[h2]M A I   M E I[/h2]
[hr]
Mai turned at the sound of her name, the delicate champagne flute dangling from her fingers as she finished taking a dainty sip of the bubbly liquid. Her eyes alighted on none other than Prince Leonard Ford-her betrothed. He was in a vaguely familiar gray uniform; Mai recognized it. She had seen him wear something similar, before.

She smiled a polite greeting at him. "Prince Leon, it is a pleasure, as always. My trip went well enough-a bit on the longer side, of course, but it was...pleasant. And yours? I trust that it went smoothly as well?"

Something in Mai's gut twisted as she took in his choice of attire. Of [i]course[/i] Leonard had chosen to come decked out in full military regalia; would he really be a prince of Krieg-Konigreich if he did not? Mai knew that there were other princes and princesses in attendance who were either currently serving in their kingdom's military or had done so in the past-take Erik von Rothschild, for instance. He was a captain in the Veredunian navy, but [i]he[/i] hadn't shown up in uniform. 

Mai forced herself to let it go. She had known from the start that Leon would indeed show up wearing his uniform, so any subsequent [i]judgement[/i] on her part was just useless pettiness. Besides, she would marry Prince Leon one day in the not-so-distant future. Might as well start getting used to it.

[i]Well, at least he is not obviously much younger than I am, anymore,[/i] Mai thought to herself, wryly, as she took in the rest of his outer appearance. When the two of them first met, she had been sixteen, while Leon had been eleven. It had been more than just a [i]little[/i] bit awkward; Leon was but a child, at the time, and Mai...well, Mai was not legally an adult until she was eighteen, but she felt that she had been more or less an adult by the time that she and Leon interacted with each other for the very first time, in more ways than one.

Turning her thoughts away from such, ah, [i]unpleasant[/i] things, Mai carefully assessed the people who had arrived so far. She could not find Princess Mila Ford, but she was sure that Leon's younger sister was around, somewhere-the two of them would have come in together, Mai presumed. Princess Genvieve had disappeared with the prince from Du-Wassi, and out of the corner of her eye, Mai noticed the two princes of Talulia, Aito and Akio Bai, the younger prince and the princess of Polemos (Dafni and Elias Kokinos), as well as Princess Isabella del Reyes of Evalusia and Princess Raven Willow of Mirenia. Whether or not there were any other newcomers, Mai could not say-they were not within her line of sight.

[i]Prince Elias Kokinos, of Polemos,[/i] Mai mused to herself. [i]Why do I feel like he and Alejandro....know each other? Alejandro has mentioned the Polemesian prince before, that I am sure of, but other than that...Hmm. I do not remember why I know that, but I can ask Alejandro later, I suppose.[/i]

Mai gave Prince Leonard another polite smile. "Is your sister here, as well? I have not seen her yet; do tell her that I say hello, in the event that I am unable to find her during the ball."

[i](Interacting with [@alexfangtalon])[/i]