Chapter 252 - Belle of the Ball (3)

"No one can steal my mannequin?" Adrianna was perplexed even more. Those mannequins were as light as feathers. "How can that be/It's absurd,anyone can lift them with one hand and run away with your dress."

Fleur chuckled at her. "Try lifting your mannequin, Adrianna."

Adrianna had placed her mannequin right next to Fleur's but she noticed that it had shifted from its place and had adjusted itself a little away in the next available slot. "When did it move?" asked Adrianna totally bewildered.

"Maybe when we were talking," answered Fleur with a shrug.

"But I didn't see it moving," Adrianna said with wide eyes. She went to the mannequin and tried to lift it up but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't budge it from its place.

"What happened? Why can't I move it?" she questioned - while scratching her head.

"That's because the mannequin has now rooted itself in the next available slot. The slot number has got registered with the tailor, which he has sent to the organizers. Now your entry is sealed. It is your choice whether you want to go ahead or not with the competition, but your name will appear in the list of the competitors after the competition winners are announced," Fleu replied while looking at the dress her mannequin was stitching.

Suddenly a scissors appeared from nowhere and the dress started to get cut from the sleeve.

Adrianna chuckled. She rubbed her hands as they itched to do something. She started thinking about which dress would be good. There were thousands of options running a mile a minute in her mind. She had seen so many dresses in the human realm. By the end of half an hour, one could see a confused Adrianna flanked by Dmitri and Liam, sitting near her mannequin in a squatted position with her hands holding her face. She pouted and sulked a little.

"Do something, Adrianna," said Dmitri. He was getting exasperated by her dithering. "I am not going to sit here all day!"

"There are a lot of designs in my mind. What should I do?"

"Why don't you think about your own wedding dress? Did you like that?" asked Dmitri tenderly. He wanted to suggest to her that from a long time.

Adrianna's eyes glinted and she clapped her hands with glee. She imagined her dress and instructed the mannequin accordingly. To her surprise, a fabric appeared and started wrapping around it.

"If you have given your instructions, let us go, Adrianna," Fleur coaxed. "It will keep stitching the dress on its own. We can come and check later."

Adrianna was feeling so happy with the new job that she was reluctant to leave but Dmitri dragged her out. "Let's go and enjoy the rest of the carnival."

When all of them had left, Lile, who had been watching all of them from a distance secretly, emerged from her place. She went to see the dress of Adrianna's mannequin. Even though it wasn't fully formed, it looked beautiful. Lile narrowed her eyes and looked around. There was no one in that row. She took out a small thumbnail-sized black translucent stone from her bag. Blowing it softly, she placed it at the back of the foot of Adrianna's mannequin. The stone attached itself like a leech.

She left the hall quietly.

Outside, Adrianna and Dmitri were flanked by security. "What happened? Why do we have so much security all of a sudden?"

"There has been a security breach in one of the places. Adrianna, don't lose security even for a minute while I go and take a look."

Adrianna nodded. Dmitri caught her hand and they started walking together.

People started staring at them as they passed by and Adriana could hear the fervent whispering behind her back. Slowly, it was spread throughout the third level that their potential queen was walking around the carnival. People flocked in groups to see her. In a matter of minutes, Adiranna felt that the situation was going downhill because if her and felt embarrassed for causing such a ruckus. She bowed her head so as to hide her turbulent thoughts.

Meanwhile, Dmitri enjoyed all the attention. He would even wave at little kids who would call out her name from the periphery of the crowd. People started walking alongside her entourage. The security had a tough time controlling them. Finally, a barrier was made around her that consisted of an electric field much to Adrianna's disgust.

They walked like that for some time and then all of a sudden Liam shouted, "Adrianna!" He came in front of Adrianna and Dmitri and covered them by circling his hands around them. An arrow that was shot from somewhere had come at a lightning speed/wheezing past the stunned spectators and made straight for the two and it pierced the electric field.

As soon Liam had realised the meaning of the soft whoosh of the flying arrow, he had jumped forward to protect his Alpha and Luna. The arrow pierced the electric field but due to high heat, its tip had already burned through. By the time it came near Liam, it was blunt and burnt. It struck right on Liam's back and pierced his clothes.

Fleur came flying to them on her broom. She was shocked to see the three of them in that state. She hastily dismounted from her broom and rushed towards Liam. She pried off the arrow out of his clothes and removed his fur coat to check whether he had any flesh wounds. She seemed so angry that she took the arrow in her possession. Thankfully, the arrow couldn't hurt Liam much, there were only a few scratches on his back. Fleur hugged him tightly with moist eyes. "My old man," she whispered.

"I am fine," Liam assured her.

Then, he pried off her arms from around him and looked at Adrianna and Dmitri.

"Thanks, mate," Dmitri acknowledged his actions as he patted Liam's back. Then he turned to Fleur and asked, "Who could have done that?"

Fleur's attention was thus diverted and she replied, "I will investigate it soon and let you know."

All in the security team were so shocked by the incident that they created another layer of an electric field around them.

"It is too risky to be here now. Let us go back," suggested Fleur.

Adrianna said, "No, no. We must go and take a look at our dresses."

Looking at her eagerness and thrill, all of them started laughing and the tension decreased.

When they reached the hall, they saw that Adrianna's dress was not even near to what she had instructed. It was badly sewn, almost to the point of being akin to a cheap copy of the original idea.