A Palace of Disaster

Chibi Tsuki

A/N: Sorry for taking so long, the original script of chapter 2 somehow got deleted - which is drastic because I have to retype it ALL again.

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Chapter 2 

Emotions

"Milliardo, you're usually so forgiving, why did you get angry with that Page all of a sudden?" Treize questioned once the Page had left for some reason.

"I don't know, perhaps it's because my father is already planning out my marriage to some stranger that I haven't even met yet. I don’t want to marry a stranger even though I know I don’t have any other choices... So I'm fairly stressed about that," the prince replied, expressing his inner emotions to his best friend.

"It's the first time that you've had such an outburst for a rather long time. And it seems that you have a new rival at the moment in sports." With a grin, the young duke stretched his hands and lay on his back, glancing up at the clouds above him. The grass was soft and had a fresh smell to it.

Glaring at his friend for the indecent statement, Milliardo lifted his hand up to slap Treize lightly on the head. "Thanks for the help. Maybe you should get the award for being the best comforter," he muttered sarcastically.

Treize smiled. "Really? Where can I apply?" The two chuckled and continued to talk as the sun gradually sunk below the horizon.

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Milliardo walked positively into the ballroom beside his father, noticing the pairs of eyes shining at him; from the girls, it was adoration, from the men, it was politeness that possibly hid the hated emotion; jealously. Before entering the room, he had made sure that he was looking as tidy as possible, without the wisps of his long platinum hair knotted. His white suit was straightened perfectly as he strode in proudly beside his father although his face didn’t show it. He had learnt to hide his emotions ever since the Sanc Kingdom fought a war against the Alliance. But luckily his father was strong enough to withhold the sources of evil and stopped them in their actions. He was only six then and that war had made a deep cut into his heart as he remembered those whom he loved and treasured, died, especially his gracious mother.

“Naolan,” Celurious Noin greeted as the platinum blonde man and his son approached.

“Celurious, meet my son, Milliardo Peacecraft,” the Peacecraft king introduced. The young teenager bowed slightly in a polite fashion and presented his emotions with a pleasant smile.

“Nice to meet you Milliardo,” Celurious muttered in delight, subtly noting the young man’s posture and handsome looks. What a fine suitor Milliardo would make… He led them towards the drinks section on the long table where the food was neatly laid out for the guests. “Please, do have a drink of this fine wine.” Passing his friend a wine goblet, he glanced towards Milliardo, “How about a small sip, Milliardo? I’m sure a bit won’t harm.”

“No thank you,” Milliardo refused. “I’ll be fine for now.” He sub-consciously listened to the conversation and nodded whenever they asked him for a brief answer. When would he father let him go off and perhaps sit down away from the crowd? As much as he detested dancing, it seemed as if eyes were staring at him from everywhere.

Suddenly the raven-haired gentleman spoke up, “Here comes my daughter.” He pointed to the set of stairs that led down into the main hall. Milliardo glanced around knowing that it would be inconsiderate to turn and look. But instead of what he had expected, he noticed a delicate, angelic figure of grace, beauty and splendour descending the stairs with long raven-haired that reached past her shoulder blades, ending slightly above her elbow. Surely she was an angel from heaven. In front of her was also another beautiful woman but he recognised her as the wife of Celurious. But the girl behind was definitely different from all those whom he had met and seen. He blinked a couple of times and before he even realised, they were only two metres away from one another.

“Evening Father, Signor Peacecraft,” she greeted politely, performing a short curtsey before looking up at the blonde who stood close to her. Eek… How’d he get here? She gulped subtly and smiled at the gentlemen in respect.

“Lucretzia meet Milliardo Peacecraft, Prince of the Sanc Kingdom.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Signor Peacecraft,” she hesitantly held out a hand for him which he accepted and lightly brushed his lips against her gloved knuckles.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Signorina,” Milliardo smiled. He was trying to flatter this young lady with his charm and knowledge of Italian.

Celurious pumped up a chuckle. “You young ones go and enjoy yourselves with a dance on the floor. Go now.” Within a short matter of time, he was already shooing them away from the group and towards the other dancing couples who were swaying slowly with the music. Gingerly, Lucretzia rested her hand on his shoulder as he reached forward and placed a firm hand on her waist. Inwardly, she felt like ripping herself to shreds for letting this fool hold her in such a way. If it weren’t out of respect and consideration for her father, Lucretzia would’ve probably ignored the suggestion and gone off in search of her friends. But for a second, she felt as if she was safe in his arms as they moved swiftly through the music, only realising at the very end of the song that they were in the middle of the spotlight. Quickly she detached herself from him as a faint tint of red burned through her cheeks.

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As they danced, Milliardo felt a warm feeling somewhere in his upper body, comforting his mental self. He could smell of a particular fragrance from her body. Letting himself familiarise the smell of lilies, he sighed and smiled warmly at the lady he was dancing with. From his height, he spotted a slight smile formed on the girl’s lips, most likely a sign of enjoyment. During the whole time they spent dancing, he was gazing deeply into her eyes, absorbing the beauty that sparked at him and possibly all the other gentlemen. Suddenly, the sound of music exchanged with the loud applause surrounding him. He quickly snapped back into the real world to find himself in the middle of the light, stilling holding onto the girl whom he had just met.

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“Thank you for the dance. May I please excuse myself,” she apologised, escaping from his grasp through the crowd until she could find herself a quiet position away from the area, away from any other dancers. Soon she found herself immersed in a conversation with a group of young ladies.

“Noin,” a voice behind her said, surprising her instantly.

“Kievet. What are you doing here?”

The young page smiled as he stood beside her, “I’m on duty tonight. All the guests are here and I’m on the evening shift so I get to watch the ball.” His voice was friendly and happy. “I saw you dancing out there. You looked really beautiful under the light and all, just like you do now.”

“Thanks. I don’t feel like staying in here anymore, why don’t we go somewhere?”

“Sorry I can’t. I’m on duty and I’ll most likely get into trouble for running off like that.”

“It’s ok,” a tinge of disappointment slipped through her expression. “I’ll see you around then.” She walked around the crowd towards the door. It was already late into the night. As a matter of fact, nearly eleven. But it didn’t seem that long, if felt as if only fifteen minutes had passed since the party had started. With one last look at the ballroom, she left the area and back up the stairs towards her room knowing that the guests would be there until quite some time. Just as she pushed the door open, she noticed a figure bouncing on her bed while whooping with laughter. “Hilde? What are you doing here?”

“Lu!” the young child yelled at the top of her voice, darting to the single person entering the door. “Mother said that I could sleep in the same room as you tonight because of the ball.” Lucretzia smiled at the memories of the two raven-haired girls whispering and chatting endlessly about pranks and jokes they had done or planned to do the last time they shared a room which was a fairly lone time ago. “I saw you dancing with Prince Milliardo at the beginning of the ball. But then Mother shooed me to bed so I couldn’t look for you.” Hilde, being only twelve was quite mature for her age but of course, with several exceptions. Her little sister was already in her pyjamas, ready for bed but right now, she was still bouncing around like a little bouncy ball.

“Well hop into bed, I’m going to get changed quickly first,” Lucretzia stated, indicating at her ball gown and the rich jewels that hung on her like ornaments on a Christmas tree. As she came back out of the bathroom after brushing her teeth, she found her cousin already fast asleep on her bed. Snuggling into the bed, Lucretzia smiled as the sleeping figure next to her and before soon, she too fell asleep from pure exhaustion.

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“Wake up Lu!” Hilde shouted into her sister’s ear who immediately jerked upright. “Wakey wakey. Rise and shine. There’s going to be pancakes today for breakfast.” Lucretzia rubbed her eyes and blinked several times to adjust herself to the bright light streaming through her curtain that shined onto her body. She stretched out and yawned just as her sister came bouncing back into the room with her blue nightgown on. She turned and looked at the clock before stating the time. “It’s nine already.” Quickly pulling the closest skirt she could find, she matched it with a freshly ironed white shirt and threw on a pair of sandals to keep her feet off the cold tiled floors. With a quick wash of her face, she raced down the stairs while tying up her long hair up into a ponytail. The two siblings hurried downstairs in a casual fashion and hurried through the rooms until they reached the kitchen and skidded to a halt just as they noticed a young man sitting at the breakfast table with the food all set out in front of him. But instead of eating, he was looking at them, wearing a white suit that Lucretzia had seen the night before.

“Morning Signorina,” he greeted, smiling at the two blushing sisters. Luckily Lucretzia had thrown on some casual clothes if not she would’ve been embarrassed to no end. But Hilde, being in her nightgown, zoomed upstairs and back into her room to get changed into something more appropriate.

“Morning Signore,” she muttered softly, seating a few seats away from the young gentleman. Her appearance was kind, gentle and sweet but her inner self was already planning some pranks for this fool who had become her newest rival. Today, she will strike once again and show him the real expert.

“Please call me Milliardo.”

“If you insist,” Lucretzia gave him an unenthusiastic smile.

Milliardo waited. He waited some more but still she didn’t say anything else. “So… may I call you by your first name?”

“Yes.” Eventually, Hilde showed up again at the breakfast table and seated politely beside her sister, wondering why they hadn’t started eating yet. “Milliardo, meet my sister, Hilde. Hilde, this is Signor Milliardo Peacecraft.”

“Morning Signore,” Hilde chirped.

“Please call me Milliardo.” Just then he looked up, noticing a figure walking into the breakfast room. “Treize, please sit down. Meet Lucretzia and Hilde.” The youth seemed to be proud to know the two young ladies sitting a couple of seats away.

The duke sat down next to Milliardo and uttered, “I’ve already met Lucretzia but it’s a pleasure to meet you, Signorina Hilde.” He smiled as the young girl blushed at the thought of being called ‘Signorina Hilde.’ “Let’s start on breakfast before the food goes cold.” Soon enough, they started feasting on their breakfast of pancakes.

Lucretzia bent down and whispered into Hilde’s ear, “Where’s Andre? He’s supposed to be with us for breakfast.” As her response, Hilde gave her sister a clueless look and a shrug, indicating to her that she had no idea to the problem. “You keep eating, I’ll go look for him.” Taking her last bite of the pancake, she excused herself and headed upstairs to her brother’s room. “Andre? Andre?”

“Lu! Lu!” the yell of a young boy sounded through her ears. She quickly ran towards the window and looked across at the tree two metres away from the balcony. Her brother was stuck up on a tree like a young mischievous kitten who had wandered up a tree without the ability to climb back down. His hands were slipping off the tree’s branch as he desperately tired to cling on.

“Stay there, don’t move Andre! I’m coming,” she gritted her teeth and without second thought, ran to the balcony and lifted herself onto the thin railing.

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I wonder why she’s taking so long. Hilde gave an uneasy expression to the two older men. “Excuse me for a second,” she muttered before leaving the seat and running upstairs. She ran past her own room and continued running until she reached the third door on the left and ran into it, noticing her sister climbing onto the railing. “Lu! What are you doing?!”

Her startling voice called Lucretzia to an abrupt stop from leaping off the balcony. “Don’t scare me like that Hilde. Andre, stay there, I’m coming!” Catching the last sentence, Hilde rushed over towards her sister as she leapt onto the tree, her navy pleated skirt whirling with the wind. Andre was whimpering until the moment he felt his sister’s sturdy hand clutching onto his grazed hand. Even though he was still trying hard to support his weight with his other hand, he knew that he was a lot safer with his sister with him. “Andre, I’m going to pull you up, try and grab onto the branch,” Lucretzia ordered with an affirmative voice.

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Milliardo had already finished his pancakes and the rest were already cold. Giving Treize a quick glance he noticed the duke looking elsewhere. “Milliardo,” he muttered, nudging the platinum blonde teen on the arm, “I think there’s a problem of some sort.” Swiftly he stood up from his chair, pushing the object backwards. Without any hesitation, the two gentlemen headed out towards the kitchen, passing the rows of polished benches towards the commotion. Everyone was looking up into the tree, their heads held up high to see the nerving action.

 High in the tree were two people, one holding onto the other for his life. “Andre,” Lucretzia uttered in a soothing voice once she had pulled him up onto the thicker branch. “Andre, now you’ve got to leap back over ok? Just reach for it. Don’t look down and trust yourself.” The amber-haired youth grunted and climbed slightly further away from the tree’s thick waist so he could find a better position to jump. “When I count to three. One, two, three!” The boy plunged for the balcony, using the unsteady tree branch as a spring. Suddenly he heard a crack behind him as his feet left the branch. But he continued to reach out for the railing, just like the way his sister had told him to. A quick feeling of relief swept through him as he successfully supported himself back onto the balcony but it soon disappeared when he noticed his sister falling down to the ground with pure speed.

But for Lucretzia, it seemed as if it were a small test of her survival skills as she expertly grabbed the closest branch and flipped over it a couple of times before it was slow enough for her to launch herself onto the branch without tipping over to one side. Maybe it was too much of a trial. I don’t need to get into a habit of doing this…She held herself securely onto the branch and breathed in and out, relaxing her tensed body. Just as she glanced downwards, she noticed a flock of people looking up at her, staring at her in shock and terror. But at the very edge of the crowd were two men, one was impressed and the other was carrying a bored expression. She had decided to herself that it was to far down and if the people would move over perhaps she could flip back down or just simply climb off the tree for safety measures. But she had decided to take a precaution and descended the tree slowly before arriving at the last branches, jumped off landing not-so-softly onto the ground. Lucretzia let out a deep breath and trudged back into the house with the two screaming siblings of hers rushing down to make sure she was still alive. “Lu!” the both shouted in unison, grasping tightly onto their sister. Once they’d let her go, Lucretzia turned and looked at her brother and demanded why he was up in the tree in the first place.

“I was trying to get my kite back with a broom but I went too far out and fell,” the young boy indicated to the broken broom lying on the floor, split into two halves. He stifled a cry and clung tightly onto his sister once again. “I’m sorry Lu. I didn’t mean to…”

Being the eldest one, Lucretzia couldn’t blame him. He was unlike the two of his sisters, he was generally a sweet innocent child with no intention of committing the evil pranks his sisters came up with. “It’s alright Andre, let’s go back into the house,” she tugged his hand slightly, leading him back into the castle through the kitchen door.

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From where he stood, Milliardo felt an urge to help the siblings but Treize immediately held him back and gave him an acknowledged look. He seemed interested at this decision of life or death. “She can manage, she’s much tougher than you think,” his voice didn’t do much to soothe his worries but nevertheless he continued to stare at the action with a tinge of fear. The young boy had just leapt forward and onto the balcony when suddenly the branch sounded the area with a loud crack, ringing through his ears. But he was a man, a young gentleman, he knew that he wasn’t there to be afraid for the girl but to somehow just be there. The girl had caught onto another branch several metres lower and swung around and around a couple of times, revealing her underwear slightly. He blushed at the sight and looked away for several seconds before turning back to look at the action. She had easily managed to secure herself on the branch and quickly climbed down several branches and performed a leap, landing on the floor perfectly. It seems so familiar…Yet I can’t recall where it was from…

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Lucretzia wiped the sweat off her forehead with a damp towel and sighed. She didn’t feel like performing pranks today. It was all too much for her although it was only the morning.

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A/N: *Phew* How was that? I know… a LOT of character switching and all but I think it was sort of necessary. What do you mean they seem to like each other? They’re not supposed to… for Lucretzia the prankster has more up her sleeves… Enough for now.

*Starts waving her sword (where did it come from?) around madly, fending of the approaching lawyers* “I’ve got a sword and I’m not afraid to use it!”