Welcome To The Scilla Dukedom

This chapter's song is: Eleven by IVE

Sylvia's POV:

My fever came and went. Now, it is two days later and I'm getting ready for the welcome ball. You guys may already know the drill on how my maids get me ready by now.

Yup, I'm being attacked again. There are three different maids doing seven different things to my body. And seeing as this thing happens every time I have a slightly important event... Let's just say that I'm no longer surprised to waking up in the bath with Lillian picking out my dress and someone washing my hair.

And yes, that is how I woke up today.

"Not that one Lillian, the other dress. And Amrys, you're not marinating a chicken. Less oil please," I say. Currently, Amrys is giving me an oil massage while Lillian is still picking out my dress.

"What about the Ash blue one? We've received it yesterday from the Manali Boutique," Tori suggests.

In case you've forgotten, along with Lillian who is my personal and head maid, I have six other maids who attend to me regularly: Amrys, Tori, Jez, Ira, Sandra and Hady.

The dress I bought had to be altered a bit. I'm proud to say it's because I've finally hit my growth spurt. You heard it people, I'm finally growing. I've grown three inches already so I'm well on my way out of Shortsville. Granted, I still need 2-inch heels to elevate myself to at least Ace's nose. But I'm sure I'll grow taller soon. I am still only 14.

"My lady, everything is ready downstairs," Sandra says.

"Ok good, it's my first time hosting the ball myself. I don't want to embarrass myself with undone preparations. Have the flowers arrived?" I ask.

"We have received all 89 bouquets of Silverdrops that have had the pollen removed. The glass Silverling decorations are being set up as we speak," she replies.

"Be sure not to break them. They're made by that glassmaker mother loves so much. Having Silverlings there will make her happy. Not to mention that they cost a quarter of the budget," I say, my heart aching over how much money was spent on those custom Silverlings and Silverdrops.

However, those are the characters that my mother loves so much so they were worth it. I wonder why she loves that story so much...

"You're all ready," Lily says as I look in the mirror.

"This looks amazing. Oh god, is that the time?! The guests are going to arrive any second now!" I panic as I rush towards my balcony and see carriages pulling up to our gate. Holding up my skirt, I sprint out of my room and down the stairs. My maids were running after me, yelling at me for creasing my skirt.

With less than a minute to spare, they flattened out my skirt and quickly left, only a second before the door started opening. I smile, welcoming the first guests of the evening: The Swivel family.

Walking in order was the minister of foreign affairs along with his wife and two children.

"Welcome to the Scilla mansion, we are so delighted to have you here tonight," I say. Lianey and her brother tailed along behind their parents. Lianey's hair grew slightly longer since the last time I saw her (refer back to the Royale Debutante). Landres looked more or less the same.

"Thank you for inviting us, we are looking forward to seeing this rumoured brother of yours. I haven't seen him once," Lady Swivel smiles.

"It's been quite a while since we've last talked, Sylvia," Lianey says.

"Clearly too long. I hope to speak with you after I'm done welcoming the guests. You must have some exciting tales to tell," I say.

"Don't get your hopes up. My life has been especially bland since the last time we've met." I giggle a bit before meeting my eyes with Landres. He's gotten a bit taller and more mature. He smiles at me and I smile back before having one of the servants lead them to the hall.

This happened thirty more times before I had finally greeted everyone. Monique came with her whole family. This included her four older siblings and younger sister: Arsen, Colette, Elizabeth, Lionel and finally Nicolette. Apparently, Nicolette wasn't supposed to come but she threw a huge tantrum about being left behind so her parents sighed and brought her here.

When I saw the Deveraux family all together, I could immediately tell that they were similar to Monique. Her two older sisters conducted themselves with elegance and grace while her older brothers gave off an aura that only finely bred nobles could exude. Nicolette was still young so she was like the scruffy pet to a high-class family. The only hyper one of the calm bunch.

"Woooooooow! This is soooo cool!" She beamed.

"Nicolette, control yourself. You promised to be on your best behaviour," Elizabeth says, her fan hiding the lower half of her face and only revealing her cat eyes. Nicolette pouted before walking behind her. Monique was the spitting image of her mother, with her jet black hair and dark blue eyes.

(Monique's parents)

This dark-haired family was the complete opposite of Rin's family who all had blonde hair. I had to admit, Rin's father was kind of intimidating. He had the aura of an emperor. I wouldn't be surprised if he was one in his past life.

Rin's mother was extremely beautiful. Her rosy pink eyes accentuated her face and the light pink dress she wore. Her hair was laid down which made her look like a goddess.

"Hello, my name is Diana Siodonna Kagamine. I am so happy that you are friends with my daughter," she says in a sweet voice. I almost fell in love. If this is who Rin is going to take after in the future then God help all the people who will literally fall at her feet. Especially Lucas.

The duke was a bit different... If Diana was the warm ray of sunshine then I guess Claude is the actual sun if you get too close to it: extremely hot and could literally kill you with a glance.

"Thank you for inviting us," Len says.

"I'm very curious to see your brother, Sylvi! I bet he looks just like you," Rin says.

"Believe me, we are worlds apart both in appearance and personality," I say. Behind Len were the twins. Alister and Aristella were in matching clothes just like Rin and Len. They were holding hands and had their free one tugging on either side of Len's trousers.

"Welcome your highness the Grand Duke Kagamine, I hope you enjoy your time here," I bow to their father. He looked down at me, his crystal blue eyes stabbing into my back.

"And to you too," he says before walking with his wife who smiled at me before she walked.

"Don't mind him. He's always like that," Len says as he passes with the twins and Rin.

Violetta arrived with her family including Ivan who had his sword on him, I pray it isn't to fillet any of the male guests who look at Violet. Mason and his whole entourage came, including his brother Elijah. As soon as Elijah saw me, he started apologising profusely for what happened during the attack. I had to beg him to stop apologising because people were starting to watch.

Aiden teleported in front of me with a grin and teleported right next to Monique a second after. Lucas was the same as always; threatening face and his first sentence to me was where Rin was.

And finally, the royal family made their appearance. I greeted the King and Queen before leading them to the ballroom. Ace was apparently running late so I didn't bother waiting. The party was finally in full swing as the guests mingled.

In the corner, I could see an influx of young ladies crowding around something or someone. As I walked towards them, I realised who was in the middle.

"It must have been such a hard time for you, my lord," one girl says.

"Yes. If you need to vent your hardships to anyone, I'd be glad to lend an ear."

"Don't listen to her, I'm known for being such a good listener."

"What a liar! How could you lie like that to him?"

Me?! What about you?!" Yup, these girls were all fighting for my brother. His face showed visible awkwardness as he stood there watching these girls fight over him. I smile. This is the real reason why I diligently planned this party. My smugness ended quickly as the fight was broken up with one word from a pristine lady.

"What is this horrible show of mannerless scrubs? I expect better from you ladies," Elizabeth, Monique's older sister. She snapped her fan shut which made all the ladies flinch.

"That's not it, miss Deveraux, w-we were only-" one girl stammered.

"Stop your stuttering and speak properly. You're all ladies from respectable families, I must beg you to not shame your family correct your behaviours from now on," she says. Elizabeth was the product of immaculate noble breeding.

She had all the perfect physical qualities and her intelligence easily impressed all her tutors. She would have easily become the Crown princess had she been born later. All the other noble ladies strive to be as amazing as her, I included. The other girls bowed and shied away from the scene. Relief was painted on Silver's face as he looked at Elizabeth who covered the bottom half of her face again.

"Congratulations on returning from your journey," she says before bowing her head and leaving.

Tsk. Looks like he was saved this time. The ball went on for another hour. I was in the middle of complimenting Duchess Kagamine's pink jewel before I heard a horrid noise coming from the room next door.

"Please excuse me, your grace, I shall have to take my leave," I say before power-walking to where the sound was. One of the servants, Selphan, ran towards me.

"What the hell was that?" I whisper-shout.

"My lady, there is a lady demanding to be let in even though I keep telling her she's not on the guest list." That's when I heard a voice that I haven't heard in a long time.

"Let me in! I can guarantee you that I am invited!" That voice... It couldn't be...

I rush over to see the servants trying to block a certain lady from coming in. "Lily?"

"Ah! Miss Sylvia! See! I told you I know people here! Now let me in! Oh Miss Sylvia, these servants are being so horrible to me!" She cries. Lily. I haven't seen her for a long time. I hadn't planned on thinking about her for the rest of my holiday but here she was, trying to force herself into my house.

"Lily, what are you doing here?" I ask.

"I heard there was a party here. How horrible is it that everyone was invited except me! But Lyles was nice enough to invite me. He's in there. I just need to get him to let me in!"

"I'm sorry, but you cannot come in," I say.

"What?"

"This is a private party. Not just anyone can come let alone people who turn up unannounced and uninvited," I say.

"Sylvia? What's going on out here?" Rin asks, as she walks towards me.

"Rin? Did the noise attract you? I'm sorry, please go back, I'll be there in-"

"Oh Miss Rin, please help me! Miss Sylvia is being so mean to me!" Lily cries. I turn around in shock. What do you mean I was mean?

"Lily? What are you doing here?" Rin asks.

"I was invited to the party but miss Sylvia won't let me come in," she says. Lily's shrieks attracted more people outside. I was mentally dying because this is such an embarrassment to the family.

"What's going on out here?" Duchess Kagamine asks as she walks in front.

"Sylvia? What is all this ruckus?" Monique's mother, Andrea, asks.

"Someone please help me. Miss Sylvia is wronging me so!" Lily cries. My patience immediately broke as Lily burst into tears. The guests were whispering at the scene and I felt a vein pop out of my forehead.

"Cease your incessant rambling!" I yell. Everyone went silent, even Lily. "First you show up uninvited to my home and not refer to me with honorifics many times. Then you cry and shriek with your ear-shattering voice about how I won't let you into a private party that you weren't invited to. Now, you're trying to spin this all to make it seem as if I'm picking on you for some unknown reason!"

"I-I was i-invited..."

"By who? Lyles? Who the hell is Lyles?! Since when does Lyles dictate who can come to my house? Even the Queen isn't entitled to say who can come and go into the Dukedom of Scilla, so why on Earth can an unknown Lyles do so? This party is a private party as I've said numerous times. Only those with a status high than a count can attend, and even then there are a select few from there. You don't even touch the line. So quit your waterworks and get off of my property before you completely ruin my brother's celebration!"

Lily's face began to tremor as she looked down, tears falling onto my clean floor. I sigh as I hold a hand to my forehead.

"Selphan, take her away. Don't let her near the grounds again," I say as I turn around.

"Oh my, Sylvia, are you okay?" Rin asks as she holds my arm.

"Yes, you look faint. I can't imagine how angry you must be. I'd be fuming if someone crashed my party like that," Violet says.

"I'm fine. Please go back to the celebration. I'll have the servants carry around the limited edition wine we've gotten from Froslia. It's made from winterberries."

"I must say, Sylvia, is that the girl that the temple has adopted? She seems rather uncouth," The Duchess says.

"I agree, the lack of respect is tantamount. I had expected the temple to teach their people better," Monique's mother says.

"I'm sorry for this display. Selphan, show the girl out. Make sure she doesn't come back. Put her on the blacklist," I say as I massage my temples.

"B-Blacklist?! No! I can't be blacklisted! This is all wrong!" Lily outbursts as the servants drag her away.

The guests went back to the celebration, I was taking a break on the terrace. I sigh as I sip my juice.

"Stressed?"

"Not now, Ace. I'm drowning my problems in juice right now," I say, not turning around. The cold air chilled my exposed shoulders, causing the tips of my fingers to turn red.

"It seems you aren't surprised to see me," he says as he leans on the terrace.

"It's hard to be surprised when you show up almost an hour late to every celebration you're invited to. May I ask when the esteemed Crown Prince plans to attend an occasion on time?" I look at him, smirking.

"I can name a few," he says.

"Such as?" I ask. He turns his head fully my way.

"Our wedding. I'll be on time for that," he says. My grin breaks as I look down.

"Don't tease me like that," I say.

"Another event I'll be on time for is our honeymoon. And for our childrens' birth-"

I covered his mouth, my eyes still looking down. "I said don't tease me like that." My face burned against the cold. I felt my hands move as I see Ace uncovering his mouth.

"Who said it was a joke? For our honeymoon, I'd even come early. I'd never turn up late."

"Alright stop," I say as I turn away. A sudden shudder travelled up my back as I held my arms. However, something warm was soon draped around me. I turned around to see Ace with his jacket off.

"You looked cold," he says as he holds my free hand. "I know I'm late but would you still do me the honour of dancing with me?" He asks.

Leaving the glass on the terrace edge, I accepted the hand offered to me. We could still hear the music from the hall and Ace started moving, directing my body to the next step. We twirled around under the moonlight, for what I thought was forever. We danced for almost the whole night.

That was until my father came out and immediately pulled me away from Ace, giving off a murderous aura as he held me close. The King was with him, who was laughing and trying to calm my father down. Needless to say, I'm not allowed to be within ten feet of Ace until I'm 18. And I cannot be alone with him until we're married.