--
 

07

--

“The introduction ball is in less than two weeks.” You stared sullenly at Seungho as you sat down in the library to start your lesson with him. That wasn’t exactly the first thing you wanted to hear from him.

“I know, I’m not very excited about it.” Seungho pursed his lips.

“Why not? It’s a good chance to make new friends.” The castle had been busy in preparation for guests. People from across the land were coming to attend the ball, and room needed to be made to accommodate for them all. The only ones that would be staying for an extended period would be the ones that announced themselves as suitors for your hand in marriage.

“I’m not excited to meet suitors. I can deny them on the spot, right?”

“And crush their hopes and dreams? No. You’re obligated to dance at least once with every man that announces himself a suitor. Of course, we have requirements they need to meet, so it won’t be like you’re dating someone that looks like an eighty year old man.” You breathed a sigh of relief as you opened up your book the where you left off yesterday.

“Do you know who’s coming?” you asked, skimming over the pages you were supposed to read before going back to read them in detail.

“Everyone. I’ve even got your dress for the ball ready. It’s beautiful enough to keep up with you.” You laughed and rolled your eyes before they widened in horror.

“Wait. It’s not big and poofy is it? I don’t think I’ll be able to survive if it’s big and poofy.”

“It’s not. It was a short sleeved dress, but I got word there will be quite a few living guests, so to minimize casualties, I had sleeves attached with gloves. Just in case. You can try it on later.”

--

Over the past few weeks, you and Myungsoo got comfortable with each other. His public displays of affection weren’t too subtle, something that made Joon glare daggers at him every time he managed to witness it. But he couldn’t deny, your eyes were a little bit brighter, and your smiles a little bit happier these days.

The castle and town started calling you the cutest couple they’ve seen in a while and practically coo’d whenever they managed to spot the two of you together, even if it was just eating together. Sungyeol mourned the loss of his best friend until Myungsoo pointed out that he used to ditch him all the time to meet up with a vampire girl.

“Besides, it’s not like we don’t see each other every day. Sorry if I don’t want to spend all day every day with you. You’re not much to look at,” Myungsoo said, dodging a swipe from Sungyeol.

“Whatever. Have you gotten fitted for your ceremonial clothes yet?” Since the introduction ball was coming up soon, all of the trainees were required to get fitted for ceremonial clothes. They were fancy, and some were more comfortable than others.

“I’m going to look so handsome, she won’t even notice you,” Sungyeol said, pretending to fix an invisible collar on his shirt. Myungsoo rolled his eyes.

--

As the date of the ball drew closer, the castle was in a flurry to put the finishing touches on everything. Byunghee was putting everyone through some intense training, but going easy on you because he didn’t want you to look too worn out for the ball.

It became normal for all the boys to be spread out on the floor of the training field to catch their breaths and even nap after training was over. Seungho was giving you a crash course on mannerisms and etiquette.

“I knew I forgot to teach you something,” he said as he adjusted your sitting position. You were too used to sitting however you wanted, as long as it was comfy and didn’t show off any lady parts.

You practiced greetings and formalities with Joon, who was ecstatic about being called “sir” for once in his life. You rolled your eyes at him and punched him when he didn’t cooperate correctly.

“You can’t hit any of our guests like that,” Joon said, shaking his finger at you. You rolled your eyes again.

“Hopefully, none of our guests act like you or else I’ll have a hard time controlling myself.” Seungho told you to deal politely with the guests, and to grin and bear the obnoxious ones because they were bound to be some that thought they were the absolute best for you.

“Seungho says he just got the list of suitors for the ball. There’s quite a few on the list, and it includes the most powerful men in this land.” You pouted slightly and sighed.

“Just pretend Myungsoo is another suitor. He has to have some competition to keep him on his toes, right?” You blinked a few times before raising an eyebrow at Joon.

“I thought you didn’t like Myungsoo.”

“I don’t, but he makes you happy so I guess I’ll just have to deal,” he grumbled. You laughed and hugged him.

“You’re the best attendant ever. Do you know that? I wouldn’t want to replace you with anyone, ever.” The smile on Joon’s face threatened to become permanent.

--

It was the night of the ball, and everyone had been working through the day to decorate the ballroom. You were so nervous and anxious that you couldn’t sleep, so you wandered out into the ballroom to take a look.

The decorations were so magnificent. You’d never seen anything to extravagant and beautiful in your life. Your sister was probably used to things like this, but this was your first time to ever see a decorated ballroom.

“Excuse me, Arch Mage. Coming through.” You ducked out of the way of a few workers as they brought in some food for the living guests. There was lots of wine, you could smell it, and it made you choke slightly. You weren’t a fan of wine, but Seungho said you had to at least hold a glass and pretend to drink some to be polite.

“What are you doing awake? You have to be well rested and looking your best. I swear, you...” You heard Joon come up behind you and drop off a box of decorations that was immediately swept away.

“I just wanted to see the decorations. It’s so beautiful.” Joon sighed and grabbed your shoulder before pushing you out of the ballroom.

“Go to sleep! I’ll be by at sunset to help you get ready!”

--

Myungsoo adjusted his clothes in the mirror and started to fix whatever strands of hair were out of place until Sungyeol shoved him out of the way to make sure he looked okay.

“Why does it matter if you look okay? Move over.” Myungsoo shoved him back, and the two of them fought over the mirror.

“Hey, hey. Just because I’m not looking to win over the Arch Mage doesn’t mean I want to look bad. But don’t worry. I’ll be there to pick up your jaw so you don’t look dumb when she comes walking down the staircase.”

--

You were bathed and waiting anxiously for Joon when the sun set. He would be bringing your dress and helping you get ready for the ball, though frankly, you weren’t sure what else he was supposed to help you with besides putting on the dress.

“And I have arrive with your dress. You better be awake or else- Oh. Good.” Joon smiled at you and threw you some undergarments. “Put these on.” You stared at the underwear in your hands before looking up at him mortified.

“You walked through the hallway with these in your hand?” Joon waved a hand at you dismissively. “No one’s in the hallways. Everyone’s in the ballroom and on the grounds, getting ready to greet guests.”

You sighed and put the undergarments on. You’d long gotten used to Joon seeing you in your underwear, but he still hadn’t seen you yet, and you weren’t intending to ever let him see you .

“Your stockings.” You caught them as he threw them at you and pulled them on. They were white with a black bow tied at the top of them.Cute, you thought to yourself.

“Hands up.” You raised your arms and Joon pulled a corset down over you. You made whining noises as he adjusted it on your body and pulled the strings a little bit tighter. “Can you breathe?” he asked, leaning off to the side to see what it looked like on the front.

“Yes.” You made another noise of protest as Joon pulled the strings a little bit tighter.

“How about now?”

“Barely.”

“Good.” Joon grinned at you as he finished lacing and tying up the strings. “And your dress.” You turned and saw the black ballgown in his hands. He pulled it down over your head, making you yelp when you got lost inside of the dress.

“Whoops, your hands- and your head- okay.” Joon pulled the dress down, and you took a few deep breaths. You felt Joon pulling a sleeve onto your arm and heard the sound of buckles being fastened.

“Buckles? Is it supposed to still show skin like that?” There was a small band of empty space between where the sleeve of your dress started and the attached sleeve.

“Yes. Seungho says it’s the new style or something. It’s big enough to show off some skin, but small enough so that no one will accidentally touch you. If they do, then they deserve the pain for being lecherous.” You laughed as Joon pulled the other sleeve onto your other arm. The ends of the sleeves flared out with a small strip of fabric hanging off of them decoratively.

The bottom of your dress had a few ruffles in it, and you felt Joon tying a white ribbon around your waist before leaning over to adjust the front.

“And your gloves.” He handed you a pair of gloves and you stared at them with an eyebrow raised.

“What’s the point of wearing gloves if they’re lace? I can kill people through the holes,” you said.

“They’re not lace. Seungho enchanted them with some sort of spell so you can see through some parts of it. He designed it like lace because he thought you wearing full out gloves would be off putting. Now, sit, so I can do your hair.”

“You do hair?” you asked in surprised, letting him steer you towards your vanity and sitting you down.

“When I was younger, a lot of the older girls like to experiment on me. I’ve retained some of that from them,” he said, brushing your hair in the mirror. You stifled a laugh as he glared at you and tugged at a knot in your hair.

“Ow!” You held your head and glared at him as he smiled sweetly at you.

“I can do makeup, too, but your skin is so flawless, I think the only thing you need is a little bit of blush, which can be easily done.” He finished brushing your hair, and suddenly hit your cheeks a few times with his fingers, causing them to pink up.

“There. Perfect.”

“No, not perfect,” you said, rubbing at your face. “My blush is going to be in the shape of your fingers.” Joon shook his head and rubbed your face a few times before starting on your hair.

“I think you would look good with wavy hair. Don’t you think? Maybe I’ll braid this part, flip it around in the back, then put some accessories in it to make it look like a crown,” Joon mused to himself as you sighed and stared at yourself in the mirror.

“Do whatever you want. If I look ugly though, Seungho knows who to kill.”

You watched in amazement as Joon wrapped pieces of your hair around his finger and pulled slightly, making it come off curled.

“How are you doing that?”

“Just sending some energy to my fingers and heating it up enough so it’ll curl your hair. Don’t worry, these curls will fall into softer waves by the end of the night. You’re going to look like an angel, I promise.”

--

By the time he was done, you stared at yourself in the mirror just to make sure it was really you. Your hair was done beautifully, and now, you were blushing for real and not because of a few slaps to the face.

“So? What do you think?”

“You’re amazing, Joon. Do you know that?” Joon’s chest swelled with pride before he heard a knock on the door, and Byunghee stuck his head inside.

“They’re almost ready to introduce her. Oh wow. I’m going to assume that you’re already done because there’s no way you could possibly look more beautiful tonight.” You laughed and shook your head as you stood up.

“I have a feeling I’m going to hear a lot of that tonight,” you said as you made your way over to the door.

“Ready?” Byunghee asked, holding out his arm with a smile.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait.” Joon ran over with a pair of slippers in his hand and slipped them on your feet underneath your dress.

“You forgot her shoes? What’s wrong with you?”

--

Myungsoo and the others waited patiently in the ballroom. He mingled with some people that he hadn’t seen in a while, having easy conversations with a lot of them.

“Myungsoo!” he heard a girlish voice call. He turned around and saw one of his friends hurtling towards him. He let out a soft ‘oof’ when his friend collided with him and squeezed him.

“Sungjong, it’s good to see you. Where’s Howon?”

“Oh, somewhere out in the crowd,” Sungjong said, waving his hand dismissively.

“I like what you did with your hair. Blond suits you.” Sungjong smiled at him and brought a hand up to play with his hair.

“Doesn’t it? Howon hates it. He says he prefers it brown or black, but it’s so boring to look at every day.” Howon was one of the rulers of the smaller kingdoms in the land of the dead. He was a vampire, and Sungjong happened to catch his eye while he was visiting Rivedon. Myungsoo was a bit sad to see his friend move away, but happy that he found someone that could take care of him.

“Everyone’s saying Sunggyu is here. And Dongwoo, too. I haven’t been able to catch a glimpse of them yet.” Two other very prominent men in the land of the dead. Sunggyu was famous for sleeping more than anything else, but his powers weren’t to be taken lightly. He never really showed interest in social gatherings.

Dongwoo was one of the happier, more playful people in the land of the dead. He was the owner of a lot of land, and made his fortune renting it out to people. He seems naive and innocent when people first meet him, but once his anger flares up and things get serious, he was a force to be reckoned with.

“I’ve even heard that Woo-” Sungjong’s words were cut off when a fanfare started to play. The ballroom got quiet, and all eyes were on the double doors at the top of the stairs. You were standing behind them, taking deep breaths in and out to calm your nerves.

“Nervous?” Seungho asked, brushing off some dust from his clothes.

“Just a little bit,” you said, swallowing.

“I can tell. You have a death grip on my arm.” You blinked rapidly a few times before loosening your grip on his arm. You didn’t even realize you were holding it so tight.

“Now, don’t worry. There’s a lot of people, but there will always be someone from the castle watching you just in case something happens. Joon and I will always be around, so if something goes wrong, we’ll be able to take care of it. Are you ready?”

“No.”

“Too bad,” Seungho said as the announcer said his name and yours, introducing the High and Arch Mage of the Kingdom of Rivedon.

The door opened, and you walked out onto the balcony and tried not to pass out when you saw the sheer amount of people packed into the ballroom. Never in your life had you ever seen so many people packed into one place.

“I don’t think I can do this,” you whispered to Seungho through a smile.

“You can. Just relax, and enjoy yourself a little bit.”

--

Myungsoo felt his breath hitch when the double doors opened, and you stepped out with Seungho. You looked absolutely stunning, and everyone around him felt the same way by the way their jaws nearly dropped to the floor.

“What happened to keeping me from looking like an idiot?” Myungsoo said in a daze. Sungyeol blinked a few times before he realized Myungsoo was talking to him.

“I’m sorry what? I was busy staring at the most beautiful woman to ever grace my presence.” Myungsoo rolled his eyes as the crowd started to talk excitedly. You descended the stairs with Seungho. He whispered something into your ear before leading you over to introduce you personally to some people.

“How long do you think until we can finally talk to her?” Myungsoo looked around the ballroom and saw all of the eyes on you.

“Not for a while.”

--

Seungho whirled you around the ballroom, introducing you to people left and right. You did your best to remember names and faces, but there were just so many people.

Finally, Seungho released you to meet people on your own. You gave him an apprehensive look before he shoved you out into the crowd. Myungsoo watched him push you and smiled, slowly making his way towards you.

You looked around, a little bit unsure of yourself until a man walked up to you and bowed. You bowed back as he took your hand and planted a kiss on the back of it. You could feel a blush coming to your cheeks again.

“My name is Kim Sunggyu, one of your suitors. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” he said, smiling at you. You noticed that he spoke with a slight lisp, and his voice was slightly musical. It was definitely nice to listen to.

“It’s very nice to meet you, too. Forgive me if I seem awkward, I’m not really used to big, formal events like this.” He laughed at you, making you blush again. Was he ever going to let go of your hand.

“Oh no, don’t marry, Sunggyu. He’d be a terrible husband. All he does is sleep all day,” another man said, coming up behind him. Sunggyu finally let go of your hand and turned around to glare at the other man slightly.

“Jang Dongwoo,” he said with a grin on his face. He too, grabbed your hand and planted a kiss on the back. “I’m one of your suitors as well. Please don’t take me lightly just because I’m not as attractive as the others.’

You started to stammer nervously, not knowing exactly what to say to that. Dongwoo grinned at you as he heard words like “just as handsome” and “friendly.”

“Don’t be so nervous. This is your first time at an event like this?” He moved next to your and draped his arm over your shoulders, glass of wine in his hands. Sunggyu pursed his lips, frowning slightly at how forward Dongwoo was being.

“Hands off of the girl. You don’t want to give her a heart attack, now do you?” Another man made his way over to the small crowd of people and bowed to you.

“My name is Howon. I’m not one of your suitors, I’m already spoken for. I’m just here to keep this one in check,” he said, jerking his thumb over at Dongwoo.

“You two are friends?” you asked, looking between the two of them.

“For too long,” Dongwoo said, shaking his head slightly and staring off into the distance. “Too long.”

“All of us are friends, actually.” You felt relief wash over you at the sound of a familiar voice. You turned and saw Myungsoo squeeze his way in between some people to stand next to you, pulling a blond haired boy behind him.

“This is Sungjong, by the way. He’s Howon’s.” Sungjong bowed to you and hopped over to Howon, who just rolled his eyes but draped an arm around his waist anyway.

“You and Myungsoo know each other?” Sunggyu asked, taking a sip of his wine.

“Yes, we both live in the castle and train together.” The men nodded.

“How’s he been doing in his training? Last I heard, he was getting closer to getting strong enough to beat Howon,” Dongwoo said, nudging his friend with his elbow. Howon shook his head and took a sip of his wine.

“I wouldn’t really know, I haven’t been here long enough to...” Myungsoo just shrugged.

“I’m getting stronger. Don’t underestimate me. How long will you guys be staying this time? I’d love to have sparring matches with all of you,” he said with a smirk on his face. They all started to answer him until Seungho found you and got your attention by pulling on your arm.

“You have to start meeting your other suitors. The orchestra is ready, so it’s almost time for the dances.” You sighed and let yourself be pulled away after excusing yourself.

“I look forward to our dance!” Dongwoo said, waving at you cheerily.

“There’s a lot, so you’ll pretty much be dancing all night long with a break to eat and catch your breath before dancing again.”

Lord, have mercy on my feet, you thought to yourself.

--

You spent the entire night listening as men talk about themselves and asked you questions about yourself. You had no idea people liked to brag about themselves so much, and after six or seven dances, you were ready to die already.

“Hello, may I have this dance?” You looked and saw Dongwoo’s grin with his arm extended towards you. The man that was talking about himself profusely gave Dongwoo a look until you took his hand, and he led you out onto the dance floor.

“Thank you so much for saving me. I didn’t know people could talk about themselves so much.” Dongwoo laughed at you and bowed before grabbing your waist and your hand, leading you in the dance. You were very pleasantly surprised by how confident he was in his dancing and how well he was leading you.

“You’re a very good dancer, Dongwoo,” you said with a smile on your face. He laughed and spun you around.

“Thank you. It’s one of my favorite pastimes. Don’t tell Howon that though, he thinks I’m training so my powers don’t get rusty.” You laughed at him as you two spun around the dance floor.

“You’re comfortable to be around,” you said, “even if you are a little bit forward.” Dongwoo scoffed a little bit.

“I mean well, I promise. I hope we can get to know each other as friends if you don’t choose me to marry. In fact, I think I see myself in a best friend role more than your husband.” You smiled at his honesty.

“How long are you staying? I’m sure I could find a way to spend some time with you.”

“A few weeks, then it’s back to managing my land. Got to keep my money flowing in somehow.” You nodded as the song ended. Dongwoo took a step back from you and bowed before leading you off of the dance floor.

“My turn,” Sunggyu said, picking your hand up from Dongwoo’s grip. Dongwoo looked at you before wiggling his eyebrows at Sunggyu, making you laugh slightly. Sunggyu looked at him suspiciously before turning towards you.

“Did he say something bad about me?” You shook your head as he led you back onto the dance floor.

“What did he say then?” Sunggyu asked as the next song started.

“Nothing really. We were just talking about things.” Sunggyu glanced over his shoulder to see Dongwoo wave at him with his fingers before turning his attention back to you.

Sunggyu was a fair dancer. The two of you were more engrossed in conversation than anything else. Turns out that the rumors about Sunggyu liking to sleep a lot were true, and he admitted it to you, making you smile at him.

“What do you do when you’re not sleeping then?” you asked as he dipped you.

“Practicing, or singing. I like singing.” The two of you smiled at each other.

“You should sing for me sometime. How long are you staying in Rivedon?”

“Until you pick a suitor, or it’s obvious who you are going to pick.”

“That’s plenty of time then.”

--

Myungsoo watched sullenly as you danced with suitor, after suitor, after suitor. You felt like your legs were going to fall off, and all of the information was starting to leak out of your brain. The only people you felt like you connected with well were Myungsoo’s friends, because they were closer to your age and were actually interested in you and not just telling you about themselves.

Finally after what seemed like ages, Seungho grabbed you and whispered something your ear, making your face light up as he dragged you over to the exit and shoved you away. Myungsoo grinned before excusing himself and hurrying after you.

He found you in the kitchen as the hired kitchen staff from your usual eatery were hurrying around and preparing food for the living guests. You were sitting at the edge of the table, gloves off, sleeves rolled up, and wolfing down food at the speed of light.

“If you don’t slow down, you’re going to choke on something,” Myungsoo said as he pulled up a stool next to you. You slowed down to chew your food and offered him a spoon. Myungsoo shook his head.

You swallowed your food and breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh my god, I think I’m going to die. I have no idea how many people I’ve danced with tonight, and the night isn’t even over yet. What am I going to do, Myungsoo?” you cried dramatically, but you stopped quickly to continue eating.

“How long of a break do you have?” You shrugged your shoulders and continued to eat.

“I have until Joon comes back here to get me,” you said, wiping your mouth off with a cloth before drinking some water.

“Well, save a dance for me then, will you? I don’t think I’ll be able to have a chance to dance with you if all of these suitors keep stealing you away.” You chuckled and covered your mouth as it turned into a laugh.

“I will, I promise. Promise you’ll still dance with me even if I have no legs by the end of the night?”

“I’d dance with you even if you turned into a fish.”

“A fish? What?”

“Hey, you. Let’s go. Break time is over.” You whined as Joon poked his head inside of the kitchen and shoveled a few more bites of food into your mouth before taking a drink of water to wash it all down.

“You are going to throw all of that back up if you keep eating like that,” Joon said in exasperation as he dragged you out of the kitchen.

“No, I don’t waste food like that,” was the last thing Myungsoo heard you say before you were gone.

--

The night finally started to wind down. You’d danced with a countless number of suitors and managed to find a few more that caught your interest.

Sungjong was dancing with Howon to the one of the last few songs with a content smile on his face as you danced by with another suitor.

“She’s really pretty, and so nice. I hope she ends up with someone who’s good to her,” Sungjong said, watching as you glanced back at Myungsoo. Howon chuckled.

“I hear she and Myungsoo are a bit of an item. The castle inhabitants here say they’re very good friends and are always in each other’s company.”

“Oh, that would be cute, her and Myungsoo. I’d hate it if she ended up with someone like Woohyun.” Howon pursed his lips.

“Speaking of Woohyun, I haven’t seen him here all night. I know for a fact he was on the list of suitors. In fact, I think his name was first,” Howon said, dipping Sungjong.

Suddenly, there were a lot of voices, mainly women’s voices that started to murmur and talk excitedly. The song ended and everyone looked in the direction of the entrance.

“Speak of the devil, and he will come,” Sungjong said with a slight frown on his face. Woohyun walked into the ballroom, pulling his cape off of his shoulders and handing it off to the attendant. Immediately, women started to throw themselves at him, but he ignored them, searching around the ballroom for someone with an impassive face.

“Look, Myungsoo. Your most favorite person in the world is here,” Sungyeol said with a grin on his face, nudging Myungsoo with his elbow. Myungsoo looked over and saw Woohyun standing at the entrance.

“Hurray. Look how much I care,” Myungsoo said in a deadpan, taking a sip of his wine. There was a bit of animosity between Myungsoo and Woohyun. The two never really got along well, especially when they sparred.

They always went all out on each other, nothing short of vicious. Seungho had to spend a week repairing the training field after one of their spars once. Myungsoo wasn’t strong enough to beat him, they both knew that, but it didn’t stop him from going all out.

“Figures he would be here. Probably just going to flaunt that he’s unofficially the strongest man in the land of the dead and grease her up a bit with his compliments and grins. And late too. The ball is almost over.”

The song ended, and you bowed to the man you were dancing with before catching a glimpse of a man standing at the entrance. You froze.

It couldn’t be.

“Is there something wrong with her?” Sungjong asked as he watched you stare wide eyed towards the entrance.

The man escaped the crowd around him and walked towards you while everyone watched. He walked until he was right in front of you, and Myungsoo’s eyes hardened. Woohyun was looking at you with soft eyes. Fond, almost. He’d never seen that look on Woohyun before.

“It can’t be,” you whispered, taking a step back.

He bowed to you and took your hand, faltering slightly when he realized it was limp. Myungsoo couldn’t believe it. What was going on with Woohyun?

“My name is Nam Woohyun. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said as the last song started to play.

“I... It can’t be you. It can’t. I killed you.”