It is Alice's ballgown not yours. Why does it matter if she chooses this?" The princess lifted up the yellow satin fabric to emphasize her point.
"But Mira!" Her fear long-forgotten, the Makimoto duchess redirected her whines to the princess of New Vestroia. "You've been staying with Alice for weeks now! Surely you must have noticed how many yellow dresses she has." Alice flushed in embarrassment at Julie's words - she really hadn't thought about her dresses until now and she felt somewhat ashamed for not having more of a variety of color in her wardrobe.
"And what of it?" The princess snapped. "Those are her gowns, not yours. Why does it bother you so much?"
"Because as her friend, I simply can not allow Alice to attend the ball with a dress that looks like something she'd wear daily!" Julie turned her attention back to Alice. "Alice, please. You can't find a suitor if you attend Prince Klaus's ball in a dress that doesn't stand out!"
"Julie - "
"Yes, you're right, Julie." Alice interrupted Mira, who looked as if she was about to continue scolding Julie. While Alice did agree to an extent with Mira, after years of friendship with Julie, Alice found that it was better to agree with the silver-haired girl than to argue with her - Julie was too stubborn. "I didn't notice that I had so many yellow ballgowns in my wardrobe - you're very observant Julie."
"Of course I am! I have to be if I want to look my best!" Julie was too busy preening at the redhead duchess's words that she missed the scoff and eyeroll that came from the princess of New Vestroia. "And I want you to look your best as well, Alice. Every noblewoman is going to looking their best as well and I can't have you fall behind!"
"N-No, I suppose not." Alice agreed, rather hesitantly. "What color would you suggest my ballgown should be then?"
"I'm glad you asked!" The silver-haired beamed, pulling a piece of fabric from behind her as she thrusted it into the redhead's hands. "Behold!"
"It's rather...bold." Alice managed to muster out as she fiddled with the emerald green satin fabric in her hand. While the color was beautiful, the redhead couldn't imagine herself wearing such a color. "I think the color is a bit too much for me - "
"It is not!" Julie huffed, dramatically. "It would look perfect on you! Besides, this is exactly why you should wear it - the ball is the perfect opportunity to wear something out of your comfort zone."
"Well, yes, but - "
"You'll see! If it makes you feel better, I'll pay for it." Julie chirps brightly.
"Oh, Julie you don't have to do that - "
"I know that you don't completely love it, but I just know that it'll look amazing on you." The silver-haired said, earnestly.
Alice sighed - she really can't find it in herself to say 'no', especially if Julie was looking at her with those big blue eyes. "All...All right."
"Yes, yes, yes! Oh thank you so much Alice, you won't regret it!" Julie squealed, enveloping the redhead in a tight hug. "Now that we got a dress for you, Alice, we need find a dress for Mira!"
xoxo
In the guest room of the Gehabich Manor, Gus Grav bowed deeply. "You called me, Your Highness?"
"Gus. Have a seat." King Keith gestured to a nearby chair from where he was sitting.
"Yes, Your Highness. Thank you, Your Highness." The butler thanked, settling into the chair.
"Gus, what do you think of Lady Alice?"
"Lady Alice? She is very well-mannered, unlike some of the noble women." The bluenette sneered lightly. "It helps that she is also beautiful - "
"Then you agree? You agree that besides from her manners and her beauty, there is nothing quite special about Lady Alice."
The butler paused. "I...Your Highness, I apologize, but I do not understand."
"Many men have vied for Lady Alice's hand in marriage. I quite frankly, do not see the appeal with her. She is beautiful, yes, but there is not much that she has to offer - after all, she is not a very wealthy duchess as there is hardly any money to her family name. Nevertheless, none of these men have gotten anywhere close to her hand - this so-called 'ninja' has either stolen the gifts they present to her or she has refused. This...ninja...it seems fake, does it not? After all, what kind of ninja would steal only the jewels that her suitors gift her but nothing from the duchess herself? What good does that do? Perhaps this is all fake, a scam so that Lady Alice will bring more attention and appeal to her."
"Your Highness - "
"I will propose to Lady Alice before Prince Klaus's ball - I wish to prove that this ninja is merely all smoke and no fire."
And unbeknownst to the king of New Vestroia and his butler, lurking underneath the open window of the guest room was an intruder eavesdropping in on their conversation. The intruder chuckled to himself when the king mentioned his doubts on the existence of the ninja, a plan already hatching in his mind.
"Isn't he going to be in for a surprise?"
End of Chapter 13.
Note: Hello! Welcome to the first update of this work for this new year AND my second overall update of the year! Like last year, I am continuing to update at least one work a month so because of that, I'm hoping that I'll either get this work to be nearly or if possible, complete by the end of this year - the end is almost here, friends! But before that, let's get into this chapter, shall we? (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ
There's three sides to this chapter and they are all just as equally as chaotic, lol. Alice is out here getting bullied by Julie on her fashion choices, Keith and Gus are out here questioning Alice and her credibility while you-know-who is planning to you-know-what. The Alice and Julie scene is very similar to a scene in one of my other works, 'Somewhere Only We Know' where they both went shopping and Julie semi-pressured Alice into getting a ballgown - if you notice any correlation between the color of the ballgown that Julie chose for Alice in this fic, please let me know. (¬‿¬) While the you-know-who scene is taken from an earlier chapter of this work - self-plagiarism really popped off in this chapter. =￣ω￣=
As always, please leave a review and I shall see you in the next chapter! Bye~! \^o^/
P.S: This is shameless self-promo, but if you ever have the chance to go on or use Tumblr on a PC, please check out my blog - I revamped it and I want someone to admire it with me, lol! No pressure though! ^^