This is going to be a triple update!  It's way too long for me to put in three chapters, so yeah.  However, I do want to clarify just a couple of things before starting.  I don't normally do a/ns at the beginning, but:

1. No, Yeonhee's dress is 100% NOT inspired by anything to do with The Hunger Games.  A simple reread of the dress description will make it very clear that Yeonhee's dress is a completely different cut and colour to Katniss Everdeen's.  I know that THG is a popular phenomenon, but please don't look for associations where there are clearly none.

2. A few people have been expressing hope for Yixing to get jealous/possessive of Yeonhee dancing with other boys.  I've already said that jealousy/possessivenses is not a trait you want in your s/o – possessiveness can often be an indicator of an emotionally abusive relationship.  Protectiveness is y.  Possessiveness is not.  Also, just a note on social dancing: you are supposed to swap dance partners every dance/couple of dances even if you are there with a girlfriend/boyfriend.  Sure if you are there with a date, you will likely dance more than once with them (and it's sort of expected that the last dance of the evening is with your sweetheart of the night, who will obviously be your s/o if you're dating), but it's considered incredibly bad protocol to dance solely with one person.  The usual protocol is you dance with all opposite- members of the group you've gone with, and then you find others to dance with.  The whole point about balls and social dances is that you're supposed to get to know other people while you're at them.  Considering that Yixing has been brought up on social/ballroom dancing, he's going to be completely used to the idea of people he likes dancing with other people, and of dancing with lots of people himself.  It would be very silly for him to take Yeonhee along to a ball where he is familiar with the proceedings and for him then to get possessive and jealous just because she's dancing with another person.  That would also be an indicator of a potentially unhealthy relationship.  If the other person happened to be making inappropriate moves on Yeonhee, then it would be entirely fair for him not to be happy with it, but if the guy is sticking to ordinary dance protocol, there isn't and shouldn't be a problem.

Talk in the limousine covered a range of topics.  Yixing gave Yeonhee a rundown on other things he felt she might find useful, like stepping out onto a red carpet, the need to act confident even if she didn’t feel it at all (“remember, even if you fall flat on your face and think you look ridiculous, I’ve done worse and it’s been broadcast across the world”), and a word or two on posing for the cameras, which would have to happen whether they liked it or not.

“And if they ask you to lift your veil, the answer’s no,” he added.  “Just in case.”

They had a good laugh at him trying to help her put the long white gloves in her clutch on, and Yeonhee followed Junmyeon’s advice to tell the rest of her family that the prince was taking her to a ball.

“Baekhyun wants photos,” she told Yixing as Minhee texted back, demanding to know what she was wearing.

Yixing was iffy about it, not because he didn’t trust Baekhyun, but because if anybody other than Baekhyun happened to look through his phone they might find the photos.  They settled for a video call instead, and Baekhyun spent a good couple of minutes just gaping in silence at the Phoenix dress.

“I recognise that,” he said eventually.  “Your mum wore that.  Your highness,” he tacked on at the end.

“Why is it your friend always seems to forget who I am until after he’s said something?” Yixing asked Yeonhee, lightly teasing.

“Sorry, your highness,” Baekhyun said.  “I’m still trying to get used to the fact that my best friend knows the ing prince.”

“Well, you’re doing better than Yeonhee,” Yixing told her, earning himself a squawk of indignation from said girl.  “One of my bodyguards actually had to tell her off for completely neglecting to use proper forms of address.”

“Well, all I can say, your highness,” said Baekhyun in an almost serious tone, “is that you’re working some kind of miracle, because Yeonhee no longer believes in separationism, and not even hardline facts could convince her to desert that opinion before.”

Yixing looked so pleasantly surprised that Yeonhee wanted to freeze-frame his face and paint it so she had that expression permanently preserved.

“Really?”  He glanced across at her.  “I didn’t know that.”

“You don’t know many things, your highness,” Baekhyun retorted at once, before covering his mouth, apparently horrified at himself for being too familiar.  Yixing laughed at him.

“Though, I have to ask,” Baekhyun went on, “where’s your mask for the masquerade ball?”

Yixing held up a dark red one that had clearly been inspired by Yeonhee’s and matched the colour of the deep red silk that formed the base strip of colour for the phoenix wings.

“I have to accidentally let the media see my face when I get to the red carpet so people know the prince has arrived,” he said.  “Otherwise people pretend to be me and everybody gets very grouchy.”

“Well, have fun,” said Baekhyun.  “Chenle’s going to absolutely lose his sh*t when he sees you, Yeonhee.  I think a number of Zenyu students are going to be there, possibly one or two Hanmi ones from high society too.”

“The idea is that none of them will recognise Yeonhee,” Yixing pointed out.

“I was more referring to the fact that Yeonhee’s dress is incredibly, sir,” Baekhyun corrected himself.  “And our student union president and a number of other people have been going berserk trying to figure out who the royal girlfriend is.”

All too soon, they were rolling to a halt outside the old town hall.  Yixing checked quickly with Yeonhee that she had everything she needed before bundling her cloak over his arm.

“All right, stay calm,” he murmured to her in Zenyu.  “And remember, no Hanmi.”

The chauffeur opened the door and Yixing stepped out into the hubbub with practised ease, flash bulbs from the surrounding paparazzi going off all over the place as he raised the mask to his face and quickly tied it there before turning back and reaching out a hand to her.  She had a brief moment to appreciate how beautifully tailored his white tie ensemble was.

The noise instantly increased, though it reached a crescendo when she took his hand and he helped her out of the car and onto the red carpet.  The chauffeur shut the door behind her and moved the car off.  People pointed excitedly at the dress, and there were immediate requests for her to turn this way and that, and whether it had been modelled on the famous phoenix dress and whether she had the famous wings the queen’s dress had had and could she please show them all.

Even though the press respected the rope barriers, it was terrifying to have so many cameras and microphones and questions launched in her direction.  Yeonhee fixed a smile on her face that they probably couldn’t see and stuck close to Yixing, seeking out his body warmth.  Ignoring the questions about who his mysterious partner was, the prince smiled brightly down at Yeonhee and gallantly offered his arm.  Reassured by the familiar gestured, Yeonhee took it and allowed him to lead her along the carpet and up the steps into the building.

Whispers had already run ahead, and as Yixing gave Yeonhee’s cloak and his coat to the staff member on duty in the cloakroom, Yeonhee noticed that the surrounding area was beginning to fill up with people.  Dresses of all different colours and cuts caught her eye as she took advantage of the veil to stare at all the young men and women who had come to ogle them.  Some of the colours looked a little odd, which she put down to the veil filtering everything in orange, but as stunning as all the dresses were (and she could see a number she would have loved to have in her own wardrobe), even a cursory glance was enough to tell her that not a single dress there was as special as the one she was currently wearing.

She could hear the hushed voices as Yixing turned back to her, tilting his head suggestively towards the main hallway.

“That’s the queen’s dress.”

“Isn’t that the Phoenix dress?”

“Why is she wearing the Phoenix dress?”

“That’s quite some statement.  The royal family must really like her.”

“Does anybody know who she is?”

“D*mn, I want that dress.”

“Wow, Xiaodan is really not going to be happy she’s been upstaged like this.”

Yixing bent down a little to murmur in her ear, “none of them can take their eyes off you.”

They were stopped just outside the doors into the ballroom by the ball’s photographer, who was also visibly gawking at the dress.  He took several photos of them together before politely requesting the prince to step back so that he could take a couple of solo shots of Yeonhee.  She wasn’t used to modelling anything and found it incredibly awkward, but once they were done, she found Yixing poring over the computer screen with the photographer.

“I really like that last one,” the prince said, accepting a canapé from a passing waiter.  “I think I’ll take a copy of it, if I may.”

Yeonhee propped her head up on his shoulder so that she could get a decent look at it.  The photographer had asked her to stand with her head turned to the right, arms raised to show off the phoenix wings.  He’d initially wanted to take the veil off so that he could get a better shot at the mask, but Yixing had vetoed that and the photographer had altered the lighting instead so that it was easier to make out the mask.

Another waiter passed by, this time with a glass of champagne each for Yeonhee and Yixing.  The prince asked the photographer for a total of three photos before clinking his glass with Yeonhee’s and raising it.

“Here’s to a good night,” he said, taking a sip.

Yeonhee had no idea about the quality of the champagne, but considering the function she suspected it was pretty good and took a sizable gulp of it anyway, and it surprised her when Yixing set his glass down and offered his arm again, gesturing towards the hall.

“Are you not going to drink that?” Yeonhee asked him, pointing to the champagne as she took another sip of hers.

“Alcohol is not my best friend,” was all he said.

Yeonhee wrinkled her nose at her champagne flute, wondering if she could get away with chugging the rest of it down because she could hear the orches