"I look like a cake." Grace pouted, staring at her reflection in the mirror. "They put too much red on this thing."
"You look fine." Mark reassured his sister, placing a hand on her bare shoulder. Grace winced at the touch, noticing how close he was to her choker. Mark quickly realized, taking his hand off. "Sorry, my bad."
"It's fine." Grace said, taking a deep breath. "Do you have the ring?"
Mark nodded, passing Grace the box with her engagement ring inside. She took a deep breath taking her ring out and placing it on her finger.
"Let's just get this over with." Grace said, turning around towards the door to the hall where her engagement party was.
...
"Well this is different." Shuyu mumbled as she followed Yangyang into the building, the rest of the guests from the light realms following them. She could tell that they were all thinking similarly, not used to this type of setting.
They had briefly touched upon Feu during her lessons in the palace, but nothing could compare to this. There were no plants or signs of life aside from the people of Feu, barren land with cement buildings. In the distance, they could hear people running as a trainer called out to them, displaying the lifestyle of the people here.
"Stop giving me those looks, we're a military realm." Xiaojun told them as he guided the royals towards the base where the engagement party was held. At this point though, Shuyu was seriously reconsidering if this was an actual party and whether they had all overdressed for it.
"Do each of those shiny things represent something?" Yangyang asked and Shuyu instantly gulped as Xiaojun turned around, eyebrows furrowed.
Xiaojun's face quickly changed, a small smile appearing on his face. "In fact, they do."
Shuyu couldn't keep up as they started talking about the different ways they could possibly earn each badge and pin that Xiaojun wore, so she glanced at the people around her instead. Picking up the conversation behind her, Shuyu kept herself facing forward while listening in.
"I really don't like this place." Lucas mumbled to Johnny, just loud enough for Shuyu to hear. "It scares me."
"Why?" Johnny asked. "I mean, I get that it's not your ideal place but it is their home."
"Their home where my ancestors were killed." Lucas said, taking the people around him by surprise. Xiaojun remained unfazed though, walking as if he never heard it.
"Erde and Feu are sworn enemies." Xiaojun reminded them. "Between all the realms, our two have the most tension."
"Not to mention all the wars fought here." Lucas continued.
"Guess I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone from Feu that killed the King then." Taeil added.
This made Xiaojun stop, a hand on the front door of the base. He instantly turned around, glaring at the male from Vatten. "What did you say?"
"I said-"
"Okay, why don't we go in?" Johnny suggested, slipping in front of Jaemin to block the two males from glaring at each other. "We're here to celebrate a happy engagement, right?"
"Sure." Yangyang mumbled and for some reason, Shuyu couldn't help but have a bad feeling about how this party was going to go.
...
Jisun stared at the engaged couple who were politely greeting the guests. She knew them well enough to know they were both holding in the urge to strangle each other, and had to admit, they were doing well.
"Your sister looks gorgeous today." Jisun said as Mark approached her, passing her a glass of punch and naturally sliding an arm around her waist. "Your parents must be proud."
"They are." Mark mumbled. "If only my sister wasn't so miserable."
"How strong is this bond between you two?" Jisun asked, taking a sip from her glass. Mark shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not sure. But it's strong enough for us to know that with great power comes great responsibility." Jisun shook her head as Mark smirked, proud of his little quote. "What? You don't agree?"
"Maybe you should have been an author, Mark." Jisun chuckled. Her face soon changed as she caught sight of a male walking towards them, his eyes focused on Mark.
"If you may excuse me." Yuta said, politely bowing to Mark. "I would like to spend some time with the Prince."
"Yuta, it's fine. Jisun can stay here." Mark told him, pulling Jisun a little closer to him as a sign of reassurance. "I trust her."
"I don't." Yuta said bluntly, even though she was right there. Jisun couldn't help but grip her glass tighter, not liking where this was going.
Mark's smile faded, his eyes beginning to darken. "Yuta."
"Don't give me that look, Mark." Yuta said, standing tall with his shoulders back, projecting confidence. "You know how bad the death of the King shook the light realms. If you want to continue working with us, you need to understand that we're selective with who we trust, and Eis simply isn't one of them."
Mark opened his mouth to object but Jisun was faster. "Excuse me?"
"Gosh, why hasn't she left you?" Yuta mumbled. "She's not even that big of a deal."
The sound of glass shattering showed that Jisun had enough as the shards of frozen glass and punch spread on the ground at Jisun's feet. The girl didn't even notice that she was using her ice powers until the glass broke from being too cold, each piece covered in ice.
Heads were turning towards her, wondering what had just happened but Jisun honestly didn't really care. Her eyes were focused on the male in front of her and even Mark knew better than to stop her.
"I'm right here and can hear every word that comes out of your filthy mouth." Jisun spat, slipping Mark's arm off her as she stepped towards Yuta. "And just so you know, you shouldn't insult a realm if the Crown Princess is right in front of you. Hm... Who are you again? A commoner? Do you even have a drop of royal blood in you?"
Yuta's eyes began quivering in fear and Jisun didn't realize why until Mark called her name. "Jisun."
Jisun looked down at her hand and saw that it had become pale as frost began covering her skin, slowly crawling up her arm. She took a deep breath, glaring at Yuta before turning to Mark.
"What's going on here?"
Jisun gulped as Grace pushed through the crowd that had formed, Jaehyun behind her. The Ombra Princess was staring at the glass and Jisun's arm, which was slowly returning to its regular colour.
Jaehyun called a servant to take care of the broken glass, beginning to disperse the crowd. When the Lee siblings exchanged looks, it became clear that Grace had a good idea of what had happened.
"My apologies." Jisun bowed her head, giving Grace a curtsy. "This night was a special one for you and I believe I have ruined it."
"Jisun." The girl ignored Mark, keeping her head low.
"I must be tired from my lack of sleep. If you may excuse me, I think it's best for me to return home. I wish you and Jaehyun the utmost happiness with the remainder of your preparations for marriage." Jisun quickly said.
Grace nodded her head, understanding. Jisun avoided Yuta's eyes as she picked up her skirt, heading out of the room as fast as possible.
She heard Mark's footsteps following her but Jisun didn't really care. She just wanted to be away from Yuta and anyone else that shared similar opinions about her realm as fast as possible.
"You'll regret that, Yuta." Jisun mumbled as she stepped out of the base, letting go of her dress as she stared into the distance. Her arms were turning white despite the heat of the fire realm, the princess calling her powers. "I'll never forget the words that you said to me."
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:) hehehe