Julia

  The ballroom had been vishly decorated for the e ball. Marko and Leopold filled champagne gsses with sparkling wine and e juice so that others could carry them to the guests. Finn had the evening off, as there was nothing he could help with. Their guests, the most important noble families, chatted to cheerful music. Small, fine appetizers were served.

  Peter sat o Julia and Babette iands. Finn had embroidered a few flowers on his suit, which Babette eyed disgruntled. Peter also wore Julia's neckce around his neck again. Babette had surpassed herself with her poison green dress. The skirt was made of more sumptuous tulle than a person should wear.

  The Queen and the King also sat in the gallery with their three eldest and watched the guests with satisfa. After some time, the queen stood up and the music fell silent. Peter and Babette stood up as well, while their mother solemnly annouheir e.

  Peter finally took the simple metal ring out of a blue, fancy box and put it on Babette's fihe guests appuded.

  Babette smiled forcedly. She looked at the ring. It was obvious that she had expected something different.

  "Do you like it?", Peter ily asked, and Julia stopped herself from ughing.

  Babette smiled. "Of course. The ring is... Extraordinary."

  The ring was indeed extraordinary. Cheap junk. Inappropriate for a future princess.

  "I'm happy about that. It’s a special one," Peter said.

  Julia noticed how her mother looked at the ring, stunned. She was silent. No doubt she would tell Peter her opinion ter. Loud and vehement.

  After that, the ball went like any other ball. There was food, ughing, and dang. Peter danced with Babette, who stepped on his feet. Perhaps iionally to take revenge for the ring. Cleo drank too much champagne and was already ughing while talking. She told embarrassing stories from the time when she had started as a soldier. Fritz and Lea daogether, and Julia daogether with Helga out of boredom, since Helga attehe ball too. The two girls ughed happily as they raged wildly across the dance floor and danced against the rhythm of the music.

  At some point, Julia repced Babette and danced with Peter, who thanked her for saving his ag feet. Meanwhile, Babette ate her way through all the snacks offered. Crumbs fell into the tulle of her dress.

  "Where is Cleo?", Peter asked, looking around the ballroom as they danced. "I haven't seen her in a while."

  "I don't know. Maybe we should look for her? She drank a lot..."

  "That sounds like a good idea."

  The two sneaked out of the ballroom unnoticed. They didn't have to search for long. The drunken Cleo fleetingly and clumsily kissed an equally drunken witch behind a pilr. Charlotte von Schlossstadt. The daughter of a smaller aristocratic family who had lived in Castle Town feions and pyed an important role there. Charlotte, the you daughter of the family, was Cleo's childhood best friend. Charlotte was, along with her mother, the only wit the family. She attehe ball alohe two friends ughed happily. Charlotte wavered a little.

  "Oh." Julia couldn’t say any more.

  Peter grinned. "At least we found them. Should we leave them to their own devices?"

  The two witches giggled, joked, and danced clumsily across the hallway.

  "I think we should go." Julia shook her head. "How much did she drink?"

  "I kiffed my beft friend!", Cleo rejoiced. The other witch ughed loudly and stumbled. She dragged Cleo to the floor, where the two remained ughing.

  "Although..." Julia looked at her brother. "We might better put her to bed! I'll take one drunk and you take the other?"

  "Sounds like a pn. I'll put Cleo to bed, and you take Charlotte to a guest room?"

  "Agreed."

  The two tried to separate the two giggling women, but Charlotte held on to Cleo and whispered something about a teddy bear.

  In the end, the two y in Cleo's bed in her old room, sleeping soundly as Peter and Julia could not separate them.

  "I think Cleo surpassed me today!" Peter covered the two.

  "Definitely." Julia ughed. "Let's go back to the ball. Before someone searches for us."

  --

  The m, they all sat together at the breakfast table. The queen had been surprised when she heard about the ued guest o the von Steinhofs. Charlotte and Cleo were both sitting at the breakfast table with pale faces and couldn't remember anything.

  "I have a headache... I think I'm sick," Cleo groaned. Charlotte nodded.

  Babette looked at the two in disbelief, as if she could not believe that two adults could behave like this.

  "Does anyone know why I slept in Cleo's bed?" asked Charlotte.

  Julia giggled softly, earning an indignant look from her mother.

  "Because you two had g to each other," Peter told her willingly. "You didn't want to part with each other."

  "We did that?" Cleo yawned. "I ’t remember..."

  "That’s what you get fr to drink all the champagne alone," her father reprimanded smiling. "You two overdid it."

  "At least we had fun." Cleo poured herself some coffee.

  Marie

  Marie was tired. She struggled to keep her eyes open while her political sce teacher gave her a lecture on the most basic ws of her home try.

  Marie had been reading half the night and dreamed of attending all the balls at the castle. She missed Julia. She wouldn't e batil Sunday evening.

  Marie would have liked to be at Prier's e ball. It must have been wonderful. Instead, she had written a test and distracted herself with a book in the evening. She was frustrated. Now she was finally friends with the princess, but she was not io the ball. Her eyes fell shut. She was so tired...

  Leopold

  After the ball, he and Marko helped out i. A lot of rinsing had to be done. tless champagne gsses, ptes, bowls... He was tired. The ball dragged on for half the night and a lot of sparkling wine and e juice was drunk. He had only been able to catch a glimpse of the ballroom and at the guests. He had seen the royal family sitting iands. Julia looked beautiful...

  He would have liked to dah her and that made him feel guilty.

  He had been given an important task! He would not abandon his people.

  Some of the non-human servants talked about not being allowed to seers to their families. Leopold became perceptive.

  "We’re not allowed to seers?" he asked the two elves.

  "A w has been written. Because of the uprisings," said one elf. Her interlocutor nodded. "The ws are getting tighter and tighter. Who knows, maybe one day we won't be allowed to leave our homes... How is this supposed to end?"

  "We'd better not talk about it anymore." The other elf sighed. "We 't ge it."

  Leopold would ge it. He would ge everything.

  This cruelty would end. Three months. That's how long he had to wait. He had hiddeion well. No one would find it.

  The fact that he couldn't write to anyone wouldn't stop him. The princess wouldn't stop him...

  He had an important task.