Chapter 10: The Beginning of True Love

"Don't you realise?" Eli simpered, flicking open her embroidered fan and covering her mouth, "The emperor will not be happy that he annulled our engagement just for a viscount's daughter. Prince Aiden will probably be disowned, and his younger brother will become Crown Prince."

"Don't be ridiculous." Miku scoffed, "Carly will probably follow Prince Aiden into a village and live happily ever after all."

"Think again." Eli quipped with calculation in her eyes and a strategist's tone, "Prince Aiden has lived sheltered his whole life, he won't know what to do in a village. And Carly will probably be disowned as well"

I shivered. Note to Self: Never make Eli angry.

"Currently, Prince Aiden is with Carly because she's beautiful and she has a cheery persona towards him. But does things only thrive when there's money and comfort." Eli laughed viciously, "When poverty comes, it will spoil Carly's personality and her face will lose all the beauty, Prince Aiden and Carly will constantly fight."

"You're so smart, Lady Eli!" Miku praised, "As expected of you!"

"It's common sense." Eli smiled, and snapped her fan shut, "Anyway, Miku, is it alright if Grayson escorts me for a dance?"

"Go ahead!" Miku laughed, clapping her hands together

~~~~~~~~~~

MIKU:

I stood around awkwardly, staring into space, when I saw Lady Eli and Grayson dancing.

They glided around the ballroom, synchronised.

Hmm… Shouldn't I be jealous that Lady Eli was dancing so wonderfully with my crush? For some reason I felt a burst of triumph in my chest. Hm? Was I vouching for them?

"Hmm… They do look cute together." I giggled, attempted (and failing) to snap open my fan, as regal as Lady Eli did so.

And that was the end of our first ball in our first year at the Academy.

~~~~~~~~~~

*The beginning of Next Year…*

I stretched my arms towards the sky, yawning,

"Remind me again, why are out in the village again?" I sighed, still groggy.

"We've come to check on our dear Scumbag Prince!" Miku literally sung, way too cheerful in the morning.

"It's still the holidays… You could've woken as up later…" Edward mumbled, already beginning the start to sleep in the luxuriously cushioned carriage.

"Truth to be told, I am slightly excited to see what'll happen." Eli murmured, surveying the land through her window.

"Look outside!" Miku suddenly burst out.

We all scrambled towards the windows, peering towards the outside.

"Look! Over there!" Edward exclaimed pointing towards the right.

We saw Aiden and Carly quarrelling.

"Let's go outside to take a better look." I suggested, opening the carriage door.

"You good for nothing!" Carly berated, her eyes screwed up into thin discs, "You don't know how to earn money, and yet you force me to do everything for you! Do you know how tired I am of cleaning and cooking?!"

"Hah! Don't flatter yourself! You can't clean a simple window nor cook a single dish!" Aiden screeched, his hand pointing closely at Carly's face and his other hand ruffling his oily hair, "If I was still with Lady Elianna, I would still be living a luxurious life!"

Carly's gaunt face twisted into a look of resentment and attempted to shove him,

'Then go!" Carly shrieked, failing at pushing him over, "Let's see if she'll still have you!"

Adrien's face morphed into a look of fury, and shoved Carly onto the ground.

"Those two have been at it since the second week they arrived here." An elderly villager informed us, shaking his head sorrowfully, "I haven't had a wink of sleep since they arrived."

"Lady Elianna!" Aiden pitifully collapsed at Eli's feet, "My beautiful lily! How have you been since I was gone? Have you been lonely?" The look of hunger and greed was unmistakeably obvious.

Aiden clutched the fabric of Eli's dress and wept,

"I understand my mistake now!" Aiden sobbed, the dark bags under his eyes, seeming clearer now that we were closer.

"Have you got no shame?!" Miku confronted Adrien, "You should've realised how amazing Lady Eli is, when she was still your fiancée!"

"You still love me right, Lady Elianna?!" Aiden, ignored Miku, staring at her with an unspoken plea.

"Hmm…" Eli gazed at Aiden with warmth and smiled softly at him,

"What?!" Both Miku and Carly gasped, their eyes widening.

"Of course, I do! You still look very…" Eli's flushed a cerise hue, hiding her face behind her fan.

Eli paused for a bit, Miku and I widened our eyes in horror.

"No!" Edward yelled, banging his head onto the carriage with each word he uttered, "This. Is. A. Dream! Wake. Up!"

"…Sexy." Eli's voice was filled with contempt and sarcasm, "Mmm… Do you honestly expect me to love you? I thought I made myself very clear during the last time we drank tea together, that I held no affection for you anymore."

Eli looked down and gave him one last look of disdain, her amber eyes flashing with rage. She climbed onto the carriage and ignored him as he pounded on the windows and pressed his face against the clear glass, snot and tears running down his face.

The rest of us followed cue and boarded the carriage.

"Harumph!" Miku huffed, "He finally understands he mistake! Now the next question is when you two are getting together." Miku leaned forward, her eyebrows waggling suggestively at Eli and me.

"Huh?! W-what do you mean?!" Eli blushed for real this time, fanning herself frantically.

I felt my cheek and my ears burn and I resorted to staring out the window, avoiding her predatory eyes.

"H-huh?" Edward stuttered, "I thought you were against it!"

Miku leaned forward and whispered something in ear.

~~~~~~~~~

Edward's point of view:

"At the ball." I murmured in Edward's ear, "I realised, those two were adorably cute together!"

A smirk spread across my face as we both stared at Brother Grayson and my sister, waggling our eyebrows in sync.

"H-huh?!" Brother faltered, "W-what do you mean? Quit looking at me like that… You're scaring me!"

Miku and I were going to have a lot of fun pairing them together…