[h2]M A I   M E I[/H2]
[hr]
At Princess Genvieve's comment, Mai let out a light, tinkling laugh. "Oh, but of course," she said warmly, letting her eyes linger on Genevieve's lipstick. "It is not often that I find someone who appreciates lipstick as much as I do." And then it was Mai's turn to incline her head as Genevieve complimented her gown.

"You are much too kind, Princess Genevieve," Mai murmured, smiling at the other princess. "And, well..." Mai trailed off in the middle of her response to Genevieve's comment regarding her nickname, laughing softly. "Yes. I certainly have no reason to object to it, no?" She flashed her a mischievous grin.

Mai's gaze flitted discreetly across the room, making note of some new arrivals, as well as some princes and princesses that she'd missed the first time around. Princess Alexandra Bonnisseau of Castellevé was dressed in a sleek black suit-Mai found the look to be quite stylish, even if she did not particularly care for how...[i]childish[/i] Princess Alexandra came off as-while Hye-ri, who Mai had met on a couple occasions in the past, was in the traditional dress of Haneul. Erik von Rothschild of Veredun had a few medals pinned to his black blazer, and although she tried to ignore it, her stomach twisted at the sight of them. Her eyes quickly flicked to Prince Diederik Isidor of Argenyonne, dressed in a rather carefree, cavalier manner, chatting with a member of the palace staff with blue hair. Mai thought that Zhou might have liked the dark-haired prince. Neither of them were particularly...conventional, one might say.

Mai stifled a giggle as she contemplated her cousin and Prince Diederik next to each other. She would have paid to see Zhou in pink pants, honestly.

Finally, she noticed Prince Elijah Rothchester of the Ivunate Empire, dressed in a black trench coat. He was talking to Prince Yu Liang, from Weifeng, whose platinum blond hair raised eyebrows no matter where he went. Mai thought that although it was a rather unusual look, Yu made it work very well.

She re-directed her attention to the red-haired princess of Maris, a slight smile playing at her lips. "How are you enjoying Aciras so far? I must admit, this is my first time in the kingdom. It is quite different from what I am used to, though that is certainly not a bad thing." She laughed, a tad sheepishly. "I will freely admit that the food took me a little bit of time to get used to, although the palace chefs seem to be nothing short of geniuses, of course. And our hosts seem to have a wonderful taste in foods of all kind...especially desserts. Princess Lea [i]does[/i] love her desserts, or so I am told," Mai continued, grinning as she gestured vaguely in the direction of the tables lining the walls-which were, for the most part, filled with pastries and chocolates and sweets of all different shapes and sizes (complete with fancy labels detailing the ingredients and whether or not they were vegan or not).

Mai turned back to Genevieve. "The weather here is not too much different from my home in Liang, though I imagine that this may not be the case for the others. Is it very different from Maris?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Prince Alejandro Aguila de Agustin making his grand entrance with all his usual flair, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes good-naturedly. The blond Castilyan prince was truly something else.

[i](Interacting with [@lady horatio])[/i]