#laemon

Yves stood in front of his vanity mirror anxiously. It was the sixth time his hands had found their way to fix the magenta bow tie hung elegantly around his neck.

He had ushered the maids and butlers out a while ago so he could have some space to collect his thoughts.

'Come now Yves, this is not the first time you've done this, so quit being nervous!' He mentally scolded himself before taking a deep breath in a quick resolve, the sudden determination flashed across his face as he squared his shoulders.

Giving himself one last check up, he finally turned away from the mirror and strode out of the comforts of his chamber towards the party. Only to halt in his steps and quickly put a palm on his head in annoyance,

"Ah, I forgot to go see her and pick her up."

Scolding himself, he turned around and fastened his pace in the opposite direction. It didn't take him long before he was face to face with a familiar door that he went way too many times for his liking. Squaring his shoulders for another time out of habit, he lifted his knuckles to knock elegantly on the polished wood.

The door opened slowly by one of the maids in charge of preparing his partner for tonight's party. She bowed then moved to let the prince walk in. Yves practiced the conversation in his head while he was on his way and it was really unlike him. He has never once held back his tongue when it comes to her so why tonight of all nights.

Probably cause of the fear of scrutiny from the other party-goers. Yves closed his eyes in order to collect his thoughts when he heard someone cleared their throat.

It was Y/N and he stared.

And she looked as dashing as ever in that beautiful off shoulder dress. She stood there looking back at him with a smile, but her eyes told another story.

That she was worried about him than she was about the party.

That's when Yves realized he was lucky - almost too lucky for his own good - to have someone like her as his pretend lover.

But he can't help but feel this intense surge of pain in the pit of his stomach once his thoughts came to the conclusion that they were only pretending to be in love.

He quickly brushed that thought away and smiled softly, forgetting the fact that he was semi gawking at her a few seconds ago. Yves slowly walked up to Y/N,

"You look beautiful." He felt the need to emphasize his point. "Well, more beautiful tonight - ah, but that doesn't mean you're not beautiful in your normal attire - it's just - ugh!"

Yves groaned in frustration while the sound of Y/N's bubbling giggles erupted in the background. The remaining maids had quietly left the two of them to their own little world; much to his relief.

"It's okay to be nervous Yves," A soft melodious voice spoke and he looked up to see Y/N smiled at him reassuringly. Even with or without makeup, he still imagined that face of her as something similar to an angel standing before him.

He sighed, "Yes, I just don't want to screw this up."

"It's alright, I know you won't. You got this and you got me by your side."

Yves finally smiled, a full smile this time before extending his arm out for her. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah, let's." Y/N hooked her arm happily in his and they both were walking side by side to the party. Y/N was smiling like usual, but she had missed the disdainful look on Yves's face as he desperately tried to hide from her.

He really hates using her in this situation. For a simple public acceptance. He could choose another solution to make the accusations about him mistreating a noblewoman die down. Y/N had defended him saying that it's not like him to do such things. However, knowing how people like to gossip, the belief of Prince Yves being unlucky does not help either. Then comes the part where she declared that she was his lover to prove that he would never lay a hand on any woman inappropriately.

Yves couldn't understand how such a person could willingly throw themselves to help someone like him. He felt he didn't deserve all of this. She doesn't deserve all of this. But she's the one who insisted.

And being a coward he was, he just blindly accepted that. Yves wished he could be more stern and tell her he could handle it himself. Like he'd used to, like he'd always done.

But one simple look from her had crumbled that wall he'd put up to defend that vulnerability. What's more surprising was her quick resolve to stand up and fight back when it was necessary. Unlike him, he would probably let the words hit him and fuss up about it.

The sound of faint music playing cut him out of his reverie and he looked ahead to see the guards standing on ceremony to welcome their prince and his partner inside. They opened the huge door, and one loudly announced their entrance. Yves immediately felt eyes darting at him from all directions. He could sense the slight shakiness in his palms, but the warm delicate hand that held him squeezed tighter in reassurance.

He looked down, and there were those eyes and that smile that seemed to put him at ease every time he met them. Now that she's even closer, it almost felt like there were just the two of them together in the room.

The orchestra began to start the new song, and dozens of couples were already in the middle of the ballroom. Y/N tugged his hand and said, "How about we dance to forget about all the worried for tonight."

Without even waiting for his response, she pulled him with her, ignoring the splutters of surprise from Yves. They both started to waltz and swayed across the room to the music. Y/N was desperate to vibe off the slight anxiousness that was shown on his beautiful features, so the moment she heard the strumming of the strings, her instant reaction was to pull him along with her leading their dance.

Yves felt the coolness of the air wash away his worries as he instantly went along the steps as she led them both. He smiled at her as gently as the rose petals swaying, "You're getting quite good at this." He complimented her, lips inching close to her ears only for her to hear those sweet words. Y/N giggled and teased, "I only learn from the best." She hinted towards the fact that it was Yves who had taught her the basics since her early days at the castle until she had mastered the steps to even lead her partner.

A tinge of pink dusted Yves's cheeks, but he was still smiling. They twirled until the music stopped and another one played all throughout the night. He could feel all those pressures from the stares, the weight of high expectations he put on himself, and the taunting voice in his head washed away into nothingness when he danced with her and heard her laughter.

His eyes split away from her for a second and he could see most of his brothers, especially from the Domestic Faction nodding proudly and grinning in encouragement. Nokto even gave him a thumbs up, of course with a pretty lady in his other arm to which Yves rolled his eyes but he couldn't contain his smile nonetheless.

He focused his attention back onto Y/N and he swore he could feel himself melting slowly just by staring into the lights in her eyes.

'One day,' He swore to himself silently, 'One day, when I dare to face everything, I'll be sure to make you my own.'

He twirled her around once more before catching her waist gently as they both continued to sway, 'I'll have to courage to call you my love, my partner, my companion for real. We won't have to pretend or hide, there'll be no more of that. So please,'

The music slowly comes to a stop once again, signaling the third dance of the party has just ended. Yves leaned down to pull Y/N's hand for a soft kiss, all while gazing at her lovingly.

'Please wait for me.'

There was a hint of rare confidence and determination in his eyes, this time he had ignored the whispers from the other guests, all were irrelevant to him except for one woman in the room that stood right in front of him.

The sound of her sigh and giggles were enough of the confirmation he needed to know that she also enjoyed the party as much as he did. Yves wished he could stop time and savor the moment. His mental promise echoed around his head like it was no tomorrow as if it wanted him to remember and etch in on his brain forever. But he won't mind that.

He hoped she didn't realize there was redness on his face while he was thinking such thoughts about her. However, he didn't realize what was going through Y/N's mind and that she too had been thinking the same thing about him, waiting for the day when she could confess her true feelings for him and be together as real lovers.

-Fin