Elanore found herself in a grand room inside of the castle. It was even fancier than the prison cell she'd once stayed at. Maids waited outside, the wyvern maid inside not letting any of them tend to her mistress.
How did I even end up in this situation? Theoretically, she could just escape, but there was a wyvern intent on seeing her in a princess dress. That dress that Elanore had acquired so long ago was now coming back to bite her. The vampire wasn't the biggest fan of dresses, especially ones that were overly elegant and stuffy.
The vampire looked next to her dress at a pair of white heels to go with the white and pink dress. How did the kingdom even figure out her size so fast? It was like they were ready for this the moment she stepped in the city. She recalled the tailor skill that let a certain shop owner see her sizes by gazing at Elanore.
"Mistress, you are stalling."
"I am not stalling!"
Naela smiled and lifted the dress, holding it to Elanore's chest. The wyvern watched her mistress back away with a sly grin on her face. "There is nothing to be afraid of, mistress. It will all be over before you know it. Remember, you were the one that agreed to come to this dinner."
"Really? And why do you think I agreed to come here? You know, it is said that in a grand feast of royals, the food they serve will be delicious delicacies. I know you must be hungry again. Those little blue cakes weren't enough for you, were they?"
The wyvern kept walking towards Elanore, until she cornered the vampire against a wall. Naela pressed her hand against the wall and cut off Elanore's escape route. "My insatiable appetite doesn't only extend to food, mistress."
Elanore's heart pounded as Naela leaned forwards. The vampire could feel the warm breath of her wyvern against her ear. Warmth spread through Elanore's body, and she felt the tips of her ears heating. Memories of their previous entanglement flooded into her mind.
"Okay!" The vampire whimpered and nudged Naela away from her. "I will wear the dress!"
"In that case, you should let me dress you, mistress. This is also the duty of a maid."
Elanore wanted to argue, but her mouth opened and closed like a fish. Despite making the most overpowered character imaginable, nothing prepared her for the battle of love. She'd mastered all forms of witchcraft and sorcery, but the sorcery of the heart was a new frontier.
A delicate hand brushed against her cheek, and Naela smiled tenderly. Her pink eyes softened, and she brushed some of Elanore's pink hair from the vampire's face. The wyvern took her time, tracing the vampire's features. Each second sent Ella's heart racing, but she was finally saved, if she could call it that, by a knock on the door.
"Are you two almost finished in there? The dinner is almost ready, and the king has made his way into the dining hall."
Naela clicked her tongue. "We will finish this later, mistress. Please, allow me to dress you."
Elanore nodded and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and stored away all of her clothes. She followed the instructions of the wyvern while closing her eyes to the world.
With her eyes closed, she expected that the wyvern would tease her. Elanore thought that perhaps Naela would touch her or linger on certain places. No such thing happened. The wyvern was gentle and each article was placed on the vampire with tender care.
Was I expecting her to do something? There was a bit of disappointment that Naela didn't do anything. Before she knew it, Elanore was completely dressed in a frilly dress like a princess.
The maid knelt in front of her, holding the pair of heels. "You look beautiful, mistress. The only thing left is your shoes. Please, lift your foot."
Elanore obeyed the command with rosy cheeks. The heel was slipped onto her foot and strapped in. At least she had the balance of a goddess. The vampire witch was able to lift her other foot into the air while balancing on one heel. Pretty soon, both of her feet were sealed into shoes that were unfamiliar to Elanore.
Naela smiled and stood up. She fixed some strands of Elanore's loose hair. The wyvern made sure that her vampire was presentable. The only question was, who was the one that Elanore was really being presented to?
The answer to that question was reflected in hungry pink eyes. "Your hair is usually wild, and I love that, mistress. But this makes me wonder what your hair would look like if you grew it out and straightened it."
Elanore chuckled and held some of Naela's hair. "I think if you want to answer that question, you just have to look in the mirror." Another knock on the door, and Ella grumbled. "We're coming!"
She started walking, and she heard the clacking of her heels on the floor. A flash of embarrassment rushed through her mind. "Do I really need to wear these?"
Naela shrugged. "You don't have to wear them, but they may take offense if you don't."
Elanore nodded. Despite all of her complaining, she actually didn't mind prettying herself up if Neala was there to see it. Given how much the wyvern stared at her, she quite enjoyed it. A mirror nearby reflected the frilly princess in all of her glory.
The long white dress nearly reached the floor. It prevented her heels from being visible to onlookers, and the pink frills complemented her hair well. She had to admit that she looked gorgeous. Her stunning purple eyes served to contrast everything, and her smile showed off a pair of daring white fangs. Though, she did feel slightly naked without her witch hat on her head.
Elanore rarely went without it. Even when she slept, the hat sat next to her like a little sentinel. Now that the sentinel was gone, how would she hide her face behind mystery? The shadow of her hat couldn't hide her from the eyes of the world, and that thought was dangerous.
Naela opened the door, and the two were greeted by castle maids. They wore similar outfits to the wyvern, but the colors were different. They had tiger printed skirts and white aprons.
The two girls looked flustered. The older of the two knelt first and greeted Elanore. "My apologies, Your Highness. We meant no offense."
Elanore waved her hand. "There is no problem. Take us to the dining hall."
Extravagant castle hallways extended in front of them. There was so much natural light coming in from windows. Elanore imagined that if she was a typical vampire, she'd be burning as she walked. Maintained plants sat in pots beneath the windows on top of luxurious cabinets.
Outside, one could see the equally maintained grass and hedges of the royal garden. With Elanore's vampiric vision, it wasn't hard to see spirits moving through flower beds like little pollinators. Though, they weren't pollinating at all. They seemed to cluster around residual mana floating from the flowers themselves.
"Your Highness, do you like this castle a lot?"
Elanore looked at the little maid who asked her. There weren't many women shorter than the vampire, but she imagined that this maid must have been in her mid teens. The girl shrinked slightly from her gaze, but Elanore smiled. "It is a nice castle. It seems that I might have had wrong preconceptions. The royalty here might not be as bad as I thought."
"I am glad you think so, Your Highness! What about living here? Do you think you would ever want to do that?"
Before Elanore could answer, the older maid shushed the younger one.
"I told you about speaking out of turn, Azalea." The older maid sighed and gave an apologetic look to Elanore. "I am sorry about her. She will be reprimanded properly."
Elanore shook her head. "There is no need to reprimand her. I was just a bit confused about the question is all."
The maid breathed a sigh of relief and gestured towards a large door. "The king and his audience awaits you in there, Your Majesty."
Elanore could already hear the sounds of talking on the other side of the opened door. There were a few other late arrivals like herself, but they quickly funneled into the room. The vampire gripped her own maid's hand and started walking towards the entrance.
"Wait!" Azalea called out to the two of them. "Maids aren't allowed to..."
"No offense, but I don't wish to follow the customs of your castle. If Naela is not allowed, then I am not allowed."
Elanore understood that when in Rome do as the Romans do, but she also had her own principle. It wasn't really a principle, but Elanore felt she didn't want to be without the wyvern by her side.
"It's okay, Azalea. I am sure His Majesty will make an exception. Besides, she is without an attendant other than Miss Naela."
Azalea shrunk and her face turned red. "I apologize!"
Elanore sighed and waved her off again, thanking the both of them for their guidance. She finally crossed the lattice into the grand dining room.
The sight was enough to send shivers into her antisocial heart. She had no idea how so many men and women could fit in one place. The room itself was grand and covered with tiling on the ground, but the people were as gaudy as the room itself.
And it was almost like they'd rehearsed Elanore's arrival, for when she entered the room, they all turned to stare at her. She wanted to immediately escape and admit this was a terrible idea. It reminded her of when she had to give a presentation in high school.
The Ella back then was so full of embarrassment that she laughed awkwardly through the entire thing. Most of her speech was her laughing and trying to hide her face while all of the other students looked at her. And here was much of the same, though she didn't have her trusted witch hat.
Naela's hand gripped Elanore's tighter, and the wyvern spoke tenderly. "You're not in any danger, mistress."
It was enough to calm the vampire's blood. The sea of silent people sitting at the long table stared at her, but none of them spoke. At the opposite end of the long wooden table, the crowned king stood up from his expensive chair.
He held a metal chalice into the air and tapped a spoon against its side. "Silence everyone, the guest of honor has finally arrived."
Elanore looked behind herself as if there was supposed to be another guest of honor. That was when a familiar face arrived to assist the two girls standing clueless at the doorway.
A familiar tall elf walked up to them and gestured to open seats. "Don't be strangers. There is no need to be weary."
"Fianis!?"
"The one and only. Unless you've seen other elves within the city? Though, I highly doubt that."
Fianis led the two to their chairs, and they sat down.
Though, confusion was running through Elanore's brain. She still had no idea why they invited her here. Nor did she understand why she was made to dress up as a princess.
"My brothers and sisters, we gather here beneath Synnaria today to recognize a special individual on a special occasion," the king started.
Special is putting it mildly. And why is he being so vague? What is the occasion? Elanore had no recollection of doing anything particularly special, aside from making a shelf her servant. The mostly ignored words of the king gradually came back into Elanore's focus towards the end.
"And if she accepts, she will be welcomed into this kingdom with open arms. So what do you say? Will you marry my son?"
"Huh!?"