Review Responses:

Guest: I don't really see how that chapter had Gatsby vibes to it, but The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books! (≧▽≦)

Innocent-Diamond: I'd trust Mylene to get the job done but I don't expect her to be nice, LOL. Ooh, fanart~! I haven't seen that many good Shurisu fanart-one of the only ones that I like is the fanart used as the image for this story. Do you mind me asking you who the artist's username or the title of the art? LOL, Klaus is just dense; there's nothing going on. (〃ω〃)

Guest pretty pretty: Oh wow! I actually didn't expect anyone to read the descriptions I wrote in my profile but thank you for taking the time to read it! I personally don't see the Gatsby vibes *yet* but I agree with you that Shun is a lot smarter than poor Gatsby on working with the black market. And thank you for answering my question~! (*^^*)

Cup of Violet Tea: It was no sweat! And yep, that's essentially it, LOL. I feel like most rich people are so rich that they have more money on their hands than they know what to do with, so what better way than to throw a party? Uh...I was hoping that the 'unfinished business' part was implied that Alice was his 'unfinished business' (my one-shot You'll Be in My Heart shows that Alice and Shun, at sixteen, made a promised each other that when Shun came back from ninja-training with his grandfather, they would run away together. That didn't happen because Alice married Klaus). Hopefully it makes sense!⊙﹏⊙

cherry-tree-of-life: Yeah, Mylene's just a cruel and rude person, but who knows? Maybe she'll turn out all right in the end? What Shun has been up to for the last 2 years will be revealed later as the story continues but let's just say that it's a bit...unusual. Thank you for the recommendation! The song sounds lively and upbeat~! (｡･ω･｡)

Chapter 3

"Thank you very much for coming to tea, Julie! I haven't seen you at all these days!" Alice smiled fondly at her female companion in front of her. Nearly a week or so after the ball, she and Julie Makimoto, the daughter of a rather wealthy and prosperous merchant, agreed to have the silver-haired female come over to the von Hertzon Manor for some tea and to just catch up on the recent events happening in their life. Julie and Klaus were good friends for most of their lives so when Alice married Klaus and came to live in the manor, Julie was one of the first people to come and visit her. Out of all of the nobles that she met, the redhead female liked Julie the best because not only was she around her age and it was much easier to get along with her than say the older ladies, but the younger female was always so happy and cheerful. Even through her worst days, Alice always felt better whenever Julie would come and visit her, thus why she adored her visits to the von Hertzon Manor.

"Oh, I've missed you so much, Alice, and there's so much I've got to tell you! But enough about me for a moment! How was the ball that Mr. Barodius hosted? How I do wish I was there! If only Daisy had arrived back home earlier, Father and I would have accompanied you there." The tanned female lamented, pouring herself another cup of chamomile tea.

"It was...bearable, I suppose, but I do wish you were there." Was her honest reply as she bit into a tea cake. She would never say it in front of Julie, but the only reason why she would want Julie there-besides making the night much more bearable-was the fact that if Julie was there, she would, perhaps, have avoided a certain someone completely that night.

"Were there any handsome and single men there?" Julie goggled at her.

Alice had to laugh a bit. "Hardly." The silver-haired female is, as of right now, still single. And while Alice dreaded every ball or event that she was forced to attend to, Julie would adore them, mostly because it was a perfect opportunity for her to find a new suitor. "But whatever happened to Billy?"

The silver-haired female let out a dramatic and rather exaggerated gasp. "Please do not mention his name ever again, Alice! Billy left to some place God-knows-where and hasn't contacted me at all! I am so over that boy!" The tanned female huffed as she took another tea cake from the tea platter. The redhead female idly pondered on the thought that she and Julie were somewhat in the same boat in which their lovers had up and left them without saying very much. "But surely there must at least be one bachelor! The ball cannot just be full of older men!" She insisted.

"Well..." Mrs. von Hertzon thought for a moment before the image of a raven-haired male with bored hazel eyes dressed in green crossed her mind. A gasp escaped her.

"Well? Where was there anyone or not?" Miss Makimoto asked impatiently.

"Well...there was...one bachelor...that I could remember." Alice replied, meekly.

"Yes! I knew it! See, Alice? There couldn't possibly be just older men at the ball. Now, describe him for me." The other female smiled triumphantly before she directed her attention to the redhead female.

"Oh...well, he...doesn't talk very much, so much so that Klaus is unable to identify what his occupation is." She admitted after some difficulty. She couldn't find any words to use to truly describe Shun but she supposed that the piece of information she gave Julie was satisfactory enough.

Julie was silent for a moment, possibly thinking about the piece of information that Alice just gave her. "He seems like a secretive and mysterious person. I suppose that having a few secrets and mysteries to a person keeps the courtship interesting, won't you say so, Alice? And I'd rather have a man who doesn't talk very much than one who talks entirely too much. Billy talked far too much and now, all of a sudden, he's stopped talking completely!" She huffed as she angrily dumped two lumps of sugar into her tea. "Is he handsome?" Ah, there it is. The most important question that Julie always asked whenever it came to potential suitors.

"Yes." Alice might as well answer her friend truthfully.

"Very?"

"Dangerously handsome." Which was the truth. Shun was both dangerous to her current adaptation of her new lifestyle and handsome.

Julie squealed excitedly. "Oh, a handsome and mysterious man! Oh, now I really wish that I was there! But how does he look like, Alice?"

The redhead female paused for a moment before she spoke once more. "Well...he has a rather sharp jaw and his skin is rather olive. And...he is quite tall and his arms and legs are quite strong. He is rather fit but not overly muscular."

"Do go on." Julie was interested.

"He has the blackest hair that I ever saw...and it was quite long for a man, for it is shoulder-length. Oh, and his eyes..." At this point, Alice seemed to have forgotten about her female companion next to her and looked past the garden wistfully. "They were a beautiful hazel shade and if you looked at him long enough...you could lose yourself in his eyes."

"Oh, Alice, I absolutely must meet him." The redhead was rudely snapped out of her thoughts when the silver-haired female sitting across from her reached over and grabbed her hand. "He sounds simply magical." As those words left Julie's lips, Alice couldn't help but glare at the happy and unsuspecting female.

The door to the garden creaked open and out stepped Klaus. "Oh, Julie! What a pleasant surprise! I didn't know that you came here to visit!" The silver-haired male greeted politely at his acquaintance as he approached the two seating women.

"Oh, Klaus! Alice was just telling me of one of the bachelors at Mr. Barodius' ball! I suppose that you must know more about him than Alice does." She had the urge to correct Julie that she in fact, knew more about Shun than Klaus could ever know. After all, she was in love with him for five years, not Klaus.

His eyebrows furrowed in thought. "A bachelor at Mr. Barodius' ball? There were very few that I can think of right now...but the one that stood out to me the most is Mr. Kazami-"

"Oh, is that him, Alice?" The silver-haired female squealed once again in excitement. But before Alice could even answer, she spoke again. "Oh, how exciting! And I suppose that you have reeled him in as a client, haven't you, Klaus?"

"But of course. Although I couldn't have done it on my own. Alice, in the very short time that she met Mr. Kazami, managed to win him over that he became my client! He even recommended me to a few of his friends as well!" The silver-haired male beamed proudly. "He is coming to the manor this Friday evening for dinner-"

Klaus was unable to finish his sentence, due to Julie's squealing. "This Friday?! Oh, that sounds absolutely wonderful! Klaus, do you think, if by any chance, that I may come to the dinner as well? I would very much like to meet him." She batted her blue eyes flirtatiously, coaxing him to say 'yes'.

Having been friends with Julie for a long time, he simply laughed it off. "I'm afraid you can't come this time, Julie. But if he is interested to another invitation, I will be sure to invite you as well."

The silver-haired female squealed in delight once more. "Oh, isn't that amazing, Alice? Oh, I do hope that he agrees to another dinner or something of that sort! I simply cannot wait to meet him."

As the younger female gushed about the raven-haired male to her husband, Alice remained silent. Just the thought of a bubbly and loud Julie clinging onto the arm of a stoic and quiet Shun made her want to puke. She couldn't even imagine what her reaction would be like if the two of them did actually meet.

"Oh my, it's nearing five o'clock! I've had so much fun that I forgot about the time! I must be going back home; dinner is almost ready." The younger female gasped as she looked down at her pocket watch.

"You could always stay for dinner, Julie. I am sure that Cook and Mylene wouldn't mind it." Klaus offered.

Julie shook her head. "Thank you very much for your offer, Klaus, but I'm sure that Father would want me home for dinner. After all, Daisy had just arrived here from Bakugan Valley and we haven't had a proper family dinner in so long."

The visit ended with Julie and Alice making plans to visit each other more often and to the redhead's discomfort, the silver-haired female gushed more about wanting to meet Mr. Kazami. She would never admit it aloud, but Mrs. von Hertzon was glad that her younger friend was finally going home. She didn't know how much more of Julie's swooning over Shun if the visit was extended. Being the gentleman he was, Klaus escorted Julie back home in one of their carriages with the two females waving good-bye to each other until it disappeared out of her sight. Sighing, Alice made her way back to the von Hertzon Manor to get ready for dinner.

She would see Shun once again on Friday, as it was three days away. And much to her own surprise, she couldn't wait.

End of Chapter 3.

Note: Whoo! It didn't take me nearly a year to update this story again, haha! And I know what you're all thinking: 'Where's Shun?!' I thought that Alice was a bit distressed/stressed about Shun's appearance at the ball in the last chapter and she needed a break...and who's a better person than Julie! If you've kept up with Of Angels and Ninjas, you'll notice that Julie and Alice had a tea party but unlike that story, Julie and Alice's tea party gave Alice more stress than anything, LOL. Shun will be in the next chapter, I promise you that. I hope I did a decent job at portraying a jealous Alice-probably not, LOL-but it's pretty hard to do that, especially since I can't imagine Alice being jealous. Anyways, please review your thoughts on this third chapter and I will see you soon in the next chapter~! (・ωｰ)～