Chapter 196 - The Ball

Blue Rose Garden, 

The Blue Rose Garden is where they usually hold the ball, gala, and special events like this. It was located in the acres area of the castle. Thirty minutes drive from the main castle. 

The whole afternoon, the girls spend their time in the spa, fitting their gowns and make-up. Victoria was wearing a royal blue gown and the heirloom jewelry of the family Etrama. She already looked stunning in little make-up. Her hair was curled naturally and there's not much hair spray on it. 

"You already look beautiful, stop staring at yourself in the mirror," Kenzo said as he sat down and took the magazine. Victoria gave him a daggering glare. 

"Hey, your wife just looked so stunning like this. I rarely wore gowns and this one was made by Viscount Jarred." 

"Okay," he shrugged at her. "Then, how about the negligees?" 

"Hey," She giggled and almost threw the pillow to him. "Don't tease me. It's not done yet." 

"Were you going to dance if you wore one of your sexiest negligees?" He grinned at her. 

She approached him and hugged him front behind. She kissed his cheeks and sighed. 

"I somehow felt nervous." She pouted at him. 

"Why?" he tapped her arm and gently caressed it. 

"I don't know." She sighed. "The whole Parson family will be here too." 

"Don't be nervous. You are the Duchess of Westeria, Crown Princess of the Great Greivania. Who would dare to hurt you?" 

"Well," She pressed his lips. "You know well the heat between me and my sister." 

"I do. Hey, don't worry. Everything will be fine. Does your anxiety kick in again?" 

"A little." 

"Chin up and make sure that they will bow down to you." He patted her head. "You are the wife of this mighty handsome knight." 

She giggled and kissed his cheeks again and didn't care about the lipstick stain. She will fix it later. Soon, Stacey came wearing a ruby dress and a ruby tiara that Maverick had customized. Her gown looked stunning with a slit sleeve that shows her porcelain skin. Victoria gaped and stared at her. 

"You don't look pregnant at all," Victoria commented. "You are stunning, Stace!" 

"Thanks," Stacey grinned. Her gown was fitted but it was very much comfortable after her waistline that doesn't show how pregnant she was. Victoria reached Stacey's small bump that isn't visible in her gown. "You looked like you lived in a medieval fantasy world!" 

"I know right? I asked Jarred to make gowns like this. Let's have photographs together." She quickly gave her camera to Maverick and they sat on the luxury sofa and sat gracefully. "You better take my good sides." 

"You are amazing," Maverick said without many expressions.

"Let's pose near that painting with a fierce expression," Stacey said excitedly. Victoria and Stacey posed in fierce expressions and they laughed. 

Shortly, others arrived. Kaisley and Caleb quickly told Maverick to take a photo with them. The couple poses in a fierce expression and then, sweet. Maverick wanted to have a photo with all of them but it seemed like he became a photographer of all of them. But he didn't know that his wife had another camera to snap him being an instant photographer. 

Then, they finally went to the banquet after being introduced to catch everyone's attention. Victoria smiled charmingly as always while holding her husband's arm. The next Kaisley and Caleb entered gracefully. 

Victoria stood beside her husband near the fireplace and quickly noticed the daughter of Baron Elish. They don't have much power although their family was a Baron. But seeing how Jason looked at her made her cringed. It's not the first time that she saw them together. When she was with Jason, she thought that they were just friends but seeing that woman's mail about Jason makes her feel that the woman has been with him. 

Those times with him, she even hired an investigator and found out that Mila Elish and Jason were each other's, first love. She wouldn't be surprised if the two still have an affair although Jason was currently engaged with Katarina. Her poor sister will be in distress, or worse will become a war freak. 

"What about drinks?" he asked her. 

"Nah, I don't want to drink anything here. But back in our suite, we could eat and drink expensive wines." She grinned. 

"Sure," he bent down and kissed her lips. "Stop grinning at me. I might take you back to the graveyard and do that crazy thing." He whispered. She giggled and caressed his lips. 

<><><><> 

Harriet glanced at Vince Belmont who has been glancing at her. She only bowed her head when their eyes met. But since she was protected by her escort who acted like a bodyguard rather than a  boyfriend, she felt a little disappointed. She wanted to leave the party and have him alone. 

"Can we go somewhere else?" She tugged Kane's shirt. 

"No." He said it sharply. She pouted at him but he bowed his head to the person behind Harriet. 

"Lady Harriet," The man bowed in a very Prince-like way. She turned around and curtsied. "I am Prince Frederik of Farah. We met last year." 

"Prince Frederik," She smiled charmingly. "It's nice to see you again." 

"It is indeed." He gestured his hand and she took it as he gently kissed her hand. "I heard that you are doing well in business." 

She carefully withdraws her hand and it's so nice that she is wearing lace gloves. 

"It was only a hobby for me." She answered politely. 

"It's such a waste to have beauty work hard for it." Prince Frederik said without thinking clearly that made Kane cringed. 

"Well, what can I do? I am a beauty with a brain. I don't like depending on anyone, or let's say, men." Harriet said with a little sneer but she then smiled in a very lady-like way. 

"I didn't mean that way, Lady Harriet." 

"Excuse us," Kane said. "But Lady Harriet needs to entertain the Duchess." 

The Prince of the country Farah, one of the countries near the Great Greivania bowed his head. Farah isn't as big as Great Greivania but it has a lot of resources that are usually imported to Great Greivania. 

Kane gently put a hand over her back with a big frown. 

"Remove your gloves." He said that made her quite puzzled. 

"Why?" 

"Just remove it." 

Then, there's another man who wanted to approach Harriet but then, Kane carefully took her hand and placed it on his arm. 

"Don't take it off yet. There were lots of nobles who wanted to kiss that hand." 

She giggled and looked up at him lovingly. She somehow enjoyed this jealous Kane. It takes thirty minutes of mingling around and she mostly approached Stacey and chatted with her since Prince Caleb and Princess Kaisley were sitting on their thrones and chatting with their Uncles. There were also a lot of people who wanted to speak with the Prince and Princess. It's also hard to approach them unless they were given permission. 

"Let's go to the garden?" She asked and Kane nodded and followed her. 

At the time that they reached the tree, he quickly pulled her gloves and tucked them in his pocket. She pulled him closer to the tree and he carefully wrapped his left arm around her back before she hit the tree. She then wrapped her arms around his neck gently pulling him to receive a real kiss. 

"We should do it~~" 

"Shh," Kane covered her mouth as he moved, hiding her. 

A couple in the bushes seemed to be arguing. Then, she peeked at them to see Jason, Victoria's ex, and a lady from Baron Elish's family. She quickly grabbed her phone and turned it on silent mode, turned on the flash and she filmed them. They looked around to check if there were others but when they confirmed that there's nothing, they kissed hungrily and went into the dark. Kane adjusted the lightning to the night vision mode and kept his arms around her while she's filming without making any other sound. 

To their surprise, it seemed like the lady knelt in front of Jason and he was holding her head to shove it to his crotch. She covered her mouth and shook her head. Kane gently moved her phone to Lady Katarina Parson who seemed to see it from the balcony. They stopped recording until Katarina left the balcony and seemed to be in a rage. 

They didn't leave there until Jason and Mila Elish were done. They kissed passionately. Jason quickly went back leaving his lover. 

"What the fuck?" Harriet asked. "This is a scandal." 

"Uhuh," Kane bounced his head. "I feel bad for Baroness Regina." 

"It will ruin the Duchess too," Harriet said and she frowned. "Damn it! I didn't get my first kiss." 

Kane reached her chin and carefully lifted it. He bent down and pressed his lips to her. She quickly wrapped her arms around him to lock their mouth. Electricity flows on each other's body and he quickly sucked her tongue like they were hungry cavemen. After what seemed to be thirty seconds of kissing, he gently pulled out and they caught each other's breath. 

His thumb gently brushes her lips. 

"We should follow them," Harriet said as Kane wiped her lips to remove a few lipstick stains. "I think Katarina will do something crazy.." She whispered.