❛ 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐳 ❜ — Charlotte, Dimitri, Lucina & Marth
Dimitri greeted Lucina with a pilote smile followed by a nod, before his gaze returned to the family before them all. Having gotten to the ballroom just now, he lacked some of the context as to what could have upset the girl so much to the point of making her leave the area so readily, but a few cues rung bells in his mind- something felt off.
The boy, supposedly the lady’s younger sibling, held a rather wrathful look towards her retreating figure. It wasn’t worry for his sibling or curiosity for her reaction- Dimitri was familiar with that fire, that hostility. Anger. But it only lasted a brief second before fading into a more neutral expression as he moved to stand from the chair and chase after the girl, who was most likely Sasha.
For a moment, he wishes he could go after the two- but he knew he couldn’t. If they were to chase after Sasha and the boy, it would have to be in a subtle fashion at best. Rather, the princely mask was back as Dimitri turned to face who he could only assume were Lady Bergliez and Lord Zeigler, if his memory of the Empire’s nobles wasn’t failing him. The pair was already engaged in a conversation of their own.
The father of the bride is nowhere to be found, but the mother of the groom is exactly where you left her, bright and cheery with her noble guests. ”….beautiful, truly. A work of art, more than befitting House Bergliez. I doubt even the Relics of Houses Blaiddyd and Riegan could compare. Randolph has yet to see it…“
Dimitri stares for a moment, a blond eyebrow quirking slightly at the mention of the relics of his family and Claude’s, before taking the smallest step forward to make his presence more known. "Good afternoon, Lady Bergliez and Lord Ziegler. It is a pleasure to finally meet you all. I sadly missed out on the preparations for this lovely festivity due to the Kingdom’s callings, I hope that I am not too late.” His smile was typical, but the prince intentionally skipped his usual introduction and announcement of his titles.
Lady Bergliez turns to Dimitri, delighted when he sees him. “Oh! Well, that’s no problem at all!” While she doesn’t quite know what the prince of Faerghus looks like, the people she was talking to do. They look at you, gobsmacked. “…Are you Dimitri Alexandre, Prince of Faerghus?”
With a still pristine poise, Dimitri hides the bout of awkwardness that rose once a couple of eyes turned to face him. As used as he is to people acknowledging his presence in public, outside of the Kingdom it feels…different, even more so when not in diplomatic missions. Still, Dimitri nods, smile still in place. “Ah, I deeply apologize for not introducing myself. Yes, that is my name. I am not here under the Kingdom’s banner however, but as a student of the Officer’s Academy along with my peers.” He gestured to the others of his group.
Lady Bergliez goes wide eyed, and the grin she gives you is akin to a predator’s. “Oh! Oh of course!” She quickly bows her head before turning to the rest of her peers, even haughtiest than ever. “It looks like even the prince of Faerghus didn’t want to miss this event!”
Oh no. Dimitri blinks in a pause, his smile becoming strained for just a second before falling right back to place. I don’t even know what this party is for. “I am sure it will be a grandious celebration.” He added, just to keep face. Then, after a beat of moment, he put his hands behind his back, easing his posture into something more relaxed, casual. “Pardon the odd question, but I have heard you mentioning my house’s relic a bit earlier. May I know the context? This is only innocent curiosity on my part, after all it is not often that I hear Areadbhar being discussed outside of the Kingdom.” And outside of wars.
Lady Bergliez’s face freezes into her smile. “Oh…” “She was telling us of a wedding gift from the Zieglers’. Part of Sasha’s dowry, in fact…” One of the nobles pipes up, looking over at Lady Bergliez. “Oh now don’t be shy, especially not in front of a prince. You’ve been teasing us about a weapon for days. Will you ever tell us?” “…I believe it’s time that we get seated.” Lady Bergliez snaps her fingers at a servant, who quickly makes their way to the group. “I won’t have the food go cold.”
Dimitri nodded, eyebrows arching slightly as his smile continued plastered to his face.
So this is a party commemorating a wedding for Sasha…and a weapon will be part of the dowry. From the reactions, that weapon seems special in its own might. Could it be a relic?
This makes things more interesting, as well as dangerous.
The prince no longer says anything, instead allowing himself to the guided by the servants and looking over at his group.
@bcmbshellblcnde @arcstral @futurerequiem
The group takes to the party relatively well. Like Charlotte had anticipated, they take the chance to go check on Sasha as soon as they get it. That Errol kid with her kind of gives Charlotte the creeps...what kind of kid talked like that? She kept it off her face though, at least in front of everyone. No good lady fought with children after all.
Sasha wandered off and the others seemed to take that as an invitation to start to mingle more. Charlotte’s eyes trained after the bride to be, watching her go off on her own. Though Errol said he would be chasing after her, that short moment where she’d be alone was probably the best time to see what she knew about the situation.
When she found her, Sasha was standing on her own out on the balcony, looking up and out to the sky. Charlotte didn’t spy any sign of the kid around. Before she had the chance to even debate whether or not to approach, Sasha turned and caught sight of her and stiffened with the usual kind of posture that came from noble breeding. Charlotte managed not to roll her eyes as she sighed and stepped out to join her.
"So...nervous huh?" Change in tactics. Charlotte really didn’t see the need to slap on the whole act with someone who clearly was in no position to affect what was going on around her. Besides, Charlotte could use a break. She had been on practically all day, she was tired. "I can imagine. Marrying into nobility seems like it either tends to go one way or the other with very little in-between. He doesn't seem too bad though. You could've done worse, even if you're not crazy about it."
"I know." Sasha's words sound hollow. "At least I know him... somewhat, at least. For that I should be grateful, right? Father... Lord Ziegler said the same thing to me. Errol as well." She sighs wearily. "I've known this was waiting for me someday. I just wish...." pausing as she searches for the right words, then finding none, "I wish the circumstances were different."
"Ugh, definitely. You could've gotten some scumbag old guy who wanted a young wife just cause he thought it'd be easier. No thanks." Why wouldn't she call her father father? Charlotte didn't get nobles. "Different, huh? I guess you probably wanted to at least finish at the Academy before getting married, huh? Though things don't seem too bad for you where I'm standing." Charlotte shrugs and leans casually against the balcony. "What do I know though."
Sasha doesn't say anything, only closes her eyes and lets out a sharp exhale.
"I think I just miss my siblings." She quickly glances at Charlotte before looking back ahead. "They weren't here when I came. My mother sent them to some kind of boarding school... most of them. Of course you've seen that Errol is still here."
"Oh? Wouldn't you have known about it? I mean, don't noble families usually plan to send their kids off for schooling and stuff?" She thought Errol was a brat. "Too young for him still, I guess?" She wondered if it was being too busy that was really causing a delay in her letters, or something else. Worry for her family, maybe, or in the worst case scenario, was someone stopping her from sending out those letters...
“No. They think so, but the second youngest is just a year older and hardly any more mature. Still gone.” Sasha leans against the railing of the balcony. “Before I left for Garreg Mach, my mother and father told me that they’d keep me informed on what’s happening back home. And they did, until they didn’t, and went back on their word…”
"I'm guessing this whole engagement thing is new too then, huh?” Not unusual, though Sasha seemed to think it was. “Messed up to just spring that on you with no warning...it's not like your family has any need to rush something like this, do they?"
Sasha shakes her head. With a sigh, she puts her head in her hands, rubbing her temples. “I can hardly understand what happened since I left. My mother nowhere to be seen, my father has become a stranger to himself… even Errol has changed. Normally he’s a sweet boy, I don’t know what’s happened to him. And he calls me Sister, not Sissy like the others, like he has been…”
Sasha laughs humorlessly. “I’m sorry. It’s silly, right? Maybe it is all in my head.”
"Nah, I doubt it. I've seen plenty of strange things. If anything, you should be keeping an eye out for any other weird things. Never know what it could mean." Sounding more and more like something was going on, that was for sure. But at the very least, Charlotte had definitely managed to get some kinda info out of her.
@arcstral ; @futurerequiem ; @elegiac-boar
