His heart had pounded when he saw the dogs. Any one of them could have caught him up and that would have been the end of him, but it hadn't happened. One lady had made her way to each dog and sent it back to its kennel, tail between its legs.

It had to be Haru.

The shrunken Baron dodged his way through the other courtiers whom he could hear all taking deep breaths, as though forcing themselves to calm down again. Honestly, he didn't blame them, but he had to reach the princess.

Yes, she was there, on the dais, and he could see her lovely brown eyes searching the crowd.

Searching for him.

He moved faster.

Large dresses and buckled shoes got in his way more times than he bothered to count, but at last, he was at the foot of the dais, and as he looked up at her, his heart skipped a beat. When her eyes locked with his, and she smiled, he was certain for a moment that it had stopped.

"Baron," she said, bending down to him. Her voice felt like he was being welcomed home, and he found himself in her arms without ever knowing how he got there.

"My lords and ladies of the court," Haru announced loudly, achieving every … cats… attention. "This ball, as I'm sure you are all aware, has not gone according to plan, however, the purpose of this ball was to announce my engagement, and I am pleased to announce that he is here. Baron Humbert von Gikkingken shall take me as his wife, and I will be glad to fulfil that role for him."

Applause filled the ballroom, and Haru gently kissed her fiance. Questions of his further changes didn't need to be asked – everything that had gone wrong with this night she was certain had been caused by the Lord de Tourney.

The lord was most dissatisfied with his sons. They had failed him. That clause, that possibility that the princess might save everybody from their fate – including his stepson and his friends – had proven to be a mistake. Now he was paying for it.

The day after the ball, the royal family had summoned him and his sons, and they had been sentenced. Stripped of their titles, which were then given to Humbert's friends, they had then been separated and put into cells in the prison. There were many different charges, but the worst was no longer black magic. It was treason, and for that, there was only one punishment – death.

Humbert and Haru married almost a month to the day after de Tourney's execution, and as she ran a hand through his orange hair, then down his smooth jaw-line, a bright smile lit her brown eyes.

"What are you thinking of, love?" Humbert asked.

"I'm going to miss the way you purr," she answered. "I love you."

"I love you too," he said, bending his head to kiss his wife.

The End

Oh, no, wait! It can't end just like that… Princess Haru and her husband Prince Humbert went on to have five children, much to the Queen Mother's delight and the rest of the royal family's surprise. Most importantly of all though, they lived happily ever after.