An Unearthly Rose

Chapter 16: A Peacock's Feather

After the crowd cheered you on for what seemed like forever, you finally felt the need to get off the stage; and out of the spotlight. You were never a fan of having an audience have their sights focused solely on you, so you instead went for the food stand. The thought of people trying to meet you once you got off the stage never crossed your mind, and so it resulted in a load of rich nobles and duchess trying to meet the Princess that was supposedly dead.

Feeling extremely overwhelmed, you asked Jaron if you could go to your room and sleep for a while. He had insisted to come and join you, but you immediately refused; while pointing out that he needed to attend the guests, "Whatever you say my rose, but if you ever need me, just send a maid and I'll come right at your disposal." He grinned.

If only you could dispose of him

"Thank you Jaron," And with that, you left the ballroom; while using the back exit. As you were walking, a slight smile crept up your mouth. This was perfect, you needed to act quick and find out if your plan would actually work. You half walked-half sprinted to your room, you pulled out the keys from your pocket; and opened the door.

Now to get changed

~~

You were now wearing a black dress, with white sparkling gems decorating your skirt. You took off your diamond set, and wore pearls instead. You re-did your hair, and made it curly and slightly in a loose bun. You applied heavy make-up, but not too much as to make you look like a monochrome clown. The outcome of your outfit change, made you look extremely beautiful. In fact, your jaw fell down as you realized that the reflection of the extremely attractive women was none other than yourself.

You opened the chest that was still placed onto your vanity, and pulled out the familiar peacock mask. You gently strapped it onto your face, and looked at the mirror while smiling softly.

Hydron's favorite animal was the peacock after-all.

~~

You walked into the massive ballroom once again, but this time; looking like a completely different person. You walked around, and around the room; hoping that you could find someone to dance with. You didn't realize, but being held captive for more than a week had made you tired; and needy for fun. After pigging out at the food table, you went outside into one of the balconies.

After seeing a couple in an intense scene, you quickly turned around and came out. Not realizing it, you bumped into a stranger. "I'm so sorry." You apologized while rubbing your head, it was a young lady; and she seemed annoyed at your small gesture. She rolled her eyes at you, and left. Growing bored, you decided to wait until the couple dances would end; and a group dance would start.

13 minutes later, your wish was granted-

The ladies got into a circle, and were surrounded by a circle of men. Luckily, you had somehow managed to find Dana throughout this large ball room, so you held hands with her on your right; and with some other stranger on the left. Then the circle began moving, the ladies went left; while the men danced right. You went faster, and faster; and finally the circle broke, and the dance begun.

You paired up with first an old nobleman, he seemed kind and nice. Then after that, you paired up with a young boy; most likely younger than you. You were enjoying the dance so much, you hadn't noticed who your next partner was.

It was Jaron

Your eyes widened, but you immediately relaxed; he wouldn't be able to tell who you were, unless he lifted your mask up. You were grateful that this rotation was short, for the next one was when you paired up with someone, and danced with them. Jaron twirled you around, and then let go of your hand; making you twirl and twirl until another gentlemen caught you.

You opened your eyes smiling, to see a young man. You two began dancing slowly, and you examined his features more closely. He wore a golden mask, that went perfect with his golden blonde hair. You raised an eyebrow while dancing, something was off about him.

Very off

You decided to talk to him, "I see you've worn a mask made of gold, how original; It looks beautiful." He smirked, you looked into his eyes, they look oh so familiar; it was a deep yet calm blue color. He chuckled, "Thank you my dear, I must say your peacock mask is quite to my liking. For peacock's are my most favorite creatures to roam this planet." He replied in a cool voice.

The music hastened, and your dancing became quicker. "You're quite the excellent dancer by the way." You complimented, his voice sounded so familiar; you wondered why this man seemed so familiar to you; the unknownness was eating you away. "Thank you, but mine is nothing compared to yours m'lady." The music stopped, and at this point of the dance; you usually pulled off each other's masks.

The man pulled off your mask gently, and you synchronized his actions by pulling off his; immediately you embraced the unmasked man. "Oh how I've missed you, I can't believe we ended up together at the last rotation; It must've been fate." You whispered. Hydron scoffed, "If you call pushing and shoving people aside to get to you, fate? Than so be it, fate seems to come in a variety of forms." You laughed at Hydron's remark.

"Hydron, how will you rescue me? I don't want to marry that man." You pleaded to Hydron, seeing your sad expression crushed his heart to shreds. If he could, he'd murder that lame excuse of a prince; he just engaged with a lady who was already engaged for crying out loud! He would pay dearly for this, but Hydron knew that taking (y/n) right now would be a very bad idea. He smiled reassuringly at (y/n), "Soon my love, very soon."

Hydron and you stared at each other for a while, each other digging into one another's eyes; grateful to have finally met each other. You felt yourself moving closer, and closer towards Hydron. It came to the point where the bridges of your nose was touching his; you closed your eyes, knowing that you probably shouldn't do this, but not caring anyway.

You felt his minty breath on your face, and left the rest to fate. You felt a sudden pull, and watched your self distance from Hydron, "What the-"

"May I also have a dance with my Fianceé? Hopefully one like you two had?" Your heart freezes, you look up to see Hydron glaring menacingly at Jaron. Jaron held onto your hand tightly, and began pulling you away from Hydron. You feel your eyes burning, and watch as Hydron gives you a sad look; a look a puppy would give if it's been tortured.

Once Jaron stops pulling you, he puts his hands on your waist; while you put yours on his shoulders. You didn't look at him while you two were dancing, for the sadness you were enveloped in left you mute. Jaron sighed in irritation, "I hope you're happy, you requested to talk with that blonde."

"And now you've done it, so we're both even now."