A Katarina Interlude

The largest hall of the castle, which was where the ball was being held, was already full of people wearing foreign formalwear and formal armor. There were light, gauzy dresses made of multiple layers of silk from Xiarmah, though it was a bit hard to tell the men apart from the women, since they all had long hair that was pinned up.. Everyone from New Catarina were wearing white formal armor, carrying their weapons at their side.

Katarina was surprised to see that so many of the La Sable men were into men, though. Not that there was anything wrong with that. Still, she remembered seeing some of them flirting with ladies during the gathering at the beginning of the international assembly, but maybe they were just into dual-wielding. Not that there was anything wrong with that. Still, she was surprised the La Sablicans all seemed to have a type when it came to men. All of their dates to the ball were tall, burly, muscular men wearing formal armor so thick and heavy that it almost didn't count.

Not that there was anything wrong with that.

She only saw them in passing as Katarina looked around for the rest of her friends. Sophia seemed to have disappeared, but that occasionally happened during these events as the shorter girl was cut off by, as she put it, 'inconsiderate tall people', so she wasn't worried. Her friend would meet up with them later, she was sure.

"Katarina, stay with me," the black-hearted prince said, no doubt wanting to make sure he wasn't bothered by any unwanted advances. "We shouldn't be separated if I'm escorting you, after all."

Ah! There was Nicol! He looked so pretty in his black suit, Katarina almost wasn't able to look directly at him. The aura of bishi-ness was almost overwhelming!

Standing next to him, holding on to his left elbow, Hyetta-chan was completely immune, although she had a smile on her face as she spoke to him quietly. Nicol nodded, then seemed to realize she couldn't see that and said something instead. Ah, they looked so cute together!

"Wha— Katarina, what did I just say!" the black-hearted prince sighed as she headed towards them, hurrying to follow her.

"Sister, wait!"

"But Nicol and Hyetta are over there!"

"They probably don't want anyone to disturb their time together, and we should respect their wishes and do the same—Katarina!"

Katarina rolled her eyes. Who'd want to be alone in a party? A party was more fun the more friends were there together! Out of the corner of her eye, she saw mother move away a seemingly villainous-but-actually-just-tsundere smile on her face, before it changed to smile mother wore whenever she saw father, while Mashu was met by a group of people in formal armor who were clearly knights of some sort.

The people who'd been walking towards them, no doubt to talk to him, made way, and Katarina gave them a bright, thankful smile as they let her through. The black-hearted prince hurried after her as she approached Nicol, while Keith was cut off as the crowd of people reformed behind them. Ah, perhaps that was for the best. Keith would need a little time to get ready to meet Nicol again now that his crush had been crushed and Nicol was no longer available. "Nicol Hyetta! Hi!"

"Ah, Lady Katarina! I'd know that voice anywhere!" She smiled towards Katarina, who stepped sideways so she was standing where Hyetta was looking. Katarina didn't want to embarrass the poor woman, after all. "How do you do, Lady Katarina?"

"I'm doing great!" Katarina said. Hyetta was wearing a pretty green dress with golden embroidery, which depicted trees, vines, leaves and mushrooms in the style of Hallig. Up close, Nicol's suit was actually very similar to Sophia's, with a black waist cape and mantle. His sword also hung from his waist and… huh, actually, did Nicol actually know how to use a sword? She remembered he carried one when they'd going to confront Sirius-who-was-really-Rafael when they'd been in school, but she didn't remember him ever using it… "You look so cute together!"

For a moment, Hyetta looked confused. "We look like we're made of plush and soft cloth?"

Katarina blinked, then tilted her head. She brightened. "Yes! You look like the feeling of hugging a soft plush doll!"

"Oh… Yes, that is a very nice feeling! Thank you for the compliment."

"Lady Katarina," Nicol said, greeting her with a nod. Ah, this close, in such clothes, she could feel herself growing a little faint! "Your highness. You both look well."

"Nicol," the black-hearted prince said. "Oh my. You're escorting Lady Carim? Is this a portent of things to come?"

Hyetta blushed, raising a hand to her cheek, while Nicol… well, it was still impossible to make out any expression on his face. "Oh, I'm sure Lord Nicol was much better prospects available to him," Hyetta said, and Katarina immediately wanted to give her a hug as she heard the sad bitterness hidden in Hyetta's voice.

"Aw, don't say that!" Katarina said. Don't hug her, don't hug her, wait until you could drag her behind a tapestry or something before giving Hyetta a hug…! "Sophia really likes you! That already puts you ahead of all those other girls." More than that, it already guarantees her the Nicol route!

"While I agree, my dear Katarina, this really isn't the place to discuss it," the black-hearted prince said. Then he winked at her and leaned towards Hyetta. "That as I recall, none of these so-called 'better' prospects ever merited being escorted to a ball, so perhaps you should give that some consideration. "

The blush on Hyetta's face was absolutely adorable.

Eventually, Keith and Sophia reappeared, although they still couldn't get close as people crowded around the black-hearted prince. Everyone wanted to greet him, as he was once of the princes of the host country. As much as Katarina wanted to talk to them some more, Nicol and Hyetta had to go. Crowds made Hyetta uncomfortable, and so Nicol escorted her away to somewhere less crowded with a look towards Katarina that was probably apologetic—it was hard to tell with Nicol.

Well, it was time to shield, so Katarina stood at the black-hearted prince's left and smiled at everyone, and even talked to them. She didn't recognize many of them, though she did receive some polite compliments that she acknowledged. Most, however, wanted to talk to the prince about one thing or another, like trying to convince someone to change this or that about a previous negotiation. Her 'fiancé' simply smiled and nodded talked about things that went over her head.

Katarina was pleasantly surprised when we were joined by his two older brothers and their fiancées. "Oh! Prince Ian! Prince Jeffrey! Lady Selena! Lady Susanna!"

"Lady Katarina!" Lady Susanna Randall greeted with a wide smile, people moving out of her way from her presence—or maybe it was just how she moved like she intended to walk over anyone in her way. She had her arms spread wide and suddenly Katarina was being hugged.

…

Ah, this was definitely not her fault! She was the huggee, not the hugger, so she was in the clear and not not following etiquette!

…

However, not that she was here, it would be rude to not hug back…

"Lady Susanna!" she greeted back. "How are you?"

"I'm absolutely wonderful, thank you!"

Selena sighed and began to tug at Susanna Randall's arms. "All right, you've had enough, now let go and stop impugning on Lady Katarina's dignity."

"If you want a hug, I could give you one too, Lady Selena."

"Try it and I'll stab you."

Prince Jeffrey turned to Prince Ian. "Little brother, your fiancée is threatening my fiancée again."

Prince Ian let out a loving sigh as he looked at Selena. "She does it so elegantly… "

"Ah, excuse me a moment everyone, I need to speak with my brothers," the black-hearted, sadist prince said, smoothly turning away from everyone. "Brothers. There you are!" He lowered his voice and hissed. "Where have you been? And… why is it that I'm the only one people are bothering?"

"Well, I'm not in good odor with our foreign neighbors," Prince Jeffrey said cheerfully. "Ever since Marquis Mason was arrested for dealing in slaves and protecting human traffickers, people have gotten the impression that all my supporters have been unscrupulous lords involved in criminal activity and I'm not the sort of prince they want to talk to."

"That's because all your supporters are unscrupulous lords involved in criminal activity," Selena said.

"Not all of them," Prince Jeffrey said, not looking the least bit offended. "I have my dear fiancée here."

Selena gave Susanna Randall a flat look. "I know what I said."

Susanna Randal smiled. "I like you too, Lady Selena!"

"I have a dagger and Lady Mary recommended a wonderful poison for it."

"Don't worry, I have poison moss!"

"Now, not everyone avoids me," Prince Jeffrey said. "Apparently all the La Sablicans find me easy to talk to. They've approached me about several deals they wanted to make."

For some reason, the black-hearted prince sighed. "We'll talk about it in my office."

"Ah, time with my cute little brother! How wonderful!"

Katarina's fiancé twitched, then turned towards Prince Ian. "And why hasn't anyone been bothering you?"

"I honestly have no idea why. I've been waiting for people to approach me, but for some reason no one has," Prince Ian said. "So I've been spending all my time with my beloved Selena."

"My beloved Ian…"

Katarina tilted her head as she looked at them, just staring into each other's eyes. Then she turned to Prince Jeffrey. "He didn't notice anyone trying to talk to him, did he?"

"Not a single one," Prince Jeffrey said, smiling fondly at the two.