Lunaria~
"What exactly is this ball for, mother?" I asked the sparkly woman.
She smiled at me. "It's your coming of age ceremony, silly. How could you forget that?"
I groaned. "I've been trying to say I lost my m…"
"Oh look, we're here," she interrupted.
The door swung open and she stepped out of the car.
"Coming of age ceremony," I muttered. "Fantastic."
"My Lady." A servant bowed. "Please step out. The ballroom awaits."
I climbed out and followed my mother down the marbled steps.
"Darling, keep your back straight," she said and she wasn't even looking at me. "And smile."
The doors opened and we were in a hallway, a very narrow one.
Trumpets sounded from the other end of the hall.
"Presenting Her Majesty, Lady Eleanor of Valeria!"
The door in front of us swung open. My mom flashed me a smile then disappeared into the room.
"Her Lady, the Moon Princess," the voice said again once the doors were closed. "Lunaria of Valeria."
The doors swung open once again and I walked in. A lot of eyes turned to me as a haunting violin melody played in the background. Suddenly, a wave of whispers echoed around the ballroom.
"That's her?"
"I thought Elena was the Moon Princess."
I nearly tripped. Adding to the fact that my insides were currently being compressed, the heels didn't make it much better.
I immediately scanned the room to look for my mother, and then I saw her. She was talking to other grownups. I was heading to her when a group of girls blocked me.
One of the girls stepped forward. "What are you up to now, you snake?"
"Excuse me?" I raised a brow in confusion.
"Why are you with the queen instead of Elena? What have you done with Elena?"
"Who?"
The girl in front scoffed. "Don't play dumb. We all know how you are. Where is the real Moon Princess?"
"I'm right here," I said and pointed at myself.
"Oh my," one of the girls snickered. "You're really sneaky, aren't you? And you even got the queen to cover for you when you're really just a maid."
Another girl said. "I should've expected this. Elena did say you might pull something like this."
I looked around in confusion. "Isn't this my coming of age ceremony?"
"And now you have the audacity to act confused," the girl in front laughed.
"Who the hell is even that?" I said as I placed my hands on my hips.
They gasped and took steps back.
"See? You don't even have the grace to pretend. Your maid side is showing."
"Yeah, Elena would never say, 'hell'"
"Well, fuck Elena," I shrugged.
Another gasp. I was beginning to think these girls came with built in sound effects.
"This is treason," one whispered.
"No, it's lunacy," another replied.
"No, I'm Lunaria," I said and wheezed.
They glared at me like I'd insulted their ancestor or something.
"You don't get it?" I asked. "Lunacy, Lunaria… It's not funny if I have to explain it."
"If you don't tell us the truth," the tall one said, "we will tell her majesty."
"Go ahead," I said as I stuck my finger into my nostril to scratch an itch.
They all shrieked, literally.
I rolled my eyes and wiped my finger on the side of my dress.
"Gross," a voice said.
I turned back to see who had called me gross with my kind of face. And there he stood. His hand were tucked in his pocket and he stared at me with disgust in his eyes, next to him was a girl. She had green eyes and black hair.
"Elena, thank goodness you're here," one of the girls said with relief.
The green eyed girl smiled but she kept her gaze on me, her arms were interlocked with the guy she was with.
"Did you just pick your nose and wipe it against your dress?" the guy asked with a disgusted look on his face.
"Wanna see me do it again?" I smiled.
Elena's smile twitched and the girls behind me made another round of synchronized gasps.
The guy raised a brow. "Aren't you worried about how I would perceive that?"
I furrowed my brows. "Why would I be worried?"
"Elena," one of the girls whimpered. "Why didn't they call out your name when you were entering?"
Elena smiled and glanced in the direction of my mother. My eyes followed hers.
My mother was already leaving the ballroom for another room, with all the adults.
"Well," Elena said as I darted my eyes back to her. "Luna here said she wanted to know how it felt like to be royalty for a day, so I let her have it. It's her coming of age ceremony too."
"You're so nice as always, Elena," the tall girl said. "But look at her, she doesn't even appreciate you."
"That's a strong jawline," I said as I squinted at the guy.
He blinked. "What?"
"What's your name?" I asked as I stepped closer to him. "You're totally my type."
Elena stood in front of him, blocking me from getting closer. "What do you think you're doing? Kieran already said he wants to break your bond."
"Oh, so your name is Kieran," I smiled. "I'm Lunaria."
Kieran frowned. "I know who you are. You're my mate."
Wait, Kieran?
"Kieran Grimm?" I asked.
"You know my name. Why are you acting like that?" he chuckled awkwardly.
"Oh sweet moonlight," I muttered. "My mate has the same name as you."
Elena blinked and looked between me and Kieran. "You're not serious."
"Exactly like it," I nodded. "Isn't that crazy?"
"I'm your mate," Kieran said with a flat expression.
I looked between him and Elena, and their interlocked arms. I shook my head. "I refuse to accept that."
"You picked your nose in front of me," he said. "If anything, I should be the one refusing."
I grinned. "That was a test. And guess what? You failed. True mates accept each other, boogers and all."
Elena scoffed as she looped her arms even tighter around Kieran's. "Kieran, don't listen to her. She's clearly unwell."
I stared at their interlocked arm. Gross. I reached forward and pushed Elena, as gently as I could, of course. I'm not a monster.
I pushed her to the side and linked my arms with Kieran's.
"Oops," I said with a smile. "I slipped."