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“That lady over there has been staring at you for a while now, sir.”
“Hold on a minute – could you perhaps be referring to the one in green?”
“Yes, the lovely young lady with the brown hair. I’ve caught her stealing glances this way the entire night.”
“Perhaps she’s interested in you.”
A derisive scoff. “Of course not. Don’t be foolish. How could she spare a look at any of us when Sir Felix Robane is standing right here with us?”
A light nudge in Felix’s arm snaps him out of his reverie. Blinking as the view of fluttering dresses and lively guests returns into focus, he turns to face the other guards, a confused frown furrowing his brows.
“What is it?” Felix glances between the two guards questioningly, who exchange identical grins in reply.
One of them heaves a dramatic sigh. “Of course, the good looking ones are never self-aware.”
“That would just be narcissism,” the other one points out.
“What are you two talking about?” Felix repeats, his confusion growing by the minute along with his frown.
Taking pity on the red-haired guard, or perhaps fearing his superior, the guard explains, “Sir, there’s a lady who seems interested in you.” At this, he subtly tilts his head somewhere to his right, before continuing, “we’ve been trying to tell you all night.”
“She hasn’t joined a single dance either,” the other guard chimes in, “she’s just been hiding by that pillar, far away from the crowd, gazing longingly at Sir Robane…” he feigns a swoon, swaying about with his hand pressed daintily to his forehead.
Felix shakes his head at their antics. He turns his attention back to the ballroom, where the festivities are in full swing. It is Christmas Eve, and the guests are in high spirits. “Our job as guards is to protect the palace and its guests, not to court unsuspecting ladies for our own entertainment,” he reprimands them, a hand absentmindedly coming to a rest on the hilt of the sword that rests by his hip. “Focus on the task at hand and get back to work.”
The guards barely have the decency to look ashamed. “Unsuspecting!” One of them nearly laughs in disbelief. “Far from it, in fact.”
“Sir, why don’t you take one look,” the other guard wheedles pleadingly, “just one look and we’ll stop talking about it. She really is beautiful—”
“Spying on ladies is not part of our job—”
“With all due respect, sir, the only one spying on people here is her—”
“That’s not the point—”
"Oh, look! She's coming over!"
“I won’t look.” Felix declares petulantly, and turns away from the two, adamantly training his gaze on the dance floor.
Although he puts up a strong act, he can’t help but feel a little curious. Maybe the words of those guards were getting to him after all. With his back turned on them, Felix can only strain his ears in an attempt to listen to the hushed conversation that’s taking place behind him, but their voices are drowned out by the music and the chatters in the ballroom, and he can barely make out a word.
Still, he refuses to turn around. Felix Robane wasn’t made the emperor’s right hand man and personal guard for nothing. His perseverance and tenacity has proven to be one of the best in the whole empire—
He feels a tentative tap on his arm. Felix knows that it’s most possibly the mysterious lady from the way their touch is timid and nervous, but nevertheless, he will not look.
The person taps his arm again, more firmly this time.
Felix turns around and looks.
And stares.
He almost has to turn away to regain his composure because before him stands the loveliest woman he’s ever seen — soft brown hair twisted halfway into a bun while the rest cascade down slim shoulders in loose waves. A small figure clad in a simple green gown, and even smaller hands clasped uneasily by her chest. Framed by the same brown hair that brushes past her waist is a beautiful face, sweet and kind yet ridden with distress.
And, blinking up at him, are a pair of eyes in the prettiest shade of blue: like the sky on a clear, sunny afternoon, or a calm lake after a storm.
Felix gapes at the lady, unable to help himself. Somewhere, in the back of his mind where his conscious resided, he knows that he should be fulfilling his duties as a guard by helping a lady in need instead of merely ogling at her, but he just can’t seem to take his eyes off her. After what feels like hours, or seconds stretched into eternity, there is another nudge in his arm and a not-so-subtle hiss in his ear.
“Sir. You’re staring.”
Felix jolts and clears his throat hurriedly, hoping that the lady did not notice him gaping at her like he’s never seen a woman in his life. He shifts in place so that he’s facing her fully, though not before sending an elbow behind his back in retaliation. He musters the kindest smile he can manage for a man who’s just been caught gawking openly at a stranger. “May I help you, my lady?”
At his voice, the lady nearly jumps out of her skin in surprise, her widened eyes and gaping mouth not unlike a deer caught in headlights. Felix feels his smile growing more genuine at the sight.
No, he does not find it adorable. Not in the slightest. He’s just doing his job. That’s all there is to it.
The lady finally speaks up, her voice so small that Felix struggles to catch it. “Um… pardon me, sir, but could I possibly ask of you a favour?”
Determined to ignore the delighted titters of the guards behind them, Felix replies with a tone of chivalry befitting of a knight, “Of course, my lady! We will gladly assist you with whatever you need — is it a drink? Or perhaps a place to rest?”
“No,” there is a tinge of pink on her cheeks as she quickly shakes her head, her brown curls flying along with the movement, “No, it’s nothing like that.”
After a moment’s pause, realisation dawns upon Felix. He bends down so that he matches the lady’s height and quietly whispers behind a hand, “Are you looking for the restroom, my lady?”
“N-No!” She yelps, her blooming blush spreading across her face with every second. “I don’t need to go to the restroom!”
Felix’s cheeks redden in shame. “Oh, my apologises, my lady, I thought you meant—” He attempts to back away from the lady, but her hand darts out to grab his arm with a speed he wasn’t aware she possessed, preventing him from straightening his back.
“It’s fine! Really, what I’m about to ask is a lot worse, actually…” Her voice trails off, but Felix isn’t really listening.
From this distance, he can see her face really clearly. Her eyes are even prettier up close, and he notices the way her lips look full and glossy under the light. Felix vaguely wonders what she’s applied to make her lips so shiny … and … tempting …
“Sir?”
“Yes!” Felix quickly averts his gaze from her lips to her eyes, only to find that she isn’t looking at him either. Her gaze is darting about anxiously, from the lapel of his blazer to his shoulder and to the ground, perhaps feeling uncomfortable from all his staring.
Before Felix can open his mouth to blurt out another hasty apology, the lady meets his eyes all of a sudden, a newfound determination gleaming in her eyes.
Her eyes really are lovely, he thinks.
“May I have this dance, sir?”
Not for the first time that night, Felix gapes at her. Whatever he expected her to say, it certainly wasn’t that. At a loss for words, Felix can only say one thing.
“What?”
x
“You dance really well.”
“Oh— thank you. You do as well, sir.”
“Thank you, my lady,” Felix mumbles, averting his eyes so that she wouldn’t catch onto his increasing embarrassment.
Though it is certainly quite a difficult feat not to feel mortified, with all the eyes of the guests on their waltzing figures. From an outsider’s point of view, they probably looked quite odd — a noble lady and a palace guard, dancing together at a royal ball. The orchestra is playing a piece that sounds grand and beautiful, and Felix focuses on sweeping the lady whose name he still does not know across the ballroom instead of dwelling on the curious stares that are beginning to burn a hole on his back.
“I apologise for my impudence, sir, do pardon my previous behaviour — I was only trying to escape from the other guests.”
“Were they bothering you?” Felix frowns at the thought. “I can deal with them appropriately if you wish, my lady.”
“No, it’s alright!” The lady hastens to correct him as they spin across the dance floor, “I can’t thank you enough for your help, sir.”
“Don’t mind it,” Felix replies breezily, raising his hand to spin her around the dance floor, “I am always at your service, my lady.”
The lady ducks her head without a reply, but her red ears do not go unnoticed by Felix. Thinking she may be flushed from exertion, he slows their steps into a slow dance, so that they are swaying to the music instead of waltzing across the ballroom like earlier. A silence passes through them as they focus on matching their steps, and Felix feels strangely at ease — which is unusual, to say the least. He’s known this nameless lady for less than an hour, and he’s only shared a few words of conversation with her, yet her presence greatly soothes him. He can’t seem to figure out the reason why.
The lady is the first one to break the silence. “Did you take lessons, perhaps?” She questions, tilting her head to the side. She, too, looks significantly more relaxed now, and is matching his large steps without any difficulty.
“A little, when we were younger. I used to practice with the emperor in our free time. We were fooling around for the most part, though.” Felix smiles at the memory of a young Claude laughing as they pranced about the empty hallways of the palace while sunlight streaked in from large glass windows. It seemed like so long ago, when the emperor was still a happy, naïve child — it has been years, possibly even decades, since Felix last saw Claude smiling so carefreely.
Speaking of Claude … Felix feels a cold shiver run up his spine at the thought of the golden-haired emperor. He’d forgotten completely about Claude amongst all the commotion. Claude is probably furious at the sight of his personal guard skiving his duties to frolic about the ballroom with an unknown lady, isn’t he? Felix gulps, tightening his grip on the lady’s waist. He’s afraid to turn and see for himself.
“His majesty looks amused.” As if reading his thoughts, a sweet voice chimes from in front of him. Felix looks down to find the lady smiling for the first time that night.
He follows her gaze towards the throne where the emperor sat, decidedly not losing his mind over the way she smiles with her eyes or that he might grow to like her smile more than her eyes, and indeed, she is right — while Claude remains draped over his seat with his head resting on his hand in an air of complete disinterest, his lips are quirked up into a small smirk. Upon meeting Felix’s gaze, Claude’s jewelled eyes glints in a way that could only be teasing.
Felix tries his best not to gape, having expected a glare or a scowl at the very least from the blond emperor. Things really aren’t going the way he expects tonight, it seems.
“Are you close with his majesty, sir?”
Felix slowly looks away from Claude and returns his attention to the lady, whose smile hasn’t left her face. “Yes, I’d like to think so. We grew up together as children, and we’ve been together for longer than I can remember.”
Suddenly, the lady lets out a small gasp, her mouth forming a small ‘o’ in astonishment. “Pardon me, sir, but … could you be Felix Robane, the emperor’s personal guard? The Knight of Crimson Blood?”
“That’s me,” Felix mumbles under his breath, his cheeks flaring with embarrassment at the mention of the title bestowed upon him by the people of Obelia. “But please, call me by my name. That title is … embarrassing.”
She giggles at his flustered reaction. Felix realises that her eyes crinkle a little when she smiles. “Alright then, Sir Robane.”
“That reminds me, my lady — I never did catch your name.”
“It’s Lilian.” Her hand is warm and small in his. “Lilian York.”
“Lady Lilian,” he repeats.
Lilian’s replying smile is brighter than the sun. “That’s me,” she answers in imitation of him, right as the music swells to an end.
x
After their dance is over, Felix escorts Lilian away from the dance floor and towards the exit, her hand still clasped in his. As they step out from the large, ornate doors and into the quiet night, Lilian pauses in her steps to turn towards Felix. Her smile is warm and kind. Here, away from the bright palace, Lilian looks like a different person. She looks more regal than sweet, like a dignified noble woman than the shy lady asking him for a dance earlier, though her lovely smile never changes.
“Thank you for listening to my absurd request, Sir Robane.”
“Not at all, I’m glad to be of assistance,” Felix lifts the hand in his grasp and kisses the back of Lilian’s hand lightly. “It was a pleasure to dance with you, Lady Lilian.”
“The pleasure is mine, sir.” Lilian dips into a low curtsey which Felix hurries to return with a bow of his own. She doesn’t come up for a while, and Felix notices her ears are quite red again. When Lilian finally straightens her back moments later, she ducks her head instead of looking at him. “Then, I will be on my way now.”
“Safe travels, my lady.”
Felix is about to dip into another bow when he feels Lilian’s hands on his face all of a sudden, pulling him downwards to her eye level. When he stares at her, puzzled, he finds her blue eyes filled with the same determination she had before. Then, without warning, Lilian’s face starts approaching his, coming closer and closer …
Felix squeezes his eyes shut just as he feels Lilian press a warm kiss on his cheek.
Shocked, Felix opens his eyes and sees a bashful Lilian fidgeting about before him. She slowly takes her hands off his face, and though her cheeks are turning into a bright shade of scarlet, her eyes never leaves his.
His gaze never leaves hers, either.
“A present,” she says meekly, by way of explanation, “as thanks.”
Before he could question her, Lilian is already pulling up her skirt and fleeing into the night, leaving Felix by the palace doors, mouth agape and heart thundering wildly in his chest.
Slowly, he brings a hand up to his face and touches the spot her lips had touched just a moment earlier. He can still feel the warmth of her kiss, like it had been imprinted into his skin.
Felix probably would’ve stayed there for the rest of the night, if he hadn’t heard someone walking up to him from behind.
There is a clack of footsteps on marble tiles as Claude comes to a stop beside his red-haired knight, not saying a word as usual. Felix isn’t looking at the emperor, but he can feel Claude’s blue eyes boring into the side of his face.
“Had fun?”
Felix finds himself unable to come up with a dignified response, or any response for that matter. He shrinks further into himself instead, which earns a chuckle from Claude.
“You and that lady make a good match,” Claude comments, not even bothering to hide his amusement now. “I could make arrangements for tea.”
Felix’s face turns into the shade of his hair. “Y-your majesty!”