Trendsetter

She and Clarisse descended the staircase, hand in hand, savoring the moment.

The glances they received from the other royals and guests, from a furious host/queen, and by two viscountesses knowing deep down they'd been upstaged.

Once they arrived at the very lowest point of the staircase, multiple men flocked to the two ladies, singing them praises, offering them their company, being on their best behavior with intentions to be their date for the night.

Sophia and Clarisse shot each other a glance before they heard someone dispersing the crowd, waving off the men trying to score a date.

"Scatter!" He exclaimed, looking supremely incandescent.

Sophia laughed softly.

"Older brother to the rescue," she said.

"Not that we need saving," she added.

Clarisse grinned.

"Duh," she said as if it were obvious - which it was, for the matter.

By then, Louis had made his way to the two ladies, extending his arms.

"Ladies," he offered politely.

"Brother, you shouldn't have," Sophia said sweetly.

"But who am I to decline such an offer," she said with a scoff.

She looped arms with her brother, whilst Clarisse did the same.

"Just had to disperse the crowd and ruin the fun, didn't you?" Clarisse asked Louis.

Louis shrugged it off smugly.

"Of course I did," he answered.

Sophia scanned the crowd, looking for someone in particular. Of course, she made it extremely obvious she was. Once Clarisse and Louis looked over her, they realized what she was looking for, or more specifically, who.

"What are you looking for, Soph?" Louis asked her, hiding a grin.

Sophia answered, "No one."

"I meant nothing," she corrected herself.

"Of course," she added, not helping herself.

Sophia hadn't noticed that same someone she was previously looking for approaching her from behind.

It was when Sophia felt someone's presence behind her that she turned around.

She nearly jumped from fright.

"Gosh, do you profit off of being creepy all the time?" Sophia asked frankly.

Louis and Clarisse turned to face the two. Nicholas glanced at Louis and Louis acknowledged the prince, nodding ever so slightly. Clarisse stood and watched.

Nicholas reasoned with Sophia, "I wasn't being creepy," wanting to greet her before she noticed him.

Sophia rolled her eyes.

"You do know what you're wearing isn't exactly 'trendy' nowadays, right?" He asked her.

Sophia scoffed.

"I'm no trend follower, I'm a trendsetter," she said without any hesitation, proud of herself.

Nicholas looked at her, somewhat impressed.

"Am I supposed to say something that's to boost your already huge ego?" Nicholas asked blankly.

Sophia jokingly punched him in the shoulder.

"You kidder," she said.

Clarisse craned her neck closer towards Louis.

"Is it just me…"

"Or do they bicker like some… married couple," Clarisse asked Louis, curious.

Louis blinked.

"You're right, they do," he realized.

By then, something Nicholas had said caused her to laugh, and as if Sheila and Kiara's spotlight weren't stolen from them already, one would dare say the spotlight was entirely on them.

A compelling courtship was what the royals desperately wanted, that seeming far more enthralling than the boring matters of state and kingdom.

And frankly, Nicholas and Sophia looked the part.

All smiles, dressed to the nines, one, the epitome of beauty, the other, the epitome of charming looks. Not to mention, they seemed as if they were having fun. Which, they partially were, if not for the ruse they had to keep up.

At any given moment, if they frowned, or looked the slightest bit unhappy, the tabloids would be all over it the next day. The tabloids as well as Julia, who knew any bit of information that passed.

Nicholas chuckled.

Remembering not to look around to see if anyone was watching him and her, he tucked a stray strand of hair behind Sophia's ear.

Yet, his visions blurred momentarily, before the view of a ballroom returned to sight.

This time, it was no one else but them in the ballroom itself, as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind Sophia's ear, only for her to chuckle in response.

Except, instead of wearing the same ensemble from before, she was wearing clothes not from this era.

And once his surroundings cleared, he realized he was in an old ballroom, not the one he was last in.

He returned his gaze to Sophia, who had her hair up in an adorable cap and a beautiful gown on. She looked different, just as beautiful, except more youthful, and radiant than she already was.

And across her was a familiar man. Him.

He noticed that the same him that stood across Sophia was dressed in a retro suit.

That same him told Sophia, "Past, present, future, Sophia, I will always love you."

Sophia weeped from happiness, and with no context, he returned to the ballroom he was previously in, with Sophia, who was left confused as to why her partner had gone silent without any explanation.

Nicholas was left just as confused as she was, wondering what was it he'd just witnessed, and why he was dressed that way as well as why Sophia was too.

He felt a certain way, deja vu possibly. It all felt so familiar, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

'What was that?' Nicholas mumbled to no one in particular. He couldn't process what he'd just seen. How was he to react to a man looking exactly like himself confessing his undying love to a woman who looked identical to Sophia anyway?

Sophia snapped her fingers.

"Nicholas?" She asked the dazed prince.

Nicholas came to, blinking as his mind returned to his reality.

"You alright?" Sophia asked, seeming slightly worried, a feeling Nicholas didn't know she could feel.

Nicholas nodded, "A bit discombobulated, 'is all."

Sophia looked strangely at him before shrugging it off.

"Alright, if you say so," she said.

Nicholas glanced beside Sophia, noticing Louis and Clarisse's absence.

"Where's Louis and Clarisse?" Nicholas asked.

Sophia sighed.

"They went to get some refreshments," she answered, uninterested.

In all honesty, she found the ball incredibly boring, the exception being the time she spent with Nicholas.

She found repartee with him fun to partake in, and it went perfectly with the ruse, so… at the end of the day, who was she to complain?