Mae watched Minah walk away, hand in hand with Lord Han, nary a word of objection spilling from , and stifled a satisfied laugh.

Minah could deny it all she wanted but she was smitten and while Mae rarely encouraged this sort of behavior in her friends – they all asked her for advice because she had the infamous Lord Baekhyun Byun on tenterhooks – she was happy for her sister.

The girl had pined long enough and it was about time she found someone who could appreciate the beauty she still was, despite her age. Twenty-three was hardly old in her opinion but the society seemed to think Minah was past the age of marriage.

That was going to change tonight if the way Lord Han had been looking at her was any indication. And Mae was all for it because they obviously liked each other and any man who thought listening to Minah yap about art was 'wonderful' instead of trying was perfect for her sister.

She cast Minseok a grateful look because he had been so considerate to find someone so nice for her sister and then, turned to engage Sir Huang in conversation since Minseok was talking to Prince Zhang.  

Only to find him gone. She blinked in surprise, then turned back in time to see Minseok being called away. He bowed to the Prince, smiled at her and then left.

Just left.

Abandoning her in the clutches of foreign royals.

She mentally threw all the curse words she knew – secretly learned from Baekhyun when she'd been young – at Minseok before fixing a smile on her face and turning to talk with Lady Yi, to find her in discourse with Prince Zhang, looking somewhat distressed. Prince Zhang didn't look any better and whispered something quickly under his breath before turning to look at Mae.

Mae swore it felt like the sun was suddenly shining in her face, it was so bright. His eyes literally sparkled as he caught her eye, bowing and extending his hand. He spoke, accent almost flawless, 'Lady Im, may I have this dance?'

She knew she should say no but for the life of her, she couldn't remember why. It had something to do with Baekhyun and why Minah had been panicking a while ago but then, Prince Zhang smiled, looking at her with those sparkling, hopeful eyes and she found herself nodding. 'O-of course.'

As he took hold of her hand and turned, she came face to face with Baekhyun, looking at her with an utterly devastated, betrayed look on his face.

And she suddenly remembered why she needed to refuse. 'Prince Zhang…' she began, keeping her eyes on Baekhyun and hoping he'd read the apology in her eyes.

But then, Baekhyun pursed his lips in an irritated line, patting his hair down and straightening his collar. Mae did not have a good feeling about this and instead of answering the Prince's query, she turned to follow Baekhyun with her eyes as he marched up to Lady Yi and bowed.

A bolt of jealousy went through her, making her feel like someone had lit fire inside her. From what she could see of his profile, he was smiling that devastatingly charming smile of his and Lady Yi looked about as star-struck as Mae had felt with Prince Zhang.

Lady Yi looked over to Prince Zhang and Mae glanced up to see a strange look on his face – distressed, irritated and