Chapter Text
Once upon a time, in a beautiful kingdom on the other side of the mirror, there lived a young man with shining emerald eyes and wavy ginger hair. He lived with his family on a large estate in the kingdom’s capital. His father, the lord of the manor, was often away from home traveling for work, leaving the running of the estate to his wife. The lady ran her house with a firm hand, but she loved to spoil her two daughters, Anna and Ella. Her son however, she banished to the attic and kitchens and made him work as a servant. This young man’s name was Cater Diamond.
Despite his rather unfortunate circumstances, Cater refused to let things get him down. He tried to find something each day to find at least a little joy in. Sometimes all he could find was something as simple as how beautiful the sunrise was. Other days even that was tainted by how exhausted he was by the amount of work piled on his shoulders. At times he found himself grateful for the mind-numbing routine he had. Being able to tune everything out was oftentimes the best thing that could happen.
Every day Cater got up early, often before the rest of the house staff did or the sun had even risen. He spent his whole day working in the kitchens, running the errands, or cleaning the manor house. All the while his older sisters took music lessons with the kingdom’s best tutors, had leisurely teatime in the mansion’s luxurious gardens, or spent the day shopping at the most expensive boutiques in town. His sisters lived a life of comfort and ease, but Cater worked quietly in the shadows. Almost no one had any idea that the Diamond family even had a son, though a few whispers still floated around from time to time. No matter how hard she tried, Lady Diamond just couldn’t seem to completely dispel the rumors.
The day had begun just like any other day with Cater waking up extra early and getting started on the long list of chores he was tasked to complete. It wasn't until the afternoon, once lunch had been cleared away and he was dragged by his sisters into town to carry all the bags while they shopped, that things started to change. There was a noticeable hum of excitement in the air around town that day and Cater and his sisters soon discovered the reason for it. Posted on the town’s notice board was unmistakably a royal decree. That in and of itself wasn’t too unusual. But what was written on the decree had the entire town practically buzzing.
The decree stated that the king was going to be holding a ball in one week’s time and that all the eligible men and women of the kingdom were invited to attend. It seemed that the king was seeking a mate for his only son, the future king, Prince Vil Schoenheit. Prince Vil was said to be the fairest in all the land and he worked hard to maintain and enhance his beauty. Could anyone truly be worthy enough to stand at this man’s side? Judging by the gleam in their eyes, Anna and Ella were bound and determined to become worthy. They only had one week to accomplish this near impossible mission. Cater held back a tired sigh, knowing that today was going to be a very long day shopping.
Many many hours later, Cater flopped onto his threadbare mattress, completely drained from the ridiculous shopping spree his sisters had gone on after seeing the royal decree. They had purchased enough gowns, hats, jewelry, gloves, and shoes for twenty balls that day and Cater’d had to carry it all. How he’d managed, he wasn’t exactly sure. After they made it home, everything had to be put away and then he needed to help the rest of the staff with dinner. And then there was the cleanup to do after dinner. He didn’t get a chance to ask his mother about the possibility of going to the ball himself. The decree had phrased it like it was an invitation, but that attendance was mandatory was the unspoken understanding. However, Cater knew he didn't have anything even remotely acceptable to wear to a royal function. If he appealed to his mother’s sense of pride as a noblewoman, he might be able to persuade her to get him something at least passable. But…that was highly unlikely. She always seemed so put out when he asked for much of anything, even when he really needed it.
“I have a week until the ball.” Cater thought out loud as he stared up at the bare rafters above him. “I could probably manage to come up with something acceptable if I work on it in my spare time.” It seemed as good a plan as any other. With that in mind, Cater readied himself for bed and another long and exhausting day tomorrow.
♕ 🃄 ♕ 🃄 ♕ 🃄 ♕ 🃄 ♕ 🃄 ♕
The week passed by at almost lightning speed and, before anyone was really ready for it, the night of the ball had arrived. Anna and Ella spent the vast majority of the day getting ready, as had Lady Diamond herself. Since his presence nor his assistance had been required in the ladies’ preparation, Cater stayed out of the way and worked on making sure all his chores were done. He knew his mother very likely wouldn't be open to the idea of him going to the ball even if he promised to keep his head down, so he planned to get ready and go after she and his sisters had left. If he got his chores done, stayed away from his family at the ball, and made sure to get home before they did, no one would be the wiser about him going.
Just as Cater was finishing up in the main kitchen, his mother called for him to help her and her daughters outside and into the carriage. Once he arrived, he could instantly see why they needed help. How did they expect to walk in those ridiculously poofy pink dresses, let alone dance?! There was enough fabric in just one of their dresses to make at least five simpler ones. After much shoving and huffing, Anna, Ella, and Lady Diamond all managed to squeeze into their carriage. Before they left, however, Lady Diamond leveled a hard stare at Cater.
“Do be sure to have the scullery perfectly clean by the time we get home, Cater.” She ordered. Anna and Ella giggled and shared a conspiratorial look with each other. Cater felt his heart skip a beat and a cold dread wash over him at his mother’s words. The scullery was where he’d hidden the old suit of his father’s that he'd altered to fit him. She knew…all three of them knew. There was no way that the suit had escaped unscathed. They had likely destroyed it, or at the very least made it unwearable. Right then, Cater knew he wouldn’t be going to the ball after all. Without waiting for him to reply, the carriage pulled away. Cater watched them go, unsure of what he should do. He almost didn't even want to go and see what kind of damage they had done, but he turned and headed that way anyway. Best to just get it over with.
As soon as he stepped into the scullery and turned on the light, Cater could feel tears welling up in his eyes. Scattered around the entire room, were tattered and stained pieces of the suit he'd worked so hard on. Probably his sisters’ doing. They hadn't been satisfied to simply tear up the simple grey suit, oh of course not. They’d dumped ink and what he assumed was coffee or tea onto the fabric, and something that looked suspiciously like chocolate cake had also been ground into some of the shreds. Insult to injury since they knew he didn’t like sweets.
“I don’t even care about meeting the prince or upstaging your precious daughters! …I just wanted to go to the ball. What did I ever do to make you hate me so much?” Cater whispered, sinking to his knees amongst the mess. He finally allowed the tears he so often held back to fall as he hid his face behind his hands. He knew that he wouldn't have long to cry, but it felt freeing to let his emotions out for once. Cater took a few deep breaths and stood up, intent on heading towards the cleaning supplies. Just as he was wiping the tears from his eyes and getting ready to start cleaning up the mess his sisters made in the scullery like he’d been told, Cater heard a rather deep voice he didn’t recognize.
“Oho, they certainly made a mess of things here, didn’t they?” Cater’s head snapped up and he was met with deep red eyes with unnaturally slitted pupils. These otherworldly eyes were fitted into a petite face on an equally petite figure. The small dark-haired creature, that could only be a fae, smiled at him and Cater caught a glimpse of fangs before he realized that this stranger was upside down.
“Wha—?!” Cater backpedaled so fast that he lost his footing and he tripped, ending up on his backside, looking up at the still smiling fae. “Who are you?! And how did you get in here?!” Just as suddenly as he appeared, in a blink of an eye the small fae was standing upright and holding a hand out to the startled ginger.
“Khee hee, apologies. I didn’t mean to startle you. My name is Lilia and I’d like to help you, Cater!” He answered easily. Without thinking, Cater took the offered hand and allowed Lilia to pull him to his feet.
“Help me?” Cater asked, still dumbfounded. “Help me how? And how exactly do you know my name? Who are you?” Instead of answering Cater’s questions, the fae simply laughed and turned to look at the mess in the scullery. He raised a hand and Cater watched in amazement as the tattered remains of the suit gathered themselves up, along with the cake crumbs, spilled beverage, and ink, and threw themselves into a nearby garbage bin in a sparkle of fairy lights. It would’ve easily taken Cater a couple of hours to clean it all up considering how big the mess had been. Lilia lowered his hand and nodded in satisfaction at the now spotless room.
“You wanted to go to the ball, didn’t you?” Lilia asked, glancing at Cater’s awestruck expression. “Let’s go get you ready!” Without waiting for a response, Lilia turned and practically skipped out of the scullery and into the house proper. More than a little confused, Cater scrambled to follow him.
“Ready?” Cater asked as he trailed behind Lilia towards the house’s main entrance. “You just threw away the only thing I had presentable enough to wear to the ball. With that suit ruined, I don’t have anything else t—” Cater’s words were halted as he stepped out the front door after Lilia and found a gleaming golden carriage, complete with driver, footman, and four white horses, waiting in the driveway. Where had that come from? As Cater stared at the carriage, stunned into total silence, he didn’t notice Lilia circling him with a calculating look.
“That grey suit was much too plain for you anyway.” The fae muttered, coming to a stop in front of Cater. “Instead, I’m thinking we need to go brighter. Maybe…white, or no… Red!” Before he could ask what Lilia was even talking about, Cater found himself surrounded by a whirlwind of shimmering magic. He was forced to close his eyes against the onslaught of swirling brightness. Once the light dimmed, Cater opened his eyes and, when he looked down at himself, he almost forgot how to breathe.
“What?” Instead of the old clothes he had been wearing, the ones that were so faded they weren’t even really a nameable color anymore, he now found himself in a perfectly tailored red suit with a black and white diamond pattern and gold accents. The suit jacket had long coattails that reached to his knees with the diamond pattern along the edges all the way up to the collar that was edged with gold. Under a black vest with gleaming golden buttons, he wore a crisp white dress shirt with black buttons and a black bowtie. The matching red pants had the diamonds down the outside seam of each leg and on his feet were a stunning pair of golden dress shoes with a slight heel. Cater reached up and realized that his hair, that he usually kept down or pulled completely back, was halfway pulled back into braids with only a few strands left framing his face.
“Well, what do you think?” Lilia asked. “Personally, I think I outdid myself.” Cater walked up to the carriage and used the window as a mirror to get a better look at himself. He’d not really been into makeup much, not that he had much of a chance before, but he had to admit the look was flawless. His emerald eyes were outlined with black over a shimmering gold eyeshadow and he could swear that there was even a fine dusting of gold on his cheeks. Turning to the side, he noticed a small red diamond with a gold filigree style overlay painted under his right eye. He didn’t recognize himself at all…and if he didn’t, his mother definitely wouldn’t. Cater’s reflection grinned back at him.
“It’s perfect. Thank you!” He turned to Lilia, the smile on his face getting brighter and brighter by the second. Things like this never happened to him. This had to be some kind of dream. “I really get to go to the ball?”
“Of course! And don’t worry about your mother or sisters recognizing you. As long as you don’t get too close to them, the magic will keep your secret safe.” Lilia chirped happily before his expression turned serious. “But you can only stay until midnight. You have to be back in the carriage by the time the last chime sounds. If you do, the carriage will make sure you get home, but if not…you’ll be walking back home. And you will be in your old clothes again. Understand?” Cater nodded eagerly. He hadn’t planned to stay long anyway.
“Back in the carriage before the last strike of midnight or I’m on my own. Got it!”
“Perfect! Let’s get you to that ball!”
♕ 🃄 ♕ 🃄 ♕ 🃄 ♕ 🃄 ♕ 🃄 ♕
Prince Vil looked out over the considerable crowd in the castle’s grand ballroom, thoroughly unimpressed with what he saw. A ball could be an effective way for him to meet his future mate, but so far he felt like it had been a complete and total waste of time. Vil had what many people thought of as incredibly high standards, yes, but they were standards he held himself to as well. Most of the people that had paraded themselves past him were either the ones convinced that they were good enough already and didn’t need to do anything more to improve themselves, or they were the trend followers, the ones that did everything to “improve” with very little rhyme or reason to what they did. Neither was a good mindset in Vil’s opinion. Each person’s journey to self-betterment was different and should be tailored specifically for them.
Then there were the fashion disasters that could be seen prancing proudly around the ballroom! Vil had seen more outlandish designs in a misguided effort to be unique in one night than he had ever seen before in his entire life. There was a fine line between eye-catching and completely ridiculous. So far, most he’d seen that night were on the distinctly wrong side of that line. Vil knew he was known for bold fashion choices, but his made sense! For example, the outfit he wore that night, a floor length purple suit coat that looked almost like a dress from certain angles paired with black, flare-legged pants hemmed with a delicate swirling gold pattern. On his feet were a pair of matching purple shoes with a golden heel. More of the soft gold swirls edged the belled sleeves and high collar of his coat. The dark grey dress shirt he wore even had gold filigree caps on the tips of the collar. His violet-tipped blonde hair was pulled back and woven around his crown. And of course, his makeup was flawless and pristine. Purple eyeshadow with a hint of gold made his violet eyes look like they were almost smoldering. The ruby red of his lips was a striking contrast against his pale skin. Yes, his style could be considered quite bold, but he didn’t do it just for the sake of being bold.
Vil was trying his best to remain pleasant and not to react to…well, anything around him, but his attendant noticed his annoyance right away. Granted, there was precious little that Rook Hunt didn’t notice. With a knowing smile, he kept the many attendees that approached Vil moving along fluidly without seeming like he was rushing them, unless he wanted them to feel rushed. Despite that, Vil was quickly reaching his limit. And the dancing hadn’t even begun yet. The prince held back yet another sigh when he thought of how much longer he would have to deal with this ball.
“No one here has caught your eye even a little, mon prince?” Rook asked during a slight lull as he handed Vil a refreshment. Vil gave him a side-eyed glare as he took the offered glass.
“You know perfectly well no one has.” He said, trying not to snap outright. “I wasn’t expecting much, but I was hoping for at least a little better than this.” Rook nodded thoughtfully at Vil’s disappointment, his smile still firmly in place.
“Oui, but the night is young yet. That sparkling gemstone you seek may be running fashionably late. Please try to have some patience.” Before Vil could open his mouth to reply, a murmur swept through the crowded ballroom. Vil was only able to catch snippets here and there of the conversations happening all around the ballroom.
“Who is that?”
“What a stunning red!”
“Did you see the carriage he arrived in?! I think it’s made of gold!”
“Do you think he's a prince from another kingdom?”
“Those eyes… So dreamy!”
Vil turned towards the grand staircase and saw the cause for all the whispers. A handsome young man in a stunning red suit and golden shoes was making his way down the steps. While most of the people attending the ball had opted for softer colors, this young man stood out. Now this was eye-catching. Bold, yet classy. While the color combination and the bold pattern could have easily been ostentatious or garish, the balance of this young man’s outfit was perfect. Vil heard Rook giggle slightly and he dragged his focus from the figure steadily descending the staircase to the man beside him.
“Diamonds…” Rook said almost to himself, his eyes also on the new arrival. “The most desired of gemstones. It would seem he has arrived at last.” Forest green eyes slid over towards Vil, as if to say well, go on. By now, the young man in red had almost reached the bottom of the stairs. Vil suddenly decided that he was going to be there to meet him when he did. Walking briskly, Vil arrived at the staircase just as Cater reached the last step.
“Good evening.” Vil said in greeting, holding out a hand to this alluring stranger. “I’m Prince Vil. A pleasure to meet you.” Emerald green eyes widened in surprise. Noticing the diamond painted under his eye and the ones tastefully adorning the edges of his suit coat, Vil realized why Rook had mentioned diamonds. This young man certainly sparkled like one.
“The pleasure is mine! I didn’t think I’d get a chance to meet you. Definitely not this soon anyway.” Cater said, taking the offered hand as if in a trance. An audible gasp went through the crowd as Vil began leading Cater towards the dance floor. Eyes burning with jealousy watched their progress across the ballroom. Just who was this brightly dressed stranger who had swooped in and stolen the prince’s attention?!
“Why did you think you wouldn’t get to meet me?” Vil asked as the music started and they began to dance. “Most everyone here tonight is here for exactly that. It was the purpose of the ball.” Cater looked away, contemplating what to say. He couldn’t exactly tell the prince that he was just a servant, even though he was a nobleman’s only son, or that he wasn’t technically even supposed to be at the ball. There would be hell to pay if his mother ever found out.
“I knew that there would be a lot of people wanting to meet you. I guess I figured you’d be busy all night.” Cater replied carefully. “I really just wanted to come to the ball. I’ve never been to one before and it sounded like fun.” Vil found himself laughing at such an upfront answer. He was used to people standing on ceremony around him and it was refreshing to have someone just act…normal for once. Rook may not act as formally as most servants did around Vil, but he was a far cry from normal most days.
“Are you having fun?” Vil asked. Cater nodded enthusiastically, eyes bright with excitement. “I’m glad. Since you’ve never been to a ball before, that explains why I’ve never seen you. May I ask why you’ve never gone to one before tonight?” Again, Cater hesitated before replying.
“It’s…complicated. I can’t stay that long tonight either, but I’m glad I came. This has already been a night to remember!” Vil could tell that there was something this young man wasn’t saying, but decided he wasn’t going to pry. There were few things worse than someone prying into things you’d rather they didn’t. As a prince he didn’t always get the privacy he desired, so he had no intentions of invading someone else’s.
“I’m glad you came, too. Tonight was turning out to be boring until you arrived. Maybe we can make it a night to remember for both of us.” Vil said, spinning the ginger in his arms. Their conversation then turned to other, lighter topics and the first dance seamlessly shifted to the next and then the one after that and the one after that. The prince didn’t dance with anyone else at all that night.
As the dancing went on, forest green eyes watched the prince and this mysterious stranger carefully. There was something familiar about this shining diamond, but Rook was quite certain he’d never met him before. He was sure had seen those eyes, but not in that face. The hair color was familiar as well, but not on him. Rook’s sharp gaze swept across the ballroom until they landed on a frowning young woman with ginger locks standing next to another with emerald eyes. Ah! Now he understood. So…the rumors were true. Interesting.