Chronicles of the Red Sovereign

The moment the carriage that brought me inside the imperial palace reached the building where the Winter Ball would be held, I felt like running away.

Seriously.

But I steeled myself, especially my nerves and kept moving forward.

I was greeted by Kai who helped me off the carriage he commissioned to fetch me from the Celestine Residence. I couldn’t help but fidget since I could feel the stares of everyone in the area.

“Nervous?” Kai asked.

“Very.” he chuckled in which earned him a glare from me. “This is my first time to a ball, or any formal party actually. Not to mention this one is hosted by the imperial family. All sorts of people will be here to gawk at us.”

He led me inside the building and we crossed hallway.

“Why would you think people would gawk at us?” he asked again.

“You’re the white headed cursed prince. Plus, this dress is definitely eye-catching.”

The moment I told Eliza that I was invited by Kai to the Winter Ball, she volunteered on helping me with my dress. Since I basically had no ‘fashion taste’ as she called it, I left it all to her. In the end, she chose a baby blue dress with sapphire embedded on the dress as designs. Its upper part hugged my upper body snuggly, despite my small chest size. The only thing I did not like about it was that it exposed my fair shoulders and the last thing I wanted was for my body temperature to rise and expose my red mark. I managed to convince her to let me take a shawl to go with the dress. As for the lower part, it was quite puffy and the colors changed making the lowest part of the dress dark blue.

I had to admit it was quite a nice dress, but I sucked at descriptions, so let’s leave it at that.

“You look beautiful by the way.” Kai suddenly whispered which caught me off-guard. I could feel my face and ears heat up.

-This is bad. I can’t let my body temperature rise.

I began grumbling in my head, trying to clear my head.

“Although, what’s with the shawl? The dress would’ve been fine without one.” he added.

“I have various reasons for it.” I smiled.

My mind suddenly drifted to that little incident in the infirmary building. Kai suddenly barged inside and I was only wearing towel, which left my shoulders and mark exposed that time.

-Did he not see it?

“Like that red mark on your skin?” I stiffened at Kai’s words.

-So he did see it.

“About that incident, I’m really sorry. It was senseless of me to just barge into the bathroom without permission. I did not know what came over me but I kept calling for you inside the room but you won’t answer. I was afraid something happened to you already.”

Despite my nervousness, I couldn’t help but chuckle at Kai’s expression. He looked so cute while apologizing and it seemed like he did mean it. And if what he said was true, it was my fault. I was so lost in my thought that I did not hear him calling for me or sense him barging inside the bathroom. And besides, it’s not like he saw me totally naked.

Still, he saw a part of my mark…

“I saw a red mark on your shoulders that time. If I may ask, is it some kind of birthmark?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure.” he gave me a questioning look. “I lost my memories when I was a child remember? That mark had been there for as long as I can remember. I don’t know if it’s something I am born with or is it something added there later on.”

“I see… Although, I don’t see it now.”

I flashed him a grin in which he returned with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s a special mark. I haven’t told or shown anyone that mark, but it only appears when my body temperature rises.”

I saw Kai’s face filled with surprise. I could totally tell he was marveling at the thought of how my mark worked.

“If you’re born with it, then that means you have some sort of special blood within you.” he said in which I nodded. “But if that was added after your birth then it must be some sort of special ink for it to work that way!”

“Yes, but I still don’t know its origins. It’s not like I have someone I can ask.”

Luna’s real parents died seven years ago, so if she really was born with the mark, they would know something about it. But if it was some sort of tattoo and was a tradition in the village where she came from, then it was no use either. The entire village was wiped out by demons.

“We can have Andrea and Charles check it later. Alchemists like that kind of thing.”

“I’m not comfortable of becoming a lab rat, thank you very much.”

“If you say so. Are you going to tell the others?”

I sighed.

-Right. It’s one of the things I haven’t told them.

“Maybe. But not now.”

“Then I’ll keep it a secret for you as well.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Kai really was a very kind person.

“Thank you.”

We reached the entrance of the room where the ball was held. Apparently, the man at the door had to announce the guests that would enter. This made me raise an eyebrow and looked at Kai skeptically.

He did not say anything about it.

“Eh? Did I not mention it?” he laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. He was obviously nervous.

“No, you didn’t.”

“Right. They will have to announce our arrival.”

“Kai!” I whispered-yell at the white haired prince who only kept smiling.

I wasn’t fond of getting too much attention, but announcing the arrival of the famous cursed prince, whom everyone avoids, and his plus one would definitely catch the attention of anyone in the room. I was hoping to spend the ball on the sides.

That hope was thrown out the window.

Kai just continued smiling and let me hook my arm on his own arm. “You’ll be fine. This is my first time in a formal party hosted by my family as well. Think of it like this, it’s both our first time and we help each other adjust to it.”

“Do I have a choice? It would be rather embarrassing for the both of us if I suddenly back out now, don’t you think?”

“True.”

We reached the door and the man in-charge of announcing our arrival had a look of surprise. Whether it was because Kai attended a party hosted by his family or he had a partner with him in a party, I didn’t know, nor did I care. To be honest? I just wanted to get inside, get some food and drinks, and then go home after everything.

“Announcing the arrival of Prince Royal Kai von Praiji li Syna! And his partner, Miss Luna Hysi!”

From the door, I could see and feel all the stares directed at us. I steeled my nerves and thickened my face.

-Let’s just get this over with.

“Don’t forget to smile.” Kai said in a teasing manner and we moved forward.