Emilie of the Royal Heart

Chapter 16: The Emperor Gets Rather Flirtatious

 "Miss! Did you find your way out of the bath alright? I had to leave you to attend to something pressing," Agatha swarmed Emilie as soon as she walked in the door.

"Oh... um..." she popped her lips. She didn't want Agatha to feel responsible for the incident. Her attendants seized any opportunity to harshly critique themselves and it wasn't as if Agatha locked her there. So Emilie sat down in her styling chair and said, "yes, I found my way fine."

Ester, Minnie, and Agatha worked together to help Emilie into her underthings and then into her underskirts and then her corset. Finally, Ester brought her yellow ball dress and helped Emilie step into it. While Minnie got her white heeled slippers, Ester and Agatha cinched the back of the bodice until it fit Emilie's silhouette perfectly.

Emilie sat down in her styling chair again and she got to look at her reflection as Agatha turned her fluffy hair into thick rope plaits.

The neckline of this dress was bold as the dresses she wore from the Countess' closet, swooping down and exposing a lot of skin at her bosom. Though this dress had a bit of ruffling along the neckline which served to take some attention off of her bare skin. The sleeves were two shimmery, amber colored puffs with sheer daffodil yellow fabric hanging down behind her arms.

There were golden colored sun charms hanging from the end of the bodice. Emilie particularly liked this detail and there was a similar feature on the blue dress because Cedric figured out she liked them so much.

The skirt of the yellow dress was made for a fantastic display when dancing. The skirt belled out around her. Sitting was a bit tricky now, but Emilie didn't mind the tradeoff.

Agatha finished putting Emilie's hair back into an elaborate and gorgeous chignon and she came back around to Emilie's face to free a couple of curls to frame her face.

"They deserve some freedom," she smiled fondly at her.

"They will enjoy it," Emilie replied.

She went to stand up from her chair, but Minnie approached her and put a hand to her shoulder. Emilie sat back down but gazed up at the three attendants with confusion.

"The Prince added this to your wardrobe," Minnie explained, opening her hands and holding them out around Emilie's neck.

From her fingers spilled a golden necklace chain with a delicate orange-yellow gem dangling from it. Minnie connected the clasp around her neck and Emilie watched the stone fall into place just below her collarbone. Her fingers reached up to trace it. It was a subtle touch, but it looked like it belonged against her chest.

"It's precious topaz, Lady Emilie," Minnie informed her, "I thought it would make an excellent touch to your ensemble this evening."

"I agree. It's beautiful," Emilie said.

At last, she could rise up. She took a few cautionary steps in her dress as she got used to the sway and weight of the skirts. Before she could get there, a knock sounded on the door of her bedchambers.

"Coming!" she picked up her pace and grabbed the door handle. Once she pulled it, she leaned her shoulder against the doorframe and faced her visitor, "yes?"

Prince Aurora stood in the hallway, his knocking hand frozen in the air as though he wasn't expecting the door to ever be answered. Slowly, he lowered his hand and he held his arms behind his back. Emilie thought she spied a glimmer in his eyes as he looked at her. She straightened up and walked out of the room.

"You've come to escort me! How sweet of you, Rory," she mused, stopping by his side to kiss his cheek.

"Yes, well, naturally," Aurora churned out mechanically, offering his arm to her. Emilie tenderly wrapped her arm around his, letting her hand rest on his upper arm for a more intimate look.