AlteredTundra
Punished GN
shylarah
Raiden had been too distracted by Henri's lost puppy eyes to notice Beatrice approaching them. It wasn't until she was standing in front of him and Ryn that he finally noticed her. He had to pry his eyes away from the blonde to look at his fiancée.
"Ah, Princess Beatrice, you look stunning as always." He pulled back from the table he had been leaning on to give the Princess of Königreich der Welten a propper bow. "We only had small talk," Raiden glanced back at Ryn just in time to see Quentin approach their table.
After Quentin's little introduction, Raiden gave the man an encouraging look before glancing at Ryn to give her the "use the dagger on me" look before turning his attention back to Beatrice. "We should leave these two to talk. Ryn, please remember we are at a ball." he teased before offering his arm his betrothed. "Shall we?"
In response to Raiden’s bow, Beatrice dipped into a slight curtsey, smiling and thanking him for the compliment. Then, Beatrice took a moment to properly appreciate both Raiden and Ryn's outfits - Raiden was in all black, his suit paired with an absolutely gorgeous embroidered overcoat, and Beatrice thought that Ryn’s one-shoulder gown (which was also sporting some stunning embroidery), while a bit more daring than something Beatrice would personally wear, was beautiful.
She glanced at Quentin, briefly - his outfit was a lot more elegant than Beatrice had initially expected, all things considered. “It’s nice to see you too, Quentin,” she replied, politely.
Beatrice had known that Raiden and Ryn were good friends, what with their couture brand, and she smiled at the light teasing, as would be expected of her. “Lead the way,” she said as she accepted Raiden’s proffered arm, giving him another small, polite smile.
With another smile to Ryn and Quentin, Raiden led the way towards the open bar. Now with Beatrice on his arm, he needed something stronger to keep him focused- or to take the strain of it all. "How was your flight? I was lucky enough to have the Raske siblings with me."
When they finally got to the bar, he waved down one of the bartenders and ordered an old fashioned with bourbon. The night was still young, but Raiden already felt the weight of it all weighing him down. He glanced at Beatrice and offered a kind smile. Being alone with her felt surreal. He never imagined himself with a woman at all, but standing next to her made him realize how fucked he was.
“My flight was alright,” Beatrice responded, falling into step beside Raiden as they walked to the bar. “Long, though. But probably not as long as yours.”
Beatrice waited until Raiden was done ordering his drink before speaking again, returning his smile with one of his own. “Are you enjoying Aciras so far?” she asked, as politely as ever, taking a sip of the drink she’d snagged on her way over to Raiden and Ryn. “I’ve only been a couple times, and would love to see more of the city.”
"I am. I'm staying at The Plaza hotel with Ryn and Rhys. I'm hoping to enjoy the city far more than being stuck in this palace." Raiden took a sip from his own drink, "Perhaps you can join us one of these days. Ryn was planning to see some of the clubs Aciras has to offer. It would be a perfect opportunity to see more of the capital city too." It would be a nice opportunity to see a more relaxed side of Beatrice.
Beatrice couldn’t honestly say that she approved of Raiden’s choice of friends when it came to the Raskes, but whatever. It was none of her business, and if she would have to deal with being around them for the next two months, then so be it. It would get...tedious, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. Beatrice could put up with tedious.
“I think, quite honestly, that my parents would actually kill me if they caught wind of me going clubbing,” she replied, a wry look on her face. “So we’d have to be incredibly stealthy. But I can’t say that I’m altogether opposed to the idea, and I’d certainly like to see more of the capital. It’s quite lovely.”
"Well, if that's the case we can opt-out and do something more suitable." Raiden offered with a shrug on a shoulder. "We can always go on a trip around the capital. I heard Aciras is famous for its apple pie and its lovely gardens."
He didn't mind going out of his way to spend some time with Beatrice. If they got to know each other a bit more they could possibly come down to an agreement to dissolve their betrothal. Making it a mutual decision would get his parents off his back.
“I’d like that,” said Beatrice, flashing Raiden a brief smile. “I love apple pie, and gardens. My mom has always been into flowers, and I guess it rubbed off on me.”
Beatrice paused, and took another sip of her drink. This is...pretty awkward, all things considered. We barely even know each other. And I suppose it doesn’t help that I don’t plan on marrying him at all, she thought.
“Do you see a lot of other people that you know here?” she asked, after a moment of hesitation. “I don’t think I’ve seen Princess Vivian, yet, but I still have to congratulate her on her upcoming wedding.”
"I see a few I should probably get to greet them," Raiden nodded a bit, scanning the room to look at Leo, Cass, Chris, and finally Henri. He could tell Henri didn't want to be in this place. Even from across the ball, he could see his subtle mannerisms.
"Would you like to look for her?" Raiden turned his gaze back to Beatrice. "I can help you look," please say no. He wanted to make his way across the ballroom and talk to Henri, but leaving Beatrice would be rude of him. Although she seemed to be looking for an excuse to leave his side. Raiden didn't blame her.
Beatrice’s gaze flitted around the ornate ballroom as Raiden’s did the same. “Well, I don’t see Princess Vivian, so I don’t see why we should not go and greet the others,” she answered. “We can always go look for Vivian and congratulate her a different time.”
Beatrice surveyed the ballroom again, more discreetly this time. Out of all of the people in attendance, the person she wanted to speak to the most was Zheng, but she couldn’t. Not with this many people around, and not when she had someone she was already supposed to be marrying.
No; she couldn’t go find him alone, but perhaps she and Raiden would naturally cross paths with him over the course of the night. It seemed like the best bet, in any case, so Beatrice turned to Raiden and gave him a faint smile. “If there’s someone you’d like to talk to, we can definitely go and find them,” she said. “I’d love to meet more of the people here.”
Raiden hid the disappointment with a sip of his drink. "Of course." Raiden offered her his arm once more. "I can introduce you to a business partner and friend of mine." He glanced around for Cassandra, smiling when he spotted her. "She's a bright woman, I am sure you two will get along just fine."
Once again, Beatrice took Raiden’s arm. “That would be lovely,” Beatrice agreed, even as she sensed the - the reluctance? - in Raiden’s voice. Beatrice had heard of Cassandra, of course, but they’d never interacted (and frankly, Beatrice wasn’t sure how much she wanted to interact with the princess from Dal Riata, given that she was fairly certain that any political power Cassandra had would be negligible, considering how she was running her own company now. Nevertheless, Beatrice was nothing if not polite).
Raiden began to lead the way towards the familiar face of Cassandra. She wasn't too far off as she had been talking to the Maris Royalty and the Princess of Massylii. "Perhaps we could greet one of your friends as well, I'm afraid I'm not very well acquainted with many of the other royals." He glanced at the Princess of Arcenia and the Prince of Austerund as they continued to walk. It was amusing to watch them from afar.
Beatrice nodded in agreement to Raiden’s words as they walked. “I’d be happy to introduce you,” she replied, pleasantly. Beatrice followed Raiden’s gaze to Arabelle and Erik, arguing yet again. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, just a little bit. Really, both of them could be more mature about their betrothal, she thought to herself. Like, I love Ara, and Erik’s really not so bad. But seriously. Nevertheless, Beatrice still found herself suppressing a fond smile, despite the childishness of it all.
Beatrice thought that she had spotted Cassandra, just a little ways ahead, and was content to follow along with Raiden. However, before they could get closer to the princess from Dal Riata, no one other than Zheng himself appeared in front of them, presumably on his way to join in on the festivities.
Beatrice slowed to a stop. “Princess Beatrice, an honor to see you here. I do hope that Königreich der Welten and its queen are doing well,” said Zheng.
“Prince Zheng, how are you?” Beatrice said by way of greeting, giving him a polite smile. Zheng hadn’t been born into royalty, but the emperor of Liang had given him the titles, thanks to his service, and Beatrice knew court etiquette like the back of her hand. She knew to address him properly.
Beatrice winced, internally, at the entire situation. Here she was, hanging out with both the man everyone thought she was going to marry and the man that she wanted to marry (if only for political reasons). Zheng knew about her betrothal, of course, and how she did not intend to see it through. Raiden did not.
“Prince Raiden, this is Zheng. Prince Zheng, this is Raiden, my fiancé, she said, not letting any of her thoughts show on her face, her expression arranged in one of polite interest the entire time.
Dear God. We’re ten minutes in, and everything is already so awkward. How are we supposed to get through two entire months?
