Prominence

7

Daniela's breath quickened as she felt his breath tickle her neck.

She was supposed to be at the ballroom. Well, she was at the ballroom possibly less than half an hour ago. Dutifully, she shook the hands of the nobles who came to greet her, the Crown Princess.

But there were so many of them that if she shook any more hands, her arms would simply fall off like she was an old, worn-out, mannequin. Thankfully, she finished the greetings without fumbling nor slouching. Naturally, when she was done, she would look to her side, hoping Nev would be there to humour her but he wasn't.

He was probably on a plane now to Russia while she was stuck here having to humour herself. She wanted to text him, ask him if he planned on buying souvenirs and if he could buy her a matryoshka doll.

But that would be inappropriate. Not because it was wrong for her to text him but because she was amongst other nobles. As the Crown Princess, texting wasn't very noble-like despite the advancing technologies of the world.

Nev.

As much as she tried to be pragmatic and composed, she missed him. Even if he hated balls, he always asked her to dance so she wouldn't die of utter boredom. Even when his dancing was subpar, she never pointed it out because no good dancing would ever compare to a good conversation.

She watched the nobles of her generation dance and chatter away while she stood alone, at the edges of the ballroom, feeling more lost and alone than she first thought.

Could she slip away? She had never slipped away from a ball before. No, it's unimaginable, the Crown Princess getting up to her own shenanigans, it's.....

It's unthinkable.

She told Nev she'd be fine but she wasn't the least bit fine. She missed him. Daniela missed him.

If he were still here, they'd both be making comments about the oddities of nobles they didn't know too well.

"Oh Nev," she said to herself, "If you were here, you would be telling me how ridiculous I was in this gown."

Daniela could already hear his teasing, telling her that the gown was too glittery or there were too many ruffles that it covered her figure. Subconsciously, she fiddled with her dress watching the dancing pairs with growing anxiety. She didn't think it was possibly but the more anxious she grew, the ballerina bun hairstyle she wore seemed fine grow tighter. Tears that welled in her eyes were beginning to blur her vision.

She was a wreck. She had never felt so alone. Daniela had gotten so used to Nev that she never thought he'd even consider leaving but now he's left and it feels as though she was severed in half.

She never realised how out of place and how much a nervous wreck she would become without Nev by her side. Daniela never completely fathomed how Nev had been one of the pillars to her sanity.

"Your highness," a voice said and out of a whirl of shock, she blurted out, "Yes! yes! How may I help-"

Her lips formed into an "O" realising it was just Gio, her new head bodyguard. "Gio!," she exclaimed, grabbing his hands in sheer panic, "Thank god, a familiar face, I thought I might explode into a talking frenzy if it were someone else."

Gio grinned in amusement. "Nev, actually, left me a long list of how to be your proper head bodyguard, one of which was to keep you company during balls," he said to reassure her.

Taking out a handwritten letter from his pocket, Gio read, "Gio, please make sure that Princess Daniela is to be accompanied at all times especially during balls, she will find herself too old to dance with the nobles she knows so I kindly ask you to spark conversation with her or better yet, ask her to dance."