Showdown At The Ball
After giving her greeting to the King and Queen, she was quickly dismissed and forgotten. Julianna made her way towards the refreshments when her Father cut her off by dragging her by her elbow to the open French door that led to the balcony that over looked the rose garden.
"Don't you dare embarrass your sister tonight!" Harvey growled through his teeth. "Tonight is too important for the Brooks family for you ruin!"
"Whatever do you mean Harvey?" Julianna said. "When have I ever said I wanted to ruin Maria's engagement party or her marriage?"
"Just don't do anything stupid or make a fool of yourself!" Harvey commanded. "You'll regret it if you do!"
"As my dear Father wishes." Julianna said sarcastically.
Looking at Julianna again and what she wore, Harvey breathed a hard breath out and clicked his tongue to his teeth. Looking at her disapprovingly he turns around and leaves her outside.
From the shadows Julianna felt a presence standing underneath the balcony. Knowing full well whoever stood there heard their conversation and chose not to reveal themselves.
"Eavesdropping is considered rude you know." Julianna said out loud. "But I'm guessing you're hiding in the shadows for that very reason. I suggest you hide your presence better should you find yourself in a more difficult position."
Turning around Julianna walked back in to the ballroom. She did not notice the shadow jump up to the balcony from his hiding place and land on the rail. His black attire blending into the darkness as he watched her. His amused lips slightly curls up and his eyes looks at the retreating figure with curiosity.
That night was still young as she danced her way through the gentlemen in the ballroom, never dancing with the same gentleman twice. Julianna charmed her way into the hearts of the men making them laugh and shamelessly complementing them on their best assest. Prince Ivan looked at all the men that surrounded her with jealousy. She was never this charming or captivating when she was his fiancée. She was never this beautiful either. When he looked back to his fiancée Maria, he did not know why but he couldn't help compare the two. Between the two, Julianna captured everyone's attention around her, drawing everyone's eye to her laugh, her smile, her wit. Although she lacked cultivation and fighting skills, Julianna was completely an alluring woman. While although Maria is strong in cultivation and fighting, she did not have Julianna's current charms. Her looks were on par with Julianna, however Maria seemed not to know how to best accentuate her beauty.
"Look at her," Maria said out loud to anyone who was listening. "Look at her acting wantonly! She's embarrassing not only me, but the whole Brooks family name! Father! Do something about this!"
Harvey made his way towards the group of men surrounding Julianna. Pushing his way through the men, when he reached her did he clear his throat and excused the both of them and pulled her towards the balcony again. Once outside the only other person outside was a young man in black leaning against the rail watching the party from the outside. Leading her away from the man, Harvey finally stopped before the stairs to talk to her.
"Did I not warn you not to embarrass your sister tonight!"
"Whatever do you mean, Harvey? What did I do to ever embarrass Maria tonight?"
"You know perfectly well! You have been acting wantonly in front of everyone!"
"How?" Julianna questioned him.
"How!?" Harvey yelled. "You have danced and flirted with all the men in there! Now if that is not wanton, I don't know what is!"
"But Harvey, although I danced with the gentlemen in the ballroom, I've never danced with the same man twice. Never ruining my reputation by giving one gentleman more favor then the next, according to etiquette. I can't help it if the gentlemen want to talk to me. Should I be rude and ignore all those who want to talk to me? You did say I should not embarrass the Brooks name, I'm just following your orders."
With not having anything else to reprimand her with, he gritted his teeth and said, "Watch yourself and how you speak to me!"
"Harvey, if I wanted to embarrass you, Maria, or the Brooks name, I would have done this instead!" Julianna said as she marched to the man leaning against the railing who was listening to their conversation with a bored look.
As Julianna reached the man, she suddenly stops right in front of him and says, "Please excuse the disturbance, but may I use you for a moment."
Without waiting for his reply, Julianna hooked her arms around his neck and pulls him closer to her. With one hand in his hair and the other holding down the back of his neck, she pressed her lips against his. At first his lips were pressed tightly together, but with Julianna's careful and teasing ministrations, his lips slowly relaxed and opened for her to explore. His lips started kissing her back as his arms wrapped around her waist and held her tighter to his body.
The shouting that Harvey made could be heard from the inside and drew the attention of guests. Soon word got to Maria and the Prince that they followed the gathering crowd to witness Julianna embracing a man.
Seeing the situation Harvey quickly made his way to stop Julianna, however
Julianna broke away from the kiss and his embrace just as Harvey reached them.
"Jemma!" Maria and Harvey yelled at the same time.
"You see Harvey, that is what I call making a scene and acting wantonly."
Prince Ivan broke away from the crowd and walked toward Julianna and the the mystery man.
"Prince Raiden, you must excuse this lady's actions towards you. She is a talented-less waste who is not in her right mind right now. You see she was my fiancée but I broke it off a couple of months ago and she is still grieving for that fact and has violated you."
Julianna finally drew her attention to the man she kissed known as Prince Raiden. Although Julianna was considered tall, Prince Raiden was a little bit taller then she was. His hair blended into the darkness and his eyes could hardly been seen through the darkness. His sharp features made him look hard and stoic, but he would be considered a handsome man. The only soft feature he had was his full lips, his best attribute, Julianna thought.
Without saying a word, Prince Raiden just raises his right eyebrow as Julianna eyes met with his. Julianna smiles and raises her right eyebrow in response, challenging him.
"This Prince can kiss whoever he wants." Raiden said with a mischievous smile.
The whole night Prince Ivan watched Julianna flirt and dance with other men, then he saw her kiss Prince Raiden which made him even more jealous that his bones in his body wanted to burst. All he saw was red when he approached Prince Raiden to wipe the smile off his face. As Prince Ivan raised his hand to punch Prince Raiden, Raiden grabbed Julianna around the waist and quickly moved her away from the incoming fist. Before Prince Ivan could throw another punch he was stopped by Harvey blocking his hand.
"Prince Ivan, please remember your status. Prince Raiden is here as a guest in our nation and should anything happen to him, it would cause a misunderstanding and cause a war. We both do not need a war to start over a woman, especially this waste of a woman. " Harvey said calmly.
Swallowing his jealousy and anger he looked at Prince Raiden and said, "Please excuse this Prince. I was not aiming for you, I was aiming to teach Lady Jemma a lesson in embarrassing her sister, my fiancée, at our engagement party."
"Whether your attack was aimed at me or this Lady, it was towards my direction, which would be considered an attack on me."
With not having a way out of this, Prince Ivan panicked and did not know what to say so Harvey jumped in for him.
"Prince Raiden, it was not Prince Ivan's intention to harm you. To clear this misunderstanding and appease your Highness, we will give you a gift of gold in your weight in return."
Prince Ivan nodded hurriedly and agreed.
"Yes, a gift of gold in your weight!"
"Does this Prince have your word that you will give this gift?" Prince Raiden question.
"Yes! You have my word! This Prince has said it in front of this Prince's people. They will be this Princes witness." Prince Ivan said.
"Then this Crown Prince Raiden Osamu of the Kingdom of Redbane, son of King Michio Osamu, the 40th King of Redbane, wants this Lady Jemma, as my gift."
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That cliffhanger tho' right!?! Sorry, not sorry.