It wasn't my fault!

We were visiting the castle of His Royal Majesty, Lord Bastion Sigismund in the hopes of strengthening peaceful relations between our kingdoms. At least that's what we were told before we accepted the invitation. There was no way of knowing how the man had expected us to cement the alliance between our people. When we arrived Lord Sigismund was there to greet us personally, along with three of his beautiful daughters, all of a conveniently marriageable age.

This should have been my first clue, but no. No, I don't think like these people do.

The greetings weren't so bad. Neither were the talks, discounting the long winded speeches each of his advisors gave, and the long winded speeches that Gunter and Gwendal gave in return. You could tell Gunter wrote both the speeches; Gwendal would have tried to get away with shorter ones if he'd been writing them. I tried not to fall over in my seat in boredom. Many times, I found my mind wandering to the thought of baseball, wondering how things were going back home. Then that night was the ball that was being held in our honor.

And that's where things really started to go wrong.

Things were going alright until Sigismund began asking personal questions. Namely questions about my engagement to Wolfram- while Wolf was sitting right there.

"Tell me young Demon King, how goes things with you and your affianced?" he'd asked jovially.

I didn't quite know how to respond to the king's question. If I said things were well then Wolfram would think I was okay with the idea of marriage, if I said we weren't really engaged, that it was all a misunderstanding then Wolfram would get hurt… and kill me in retaliation. Of course everyone was interested in my answer and all eyes were all staring at me expectantly. Sharp emerald green ones were in the crowd.

Not dying sounded like a good idea right then.

"Things are going," I responded with a weak smile.

"Ah, well. It's a shame, being tied down so quickly, without having properly experienced the world. You've never been to this land before, and if we are to be allies then you must learn something of us!" He spoke around a hearty grin while he stood. "My people, His Majesty Yuri Shibuya, of the Great Demon Kingdom has never before witnessed the Taransza, or the Berschjold! We must teach him what our parties are most famous for. Let the dancing begin!"

A loud roar of approval met his announcement and before we knew it the tables were cleared and whisked away to make room for dancing couples. I'm not even sure how it happened, but I ended up being dragged onto the dance floor and passed from partner to partner. All of my partners were single beautiful women, of impeccable lineage. They all just so happened to be directly related to our gracious host. Except for two young lords, who were also very handsome and very related to the lord we were visiting.

Yes, not even I could ignore the fact that something fishy was going on.

While I was dancing with the admittedly voluptuous Lady Adelheid, I caught sight of Wolfram glaring at me with clenched fists over her shoulder. He looks so angry that I'm dancing with the king's eldest daughter. The young lady in question was telling me something about her poodle, Missy.

Wolfram and I, we're not even really together. Not from where I'm standing at least. Guys just aren't supposed to get married, right? Its still kinda weird, but…Wolfram's serious. He's really serious about being engaged to me. And he would never drone on about a neurotic sounding ball of fluff, or the seasons latest fashions. I don't even remember the name of the next couple of dance partners, I was too busy trying to learn the steps they were teaching me and it took all of my concentration not to embarrass myself horribly.

I was passed to Lady Friederike next. She wasn't as well endowed as Adelheid or the other two, but she seemed sweeter, more gentle. I smiled at her, grateful to be away from her sister. And she's also very well spoken-is Wolf's fist flaming? I try to lead her back around so that I could get another look but I guess I was just imagining things. Friederike asked me if I've read anything interesting lately. I let her know that I have recently devoted myself to a couple of historical novels that are available only in my kingdom. Those damn books Gunter dropped in my hands and told me to read count as historical novels right? She is currently reading an epic tale about two heroes who fight for the hand of one maiden. I smile politely, and make a small sound of polite interest.

I had been living here long enough to get used to the fact that guy marrying is accepted by everyone here, but I don't feel anything that anyone describes love as. No heart wrenching urges to be around him all the time (not that I get any real time away from him while I'm here), as if I'll simply die without him. I respect him, and consider him a friend, but that's not enough to get married on. So even if I were gay (which I'm not), I just don't feel the need for him that I should if I really loved him.

And next up to bat is a Lady Monika. My smile is starting to feel a little strained after the last eight dances. My eyes drift over to my 'fiancé' to find him arguing in low tones with my godfather, Conrad about something. Monika says something and draws my wandering gaze back to her face. She's gorgeous, and surprisingly intelligent. Good sense of humor too. My smile becomes more genuine in response to a joke she makes. And yet, for some reason I still don't find her company as satisfying as I should.

I understand that not marrying Wolfram when everyone knows that he's engaged to me would be a blow to his pride, but I still don't understand why he would want to marry me. Not really. If I hadn't been born the king, I would be nobody. Even born the king I'm still nobody. Certainly not good enough for him.

As another woman steps in I glance over to see a whole line of female eyes watching me and internally cringe at the line waiting to dance with me. No, not with me. They are there to dance with the Demon King. It's going to be a loooong night. The entire time my thoughts keep circling back to my violently possessive husband-to-be, and the situation with him.

When I was finally released from my tortuous captivity -cough- I mean when I finally returned to my seat, Lord Sigismund grilled me on each of my dance partners, asking leading questions about each of the ladies and the two gentlemen in question. Dangerous questions. Especially with my 'affianced' sitting right there looking ready to burn down the whole castle around our ears. What could I say that wouldn't insult either or both of them?

"Don't you find our little Karla pretty?"

"Very, Lord Bastion."

"And is not our Undina the most graceful in the room?"

"She is graceful," I answer agreeably.

"Sebastion was named after me. Is he not an attractive boy?"

"He takes after you, Lord Bastion." Hey I think I'm starting to get the hang of this game.

"Tell me, young Demon King, which of my lovely ones appeals to you most?"

Okay, so maybe not.

Wolfram is practically vibrating in his chair from rage. I'm pretty sure the low words of Gwendal are the only thing keeping him from roasting the entire horde of women I had just spent the last couple of hours dancing with. I'm just surprised that he hasn't said a single word through all of this. Normally he'd march up and defend my honor before yelling at me for being a cheating wimp.

I turn my attention back to the question. I give Lord Bastion my best 'I'm-really-stupid-and-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about' smile and say, "Why, they're all very lovely, My Lord. You must be very proud of them." All twenty of them. My poor aching feet.

"Of course I'm proud of them. And I wish to do right by them." There is a hint of testiness in his voice as if he knows that I'm being deliberately obtuse. Oh wait, I am being deliberately obtuse. I really don't like where this conversation is heading. "You are not married yet, young Lord."

"Lord Sigismund!" I widen my eyes and pretend to be shocked. "Are you trying to get me to marry one of your daughters?" 'Or nieces? Or nephew? Or son?' my brain chimes in scornfully. Shh! Quiet you! That's not helping.Why isn't anyone jumping in to save me? Not even Conrad is being any help, but then maybe this sort of situation has never come up before and he doesn't know how to deal with it either.

"Which of them would you have chosen had you not been tricked into an engagement by the crafty Prince von Bielefelt?" the gracefully graying older man demanded outright.

"That's not a fair question, Lord Bastion. I barely know any of them. I can't say who among them I would marry after just a single dance each. Besides, I wouldn't say Wolf tricked me. I was the one who proposed to him after all."

"But surely there is one who you felt some feeling for? Did not one of them stir any need in your body?"

This can't be good. My eyes snap to Wolf. There is a vacuum sitting over in my people's section because all of the air has just been sucked out of the small space around them. That or they're all holding their breath really hard, waiting for the explosion that is Wolfram to occur.

Hoo boy.