“Bloody hell, why did I agree to this?” Joohyun muttered, standing on a pedestal as she laced on a pair of black leather pants.

“For the dancing,” Chaeyoung replied, wincing slightly as the corset was tightly laced up. “A little looser please, Yerim.”

The laces gave way just a little, and she watched as Joohyun put on a white shirt with billowing sleeves and ruffled cuffs. Pearl buttons lined the front and they were quickly buttoned up, while Chaeyoung let herself be helping into a few more petticoats. Joohyun glanced over her shoulder, giving Chaeyoung an exasperated look. “I don’t even like dancing.”

“Correction: you only like dancing with me.”

“Well, yes,” Joohyun agreed, “but because it’s a ball, I’ll be forced to dance with everyone else too. And my feet are already sore enough. Thank God I’m not wearing heels.”

“They’ll have to pry you out of my arms, and lucky you,” Chaeyoung dryly replied, holding her arms up as a heavily embroidered pale pink dress was slipped over her head and buttoned up at the back with a row of pearls.

The embroidery was silver, lavender and powder blue, in the patterns of leaves and flowers, complementing the detailing on the dove grey frock coat that completed Joohyun’s costume. Chaeyoung pulled on ivory coloured gloves while Sooyoung tied a silk regency scarf around Joohyun’s neck, beneath the stiff collar of her shirt. Both of them had their hair curled and pinned up in differing styles with little diamond hair pins and silver tiaras nestled in their hair. They looked every part the eighteenth century couple, ready for a ball, and with the finishing touches of little matching masks, they were ready for the party.

All of their guests had started arriving half an hour beforehand, and they took a few minutes to take some professional photos before joining the party. It wasn’t Joohyun’s birthday until the next day, but Saturday night was a more suitable night for a ball. The gentle sound of string music reached them first, drifting through the hallways with the hum of chatter and laughter, as they were escorted through the palace in their costumes. The thick red carpet muffled the sound of their footsteps, and Chaeyoung smoothed her skirts, feeling nervous as she walked arm in arm with Joohyun. Her mind was distracted - she had been for the past month or so, with the anniversary of her parents’ death coming and going, made worse with her pregnancy brain and crazy hormones - and she was feeling a bit bloated, resisting the urge to anxiously touch her stomach, as she readied herself for a long night of socialising and a secret matter that made her nervous.

“You look beautiful, by the way,” Joohyun murmured, giving her a smile.

Breaking herself out of her thoughts, Chaeyoung gave her a dazzling smile, cozying up to Joohyun as she gave her arm a squeeze. “So do you.”

Joohyun gave her a smile, her green eyes shining from behind her grey mask, and she leaned over to give Chaeyoung a quick peck on the cheek. A feeling of warmth spreading through her, Chaeyoung perked up slightly, feeling a little less nauseous and a little more inclined to pull Joohyun into one of the sitting rooms lining the hallway. If they didn’t have a whole room full of guests waiting for them, she might’ve done so, but they were already fashionably late, and the last of their guests had already arrived.

Continuing down the hallway, they heard the sound of a man announcing their arrival, and Joohyun cast a look at all of the guards milling about in the hallway between the ballroom and the large room opposite it serving as the dining room for the evening. The doors to the dining room were closed at present, but gentle music spilled out of the quiet room as the man stopped talking and they appeared in the doorway, arm in arm. Shoulders back and chins up, they glided into the room, making a striking pair in their costumes, and they took in the sea of guests facing them. A riot of colours mixed together, a variety of different costumes all accompanied with a mask, and Chaeyoung smiled and nodded to everyone as they all respectfully greeted them with shallow bows or curtsies.

Pastel flowers decorated the room, with pink roses and blue hydrangeas clustered together to match the colour of Chaeyoung and Joohyun’s costumes. Silver chandeliers gleamed in the yellow light coming from tiny polished light bulbs, gilt frames caught the light, shining brightly while the faces of generations of the House of Park stared out from the walls. The string quartet started up again as the royals moved further into the room, and the hum of conversation started up again. The lesser important guests hung back, waiting for Chaeyoung and Joohyun to come to them, and Chaeyoung made the correct assumption that the blonde and brunette who came forward first were Taehee and Jennie. Her sister was wearing an elegant masked pirate costume in dark colours, while Taehee was wearing a deep blue dress.

Joohyun let out a quiet groan as her attention was caught by more figures moving towards them, and she greeted Taehee warmly, before turning her attention to her mother. Yujin was tall and intimidating in her heels and an extravagant dress in a dark shade of green. Even with the mask, it left no secret as to who was behind it, and Joohyun gave her a brittle smile, while Chaeyoung made a somewhat better effort to be gracious towards her mother-in-law. She nodded politely to Seonho too, as the king gave his sister an affectionate kiss on the cheek. Joohyun just rolled her eyes and Chaeyoung pressed a reassuring hand to her lower back, a gentle reminder for her to keep her temper in check.

“Happy birthday, Joohyun,” Seonho said, a charming smile flashing across his face as he held her at arms length, “you’re looking well. When are you going to come home and visit?”

“Perhaps when you get married,” Joohyun curtly replied, and Yujin let out a sigh, giving her daughter an icy stare. “Perhaps mom will stop pestering me about kids then.”

Seonho laughed, and Chaeyoung gave him a hesitant smile, knowing that she didn’t need to apologise for Joohyun’s behaviour to her own brother. He’d grown up with her, and knew better than anyone else how Joohyun’s moods turned at the drop of a hat. Of course, he didn’t know that they were more susceptible to change these days, or the reason why. One of Joohyun’s biggest concerns for the evening were that her mom would try and pry too much into that area of their relationship, although Chaeyoung had soothingly assured her that she would be more than willing to throw herself under the bus and reveal her own pregnancy to Yujin if it would help ease Joohyun’s mind.

“Perhaps it’ll be sooner than you think then,” Seonho said, gesturing to the tanned woman with dark hair on his arm. She was pretty, but didn’t look meek as she met Chaeyoung’s curious stare. She knew the woman, of course, having seen the tabloids covering Seonho’s latest fling, and having attended multiple events where she was present. “May I present Lady Kwon Yuri.”

“Charmed,” Joohyun frostily replied.

Chaeyoung held her hand out to shake the woman’s hand, trying to ease the tension between the family, while her own watched on. She could feel the eyes of other guests watching them, although none were close enough to eavesdrop on the quiet conversation, and even if they were, it was only their closest friends, next in line to be greeted once the Prime Minister was out of the way.

“Lady Yuri,” Chaeyoung said, giving her a friendly smile, “it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

They lapsed into silence for a few moments once the niceties were out of the way, and Joohyun looked her brother up and down, taking in the deep purple suit he was wearing, accented with a deep green waistcoat and mask - the two colours of Gutrin - and she let out a sniff of contempt, in a manner so much like her mother that it surprised Chaeyoung. “You look like Willy Wonka,” Joohyun finally said, before she turned her attention to Jennie.

Choking back a laugh of surprise, Chaeyoung excused herself from the presence of her in-laws and greeted Kim Taeyeon, drawing her into the conversation Joohyun was having with Jennie, who had roped in Seungwan. There were a flurry of hugs and kisses, a few comments about politics before Taeyeon excused herself for some wine, and then their other friends were there. Hyeri was there with her latest date, Jisoo appeared with Seulgi, making vague comments about their two sons, with knowing looks on their faces. Chaeyoung had chosen to tell Jisoo, trusting her lawyer to keep it a secret, and by extension, had told Seulgi. Hyeri currently didn’t know, with her bad habit of talking far too much.

After that came Chou Tzuyu, and Chaeyoung smiled when Joohyun’s face lit up. Out of all of her friends, she rarely got to see Tzuyu, and Chaeyoung was happy the other woman had taken the time to fly in from New York for the party. They’d all celebrate properly together at a private dinner with just their friends, but Joohyun was happy enough to see her at the party anyway. It didn’t take long for the rest of Joohyun’s friends to find them.

“Joohyun,” Junmyeon said, approaching with a smile on his face, giving both of them a courteous bow, “don’t you look… dashing.”

“A regular Mr Darcy,” Yoona snorted as she followed after him, dipping into a shallow curtsy.

Chaeyoung let out a snort of laughter, while Joohyun exchanged cheek kisses with them both, assuring them that she was fine for drinks when they noticed the lack of alcohol in hand. They were all unaware of the pregnancies, what with Joohyun’s tenuous relationship with having friends, and Chaeyoung called over a waiter in a white tuxedo, murmuring a quiet request for two champagne flutes of sparkling water to help them blend in with the partygoers nursing drinks. If Hasun had cottoned on because of Chaeyoung nursing a warm glass for a couple of hours, then surely more would notice when neither of them were drinking at a birthday party. Especially given Joohyun’s reputation as a partygirl.

Making the rounds through the throngs of guests, making polite conversation with some, and conversing about more genuine topics with ones that Chaeyoung personally knew, sipping at her sparkling water and listening to the string quartet playing from the corner. The doors to the dining hall were opened not too long after, with guests slowly making the trip across the hallway to dine on the selection of fancy foods made by some of the top chefs in the world that Chaeyoung had flown in for the occasion. She’d added a few strong flavoured foods to the menu, with recipes featuring pickles, mustard and peanuts, giving into their cravings in a manner that wouldn’t be too obvious with the creative dishes the cravings had been disguised amongst.

She was speaking with Choi Siwon, the Chief of General Staff in Avalon’s military, discussing matters of their country’s defence, along with Hasun, who was still trying to worm her way back into Chaeyoung’s good graces, when Joohyun interrupted her. Stealing the fine china plate out of her hand and passing it off to a waiter, despite Chaeyoung’s protests at the deviled eggs with the mustard filling that she’d been saving until the end. She threaded her arm through Joohyun’s, giving her an amused look as they slowly wound their way through the guests, politely nodding and smiling as they passed by with a regal air, until they were back in the ballroom, where Joohyun led her onto the dancefloor. She obliged Chaeyoung with three dances in a row, before they were both asked the honour of dancing with some of the other guests. Chaeyoung was gracious enough to accept the offer of everyone who asked, dancing to song after song flooding the room, until her feet were hurting and she could feel herself starting to sweat beneath the heavy layers of silk and tulle.

By the time it was announced that their seated dinner was ready to begin, she was more relieved than she cared to admit, feeling the need to sit down and rest awhile without seeming rude. Sweeping from the hall a little faster than was exactly ladylike, Chaeyoung soon found herself seated at the head of the table, with Joohyun by her right and Seonho by her left as a show of respect to her brother-in-law, who happened to be a king. It was a necessary arrangement, with all eyes upon the family and close friends present at the table, and she couldn’t afford to sleight people just because Joohyun didn’t exactly care for her family, although she was somewhat fond of her brother. They were served five courses, each one melting in Chaeyoung’s mouth, and she tried her best to eat slowly for the benefit of everyone else, but she was so hungry and her cravings were so strong that she would’ve devoured it all in a heartbeat if she could’ve. She doubted Hasun would approve of her manners if she did though, or Taehee for that matter, having raised her for over half of her life. She was a model queen instead, politely cutting bite size pieces and making conversation with Seonho and Joohyun as she tried to keep a bright smile plastered on her face. Luckily Seungwan was on Joohyun’s other side, which meant that Joohyun was likewise happy, wedged in between two of her favourite people.

Once dinner was over, having ended with a baked cheesecake - Joohyun’s favourite, with the slight alteration that it was baked to ensure that it was safe for the two of them to eat with the dairy in it - they returned to the ballroom again. More dancing ensued with her wife, and Chaeyoung couldn’t help but bite back a smile at the slightly cross look on Joohyun’s face when she saw Jennie dancing with Seungwan, making a few grumbling comments. Chaeyoung thought it was amusing more than anything, and knew that Joohyun was just more irritable than mad at the obvious strengthening relationship between her best friend and sister-in-law, but she couldn’t help but think that it would complicate things. She kept quiet though, and tried to quell Joohyun’s irritation about it, feeling guilty for what she was about to do behind her sister’s back. Chaeyoung needed Lisa’s help, and the least she could do was try not to come between her sister and Seungwan when she was about to secretly rope in Jennie’s ex for her own benefit. Chaeyoung hoped that it would help ease her conscience a bit, but she was already feeling guilty and nothing had come of her phone call yet.

The feeling only grew when she slipped away from the party later on. It was dark outside, the view beyond the windows an inky darkness as the party raged on inside, guests growing less stiff with their manners and words as the wine and whiskey loosened them up a bit, and Chaeyoung passed Joohyun off to