My eyes made contact with his golden ones.
"Got a problem?" I asked.
He shaked his head and smiled, "I'm not quite sure what had happened. I just happened to come outside for some fresh air. And I happened to come across such beauty." He bowed, and took my right hand as he bowed, giving a kiss on my hand. It was almost an instinct to yank my hand back to wipe it, but I had recalled it was someone that had gotten Snow White's attention. But the problem remained, I had no idea who this guy was. I chuckled nervously, if he had gotten Snow White's attention then I don't want to get more attention from this guy.
"Unfortunately, your grace, I have someplace to be at this moment. Please forgive me," I said as I quickly left the area. I didn't need to look back to feel someone burning a hole into my back with that gaze of his.
"I don't want to get involved with him," I muttered as I got a decent amount of distance away from that balcony, and rubbed the back of my neck. I had gone and gotten a drink from one of the servants walking around, as the royal band started a new song. My eyes wandered and glanced over all the couples that had decided to take to the dance floor, those that basically guaranteed engagements. Snow White had told me that it was basically a battlefield for forming alliances as well, but that had never interested me. It had required understanding and knowing who was who, and I had no attention in learning who was the count of what territory. I had seen Snow White pour over the family trees of each noble family in our kingdom. They were lucky that I had memorized the stronger knight families in our own kingdom, despite my only interest in being the newly powerful Xenia Empire. It was all the talk in the circles of how Emperor Ryland ascended the throne, and the very next day had quelled all noble resistance in his capital. And the next few months had been to every territory making sure there was no criticism to his claim to the throne. But what had interested me the most about this Emperor was afterwards, all the territories that were known to be autonomous, had formally declared their submission and obedience. The empire had released statements saying that it was a peaceful affair, but the gossip in the circles was that he had gotten to each family with his sword raised and none that had chosen to obey him would be executed.
I had ignored those rumors, because the nobles were known to be talkers, and discriminate against those with questionable backgrounds, which happened to be Emperor Ryland's background. The previous emperor had confirmed his royal lineage, but it could not stop the talks that floated around because his mother was unknown. And that Ryland had originally made his name known as a mercenary before his coronation. It did not help that shortly after he had started his rule, the Empire's most reputable knight order, the Order of the Silver Dragons, was replaced with the infamous mercenary group, the Hollowed Requiems. The funny thing was the contrast of opinions between the upper and lower classes about it. The nobility had found the group to be equivalent to vagabonds or thugs; however, on the other side, the commoners had looked up to the mercenaries with admiration.
I had looked into the track record of the Hollowed Requiems and they had a track record of victories, and some defeats, but the victories far outnumbered their defeats. And eventually, despite his mother's blood in Emperor Ryland, his father, the previous emperor, was forced to acknowledge all his achievements and give him an opportunity to fight for the throne in their tradition. Despite my own interests in Emperor Ryland's achievements, I did not know what the man looked like. Due to the other nobility's disdain for him, I have yet to see a portrait of him. The only rumors were that he was disfigured and ugly, and they blamed it on his poor mother's blood. Hearing it made my own blood boil. It was an open secret that the previous emperor was a womanizer, and then no pretty face could escape him. What could a poor maid do in that case?
Then the band had finished a song and was kicking up to do another one. I glanced over to see if Snow White or the Queen was around, but I could not find the Queen. Well I was glancing left and right to just see any glimpse of either one of them, there were gasps around and hurried whispers. I shifted my attention to whispering nobles around me to see what the fuss was. The women of the nobility were always quick to a rumor, to listen to and spread. I could only make out some words. The queen. Snow White. Emperor Ryland. War. Allow. Dance. I couldn't make a single sentence, and my eyes shifted to the center of the ballroom to see if it was related to what the women were currently obsessing over. And to my surprise it was, because in the very center, was Snow White and her dance partner. I glanced back at the women. I would guess that they would gossip, because Snow White's dress seemed to shimmer as she moved gracefully, like she was floating across the dance floor. But I would assume they were gossiping due to her dance partner. Her dance partner was the man that was dressed completely in black, with the scar across her face. I thought it was quite the picture, they had looked like they belonged to two different worlds, yet complimented each other.
I started to grow quite suspicious of the scene that was playing out right in front of me. Snow White had leaned closer to her dance partner, like she was whispering something into his ear. The voices around me didn't stop for a moment, and I decided to get closer to a group that happened to be quite loud.
"Poor Princess Snow White. Do you think she was forced to dance by that monster?"
"You know, they said that she's too nice for her own good." I tried to listen to more, but none could tell me what I wanted to know.
"You and your sister are quite different," said a voice behind me, startling me. I turned around to face an older man, the same older man that Snow White was staring at before. He had this smile on him, but his eyes didn't convey any warmth that matched his expression.
"Yes, she and I are definitely different. Is that such a bad thing?" I asked back, a little confused on what he was alluding to.
"No, variety and differences can be a good thing. It does make things unpredictable, but I have always found that makes things more interesting," he replied, with no change in his expression. I was starting to get creeped out by this guy. Who would start a conversation like that? No one in our kingdom would begin our conversation like that. Most had started with flattery, but none really approached me to begin a genuine conversation. The queen had made it very well known that I had zero power in our kingdom's affairs, and because of it, nobles would rarely approach me to make small talk such as this. As I was wondering what this man's intentions were, he asked, "Have you heard about the Xenia Empire and its new emperor?"
I gave him a more confused look. "Who wouldn't have heard about the Xenia Empire and its new emperor?"
"And have you ever seen their new emperor?" I only became more confused by his line of questioning.
"I have not; however, I have heard only rumors of his fearful appearance," I responded hesitantly. The man's expression didn't change, but I think I saw a flicker of amusement in his eyes. I wasn't too sure so I didn't break eye contact with him. It felt like a long time, but it only lasted until that song finished. I wasn't tempted to look away to find Snow White since this strange man had my own attention.
"How dare you?!" Boomed a voice. That had broken my attention and everyone else's in the room since we looked towards the door. It was pretty clear that it was Baron Morris, and he did not look happy with his torn clothes and evident scratches on his own face and body.
"Oh my, Baron Morris, how happened?" The queen asked as she made her way towards him. One can say that she was concerned about how this would affect her reputation as the host of the ball.
"What happened?! What happened?! What happened is that thing!" He responded pointing his finger at me, his face getting redder and redder by the second.
"Now, now Baron, please calm yesterday. Have some champagne, and we can talk about this when you are much calmer," the queen said, handing him a class of champagne. She tried to lead him towards a more private room, but Baron Morris was not having it.
"I know what I saw! And that thing is not fit to be a royal, not less a noble!" At this point, it was quite obvious that the rest of the room was whispering. Some were talking about his unsightly appearance. Others were talking about what had to happen.
"Baron, I think you might be overreacting. We were just speaking on the balcony, before you started looking pale, like you had seen a ghost! And then next thing I knew, you jumped off yourself," a voice joined in. All the voices stopped as he started talking. It was that redhead man that was also on the balcony with the baron. And judging by how silent everyone had become, I cursed a little in my head for not knowing who this guy was.
The redhead smirked and continued, "I think your wife's death is getting to you. Maybe you should get some rest. I am sure that is what she would also want." Baron Morris's face paled at what was implied. Everyone was looking at him, some snickered, other men looked with some pity, but it was more pity that the Baron became the object of the redhead's amusement. Baron Morris allowed the queen to guide him to one of the guest rooms. As people went back to mingling, I rolled my eyes, annoyed that he managed to realize it was me, which means the queen will be summoning me eventually, and also now, I owe a favor to a man that I didn't know. Then, a hand yanked me around, and before I could slap the person, my eyes met Snow White's.
"What did you do? Nevermind that, what were you thinking? You know she will use this against you?" She whispered, careful so the others wouldn't hear.
"It will be fine! Look how it turned out," replied as calmly as I could, not making eye contact with her.
"Fine?! Fine?! You had help from Prince Kael from the Craxa! The one that is nicknamed the crazy dog, the one most unpredictable prince in possibly the whole world! And now you most likely owe that crazy man a favor!" My own face paled. Maybe I should have paid in those lessons.