10. I wish to acquaint with your chest a fundamental item used in cooking

Song: Lauv ft. Julia Micheals- There's no way (piano cover) synthesia tutorial by LittleTranscriber

Our blond nincompoop, Anthony

Never in my gorgeous disturbingly horrible life. Have I ever felt the passionate longing to tear a woman's throat out, than that of what I felt in that moment to said ball of expensive allotropes.

How expensive was that dress anyway? By the Lord almighty, if that dress was torn apart it could probably feed several countries in poverty.

Hell, her tiara could do a decent job at that.

And she still had the nerve to dress as a servant and joke about being broke. How dare she! The actual audacity!

Don't you do the same thing?

Well. Yes. But-

Shut up. Be nice. And besides, look at her face she looks miserable. Some servant probably forced her into the thing.

I-

Be. Respectful.

......Fine.

Can you at least put your pride aside and admit you're wrong?

I glare. Don't push it.

Well, could you at least ask her for a dance? She's stunning, and she seems nice.

I blink. Why- Did you just-

......I'm a hypocrite.

No! Really?? I had no idea!

Well, I'am Satan. {1}

**1. He is literally Satan, crown prince of hell. Prince of witchcraft and embodiment of the sin of wrath. Why is he possessing our child?

Now that would be spoiling things.**

.....True. But I still hate you.

I hate you also.

......But she's really pretty.

Shut. Up!

"So um.....can I ask you a question?"

I blink. "What. Tommy."

"Well shit. You and Satan must really be having a lovely conversation in there, yes?"

"Can we please not talk about this?"

"Alright. But you know we can't just stand here by the entrance all night."

I blink. Realizing I hadn't moved in the last two minutes. My mother was already "conversing" with the Queen. Aria was interrogating the princess and her brother because of course, she was. Why was she even here? She wasn't even debuted yet. Agh, God. {2}

**She is here for the sole purpose of pissing off Amelia's mother, her biological aunt with her presence. That is all.**

My mother laughs at something her sister, the queen says. Because sarcastic laughing is most certainly not the scariest thing a woman can do.

Oh, and she's waving me over.

Lord help me.

My mother's smile brightens and I can practically see the threat in her eyes. I very slowly walk over to my impending doom that is socializing.

"Luna!" My mother grabs my shoulder and drags me closer to her. I plaster a smile and pretend like my blood circulation is not being affected at all.

"Yes, sister!"

"I would love for you to meet my son!"

"Oh, you mean the dirty piece of scum you picked off a shitpile in the slums on your honeymoon?"

My smile drops and I have to shove my hands into my pockets to lessen the urge to slash her throat. If I hated this-

"Mmmg-"

Crash!

"Mother, I think you've spoken quite enough for tonight!" The princess mutters whilst tying her pearl necklace around her mother's mouth. The throne overturned and she on top of her.

"Mmmh! Mg!"

"Oh, I know. You can scream at me all you like-" she tugs at the necklace once more "-after." She stands and pulls her sleeves up before lifting her mother off the floor like she was a feather and retreating behind the curtains behind the thrones.

I glance at the prince and the rest of the courtiers who act as if nothing has happened before my eyes land on Aria on the prince's lap, she giggles.

Well, he is her uncle. I'm glad one of us is having a good time.

The princess reenters and dusts off her hands and rearranges her dress and hair, she steps closer to my mother and curtsies deeply. "Your majesty."

She smirks and waves for her to rise," it appears at least, one person in this court has manners."

I pretend not to hear the snort as she rises and tilts her head and smiles like she actually cares about her opinion, "you must forgive my mother. I hope you understand she is most certainly not what we all collectively as a nation and court think of you."

"You aren't angered by the fact that I supported the campaign against Aresia after marrying into the Bellona family?"{3}

**The house of Bellona: the ruling family of Borelis.**

The smile drops as she stiffens, her eyes a perfect blank facade. Her jaw clenches as she stares directly at her, clenching and unclenching her fists and playing with the hem of her sleeve.

She looks away to the windows beside us. The open sea and Valoria below us. The city looked strangely beautiful at night from above. Like a painting of stars on the ground. Dotting the valley and creating a view that was surprisingly calming to me.

"I.....understand. Why you did what you did....."

"Is that right?"

"That does not. Mean. I. Agree." She replies slowly. Turning back she gestures to the courtiers, "the majority of these people have lost at least one loved one to the war. The war destroyed my family and country. I lost my father to the war. My mother and brother never recovered from the tragedies of it. My younger brother was sent away because my mother feared he'd have to fight a third war. I grew up in a palace. Not a home."

"Profuse amounts of the capital have had to be rebuilt and thousands of civilians lost their lives." Her eyes drift to my mother and for a second I see just how terrifying the woman in front of me can be. My mother flinches as if she's about to be stabbed.

The princess drifts closer to her and whispers something in her ear. I murmur a curse as I see the colour drain from her face.

She backs away and smiles, "I do hope I've made myself clear."

***

The Queen had come down with a cold halfway through the evening and retired early from the festivities. The royal siblings took care of the rest of the festivities. The party went surprisingly well for a party being hosted and maintained by a sixteen and seventeen-year-old. The princess gave a speech about how the union of the Aresian and Borelian nobilities would bring in a new era of peace and how they should welcome us with open arms. No one seemed to oppose her. At some point, a few courtiers came to the table and tried to speak to me.

I responded by grinning and informing them that, "I have a demon inside of me and could easily slice you all into mincemeat. I'd advise you all leave me alone."

They left.

Thank you, God. I took another sip of wine.

Mmm. Too weak. I need whiskey. Or brandy. Or maybe gin. Hmm, I wonder if the staff might have some.

The princess makes her way towards me. I've been observing her for a while and noticed she bounces from different groups, as expected. Always coming back to the same group that includes her ladies-in-waiting, her brother and a few other nobles I didn't know and had no interest in knowing. Well, except one. The one man in a blue jacket. Black curly hair, blue eyes I could make out from across the room. One could say they were just friends, not me. The subtle touches and looks, the way they moved towards each other.

Oh, they were most definitely having an affair. I wonder if I should ask her about it.{4}

**For once, he's right.**

She sits next to me and smiles, "how is his Highness settling in?"

"Well, I'm certainly not having as much as fun as you and your lover." Eh, it's out now.

"My, aren't you observant?" She grins and chugs her wine as if it was water before wiping her smile from her face. "Did you really expect me to stay loyal to you in a loveless marriage such as this?"

I scoff, "no."

"Of course not." Waving a servant over, she gestures for more wine. "You yourself weren't going to stay loyal-"

"You don't know that."

"I do." The wine disappears down her throat.

"You don't."

She slams the wine glass onto the table glares directly at me. "Anna."

I blink. "What?"

"Anna." She grabs the nearest bottle of champagne, pops off the lid and chugs the wine inside. I raise my eyebrows as I glance at her. She seems one bit drunk. But Lord knew she was trying. "Anna was my best friend. She was also your first. And only. Lover." She makes a mock face of confusion. "The girl you fell in love with at sixteen? Remember? You met her when she came to the palace to request Aria's adoption?"

My head jerks in her direction, I can feel my eyes popping out of my eyelids. My blood cold.

She knew.

Shit.

*****

Me: *sipping wine and grinning conspiracally* I wonder how she knew.

*giggles*

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