Aurelia

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Aurelia couldn't believe this man decided to come up to her so confidently and want to dance with her. She was deeply annoyed and irritated. "Actually I'd rather dance with Mathew. You seem more like the imbecile."

Aurelia moved away from the man and stepped closer to Mathew. "Shall we go dance?" She said with a sweet smile.

Mathew was boiling with anger at that point, but seeing Aurelia smiling up at him calmed him down. He returned her smile; "Yes. We shall."

They started walking towards the other dancers when they heard the prince of Guldar yell after them, "You'll regret insulting me, my dear courageous princess."

Mathew abruptly turned around and glared fiercely at the prince. "How dare y-"

"He isn't worth your time, Mathew." Aurelia cut him off so as not to start an uproar. They started walking towards the other guests who were dancing.

“Who was that annoying man?” Aurelia said; clearly annoyed.

“That was Balavan. The prince of Guldar. He is such an egotistic, confident scoundrel that I wish I could personally give a royal beating to.”

Aurelia laughed at that comment which made Mathew feel relaxed. He really liked the princess and her attitude towards everything.

They finally reached the other dancers who were currently dancing the last dance of the night; the waltz.

Mathew held out his hand to the princess and did a slight bow; “Shall we dance?” His smile was so beautiful and welcoming that Aurelia felt butterflies in her stomach. She returned the smile; “Yes.”

They started out dancing at least a foot away from each other, but as they started to really feel the dance they ended up moving closer to each other and swaying around the room along with the other dancers. When the dance ended, Mathew and Aurelia were so close that they could feel each others’ breath on their faces. Mathew leaned towards Aurelia and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“I really enjoyed the dance princess.” He said with a beautiful smile.

“As did I, prince.” Aurelia said with the exact same beautiful smile.

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The king stood up from his seat and said, “Thank you all for coming. I hope you danced and mingled to your heart’s content.”

At that moment, people started saying their goodbyes and departing the ballroom.

Mathew looked at Aurelia; He didn’t want to leave. He liked this princess whom he just met and danced with.

Aurelia at that point looked at him. She also didn’t want to depart from him, but she knew he must return to his kingdom. And she certainly was not going to tell him that.

“Thank you, Mathew, for a lovely evening.” She curtsied in front of him.

Mathew stepped closer to her. He whispered in her ear, “No need to be formal with me princess.” He moved a step back and winked at her.

Aurelia laughed at this. She really did like the prince. He wasn’t like the others. Only after her fame and fortune. Or after her looks and beauty. He seemed to like her for who she was and how she wanted to act.“I really do thank you though. You helped me enjoy this ball even though I was sure it would be a disaster.”

Mathew smiled at her. “I’m glad I was to be of great service to the princess.” He made a mocking bow which made Aurelia laugh.

“So, I guess you are going to be returning to Zlairforth tonight.” She said with a hint of displeasure.

Mathew took hold of her hand and kissed it. “Actually princess, I am staying here tonight in Sandburg. He looked at her with a flirting smile.

Aurelia was shocked. She was happy, yet she didn’t expect that.

Mathew noted her shock and started laughing. “Zlairforth is quite far from here, Aurelia. So I must stay here tonight with my father and some court jesters. Your father was kind enough to let us stay in the guest rooms.”

Aurelia was pleased at knowing this. “That is wonderful! Well, I mean… wonderful that we have a place for you to stay since your kingdom is quite far…” Aurelia couldn’t believe she almost slipped out that it was wonderful he wasn’t going to leave.

“Are you sure that is why it is wonderful princess?” Mathew was mere inches from her face at that moment. Aurelia stepped back and looked him in the eye expressionless.

“Yes. Why else would it be?” she said that statement with a slight smile. He smiled in return. “Oh nothing, of course.” Mathew was about to tell her that he had a wonderful night and was grateful that he could see her tomorrow when he was bumped in the shoulder from behind.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Oh wait. No, I’m not.” It was Balavan. He snickered as he passed Mathew and went towards Aurelia. “Well, hello princess. I see you have finished talking to Mathew.”

“Actually, she wasn’t.” Mathew grabbed Balavan’s shirt and was ready to punch the annoying prince when Aurelia stepped towards Mathew and put her hand on his arm.

“Mathew, let go of the annoying barbaric prince. After all, he will be gone by tonight.”

“Oh, but you are wrong my dear princess.” He stepped towards Aurelia with an evil grin on his face. Mathew stepped in between them so to protect Aurelia from Balavan.

“I am going to be staying here tonight in the guests’ rooms. I heard Mathew was as well. This will definitely be an interesting stay.”

With that said, Balavan walked away leaving Aurelia shocked and displeased; and Mathew annoyed and angry.