Chapter 10 - Intoxicated Attempt

It was ten minutes past six in the evening when Lady Faye fetched the princess in her room. When the door opened, the Head Servants's eyes twinkled, thoroughly pleased with the youth and beauty that the princess possessed.

She was wearing a light pink satin gown, perfectly draped in layers starting from her waist down to the legs with a trail that was only a meter long. Lady Faye anticipated the princess to dance during the ball, so she opted to pick the very gown that would suit the occasion.

And suit her she did.

It was an off-shoulder gown, with the edges meticulously embroidered with gold roses and silver fiddleback ferns. There was a slit above-the-knee high in the left part of the gown that boasted Lianne's ivory smooth legs.

The only accessory that added her beauty was a pair of small chandelier diamond earrings and the beaded bracelet she had for her birthday. Her hair was done into a fashion that maintained her propriety but at the same time, bragged her slim curved back.

A couple of curls fell down to the sides, but mostly her hair was in a high up-do with an ornamental pin that she got also on her birthday. This was given by Lady Faye herself.

Her make-up was only light but effectively exuded her youth and exquisiteness. A pale pink lipstick touched her lips and a bit of shimmering red blush in her cheeks proved her beauty to be a natural gift.

"Ready to go?" Lady Faye softly asked as she watched the princess looking quite anxious.

Lianne took a deep breath and obediently nodded on the Head Servant's way. "Yes, Lady Faye, I am ready."

"You look magnificently beautiful tonight. You don't need to worry about anything," Lady Faye expressed as she took the princess' ungloved hand and guided her to the hallway, out of the mansion where a carriage awaited them. It was a carriage that Cain had commissioned in order to take the two women to and from the Soulisse Mansion.

As they rode for about twenty minutes, Lady Faye offered the princess a crocheted shawl to cover herself from the gathering cold that surrounded them. The available two lanterns only seemed to provide a bit of assistance on that aspect.

It was a quarter before seven when they arrived in their destination.

Instantly, Lianne's heart fluttered in anxiety as the carriage came to a stop in front of the mansion's enormous portico. She peeped into the stained glass window and saw to her amazement well-clad guests, both men and women, beginning to walk inside the mansion's foyer; some of them she had seen in the previous parties Garlow hosted in his mansion.

This would definitely become an interesting development, she thought to herself as the door of the carriage opened. What came into view was the Lord of the House standing dashingly in front of the door awaiting the two women's descent.

First who stepped down was Lady Faye who was assisted by the chauffeur.

Lord Cain happily greeted the Head Servant, bowing his head in acknowledgement of her presence being Garlow's substitute. She then faced the door of the carriage giving the general a hint of who was left inside it.

He intuitively approached the open portal and then, like a gentleman, raised his hand into the air. Not a second later, Lianne's hand came into view and then she stepped out of the carriage slowly.

"Good evening, Princess Lianne," Cain spoke, his eyes admiring her beauty. Warmth filled his chest, knowing he'd be the lucky man who'd escort her the whole night - or at least that was his plan.

Lianne promptly smiled and returned his greeting by bowing her head. "Good evening to you too, General Cain."

"Ah, no," he said, shaking his head in response. "You do realize we do not need to be formal now, right?"

"But I thought it would be proper on this occasion, my Lord."

Lady Faye observed both of them and then cleared her throat to get the general's attention. "Shall we go inside, General Cain? The princess and I are quite unused with the cold."

"Yes, of course, Madame, this way please," Cain said as he motioned for them to enter the foyer.

To his disappointment, Lady Faye punctually raised her own hand for him to accept and guided the old woman and the princess, who was beside Lady Faye, into the ballroom. He would have wanted to personally escort the princess into the room if not for the Head Servant's intrusiveness.

"Lord General Cain Von Cavill, with Princess Lianne of the Vhillana Kingdom and His Majesty's Head Governess, Lady Faye Arlock," the majordomo quickly announced as they went inside the hall.

All guests in the party gazed at them, but most of the attention was all directed particularly to the princess of Vhillana.

Lianne noticed some of the women in a group whispering under their fans, other's seemingly pleased of what they saw and bowed their heads in acknowledgement, another group of men smiling casually, and others seemed to be awestruck by her presence.

It was almost a full five minutes when the three made their way into the platform.

Lady Faye stayed at the bottom of the stairs while Cain and the princess continued their way up with him holding her hand.

Lianne was surprised at the development and slightly turned her head to watch the Heard Servant smiling at her in satisfaction.

'Enjoy the moment.'

Those were Lady Faye's words inside the carriage when they were still traveling to the Soulisse Mansion.

This truly was a surreal moment. She could feel the eyes of every person inside the room as they faced the crowd at the platform. At their back was the main table of the party where she thought most dignitaries were to take a seat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for coming in my party this evening. I trust that you shall have a great time tonight. Eat, be merry, enjoy. Now, I am happy to present to you for the very first time the princess of Vhillana, Princess Lianne. But beginning tonight, His Majesty, King Garlow has ordered me in his behalf to announce her status as the new princess of the Regaleria Kingdom."

Lianne was astounded by the revelation and quickly glanced at the general in confusion.

He had not told her about this nor Lady Faye. Was this the flaw she had been expecting? To be called the Princess of Regaleria without her permission and against her will?

Cain sensed Lianne's trepidation but only winked at her and said, "I will explain everything later, Princess. Now, just smile and show them you are happy."

Almost all of the guests started clapping in response to the announcement while few did show an expression of disagreement. The musicians then started playing as Cain held out a glass of sparkling wine as a sign that he was now formally starting the party.

Lianne, amidst being troubled, gave a wide smile to the crowd and bowed her head in thanks. It wasn't long after that all of the guests continued onto their own seats.

The merriment began and there was food served in every table. Cain proceeded to offer her a seat close to him, but then Lady Faye approached and relatively guided the princess to another table where there were the acquaintances of Lady Faye and the King present.

This disappointed him of course, but he had no other choice but to concede.

The whole evening progressed to more dancing and chatting as many of the guests were either attuned to the music of the party or was beginning to feel inebriated by the wine they ingested. Lady Faye and the princess were having conversations here and there to every noble who would approach them, the questions of the most were about the princess' apparent disappearance for almost two decades.

Somehow the interrogators would only nod in agreement as Lady Faye would reason about her disappearance directly linked to the King, who was known all over the kingdom to have invaded the Kingdom of Vhillana.

Lianne was astonished however, how much these people didn't show any concern regarding that fact. It only gave her a strong conclusion that they were as much afraid as those outside of the kingdom from the wrath of the King.

General Cain on the other hand was silent for the most part of the party, the reasons of which was the undeniable charm of the princess exuding itself all throughout the hall. He gulped another glass of wine as he stared directly at her who he had been eyeing the whole evening ever since her arrival.

Lady Faye did prove to be one heck of a meddling woman, but he knew beforehand the reasons for the Head Servant's constant guard on the princess, and that was because of a command of Garlow.

Cain remembered the King ordering it to himself. Garlow were to allow the princess to attend the party in one condition that he will not dare touch the woman. The King had made it too clear also that the princess of Vhillana was his property and his alone, and he wanted that to be made known by all of those who were his enemies in hiding. It seems that Garlow had a hard time exposing the princess in his own host parties, so by using the general's own, aware of the fact that Lianne would not hesitate to attend, he could get what he had planned.

"To hell be it," Cain cursed to himself as he began to drink another recently filled glass of wine. He scrunched up his nose and clenched his jaw.

"You've been keeping an eye on that one for quite a long time now, General," a rough male voice said catching Cain's attention.

It was one of his father's close admirals of the regiment and Cain's adviser, Sir Bretton. He intentionally sat beside the lord general in the main table in order to accompany him all throughout the party, and it was obviously to Cain's displeasure. Cain had another person in mind to sit beside him and it was surely not his adviser. The only catch however was that this person was unattainable as of the moment.

"You do have other things to do other than monitoring me are you, Sir Bretton?" Cain replied, pissed by his seatmate.

The old man laughed by Cain's obvious irate response. "There are other fair maidens present in here waiting for you to ask for a dance. Why do you have to narrow your attention to one woman alone?"

Cain hissed by his account. "I do not need your advice right now old man." He quickly stood up and left his seat, but abruptly turned to face his adviser and said, "and also, she is not just any woman. She is special the likes of you wouldn't understand."

"Oh, I understand perfectly well, General." Sir Bretton, with a wide grin, tipped his wine flute towards Cain.

The latter just huffed and continued to leave the main table.

Lady Faye was busily talking to the Duchess of Equinnoel when Lord Cain approached their table. She sensed that the dashing host was beginning to feel rather vexed by the absence of the princess on his side.

He stopped at Lianne's front cutting the conversation she was having with a Marquess.

The latter stared at the general with a questioning look. "My Lord?"

He consequently offered his hand and said, "May I have this dance, Princess?"

Lianne, surprised by his request, looked at Lady Faye who only then gave her a slight nod.

With this, she realized that the decision whether to accept or decline Cain's request fell on her. She wanted to decline, she hasn't danced for quite a long time basically, but as the anticipation in Cain's eyes grew, she decidedly chose to accept his offer.

Lady Faye watched carefully as both of the pair began to walk down to the center of the dance hall which was only half the true size of the grand hall of the Regaleria mansion. The dance hall also boasted eight iron wrought chandeliers with diamonds dangling on each corner. The one at the center was bigger than the rest and it lighted the dance floor splendidly brighter.

Other couples present in the dance floor did not return to their seats and instead continued to dance amidst the presence of the host of the party and his partner.

The composition was a slow instrumental sound, with an accompaniment of a vocal background mainly for a romantic tune. It was perfect for the waltz they were dancing and more like it was already prepared for both of them.

Lady Faye wasn't surprised by it though. She already anticipated that Cain would have had the whole party prepared to suit the princess, and the music was included in them.

Lianne felt much more anxious of dancing considering it was her first time, but Cain guided her perfectly around the dance floor as if she was but a feather flowing in the wind.

She couldn't, however, dismiss the way Cain stared at her. If it was another man doing that exact thing, she would get the notion that the man's mind contained impure thoughts of her. But this was Lord Cain, a man she had come to care for as a brother and as a friend. Surely, he wouldn't have such tainted thoughts like that.

"You look so divinely beautiful Lianne," Cain expressed as he closed a bit more space between them. Lianne gasped as he did so.

"You are one handsome debonair yourself, Lord Cain," Lianne replied and went on to glance subtly at the guests, most of which were women, watching them with intent and curiosity. "I never knew you have quite a lot of admirers other than the maid servants in the Regaleria mansion."

"Hmf," Cain scoffed in response. "It truly was unexpected. Ever since I joined knighthood for King Garlow's battalion."

"True," was Lianne's only answer.

One of Cain's brows arched up. "Do I sense jealousy in your voice, Princess?"

"Oh no." She immediately shook her head and gave him a grin. "I'm just worried that's all. I definitely don't want women staring at me like sharp daggers."

With this, Cain laughed for the very first time since the party began.

They continued to sway in unison as the composition was nearly ending.

Cain saw a couple of gentlemen standing at the border of the dance floor waiting for the music to finish, instantly interpreting their goal would be to dance with the princess also. Even though they were still his guests, he cannot just give them a chance to dance with her nor have a single time with her for that matter.

"Still, I can sense jealousy in you," Cain smiled slyly as he gazed at the blushing princess on his arms.

"I don't think that's the case, my Lord," Lianne straightforwardly replied. "With where you are leading me, I think you are making it sure no other man can have a waltz with me. I think you're the one who is jealous."

The general once again smiled devilishly, amused by the quick wit of the princess.

Indeed, she was right. He was leading them both away from the group towards a hallway interconnecting the ballroom to another part of the mansion.