Chapter 4 - Dress Crisis

As the day went on, more and more royals arrived in Everfree. Laina was busy preparing for her debut at the Masquerade Ball. She first had a dress appointment at the famous Glamour Boutique on Main Street.

Margaret accompanied Laina there for the appointment and they were warmly greeted at the door. As the shop was overly crowded with customers, there were no private fitting rooms available for them at the moment.

As such, the arrangement made would be for Laina to view the dress on the main shop floor and then be brought into a private fitting room to try it on once there was one that was available.

"I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience, your highness," the shop assistant apologized profusely.

Glancing over to the other royals who were present in the store, it was an understatement to say that they were overwhelmed. Furthermore, the fussy royalty was giving all the shop assistants a hard time.

"That's quite alright," Laina gave a soft smile.

Moments later, the bell at the front door of the shop chimed. As soon as the customer walked through the door, almost everyone glanced over; followed by whispering. Seeing the change in atmosphere, Laina could not help but turn to look as well.

The Glamour Boutique did not just cater to female clients, they served male clients as well. The man who walked into the store was none other than King Dante himself. As soon as he entered, a number of young women went up to him to greet him.

All of them were eager to curry favor with him.

"Looks like he's Mr. Popular," Laina chuckled to herself.

Margaret laughed along with her princess while keeping a keen eye on King Dante and Marius. When she locked eyes with Marius, all she had was a murderous intent. Marius caught hold of her eyes the moment they walked through the door.

Seeing the cold stare Margaret gave him sent chills down his spine. But he had his hands full trying to keep the ladies off his King. King Dante glanced over to look at Laina. But she had already turned to look away, as the shop assistant brought out the dress she would be wearing that evening.

"This isn't the color I ordered," Laina said as she pursed her lips.

One look at it, Margaret was about to faint. The dress was pastel pink. Hearing what the crown princess said, the shop assistant quickly double-checked the order.

"I… I'm sorry your highness, but according to our records," she gulped down hard, her hands were shaking. The poor shop assistant was afraid of what Laina might do to her!

"According to our records, you ordered a pastel pink dress. It also comes with a matching mask for the ball."

The dress was indeed beautifully made. But it was simply not what Laina wanted. This was clearly a mix-up. However, there was no time for them to make a new dress. After all, the ball was that night.

Laina had not said anything, which caused the shop assistant to tremble in fear even more. Her expression was unreadable, the shop assistant could not tell if she was angry or upset. At that moment, Laina realized someone was walking up towards her.

She turned to see that it was in fact, King Dante himself. He seemed to have taken an interest in her dress. The other women all gasped and watched on in envy as Laina seemed to have dominated his attention.

"Who is that, anyway?" one of the royals whispered to her maid.

"Your highness, I heard she's the Crown Princess of Kinshearth," the maid explained to her princess.

"Crown Princess of Kinshearth? No one has seen her in years. She had never attended the previous balls before."

"Wasn't there a rumor saying that she died alongside her parents during the assassination attempt that took their lives?"

There were many rumors that were being shared amongst the other patrons. But Laina could not care less. Her mind was solely focused on the man in front of her.

"Is there something I can help you with, King Dante?" Laina asked.

Her bold way of speech earned the gasps of the people around her. But none of it mattered to her. King Dante turned to look at her, his ruby red pupils glistened under the light of the chandelier above.

"I might be able to offer some assistance, your highness," Dante explained.

"What sort of assistance exactly?" Margaret asked.

She stepped between Laina and Dante, making sure that they kept their distance from one another. This gesture did not seem to bother Dante at all. He placed a hand on the fabric of the dress, gently caressing it as he examined it.

"I assume the only issue is the color? Am I right?" he asked.

"Yes-" as soon as Laina replied, Dante nodded.

His hand began to glow red as he whispered a spell beneath his breath. A simple incantation circle formed around them. Within a matter of seconds, the color of the dress and mask changed.

It turned into a beautiful shade of black.

"Is this to your liking, your highness?"

There was something about his voice and his looks that reminded Laina of someone she knew. Someone she had known for a very long time. But she could not quite recall anything more than that.

Seeing the dress before her, Laina was surprised. How did he know she wanted it to be black? She had not said anything about the color she wanted. Yet he knew exactly what she was looking for.

"Thank you. I like it very much. Your help is greatly appreciated," she quickly replied.

"Happy to help," Dante replied before turning to leave.

Seeing him work his magic allowed him to gain the admiration and love of most of the other princesses in the boutique. They too wanted Dante to help them with their outfit. But he did not entertain any of them.

Laina turned to Margaret, confused and surprised by what had just happened.

"How did he even know this was the color I wanted? Also, why does he look so familiar?" she asked.

Margaret, caught off guard by Laina's sudden questions, quickly scrambled to reply, "Maybe he can read minds, your highness. Also, we did meet him earlier, when we first arrived in Everfree."

She looked on at Laina, waiting patiently to hear her reply.

"Oh, yes we did meet him earlier, didn't we? But I feel like that's not it…"

"Ah your highness, we are running short of time. Perhaps we should continue with the dress fitting? We still have to get back to the hotel to prepare for tonight.." Margaret quickly said to divert Laina's attention.