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Two days flew by and the night of the ball finally arrived, carriages made their way into the inner walls of the castle, bringing many important and powerful guests, which were all received by the numerous servants.

Techno sighed, putting on his formal royal clothes with the help of his servants. It consisted in a pair of dark violet pants, a red band, tightly wrapped around his waist so to keep the white shirt in place and make it look neat. It took them quite some time to button up all the golden buttons, not forgetting to add as well his royal gown, this one had two large rubies on each side and a thin golden chain which connected them, locking the cape in place.

They added some jewels and a few brooch on his band so to keep it from falling off, making his tall figure stand out more. Once they were done, they handed him his royal crown, which he quickly put on, heading out and into the long hall that lead towards the ball room.

He almost jumped when Ranboo teleported a few meters in front of him, nicely dressed in a black and white outfit.

"You're looking divine tonight your majesty, i'm sure no woman would be able to resist your charm" he complimented, starting to walk by his side, his comment making him roll his eyes.

"How many guests have arrived?" he asked, Ranboo gave a quick look into his book and answered.

"A little more than a hundred, king Soot and his queen arrived just now" Techno smiled at the last news.

"Let's go greet them then"

They quickly made their way into the large room, getting announced by the guards standing by, and gathering unwanted attention. Soon people started to swarm up to him, blocking out Ranboo and trapping him.

"Alright people, move on, give the king some space" a voice behind him called, the people moved out of the way allowing whoever spoke to make his way forward.

"Wilbur" Techno said in a happy voice, hugging his friend "I wouldn't want you to get crushed to death before you even got a wife now would i?" he said jokingly, managing to snatch a laugh from him.

"Very nice ball you're holding, the decorations are just marvelous" Sally complimented, holding onto Wilbur's arm.

"Thanks but most of the credits goes to Ranboo, he did most of the work" Techno admitted, making them laugh a bit.

"We actually were hoping we could talk to your Elythrian friend, is he here?" Sally asked.

"Who? Philza?" Wilbur nodded "Yeah he's here somewhere, probably standing guard at the door or by some window. Did you need something from him?" Techno asked, quite confused.

"Yes actually, you see our friend here..." Wilbur indicated to his left, but there was no one there, and once he noticed that he let out an annoyed groan.

"She escaped again, i told her to stick close at least this time" he mumbled, looking around a bit worried.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked, seeing his friend worry.

"Oh don't worry Techno, it's nothing, we can solve it by ourselves, you go in and enjoy your ball. I'm sure there are plenty of ladies who are waiting to dance with you" she said pointing with her gaze behind him, seeing a large group of girls stare at them, making Techno sigh.

"You're right, well, i hope you have fun as well. I'll see you later then" Wilbur nodded, soon leaving with Sally close behind. As soon as the king was alone again, he was immediately surrounded by girls asking him questions.

"Good evening your majesty, you look beautiful tonight"

"Would you be so kind to grant me the first dance?"

"Are you thirsty? Perhaps would you fancy some wine?"

He tried his best to free himself from the situation but to no avail so he eventually gave up, dancing with a few of the ladies who asked him. Techno was a very good dancer but he didn't quite enjoy dancing at all, since his mother's way of teaching made him hate it.

As time went by, he got to know some of them better, but he could clearly tell they were all putting up a mask to appease him. They kept saying only nice things and agreed with everything he said, which didn't set quite right with Techno, he liked a good-mannered woman, but he also wanted someone who wouldn't just say yest to everything he said. He was looking for a bride, not a puppet he could control as he pleased.

After almost four hours of this Techno was done. He managed to somehow lose the girls in the halls and sneaked outside into the royal garden, sighing in relief.

"I knew this was a bad idea, why did i agree to this?" he scolded himself, facepalming. He was not going back in there, so Techno decided to wait until the ball was over here, in the garden, where it was quiet and no one would disturb him. It was quite dark but some torches had been lit around, allowing him to see, he could also still faintly hear the music coming from inside the castle, but something was off, it sounded like there were two musics... no... one was more like... a voice... the voice of someone singing. And i was close.

But where? Here? Who would even come in the royal garden at this hour of the night?

He decided to investigate a bit, walking around to find the source of the noise, whoever was singing had a beautiful voice, it reminded him of that one girl he saw a few days ago. But that was impossible, she was a commoner, and from the Soot kingdom out of all, it's just impossible for her to be here.

He aimlessly walked around for a few minutes, until he found it. Next to the large fountain, at the center of the garden there was a girl, leaning against the railing and singing to the moon. She was wearing a long white dress, it didn't look too expensive, noble class at most, but it still fitted her pretty well, enhancing the curves in her slim body.

"Hey" Techno called, causing her to jump and stop singing. She quickly turned around, gasping once she realized the king was in front of her.

"M-my apologies your highness" Techno raised an eyebrow "Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything... did you?" she shook her head "I-i-i just came here a f-few hours ago, i didn't touch anything" she assured.

"Why did you come here? Were you not enjoying the party?" the girl seemed to tense up a bit.

"I-i'm not used... to this kind of things... my apologies..." she mumbled the last part, keeping her gaze low.

"What's your name?" he asked, walking closer.

"A-angela, your majesty" she quickly answered, shaking a bit "You have a very beautiful voice Angela, did you know that?" he stated as he walked in circle around her.

"T-thank you..." she whispered.

"You know, you remind me of a girl i encountered a few days ago near the Soot kingdom" he stopped in front of her "You wouldn't happen to be the same girl?" she flinched, hesitating a bit before answering.

"Y-yes... i-it's me your majesty" Techno was shocked by her answer, he didn't actually expect her to be that girl.

"How did you get here?"

"King S-soot and queen Sally brought me along"

Now that he though about it, they did ask if they could bring a guest, he guessed it meant her by now. Techno pondered his next question.

"Why did you ran away back then?"

"I-i... was scared" he clicked his tongue "Fair enough, then how did you manage to lose me?"

"I c-climbed a tree" that's right, he didn't even check the trees, that was a dumb move of him.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, it wasn't my intention" she lifted her gaze, her azure eyes meeting his deep blue "T-there's no need for you to apologize your m-majesty" she assured, lifting her hands.

"Do i scare you now?" she jumped a bit, rubbing her arm and looking away "A-a little" she mumbled. Techno smiled, he knew he looked scary but she was the first one to admit it to his face. He stepped closer to the torch, allowing it's light to illuminate his body.

"Now?" he asked again.

"N-no.... now not anymore" she answered. He smirked, sitting down on the edge of the fountain.

"Angela was it?" she nodded "Mind if we talk a bit?"

"N-not at all, it would be an honor" she sat down, far apart from him but not too far. Techno appreciated it, all the other girls always sat too close to him and would grab his arms and try to pull him away from the other girls.

"Where are you from Angela? I presume the Soot kingdom" he started.

"I-uhh... i actually don't know" he turned to look at her "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I can't remember... i lost my memory... king Soot and queen Sally had been taking care of me ever since they found me wander aimlessly in the forest a few weeks ago" she explained.

"But you do remember your name at least" she nodded "That and the fact i'm a magical creature of some kind... i think i was an Elythrian" she said more to herself than to him.

"An Elythrian? But you don't have any wings" she shrugged "I know but... i can't explain it... i just fell like a belong to them..." she let out a soft chuckle "Sorry to bore you with my life story, i'm not a very entertaining person"

"Not at all, i don't mind, at least you don't agree with everything i say" he said in a sarcastic tone, earning a confused look from her.

"Why should i? I mean, sure, you are the king, but if everyone just agreed with your choices then... how would you know when you're doing something wrong or right?" Techno gave her a surprised look, he didn't expect a commoner to have such profound thoughts.

"I guess you're right" he said with a smile. They kept talking for a while, Techno started to grow quite fond of her, and once she got past his scary side, she too warmed up to him, starting to talk a bit more freely.

After a while, Techno could hear the music was starting to faint, meaning that the ball was coming to an end, he should probably head back inside before anyone noticed his absence.

"We should head back, the ball will be over soon" he offered his hand to her, she hesitated a moment but took it nonetheless, helping her stand up. The two walked through the garden and back into the large room, some girls immediately setting their eyes on him.

"W-well, i should go find king Soot, he's probably worried sick since i left his side almost right after we arrived" she bowed down "It was a pleasure and an honor to meet you your majesty"

As she started to leave Techno's body reacted, catching her arm before she could disappear into the crowd, making her turn around.

"I-uhm..." he cleared his throat, straightening his position "Would you allow me this dance milady?" he asked a bit too quickly, causing all the people in earshot to fall silent.

"Uhm... i-i... don't know how to dance..." she shyly admitted "That's not a problem, i'll guide you" he assured. She considered it for a moment before looking at him, weakly nodding.

"A-alright then" she took his hand, Techno smiled, guiding her towards the center of the dance floor. He took her left hand, placing his other hand on her waist, making her jump a bit.

"W-what am i supposed to do?" she whispered, looking a bit panicked, Techno chuckled "Just place your hand on my shoulder and follow my lead. Like this, two steps to the right, then one on the left, and turn, and repeat" he instructed slowly starting to dance.

Needless to say she stepped on his feet several times over before she started to get the hang of it.

"S-sorry" she kept apologizing, blushing a bit, which Techno found cute. They kept dancing for several minutes, after a while she dared to look up and locked eyes with him, getting lost into them. The two danced for a long time, not noticing the looks the other guests gave them, as well as the very enthusiastic one of the council members.

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