Indeed, the Princess was in quite a hurry to approach the crowd, eyes clearly on the lookout for any of those among the ranks of the Iron Rose Knights.

And when one had approached her...

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Rowan," she said, brightly. "I'm so glad you're enjoying yourselves. I'll admit, I expected the Captain to approach first, however... though it seems like she must be a little busy. I think I saw her speaking to a nobleman...?"

Eliabelle peered through the crowds, attempting to pick up the Knight-Captain in her vision as she did. "As long as I get to speak to her tonight, I'll be happy."

After a moment's pause, she continued.

"I heard you defeated that band of criminals that had been raiding towns," she spoke, lightly tilting her head to the side, "You have my deepest gratitude. It was awful knowing that the citizens of Thaln were in danger, and I'm glad that father listened when I asked for you to be sent after them."

Given Lord Velbrance had fled almost immediately after being released, Fanilly was quite relieved to have some excuse to flee as well before any others such as himself chose to approach her. She'd barely spoken to him when they were children, but now it seemed as if he... well, it was clear he didn't approve of her, somehow. But regardless, the princess had wanted to talk to her...

"Oh, Knight-Captain!"

And had evidently seen her.

"At your service, your highness," Fanilly began, bowing with one hand tucked over her chest as she did. It was of course to behave appropriately and treat the princess properly.

"Ah, I'm ever so excited to speak with you! And your knights!" declared the princess, smiling cheerfully.

[hr]

Violette's shoulder's sagged.

"... I... didn't mean..."

She trailed off. One of the knights had left... she just... she'd been frustrated. She wasn't too excited about tales of battle in the first place, and these knights had been too green to tell anything more then beyond clashes with bandits. It wasn't as if that was a bad thing, but in terms of hearing stories...

Now one of them had left...

"..."

"Er... I apologize, sir knight," Angenese said, bowing her head, the other blonde doing the same. Violette averted her eyes.

[hr]

Most people hadn't yet noticed her.

And yet, her presence was undeniable.

It was a little girl, no older than nine or ten, seemingly alone as she wandered through the crowds. Her hair was long, past her waist, and raven black, her large green eyes bright and full of life. Her features were soft, rounded, perhaps the epitome of what one would consider an adorable child, though her skin was incredibly pale.

The strangest thing about her was perhaps her outfit. On her head was a wide-brimmed, pointed travelling hat, and her body was dressed in a vest and long skirt, and a shirt with sleeves too long for her hands. It wasn't exactly party wear, really.

She reached out and suddenly tugged the sleeve of the nearest Iron Rose.

"I can't find the sweets... there's so many people here, I keep getting turned around!" she declared, quite clearly not seeming to understand she was talking to a knight, "Can you help me?"

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