Painted Roses

Aphrodite in Love

 "I hope you know Antoinette will not approve of your costume when she sees it," Beldon said a few days later as he and Rosalia made their way up the stairs to the front entrance of the royal family's spring palace.

Rosalia looked at him from behind her mask of lace, small gems and grand white features.

"What makes you say that?" she asked, watching him as he pulled off his gloves.

"Weren't you expected to go as a bride?"

She stared at him. "How do you know that?"

"I was in the room next to the parlour," he said as if it was obvious and her eyes widened.

"You heard all that?" she asked in horror, "Did you hear what Antoinette said?"

"Of course," Beldon said and Rosalia quickly opened her mouth but he stopped her with a smile and a look that said to not be silly or concerned by the fact that he'd overheard them. "You mustn't mind what our sisters say," he said gently, his voice lowering so avoid being heard by their brothers and Marie-Fey who walked ahead, taking her hand and wrapping it around his arm. "Antoinette thinks she can boss us around because Mother can't and Marie-Fey hasn't lived enough beyond her fancy gowns and tea parties to appreciate what it really means to be stuck your entire live with a person you don't love."

He shook his head slightly as they entered the grand entrance hall that stretched high above them, lined with golden pillars and marble floors, grand portraits spanning the walls and a huge flowing staircase leading away to the ballroom ahead.

"So I assume you presume to know better," Rosalia said, smiling slightly as they stopped to remove their capes.

"Well, I know what it was like to be trapped somewhere with a person I hated and I know what it is like to be trapped somewhere with a person I liked – eventually loved – the latter is far more appealing then the former," Beldon said with a grin, sweeping off his cape to reveal an elegant black suit under a slim fitting white coat hemmed with golden roses.

"What are you supposed to be, by the way?" Rosalia asked as she untied her cape.

"Nothing in particular," Beldon said with a smile as he adjusted the cuffs, "I must say, I haven't worn this coat in a good few years, I'm glad it still fits so well."

"I've never seen it."

"No, you wouldn't have," Beldon said and the grin he shot her told her there was more to the white coat then she knew. She raised an eyebrow at him but he didn't expand and instead slipped his mask into place, the face of some type of supernatural, silver-haired beast, it was really quite frightful for such a party. One of the servants held up a mirror for Beldon to make any last minute adjustments and Beldon just laughed at his reflection, at his inside joke before he noticed some university friends and joined them – scaring them.

Rosalia shook he head slightly and pulled away her cape, handing it to a footman and brushing a hand across the streaming yards of pink and white silk, the dress moving like air as she drifted to the mirror. Her hair was hidden under a glorious wig of white-blonde hair that almost reached the floor and was strung with strings of pearls.

She made her way to the ballroom, meeting Yumiko along the way – it took her friend a moment to recognise her. Yumiko was dressed in a glorious traditional kimono made of layers of silk depicting numerous spring themes. Mr. Kaga was dressed as a samurai – the clothing for them of course was not that strange but they caused quite the stir in the ballroom around them.