"I know she's pretending, but you can see in Luna's eyes that she wants to kiss Matthew until she forgets his name," Victoria said with a sharp smile as she took another sip of champagne.
Lumine laughed, elegantly covering her mouth. "And him? He's practically orbiting her like a satellite in 'lovestruck' mode."
Nikoly arched an eyebrow, discreet as ever. "If that's a satellite, it's about to collide with its atmosphere."
The three of them chuckled softly, but Victoria soon sighed, setting her glass on the side table. "Girls, I'm going to the bathroom real quick before anyone else tries to drag me into diplomatic dances."
"Do you want us to go together?" Lumine asked.
Victoria waved her hand lightly and looked to a discreet corner of the room.
A tall man, in a black suit and with a rigid posture, watched the scene with attentive eyes.
"Relax. My blood bodyguard is over there. The Family's been sending him everywhere with me ever since that kidnapping failed last time. If someone sneezes too hard, he'll probably intercept the wind."
Nikoly laughed nasally. "You say that like you don't like being watched 24/7."
"Oh, yes. It's wonderful to have a shady guy follow me to the nearest coffee shop. A romantic dream."
The girls laughed as Victoria walked away with firm, sure steps, her long dress swaying gently through the corridors of the luxurious ballroom.
The bathroom was at the end of the main hallway, flanked by marble columns and Venetian mirrors.
A few minutes later, as she left the bathroom, Victoria walked back, distracted by adjusting her earring.
And then, the unexpected happened.
One foot, strategically placed, extended in front of him.
He didn't have time to react.
The heel slipped.
The balance is gone.
"Shit-"
She was already bracing herself for the fall, elegant yet humiliating. She closed her eyes, mentally cursing the universe for ruining her dignity.
But the ground never arrived.
Instead, strong, warm arms wrapped around her in an instinctive reflex.
The world spun for a second.
When she opened her eyes, Victoria found herself face to face with a pair of green eyes like frozen jade, fixed on hers.
The man holding her was a picture painted with divine generosity.
Natural white hair, slightly messy, contrasted with his fair skin and firm jaw. His attire was understated, but with polished silver details and a discreet yet imposing emblem on the chest.
The air froze.
One...
Two...
Three...
The temperature dropped two degrees.
"Is everything okay?" he asked, his voice as deep as the silence of a snow-capped mountain.
Victoria, still pressed against his chest, smelled the arctic breeze.
She cleared her throat, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Yes, yes... I—it was just basic social sabotage. Thank you for... not letting my face kiss the marble."
He smiled slightly, not letting go of her immediately. "It's always a pleasure to prevent noble meltdowns at diplomatic events."
She finally stepped back, straightening her posture.
Thankful, yes.
But now pay attention.
"You are...?"
He bowed slightly, enough to confirm his lineage. "Prince Kael of Cryon. Second in line to the glacial throne."
Victoria was speechless for a second.
Cryon... The Polar Continent.
One of the most isolated and enigmatic kingdoms in the world. Highly advanced in thermal and biogenetic technology, but with little political interaction with the other nine continents.
"Wow... the polar continent rarely sends representatives to galas on warm continents. And even more so a prince?"
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"And you are Victoria Lancaster-Monroe. Diplomatic fiancée of a generic nobleman who is even now fawning over oil barons."
Victoria blinked. "Do you know me?"
"Strategic knowledge is part of my job, Miss." He smiled with cold charm.
"Hm. And what else do you know?"
Kael tilted his head slightly. "That you hate the dress you're wearing, even though it's beautiful."
Victoria narrowed her eyes in surprise. "How...?"
"Your fingers keep adjusting the seam on the left side whenever you're impatient. And you've already done it three times in five minutes."
She gave a crooked smile. "So you're observant."
"Always. Especially when an intriguing woman is literally thrown into my arms."
Silence.
One..
Two...
Victoria looked away for a moment, but there was an unusual heat in her cheeks, but nothing to do with the heat in the room.
"Well... since I saved your physical safety, can I at least escort you back to your friends?"
She hesitated, then nodded. "Sure. But only if you promise not to say anything else that makes me seem transparent."
"No promises. But I'll try."
As the two walked side by side down the aisle, the Lancaster family's security guard watched them from afar, already calling the family's guardians to report that "a man with albino hair and an elegant demeanor is subtly flirting with young Victoria."
Victoria, in turn, smiled from the corner of her mouth.
Maybe, just maybe, the gala would have some unexpected fun.
— back to the girls —
"It took you a while, didn't it?" Luna murmured, swirling her champagne glass absentmindedly as she looked at the hallway Victoria had left from minutes ago.
"Are you making friends with some ancestral spirit in the bathroom?" Lumine asked, frowning with slight concern.
Nikoly, always alert, narrowed her eyes. "Or with a security guard in a weird tie. Because the Lancaster family's bloodline security guard has been talking to himself on the intercom since she walked in."
Before they could speculate further, the group noticed a discreet movement at the back of the room.
From the hallway, Victoria reappeared...accompanied.
"Oh my God," Luna muttered, stopping her sip.
"Who's that white-haired Norse God next to her?" whispered Lumine, already leaning forward.
"Is it... an RPG elf? Or straight out of a science fiction drama?" Nikoly added, already activating his internal investigative radar.
The man beside Victoria walked with the calculated elegance of a trained diplomat and the icy aura of ancient royalty. His footsteps were nearly silent. His beauty was absurd, ethereal. A prince straight out of an Arctic fairy tale.
Victoria, for her part, smiled from the corner of her eye. Concealedly, but not enough.
"Her expression changed," Luna observed.
"How did it change?" Lumine asked, without taking her eyes off him.
"From 'I want to escape this event' to 'interesting, let's see where this goes'."
"Well, I'm already invested in this plot," Nikoly declared, crossing her arms.
When the unlikely couple finally approached, the three girls exchanged knowing glances with the kind of telepathic rapport that only best friends share.
It was the classic: "we're going to make fun of you until the end of the night."
Victoria cleared her throat, visibly trying to maintain her composure. "Girls, this is Prince Kael of Cryon."
"Ahhhh…" the three said in unison, with the same tone of feigned astonishment.
Kael gave a brief, polite bow. "It's an honor to meet Miss Lancaster's friends. She speaks very fondly of you."
"She does, does she?" Luna replied, trying not to laugh. "She never mentions ice princes."
Victoria shot Luna a murderous look, but it was too late.
Lumine, her tone at her most icy and elegant, said, "Prince Kael. The Cryon continent rarely sends representatives to events like this. What brings you to the Gala?"
Kael replied without hesitation. "Diplomatic business. But nothing that can't be smoothed over with a glass of champagne and pleasant conversation."
"Diplomacy with charm. Classic," commented Nikoly, already analyzing 67 things at once.
Luna finally smiled. "Well, Vicky, I hope you enjoyed your date. Because he's a sight for sore eyes."
"You guys are insufferable," Victoria grumbled, but the hint of her smile gave her away.
Kael just smiled, with that air of someone who knows he's become the topic of the night and is perfectly comfortable with it.
"If you'll excuse me, ladies, I'm going to get another glass of champagne. Miss Lancaster, if you'll allow me..."
Victoria nodded, and he walked away with a step worthy of an Oscar movie.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Lumine was the first to explode. "FOR THE LOVE OF THE ANCESTORS, WHO IS THIS MAN?!"
"A prince. Of the snows. With white hair and green eyes. With a warrior's body sculpted in the divine forge," Nikoly summarized with academic precision.
Luna fanned herself. "Vicky... she's already your second choice today. And with much more charm than the idiot fiancé."
Victoria sighed dramatically, her shoulders slumping slightly. "The universe wants to torture me with emotional choice forks."
"We want to see the bifurcation turn into a quick elimination," Lumine said. "You just have to choose between 'boring fiancé who treats you like a statistic,' or 'prince of polo with a strong arm and a sharp brain.' Easy."
"You guys are a problem."
"And you'll thank us later." Luna winked.
The girls looked at each other, and the party atmosphere returned.
But now... with more plot.
Kael returned moments later with a glass of champagne in his hands.
The gaze, oh, the gaze was fixed on Victoria, as if the crowd in the hall had disappeared and only she remained, there, illuminated by the golden reflection of the imperial chandeliers.
"For you," he said with a slight smile, handing over the cup with a subtle bow that no nobleman on the American continent would ever have the class to make.
Victoria allowed herself a genuine smile. "Thank you. You seem... used to this kind of event."
"Not at all," he replied casually. "But I think you distract me enough to seem comfortable."
Victoria raised an eyebrow, suspicious, and blushed slightly. "Do you say those things all the time, or am I the only one who gets special treatment?"
"You're the first woman to ever knock me down in the middle of a ballroom. I guess that makes us close, doesn't it?"
Victoria laughed, light and enchanted, and the sound was sweet enough to make the snowflakes on the continent of Kael melt, if they could hear it.
Around them, the room was still bustling, but it was as if it now had its own microcosm. Two poles, dancing in orbit around each other.
On the other side, Luna, Nikoly and Lumine watched everything like three spies on a secret mission to monitor love.
"That over there… is pure chemistry," Lumine muttered, nudging Luna with her elbow.
"She'll forget about her idiot fiancé by the end of the night, I bet," Nikoly added, taking a sip from his glass.
Luna kept her eyes on Victoria and Kael, but for some reason, she didn't notice the soft, almost silent approach behind her.
"And here I thought I was the one causing those sighs in you," said a familiar voice.
Luna froze momentarily before returning to normal.
Matthew...
Luna turned, her heart thundering as always, but her face remained… glacial. "You? You only give me migraines and emotional pressure disorders."
"Interesting," he murmured, smiling as if he'd just heard a compliment. "Because you cause diplomatic havoc in my nervous system."
Nikoly and Lumine looked at each other. "We should go to the bathroom."
"Good idea. All my single cells are starting to get depressed."
The two disappeared discreetly, leaving Luna and Matthew in that same inverted gravitational field that now also trapped Kael and Victoria.
"You look... stunning," Matthew said genuinely.
Luna tried to roll her eyes.
Tried.
But they refused to budge.
"I'm not even wearing makeup," she muttered, crossing her arms. "It's the dress's fault. Or the French store that designed it. Or the euro, maybe."
"Then I need to send flowers to France tomorrow."
While the two couples engaged in conversations and smiles that melted time, Victoria's idiot fiancé appeared like a storm waiting to happen.
Liam marched among the guests, his brow furrowed, his eyes fixed on Victoria as if she were lost property.
"Victoria," he snapped, his teeth almost chattering. "What are you doing with this… stranger?"
The hall fell silent.
Everyone looked.
Kael didn't move.
He didn't even blink.
But the air around him seemed to drop about five degrees.
Victoria, on the other hand, calmly raised her glass and responded with a polite smile. "Conversation. Something civilized nobles do when they're not spewing arrogance across the room."
Luna and Matthew walked there quickly.
Lumine and Nikoly (who had disappeared, appeared instantly) were around, like a real shield.
"Is that the groom?" whispered Luna, her disgust evident.
"The one we were supposed to throw into a cage with hungry alligators? Yes," Lumine replied.
Nikoly just watched. Eyes half-closed, a small smile. As if he were already processing the cancellation of the marriage contract in twelve legal copies.
Liam puffed out his chest...he was handsome, sure, but in a plastic way. Nothing about him was real beyond the anger and misogyny etched on his face. "You're my fiancée, Victoria. You can't go throwing yourself into the arms of...cold strangers."
"I tripped, you idiot," Victoria growled. "And the cold stranger was kinder to me in ten minutes than you have been in ten years."
The entire hall fell silent.
One or two sneers appeared around the edges of the room.
Kael finally spoke. "Prince Kael of Cryon, Lord Liam. And I would recommend moderation in your words when speaking to a lady."
Liam took half a step forward, but Victoria's personal security guard was already moving discreetly behind him.
Luna leaned in and whispered in Victoria's ear. "Do you want me to send a lawyer to sue him for premarital emotional trauma?"
"Give me five minutes," Victoria replied, her blood boiling with the elegance of an irritated queen.
Matthew looked at Luna and shook his head, as if to say, "You really do attract the most chaotic."
Luna just smiled. "We're a magnet for trouble because we're the kind of women worth fighting for until the end of the character sheet."