Salvation of The Scum Fifth Prince

[51 - again; knowledge long waited]

For something conjured up by a heartless, narcissistic King, the ball was beautiful.

The lights were dim, the flickering of many candles spread across the expansive space, embracing the room in a gentle warmth. Music danced across the air in its melody, and bodies swayed with the words, moving in sync.

In the center, a particularly striking pair of woman twirled with grand movements, flashy yet flowing, as if they'd practice. Or so it seemed.

Raphael felt his eyebrow twitch, a dull throb on his feet. "You stepped on my foot again."

"Oh," said the other indifferently. "Sorry."

"Again."

"Hm."

"...Again."

Soren hadn't bothered to reply, allowing his body to become limp and malleable as Raphael struggled to pull him around. The core of this dance was the protagonist, and the puppet was the prince.

The skirts brushed each other in billowing flows as they spun and spun and spun.

"Wait." said Soren as he was twisted around. "Dizzy."

Raphael smiled through his painted lips, eyes curving. "Are you?"

He twirled the other more violently, as if this were not a dance across marble floors but a battle strewn across uneven floors. Soren lurched and felt as if he'd puke from the spinning of his head. If he puked, he decided he'd most definitely do it on Raphael's shoes.

Narrow, irritated blue eyes peered up at Raphael from the blur of movement, and the protagonist chuckled.

"I'll break your foot." threatened Soren as he was tugged again, deciding not to be pliant as he readjusted his posture to avoid being tugged around.

In response to the stiffened body, Raphael's grip around his waist tightened, felt through the bundles of fabric that were annoyingly thin around that area compared to the rest. Soren stiffened even further and frowned.

"What're you doing?"

"Trying not to pathetically fail when we were meant to attract attention instead." said Raphael, somewhat tired from dragging this reluctant weight around with him.

Soren couldn't say much for that and instead responded shamelessly, "Failing is also a method of attracting attention."

"......" That wasn't false.

The song came to a close, and Soren quickly separated as a new melody started playing. Raphael's hand lingered in the air for a moment after the sudden separation, before he sighed and pulled his midnight dress that had gotten ruffled during the moves.

A woman came up to him, delicate and pretty, as her dress flowed like a steady river around her body. Short, brown hair brushed her shoulders and her lips were brilliant red. "My, that was a lovely dance."

Raphael didn't recognize her and smiled politely, elegantly standing taller though his build already towered over. "Thank you."

Her eyes curved, twinkling with a warm mystery that was both enchanting and numbing. "Oh truly, it was astoundingly beautiful. I couldn't bare tear my eyes away."

A tone, sweet and flattering, yet not sickening sweet as it carried traces of intention.

"Flattering." responded Raphael with the same curt politeness. "Your dress is wonderful."

He was lacking on the same complimenting skills, but it was better than the others could do, to say so in the least.

Her smile brightened. "Oh, thank you!"