Chapter 3

Cinderella

In the blink of an eye, Cinderella was at the main entrance of the castle. She was wearing the most beautiful dress of them all and her mask only made her dark black eyes stand out even more. Her hair were styled in a Victorian way, with curls falling on each side of her bare shoulders, picking on the curiosity of the men and women present in the hall as they were placed on each side of the walls letting the lady walk on an empty path.

Men were observing her every move mesmerized by the mysterious princess that was passing by.

Women were jealous at her beauty as they whispered to each other gossips about who this lady was.

As for Cinderella, she looked on her left side, and then on her right watching the people talking about her.

She was now at the bottom of the staircase and looked up and was mesmerized by what she was seeing: not only the eyes of people who were looking down to watch the stunning stranger but also to notice a bird with it's spread wings painted on the ceiling. Beautiful. She slowly walked up the stairs and slightly bowed her head to the strangers that were looking at her and responded to her polite greeting. Cinderella was shocked at the beauty of this house: it was impossible for a normal citizen of Seoul to own a mansion like this one. She was sure that she stepped into the home of a prince, or better yet the King of a lost country.

She finally reached the third floor and found herself in the ballroom. She was speechless at the view this room was offering her: it was practically a smaller replica of the famous Hall of Mirrors of the Versailles Palace. The people seemed to be enjoying there time: some were dancing while others were drinking and having a good laugh.

The room had a lively atmosphere, and Cinderella suddenly felt at ease.

The leader was dancing with his lady, a smile plastered on his face as he was enjoying his time with his lover; the youngest of the group was having fun looking at the people on the dance floor and smiling widely forgetting about his earlier worries. The birthday boy was striking up a conversation with other men, while his older brother was flirting with some of the ladies. The last one was standing by the white piano looking around trying to figure out how he will be able to enjoy the rest of the night, while a woman was trying to gain his attention. 

Suddenly, whispers were heard throughout the room. People were looking at each other curious of who the new comer was. The five men looked up to the same direction as their guest: the entrance of the ballroom. There, was standing a beautiful young lady, looking as pure as an angel. Nobody seemed to know who she was and neither did the brothers.

Curiosity was just feeling the air of this immense ballroom, which amazed the little angel.

One of the young men saw, from the mirrors that filled the room, Cinderella coming through. He was mesmerized by the sudden beauty of this stranger. He felt like he had to enjoy the night for the sake of his brother, since the celebration were in his honor, so he thought of multiples ways to light up the night. She'll do… She's perfect: sweet and innocent. He left the woman who was flirting with him, in what he hoped to skip the chitchat and go straight to the point, but when Cinderella came in, he hadn't paid any attention to the last words of his so-called partner.

And then appeared a stunning young man. He gently bows in front of Cinderella as he takes her hand and lightly places a kiss on the top of it, welcoming her to the celebration.

"Welcome to our festivities princess"

She responds by bowing, having a small grip of her dress on one side as he was still holding her  other hand in his. He gets back up, now facing her while carefully looking at her, trying to figure out who she exactly was. He stretches his arm and places his hand in front of her as he slightly leans in

"May I offer you a dance, my lady?"

She gently places her hand in his palm and he leads her to the dance floor. The whispers just continued to grow, making the dear Cinderella a little bit uncomfortable at the sudden attention she was getting. The young men notices her discomfort and leans in next to her ear to whisper words to ease her discomfort. "The women whisper because they are envious of your endless beauty, my lady. The men whisper because they are envious of me, having to dance with a gorgeous princess tonight." She suddenly blushed at his words and whispers a quick thank you to him.

They were now on the dance floor: he puts his hand around her waist, while holding the other in her hand as she puts her hand on his one shoulder and held out the other for him to hold ending up in the traditional waltz position. Some people were observing this new couple dancing while others joined them. Cinderella still felt a little bit stiff, since it was her first time being in this kind of situation. Her prince felt her uneasiness and once again leaned against her ear and tells her to relax and to enjoy her night while it last. She listened and relaxed earning a smile from the young man. She looked up at him and couldn't see much because of his mask, but her gaze was fixated on his eyes. Gorgeous black eyes. His hair had hints of light brown layers under a darker shade and he seemed to have traces of facial hair. He looked down at her and smiled causing her to blush again.

No words were said during their dance. She seemed to enjoy her time here and he was glad.

On the far end of the room, four other men watched their brother dance with the beautiful princess curious to know more about her. Thinking that they will have some answers from him, they soon after resumed to what they were doing before.

Only one was left.

He was still staring at the young princess dance with his brother. Through his mask, he carefully observed her, forgetting everything about his surroundings.

His gaze was only directed to her.

Let's see if Cinderella will be able to survive passed midnight.

He smirked at that thought. He is the only one who knows what he has in store for this night.

Only him.

More information about the house I'll be using during the story (and the rest of the series):

- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2117726/The-Versailles-Texas-Spectacular-10-3m-chateau-Champs-DOr-comes-hall-mirrors-ballroom-bowling-alley.html

- http://johnb0127.hubpages.com/hub/The-Champ-dOr