What if? {WMMAP}

Part 1

~Third POV~

It was in the middle of Princess Athanasia's debutante ball that she gave up waiting for her father, the emperor, to dance with her and went to the table containing food to fill her stomach, not knowing that said emperor was watching her every move like a hawk stalking its prey.

Taking a seat, Athanasia started eating a slice of strawberry cake, savoring every bit of it as she rarely gets to eat such delicious things due to the Ruby Palace's low budget. She watched all the other girls dance together while she sat out, not able to find the courage to go and join them.

She eats another macaroon, waiting to go back to Lillian York, her nanny, and sleep her sorrows away in said woman's arms. On the other hand, the emperor was debating over whether he should dance with his daughter for the sake of formality or just let her sit there and devour everything on the table. After a few minutes, he decided on the former and got up from his throne, walking towards Athanasia.

He tapped her shoulder, making her stop chewing the cake she was eating and look back at him resulting in her choking. After she hurriedly drank a glass of lemonade she looked back at her father and bowed in respect, "Your Majesty," she stood up and lifted the edges of her simple blue dress.

Claude offered his hand to her, making the girl look up at him in confusion, "A dance," was all he said but it was enough to make Athanasia widen her jeweled eyes and stare at her father dumbfounded for a few seconds. After processing what just happened, she smiled as bright as the sun and placed her hand on top of Claude's. The father and daughter pair made their way to the center of the ball room, everyone moving out of the way of the two royals.

The two danced gracefully, Claude with an emotionless face while Athanasia looked like this was the best thing that ever happened to her, her bright smile never leaving her face. When the dance finished, both the royals bowed to each other and Claude was the first to stand up and go back to his throne while Athanasia let out a small giggle.

'I'll cherish this day forever,' was the last thought she had before the ball officially ended and she returned to the ruby palace, squealing in delight. Once she saw her nanny, she immediately grabbed both of her arms and spun her around while laughing happily and her laugh was a highly contagious one as everyone present started laughing slightly as well.

She excitedly explained everything that happened at her debutante today to her nanny who she refers to as Lily and the latter smiling like an angel, happy that Athanasia got what she worked so hard for all these years.

That night, Athanasia couldn't sleep due to her overflowing happiness and danced around her room all night. When morning came, she still had enough energy to run around the whole palace, dancing with everyone she met. Everyone in the ruby palace was infected by her happiness and kept a genuine smile on their face at all times.

After lunch, Athanasia sat down in front of a tree that was beside the ruby palace and started sketching on the sketchpad that Lily gave her on her birthday while humming a tune. She sketched a beautiful scenery and by the time she finished it, the sun had begun to set. Not wanting to make Lily worry, she got up and entered the ruby palace, completely oblivious to the fact that a certain emperor was standing behind her and observing her the whole time.