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'You look beautiful.' Isla picks out a loose strand of hair and fixes it up with the small diamond pins that are decorated all across Jennie's hair now. The stylist left nearly an hour ago, but Isla has taken it upon herself to ensure that there is not a piece left out of place in her absence. She sighs. '... and you're not even listening.'
'Sorry!' Jennie looks up and meets her eyes in the mirror with a guilty expression. 'I was away with the fairies.
Isla laugh. Everyone knows about Jennie and her tendency to disappear into her own thoughts regardless of the goings-on around her, but today Isla knows the reason. 'Are you sure you weren't thinking about seeing a certain someone?'
At that, Jennie's heart skips again.
The day had dragged by, every hour lasting a week, and even now it feels like a lifetime until she can make her way across the estate to the banquet hall for dinner. It feels like even longer before she will be able to fall into Rosé's arms and bring her back to this apartment and feel for the first time in so long how it is to be kissed by her love. She knows that the dinner will last for hours. Several heads of state are in attendance as well as the biggest business players in Asia. There will be courses and courses of super-rich food that Jennie will start by piling high on her plate before realizing that the bodice of her dress won't stretch to accommodate the treasures on display. That is the familiar torture of her position.
'Maybe a little,' she says with a sly smile. 'I wonder how long I'll have to wait before we can leave?'
'I can always cause a diversion for you,' suggests Isla in a bright voice, 'as long as you warn Kyungseok not to arrest me.'
If Isla is enthusiastic, then it is nothing compared to Jennie's over-zealous bodyguard.
'I think that I owe my family a few hours at least,' Jennie sighs. She has not seen them much, recently. People assume that because they live in the same house they would be close, but this is no ordinary house. The royal palace sprawls across the such distance that they do not truly live side by side at all, and her parents are always busy. With her grandfather's advanced age, they have taken over many regal duties, especially those that involve travel. Jennie is busy too. Just this week, she has attended three important charity events and two grand openings. That is her life in Rosé's absence: gala, function, opening.
'Are you ready to go?' asks Isla.
Jennie has ceaseless admiration for Isla. Though she spends hours before any event working closely with Jennie, she always seems to look the very best herself. Jennie is sure that she must get up terribly early in the morning to do so. Tonight, she is beautiful in a bright pink cocktail dress, her hair cut into a neat blonde bob. It's like she lives two lives, both her own and Jennie's, doing two of everything. But she never complains.
Jennie's dress is periwinkle, and it was designed for her. The stitching fitted her exact measurements, and the designer had brought it over three times during the creation process to check that it looked correct on her form. The skirt is layered, fading into darker blue towards the chiffon hem. It falls so low that she begged Isla to let her wear sneakers underneath since no one would see them, but in the end, she has agreed dutifully to cram her feet into a pair of pale nude heels with silk ribbons that remind her of her childhood ballet shoes.
