Before we start, a few more details that don't fit the FFN tag limits.

Bigger List of Key Characters: Belarus, America, Liechtenstein, North Italy, South Italy, Prussia, Germany, Canada (Female), Ukraine, England, Russia, Lithuania

Ships: AmericaxBelarus, ItalyxLiechtenstein, Germanyxnyo!Canada, RussiaxHungary

Long Description:

Prince Alfred doesn't want to marry just any woman in order to take the crown of Aegaimore, he wants to marry for love. His soothsaying Seelie fae cousin looks into the future, and determines that Alfred's true love is locked away in a tower, and she just needs to be rescued.

As he travels across the Eldarin Sea and the Kingdom of Solyra, Alfred's path crosses with a mermaid who leaves the sea, a young maiden who is escaping her guardian, and a pair of siblings looking for their long-lost little sister.

Meanwhile, the Unseelie fae have their plans for the humans. The Unseelie Prince is planning to marry a human princess, while the Unseelie King plots to change the barriers between the human and fae realms.

At the centre of all of this is the fate of Alfred's true love. For being a supposed 'damsel in distress', she sure is causing a lot of the distress.

On a private balcony overlooking the ballroom, partially hidden away by the curtain, Princess Madeline of Aegaimore sat in a comfortable plush chair as she observed the party below.

Today was her 25th birthday, as well as for her twin brother, so there were a lot of people present for the celebration. While the city hosted a festival for the common folk, the nobility and the court had received the exclusive invitations to the castle in Thagia for the official royal ball. There were even some members of other royal families present, who had travelled from neighbouring kingdoms for the event.

Unfortunately for Madeline, it was far too easy to tell just how many of these guests had other motives in being here tonight.

It was no secret to the realm that both Madeline and Alfred had their fair share of suitors, and many marriage prospects to consider. The male twin was expected to take the throne someday, and the future king would need a suitable wife to be his queen. To this point, while Alfred was certainly friendly with the ladies, not a single one of them had won him over yet.

Alfred's reluctance to take a wife was making Madeline's situation more frustrating. Once Alfred was married and settled, Madeline could then be free to marry into royalty in another kingdom and take the throne there. However, if Alfred failed to take a wife, she would take his place as heir and become Queen of Aegaimore in her own right, making her future husband the King.

As such, it seemed that Madeline had twice as many suitors as Alfred, and it was exhausting to keep them all placated. So many vultures tempted by the thought of taking a possible Crown Princess as a bride, it was infuriating.

The sound of footsteps prompted Madeline to turn and look behind her and see one of the servants approaching.

"A message for you, Your Highness," Raivis delivered, "From a gentleman on the ballroom floor."

"Which gentleman?" Madeline asked as she accepted the written note.

"Unfortunately I do not know who he is," Raivis detailed, "He gave me no name, but he was tall and blond, and wore a pale yellow suit. There was something almost surreal about the way he looked."

At the description, Madeline glanced down at the party, looking for the described gentleman. After a moment, she spotted him standing to the side of the room, backed up against a pillar, looking back up at her. The other guests danced and shuffled by him, seemingly unaware that he was even there.

She could tell he was using his glamour on purpose. He was certainly pushing his limits, being in the human realm for this long, and surrounded by humans no less. Chaos would erupt if anyone realized he was here, or that they even knew each other so well.

"I see him," Madeline simply said.

"May I ask who that is?" Raivis pried.

"No, you may not," Madeline deflected, "Any gossip from downstairs that I should know about?"

"The ladies are still circling your brother, but it's becoming increasingly obvious that Alfred is not interested," Raivis reported, "As for yourself, the chatter is that the two Princes from Solyra are currently the favourites for winning you over. If Alfred takes the throne here, you'd marry Prince Lovino and become his queen when he becomes King of Solyra. If not, Prince Feliciano can marry you and you'd rule Aegaimore together."

"They certainly are the best candidates, aren't they?" Madeline conceded.

She spotted the two Solyran Princes chatting with the nobility, to the other side of the dance floor. Prince Feliciano was wildly gesturing while telling a story, much to the amusement of his audience, while Prince Lovino was rolling his eyes and drinking his wine in response to his brother's antics.

"That's the first I've heard you say that anyone stands a chance," Raivis pointed out.

"It still means nothing," Madeline covered up, "My fate is still tied to whether Alfred can find a wife. Until he makes that decision, I cannot proclaim any man as a favourite."

"There's always another option," Raivis suggested, "If you're not completely set on maintaining royal or even noble standing, you could always run away with a commoner. Perhaps even a servant, maybe even one who's waited on you for years now."

Noting the tone in his suggestion, Madeline gave Raivis a side-eye glance.

"Not in your wildest dreams," Madeline rejected, "Unless you have anything else to report on, you are dismissed."

"Worth a shot," Raivis muttered, shrugging as he walked out.

Once alone again, Madeline glanced back at the ballroom once again, noting that the tall ethereal blond was still where he was before. She waved the note at him to signal that she received it, before she opened it and started to read.

I'd love to dance with you right now, but there are far too many people here. If you can make it to the gardens, the hidden gazebo under the maple tree is still close enough to hear the ballroom music.

Madeline smiled at the lovely idea, before frowning at the likelihood of it happening. It wasn't just this ballroom that was full of people, it was the entire castle at the moment. There was no way she could sneak to the gardens alone right now.

She looked down to the ballroom once again, making eye contact with the tall blond. With a discreet hand gesture, she signalled for him to come talk to her. He gave a brief nod to the command before disappearing, and not a single person around him even noticed that he had vanished.

Madeline then spun to face the tall blond man, who had suddenly appeared with her on the private balcony.

"Happy birthday," he greeted, "You look absolutely beautiful in that gown."

"Thank you, darling," Madeline answered as she rose from her seat, the large skirt of her pink ball gown swooshing to its full range, "It's quite the eye-catcher, isn't it?"

"I was not expecting your summons," he noted, "Do you not want to dance with me in the gardens?"

"Of course I want to dance with you," Madeline explained as she walked over to him, "I just can't get down there right now, not without being seen. You might have to use your glamour on us both and escort me."

"Ah yes, I can do that," he accepted as he offered his arm, "Shall we then?"

Madeline looped her arm with his, and leaned in to quickly kiss him on the cheek.

"Let's go."