Stronger Than She Was: A Be My Princess x My Sweet Bodyguard Crossover

Chapter 8 - Not Cinderella

No POV

-Flashback-

Ten Years Ago

Keith frowned. The steps were simple enough, so he should have been able to get them. Why wasn't it working?

"Prince Keith, if you insist on marching through the steps, you will never get it right." His ballroom dance instructor huffed. "Dance is an art. You must be fluid in the waltz."

"Shut up." He huffed as he left the ballroom. Keith ran out to the terrace to get away from everything for a time. There was a ball tonight, and he was required to be there. It would be his first ball here at Noble Michel, and he was required to dance at least once. The problem was that he couldn't get the steps right.

"Keith?" A girl asked. He turned to see Kiri, a ten-year-old kitchen girl, and Prince Wilfred standing there. "Are you alright?"

"Leave me alone."

"No. Tell me what's wrong." She puffed out her cheeks in defiance.

He hesitated, looking at Wilfred before continuing. "I...I can't dance." He shook his head. "I can, but everyone keeps watching me, and I keep messing up."

"Then I have the answer." Kiri smiled.

"What?" He asked as she approached him.

"When you dance, pretend the world doesn't exist." She took his hand and placed it on her waist. Something must have clicked, because he moved through the steps perfectly, leading her across the terrace without a single problem. A dance with Keith and then a dance with Wilfred, and the three became best friends for the rest of their lives.

-End of Flashback-

Vittori's POV

Two Weeks After the Press Conference

Christmas Eve in Noble Michel

It's been two weeks since the press conference, and Kiri has officially become my daughter (even changing her last name to mine). She has been handling her diplomatic duties with excellence as well. Her schooling has taught her well. She didn't need any lessons on public speaking or economic policy. Her expertise was only limited in one area: dance. She knew the dances of the six nations, but none from San Lorenzo. Subaru has taken to teaching her in their free time. In just two weeks, she's been waltzing across the floor as if she had been born dancing. She's a quick learner, and she moves with the same grace her mother did.

We've been invited to Lord Michel's Christmas Eve Ball. The ball hasn't started yet, and at Kiri's insistence, no one knows she is coming. For the past few days, she's been rather nervous. She won't tell me why, but I think she's worried about facing her old friends as my daughter and no longer an orphan. Before she came back to San Lorenzo, she told no one of her identity. I'm positive she isn't sure how to interact with them now. It must be frightening to have your entire identity changed in a matter of weeks.

I knock on the door to the guest room Kiri is staying in.

"Come in," she calls out. I open the door, and I am shocked by how much she looks like her mother. Her dress is a deep purple with flowers and designs embroidered on it. She was wearing the diamond earrings I had given her mother and a small tiara I had given her. I could feel tears begin to form in my eyes; she was my little girl, my princess.

"Ready?" I ask, holding out my arm.

"I guess," she nods. "I'm a little nervous. What if I say the wrong thing?"