Um…sorry I took so long… *gets hit by a cabbage and various other objects*

So much for my "the next update won't go beyond one month" promise. OTL The long version of my apology can be read at the bottom, lol. For now, I hope you enjoy the chapter. To make up for lost time, I made it longer than the other chapters (I think).

Special thanks to Jak656 for proof reading ^_^

ooooooooooooooooooooo

...

Chapter VII: Evening Waltz

...

Miku yawned as she continued to stare at the wall, bored. She was waiting for Luka to finish taking a bath, but unfortunately, the princess hadn't come out yet; and to think they had to leave in an hour. As Miku continued to pace around the room, her eyes wandered to the evening gown that was spread across the bed. Upon gazing at the crimson red dress and imagining how beautiful Luka would look in it, she was reminded of the princess once more.

Ever since the dungeon incident a month ago, she noticed that Luka had been more affectionate lately. Before, Miku used to sleep in the princess' room only once or twice a month, or sometimes not at all. But recently, Luka had been calling Miku to sleep with her more often, two or three times a week even. She already felt like she slept in Luka's room more than her own this past month. In addition, Luka had been hugging her like a giant teddy bear every time they slept. It was awkward the first few times, but eventually the young servant got used to it. On the contrary, she actually enjoyed the extra attention Luka had been giving her.

The only thing that confused Miku was the way Luka would look at her. It was all the same except for a noticeable glimmer in her eyes, and she couldn't quite figure out what it was. She sighed and shook her head; it was probably just her imagination.

This was no time to be thinking of such things…she was not allowed to think of such things.

Miku was starting to lose her patience, so she stood up and knocked on the bathroom door. "Luka, I think you've stayed in there long enough…" Helping Luka get ready usually takes a while…and she still wasn't coming out.

"Yeah, yeah…just give me a few more minutes…" the princess answered from behind the door. The servant frowned and sat back on the bed. 'Really now, what is she doing in there?'

Inside the bathroom, the pink haired girl submerged her body deeper into the tub until only half her head was surfaced. Of all the times she had to be deep in thought, it had to be now. The only thing on her mind right now was the servant who was waiting for her outside. For some odd reason, she wanted to get closer and spend more time with Miku, more so than ever before. Maybe it had something to do with that incident a month ago, because that's when she noticed that she started looking at Miku differently.

Whenever they slept together before, Luka never got the opportunity to watch Miku sleep, because Luka would always fall asleep first and wake up last. The moment she saw her serene sleeping figure and hugged her fragile form, she felt something unexplainable deep inside herself...

Luka wanted to feel more of that gentle warmth every time she touched Miku. That was why she would try to touch her as often as possible, even if they just brushed along each other. She didn't know what this feeling was, but she wanted to feel more of it. It was something that she yearned for as days passed, which was why she embraced her in bed as much as possible. Luka only wished that she would take off that 'stupid night robe' that she wore every night. Luka couldn't ask her to remove it since there was no reason for Miku to do so. The princess couldn't simply say 'Hey Miku, take off that robe so that I can feel your skin some more!' That would be outright awkward.

"Luka…"

Luka's random train of thoughts were interrupted by an exasperated groan from the other side of the door. She had indeed stayed in the tub for too long and her skin was getting dangerously wrinkled. "Alright already…I'm getting out."

"…finally," Miku sighed from the other side of the door. The servant checked the princess' evening outfit once more before grabbing a comb from the table, but she stopped when something caught her eye. On the sofa sat two neatly folded pieces of cloth, a towel and a bathrobe. But if it was out here and not in the bathroom that means…'Uh oh!'

"Miku," the princess suddenly opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom wearing nothing. She was dripping wet and she scanned the room looking for Miku. "I can't find my towel…Oh there it is!" Luka casually strode over to her unmoving servant, who was holding her towel. She grabbed the towel from Miku's hands and started wiping her face. Only when she finished drying her hair did she notice her servant. Miku was still frozen in place; her mouth was wide open her face was red like a beet.

"What?" Luka spoke, breaking Miku out of her stupefied state.

"I-it's nothing…" Miku swiftly turned around in embarrassment. Of all the times she had to forget her towel, why now? "C-can you please go back to the bathroom? Please?"

It only took a few moments for Luka to realize what was bothering her servant. "What's the problem? It's not like it's the first time you've seen me completely naked. I mean, you help me dress up everyday after all."

"B-but…but…you always wear your underwear when I help you dress! T-this is different," Miku stuttered nervously as she fidgeted around to distract herself. Her eyes rapidly wandered the room as she tried to avoid looking at the princess' naked figure.

"We're both girls anyway," Luka shrugged her shoulders and grabbed the bathrobe that was still on the sofa. She wrapped the towel around her hair and wore the bathrobe to save Miku from any further embarrassment, even though it's supposed to be the other way around. "I don't see what the big deal is."

"I don't know…it's just…" Miku couldn't explain why it was making her flustered. It was true that she had seen Luka naked before, but not in a very long time. And lately, even if Luka was wearing her underwear, she couldn't help but gawk at Luka's milky white skin and curvy form. Miku couldn't understand what was wrong with her…why was looking at Luka affecting her so much more than it was months ago? She shook her head to avoid anymore unnecessary thoughts from entering her head and tried to calm down. "You're right…I'm sorry. I'll just get your dress ready, why don't you dry up in the meantime?"

Luka observed her servant as she dried herself while walking back to the bathroom. Miku still had a pinkish tint on her cheeks as she busied herself with the first thing she got her hands on, careful to avoid eye contact with her master. Luka didn't mean to make Miku flustered like that, but for some reason, she liked the reaction that her servant made upon seeing her in this state of undress.

'Maybe I should do that more often,' the princess thought amusingly as she entered the bathroom to put on her undergarments.

...oooooooooo...

The grand ballroom was already filled with guests by the time they arrived. So when the doorman announced the arrival of the Rose Kingdom's Princess, all eyes were directed towards them as they walked down the grand staircase and into the room. Luka walked with elegance and pride as the people applauded upon her arrival; following behind was her entourage consisting of Miku, Kiyoteru, and Ted, who were also dressed quite well for the party. As soon as the clapping died down, a small group of nobles suddenly formed around Luka; greeting her, complimenting her gorgeous dress, and asking how things were going in the Rose Kingdom.

The area around Luka was beginning to get quite crowded, so the princess' escorts had to step aside to give space for the nobles. With a quick glance at each other, the princess smiled at Miku and waved her hand, telling her that she could go around for a little while. Seeing as it would be impossible to get to Luka right now, Miku nodded and offered her master a small smile.

Kiyoteru straightened his tie and roamed around the room with Miku and Ted. Whenever there was a grand party like this, the two men always had to come to escort the princess. Although they were leagues below Miku's level, Luka trusted them more out of all the other castle staff.

In gatherings like these, Ted was the bodyguard and Kiyoteru was the 'entrance accessory,' whose role was to be the person that Luka clings on to while making her entrance. He didn't mind though, at least he got to go to the party. As soon as they'd made a grand entrance, Ted and Kiyoteru were dismissed and allowed to roam around on their own; usually the later converses with other guests to gather information and improve relations. Miku on the other hand would usually stay close to the princess. Although Miku was also an escort, it would have looked pretty weird if the princess entered the scene holding onto the arm of another woman like a couple.

"Hey Miku, Ted, I'll just be over there with my friends," Kiyoteru pointed at a group of people who were calling him over. "Will you guys be alright on your own?"

"Sure, it's not a problem," Miku nodded and replied. As soon as Kiyoteru walked away, the teal haired girl looked over at Luka. She was now only talking with Queen Lily and a few nobles from the Purple Kingdom. The servant thought that it might be rude to interrupt their conversation now, so she'd wait until Luka was alone before she'll approach her. "I'll be going to the buffet table Ted, what about you?"

"I'll check the place out. I'll see if there are any potential threats to her highness' safety." with a polite bow, Ted walked off and began scouting the area. Miku chuckled and watched Ted disappear into the crowd. She knew that the captain was a workaholic and he was always serious when it came to his job. The only time he drops his stoic façade is whenever his older sister Teto was around. That girl always managed to turn Ted from a vicious guard dog into a harmless puppy, which the other servants find to be highly amusing.

Now that Miku was all alone, she headed to the buffet table to grab appetizers for Luka and herself.

...oooooooooo...

Luka's eye twitched as Queen Lily continued teasing the young princess. No matter how much Luka tried to counter the teasing, it seemed that Lily was immune to her sarcastic comments. Luka never could win these types of contests with the queen, which left her flustered and embarrassed in frustration. What frustrated Luka more was that she couldn't treat Lily like crap, like how she treats anyone else below her. Luka wasn't in her own Kingdom, Lily was also a monarch, and they were in the middle of a social gathering. Yelling at a servant in the middle of the party was understandable, but yelling at a monarch was different. Luka would definitely embarrass herself.

In fact, Luka and Lily's relationship were terrible when they were children, all because they both had a crush on a certain purple haired lad. Whenever the three of them were together, a fight would always be ensued much to the dismay of Gakupo and the other servants. When years flew by and both princesses were in their mid-teens, Luka almost had Lily murdered if the latter hadn't announced her engagement to another man soon. Things got a little better for the two of them that time, and Lily was off Luka's "People to be assassinated" list. But that didn't mean Luka was completely alright being around her; after all, she always looked so much happier than Luka, something that she couldn't stand, or even understand. The Rose Kingdom Princess was definitely wealthier than Lily, yet she was still not content with it; whereas Lily looked like the most satisfied and happiest person on the face of the planet. She didn't understand what Lily had that she did not, and it was a blow to her pride because everything in the world had to belong to her.

"…hey, are you even listening to me?" Lily asked with her eyebrows raised. Apparently she'd been talking on and on about something that Luka couldn't even bother to listen to.

"Yeah, yeah I was…" Luka huffed and crossed her arms with an irked expression on her face.

"Alright good! So do you promise to keep your end of the deal?" the queen flashed a perfect smile at Luka.

Luka's eye twitched once more, she didn't even know what the heck Lily was talking about for the past few minutes. "Yeah sure whatever…"

"You really promise, or are you just lying? You're not being sarcastic?" Oh, so apparently Lily knows what sarcasm is.

"I said yes already," Luka rolled her eyes and pushed Lily away, but not roughly. "Could I be any more sarcastic?"

Lily paused for a moment before laughing out loud at Luka's hypocritical humor, "I'll take that as a yes!"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" the young princess held back the urge to face palm, lest she ruin her makeup.

"I know, just making sure~" Lily laughed it off. She actually knew when Luka was being sarcastic or not, she just found it more fun to tease the princess by pretending to play dumb. The look on Luka's face was priceless after all. It was a good thing she was safe in this environment, otherwise Luka would've strangled her already, comedic or not. "That reminds me, where's your servant?" Lily decided that it was a perfect time to change the topic since Luka was very close to blowing her head off.

"I think she's just over there…no wait…" Luka looked around the place and tried to see if she could see at least a patch of teal. "Wait, where is she?"

There were so many people that it was hard to find Miku; she couldn't even see Kiyoteru or Ted. Luka sighed, when she gave Miku permission to go around, she actually meant 'go around, but not too far that I can't see you anymore.'

"Maybe you should start looking for her then," Lily offered a kind and sincere smile to Luka. "Besides, someone's calling for me over there."

"Er, yeah…" Luka awkwardly looked at her former rival and nodded. "I guess I'll see you later."

"It was nice chatting with you again," the Queen of Yellow waved goodbye and headed to Lady Miriam, who called for her earlier.

Now that Luka was alone, she started walking around the party to find Miku before any other people decided to come up and chat with her. Even when some people did call for her, she pretended to not hear them. The princess went to the buffet table and the dance floor and there was still no sign of Miku. 'For heaven's sake, why is it so hard to find her? She's the only person in the place with teal hair!' Fortunately, she spotted Kiyoteru on one side of the gigantic hall, he would probably know where the young servant was. Just before she was about to take a step, her ears suddenly perked when she heard two people nearby talking about her.

"Yeah you said it, Princess Luka doesn't deserve to sit on the throne," a noble man was conversing with his friend.

"I heard that she treats everyone like crap, yet she gets treated like she's queen of the world! That's just stupid and annoying," the other noble replied.

"No, she's stupid and annoying," the two of them laughed mockingly. "I'm surprised that heartless woman still hasn't been dethroned yet, I mean, what are the Rose citizens doing?"

"They probably got infected by her stupidity," the pair of nobles kept conversing and insulting Luka, unaware that she was near enough to overhear their conversation. The princess herself was burning with anger. In Luka's mind, they would definitely not be leaving the Purple Kingdom alive. Scumbags like them deserve to be assassinated immediately; and that is also another reason why she bought Ted along. She'll have to forget about Miku in the meantime, she had to look for the captain and tell him immediately. The sooner those two idiot nobles are gone, the better.

"Hey! What the…?"

Luka turned her head to the source of the yell and saw those two gossiping nobles earlier. However, both their suits were stained with food.

"Alright! Who threw that?" the two of them looked around, but people only stared at them and their newly stained clothes. The people who bothered to look at them looked at each other, trying to find the culprit. "Answer me! Who the fuck threw this at me?"

They were only answered with disapproving and amused stares; after all, not only were their clothes stained with food, their outburst and bad choice of words only proved to embarrass themselves further.

"Excuse me gentlemen," a servant calmly bowed before the two nobles. "Would you like me to escort you to the changing room? We can have your suits cleaned there."

"Tch…!" the noble pulled off a piece of food still clinging to his suit and angrily tossed in on the floor. The two men grumpily followed the servant and the crowd made way for them.

Luka chuckled at the sight of the two pathetic men, although she still didn't feel like it was karma enough that they just got embarrassed like that. But her wishes were soon answered when she saw Ted against the wall looking directly at her. The princess discreetly pointed at the two noblemen; with a few discreet hand signals, Ted easily understood that those two were to be punished after the party. The captain nodded emotionlessly and disappeared into the crowd. They won't die, they'll just be taught a very traumatic lesson that they would never forget.

Now that that was settled, it was time to look for Miku once again. In no sooner than a second, she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder, and it was none other than her faithful servant. "Were you looking for me, Princess?"

"Yes I was. Where were you?" Luka was in a slightly better mood after the scene those two noblemen created.

"I just got some food for the two of us," Miku showed her the plate full of appetizers that she picked out. "I already saw you, but there seemed to be a commotion in this part of the room so I couldn't get to you immediately." Luka observed the plate closely; it had some sandwiches, a few vegetables, and some bite-sized seafood. However, there was a small spot in the corner of the plate that was empty. It was next to a single eggplant appetizer, the same one that was thrown at the nobles earlier. "Hmm, I wonder what the fuss was all about."

Luka shifted her gaze from the plate to her servant, eyeing her curiously. Miku replied with a wink and a mischievous smile. Finally understanding what happened, Luka chuckled softly and playfully patted her servant's hair. "You're aim's getting better I see."

"Why thank you," Miku smiled gleefully and held out the plate politely. "Would you like an eggplant?"

"Thank you, don't mind if I do," Luka poked the small eggplant with a cocktail fork and put it in her mouth. The pair laughed once more as they remembered a similar incident in the past. The last time Miku did something like that was when they were young children. A couple of nobles were insulting Luka, which naturally angered the young servant. She attempted to throw a piece of cake at the offending noble, but it accidentally landed on someone else. She was punished afterwards by not being allowed to eat for the rest of the day much to Luka's utter dismay. But the princess still snuck in a few snacks for her servant that unfortunate day.

Their laughter was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a trumpet, followed by silence in the room.

"Your attention please!" announced a servant at the base of the grand stairway. "We would like to present to you, the Royal Family of the Purple Kingdom. His Royal Highness, King Kentaro Kamui and Her Royal Highness, Queen Kagura Kamui." The two monarchs descended down the stairs as a round of applause echoed thought the room. As soon as the pair reached the bottom, the announcer cleared his throat discreetly and motioned his hand to top once more.

"And finally, we would like to present to you the guest of honor, His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Gakupo Kamui of the Purple Kingdom!" The room burst into an even louder applause as the birthday celebrant emerged from the doors. He waved at the crowd as he slowly walked down the stairs in a refined manner. His vibrant purple hair was tied into a ponytail and he wore an elegant suit to match the color of his hair, together with white pants and black boots.

The people's clapping softened when the prince reached the foot of the stairs; and almost immediately, he was surrounded by a pack of guests, shaking his hand and congratulating him on his coming of age.

The party musicians resumed their playing once more and the other guests had already diverted their attention from the prince; the prince would be around the whole night, so there would be plenty of opportunities to talk to him.

"I'm going to get closer so that he can see me," Luka didn't even wait for Miku's reply. She just walked off all of a sudden towards the purple haired prince. Miku, who was left standing on the spot, just sighed and proceeded to follow Luka. She already knew how things were going to turn out.

Miku was able to catch up with the princess because she stopped a few steps away from the guests surrounding the prince. Luka waved her hand a bit to catch the prince's attention, and when he finally noticed her, her heart skipped a beat as soon as their eyes met. With a gracious smile, the prince waved back at Luka and excused himself from the other nobles. Luka's heart thumped rapidly as the prince slowly approached her, whereas Miku sighed in defeat, reminding herself to control her emotions and not to be too over-protective.

"Princess Luka," Gakupo bowed before her and gently took her hand, planting a soft and small kiss on it. "I'm so glad you made it to the party."

"The pleasure is all mine, my prince. I wouldn't miss it for the world." The blushing Luka curtsied in return and looked warmly into the eyes of the man before her.

Gakupo released the princess' hand and turned to the teal haired servant. "It's nice to see you too, Miku." The servant bowed before him and gave the prince a tiny smile; she didn't like him, but she was mature enough to act civil and politely towards him. "So are you two enjoying the party so far?"

"Yes, it's been absolutely wonderful." Luka answered almost immediately. "I love what you've done with the place and the food looks fantastic!"

Gakupo smiled back at her and chuckled softly. "I'm glad you're having a great time. My parents went all out because they wanted this party to be absolutely perfect."

"Of course they would. The 21st birthday is the most special birthday after all. I mean, you can finally earn the title of "King" once your parents retire."

"Haha, I don't think my parents will be retiring that soon. Besides, I still have a lot to learn from them when it comes to ruling the country. I'm not even sure if I can do a good a job as them."

"Come on, I've known you since you were a kid, and as far as I can tell, you'd make an even greater ruler than them." Luka laughed a bit as Gakupo blushed slightly at the compliment.

"Thanks, that really means a lot to me," he placed a hand gently on her shoulder, causing the princess to blush. "I was a bit nervous when I went in, but now I feel much more relaxed since you're here."

Miku kept her poker face intact as she listened to the conversation between the two rulers. Usually in gatherings like this, Miku was next to Luka most of time. Whenever someone would approach Luka and start a conversation, she would always acknowledge her servant's presence either by glancing at her once in a while or asking her opinion on the matter. However, when it came to Gakupo, she was ignored and it always made her feel like she was intruding. Miku knew that they didn't do this intentionally, but it still always made her feel unwelcome. It was like they were in their own little world.

"You know, those appetizers do look tasty," Gakupo glanced at the plate of food on Miku's hand and then at the buffet table. "I'll just go get something to eat, why don't you two just relax and enjoy your food."

"Wait," Luka refused to let go of the prince's hand. "Why don't I go with you? There's still a lot of food that I haven't tried yet."

"Huh?" Miku looked at Luka disbelievingly and blinked in confusion. "But I got you som…"

"Ah, you can have those if you want," Luka interrupted, glancing at her servant shortly. "You must be pretty hungry after all this time, so you just go ahead and eat all those."

"Well…if you say so…" the servant looked a bit disheartened. Was Luka really going to leave her alone for this…eggplant freak?

"Great! Then let's get going Gakupo," apparently she was. The purple prince waved to Miku as Luka pulled him towards the buffet table.

"Wait, Princess! Didn't you want me to…stay nearby…?" the princess definitely didn't hear her because they were already quite far from her. The last thing that Miku heard was the distant voice of Gakupo talking about the eggplant appetizers that he wanted to try. She didn't get it; in one minute Luka was desperately looking for her, then in the next minute Gakupo comes and now the princess doesn't seem to want her around. Miku tried to reason with herself that maybe the princess was just excited about spending time with him because they haven't seen each other for quite a while.

As she watched Luka walk off with the prince, Miku couldn't help but frown as she let her eyes fall on the plate of food. Even though it always happens, it still hurt whenever Luka did that…and right now, it was hurting so much more than it normally would. Luka has known Gakupo longer than Miku, and the two had a certain kind of friendship that made the young servant jealous. She was scared of the relationship between the two, she was afraid that if ever the two of them had mutual romantic feelings towards each other, Luka wouldn't have anymore space in her heart for Miku. She couldn't rule out that possibility, especially after the behavior that she saw Luka display earlier.

Miku grabbed one of the appetizers on her plate and bit down on it hard, she slowly made her way to a side of the room where it was less crowded. She leaned back on the wall as she concentrated on finishing her food; she needed something to distract her from these thoughts because it was utterly depressing her. She closed her eyes and tried to drown out the voices of the people as she listened to the dinner orchestra playing. She felt herself relax as the sounds of the instruments flowed through her ears.

"Hey there, Miku." A familiar voice called softly to her. When Miku opened her eyes, she was met with the blue eyes of a certain yellow haired servant. "What's up?"

"Oh, hello Len," a smiled instantly made its way to Miku's face after finally seeing a friend at the party. Len was dressed well for the night; it was a yellow orange suit which he wore over white pants and black boots. It was simple, yet it suited him quite well for the occasion.

"I'm glad to see that you're smiling again. It fits better with that lovely dress of yours." Len straightened his black string tie as he took the time to admire Miku in her beautiful gown which was light yellow.

"T-thank you for the compliment, you look pretty good too." Miku blushed and gazed down slightly at the floor.

"You looked pretty down just a few seconds ago. Is something wrong?" Len asked as he approached nearer.

Miku's smile turned into a sad one as she glanced at the far away forms of Luka and Gakupo. Len followed her gaze and frowned a bit, soon understanding why she looked sad.

Wanting to cheer Miku up, Len placed his arm behind him and bowed slightly as he held out his right hand to the teal haired girl. "Would you like me to keep you company for the night?"

Miku's face turned slightly pink as she laughed softly at Len's gentlemanly gesture. She smiled warmly at him and placed her free hand on Len's outstretched one. "Yes, I would love to. Thank you, Len."

...oooooooooo...

Half an hour had passed and things were going great. Miku and Len talked a lot and it seemed to have cheered the girl up; but that was until she spotted Luka and Gakupo once again.

"Um…Miku?"

Len had never seen the teal haired servant acting like this before. Her eyes were slightly narrowed as she glared daggers into the clueless prince who was waltzing around the floor with her beloved princess. The usually cheerful, rational, and calm servant was emitting a very tense and deadly atmosphere. Miku's mouth curved down in a disapproving frown, hiding the teeth that were gritting down in frustration.

"Miku?" Len gently placed a hand on the tealette's shaking arm. "If you grip that glass any harder it's going to break…along with your hand."

Upon feeling Len's touch, Miku felt a bit of her tension slowly ease away. She looked at her hand and saw that she was indeed, about to crush the delicate wine glass in a death grip. Sighing deeply, she drank the remaining contents of the glass before setting it down on one of the tables.

"I'm sorry you had to see that…" Miku offered her companion a sad and apologetic smile.

"Ah, don't worry about it," Len gave Miku a cheerful grin to try and keep her spirits up. He only met Miku a few months back, but he didn't need to be a genius to know that she was extremely jealous of Prince Gakupo. From the way Miku talked about the Princess, he could tell that she was extremely fond of her. Miku wasn't desperately clingy towards Luka; rather, she was quite over-protective of her. It was like how an older sibling would react when their parents gave more attention to the younger child.

"You know, it's perfectly normal to feel that way," Len assured the servant girl. "After all, I also feel the same way when Rin goes off to a rendezvous with her lover…"

It took a few minutes for this fact to register in Miku's head, but as soon as it did, her eyes widened in surprise. "Wait…what? I didn't know Rin had a lover. She never told me about it before. Are you sure this is Rin Kagamine we're talking about?" Whenever the two girls would talk, Rin never mentioned anything about her love life, nor did she hear her complaining about it. So Miku assumed that she was single and uninterested in pursuing a love interest.

"Yup, it's hard to believe isn't it?" Len replied. "But it's true. Rin loves someone, and that someone loves her back." Miku raised her eyebrow as she caught Len's eye twitching ever so slightly. She found it amusing, seeing as how she was acting this way just a few minutes ago. "I get jealous sometimes too, but if that guy really makes Rin happy, then I'll just bear with it…I guess."

"That's really mature of you, Len," Miku smiled without a hint of sarcasm in her tone. To her, she prioritized Luka's happiness over everything else. But when it comes to Gakupo or any other male that tries to flirt with the pink-haired Princess, she can't help but be selfish. She knew it was immature of her to think this way, but she didn't want Luka to be with anyone else; she didn't want her to love anyone else romantically. She wanted Luka to only look at her.

Her eyes widened once more when she realized where her train of thought was leading. For the past few weeks she had been trying hard not to go there; but it seemed to be getting even harder to avoid as the days passed. Miku shook her head furiously and rubbed her temple using her right hand.

"Is something wrong?" Len asked Miku, whose face had turned slightly pink before her sudden and unusual action.

"It's nothing," Miku replied. "Just some unnecessary thoughts…Anyway, forget about me. I'm curious about Rin, who is her lover?"

At the mention of this, Len's face fell as he looked at the starry sky outside the giant window. "I…I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"It's not that I don't trust you…but, it's not my place to tell. If you want to know, then you'll have to ask Rin for yourself."

"Oh…I see."

Seeing that Miku didn't look satisfied with his answer, Len decided to give her a little more detail. "That's also one of the reasons why I'm quite over protective of Rin, because I don't want her lover to hurt her."

"How so?"

"Rin didn't fall in love with another servant, nor did she wall in love with an ordinary commoner." Miku had a slight guess of what Len was going to say next, but she kept silent and listened to him attentively. "She…she fell in love with someone from the upper class…Someone who seems so unreachable that it was a miracle that he returned Rin's feelings."

Miku became curious all the more. From the way Len spoke of him, it seemed that Rin's lover was someone more important than the nobles. No wonder Len was cautious about this. If Rin's lover was as important and prominent as he described, then that man was expected to marry someone from the nobility as well. But if he chose Rin, a mere servant, above all the others, then it would cause a scandal and a ruckus. "Hey Len, does anyone else know about this?"

"Lady Miriam, me, and a few of her most trusted servants also know about it." Len counted on his fingers.

"How about the man's parents, do they know?"

"No, not yet. He said he would tell them tonight, that's why Rin's been pretty restless at the party."

"I see," Miku scanned the crowd for any sign of the blonde, but she couldn't be seen. "I hope things will go well for her. Rin's a nice girl, she deserves to be happy."

Len nodded and agreed with her. He cared a lot for his sister and it meant a lot to him to see her happy, even at the cost of his own.

The orchestra had just finished a piece, slowly transitioning into another song. Len thought that this would be a good opportunity to change the topic before it got any deeper. He held out his hand to Miku once again and bowed, "May I have this dance?"

Miku felt flustered once again, but she maintained her posture and smiled. She curtsied back at Len before taking his hand. "It would be my pleasure."

...oooooooooo...

Luka and Gakupo continued to waltz across the floor, deciding to dance one more time before taking a break. "I haven't danced with you in a very long time, and I must say, I'm really impressed." Gakupo grinned cheekily at his dance partner.

"I've practiced you know," Luka smirked back at him. "I'm not the same clumsy dancer I was before. Besides, I could say the same thing for you. You always stepped on my toes when we were young."

"That's because you keep putting your feet in the wrong place,"

"Because you kept pulling me too roughly. You were pretty bad at leading back then," Luka playfully argued with Gakupo as he skillfully led her in the dance. They haven't danced like this every since they were young. Gakupo had indeed gotten better at dancing, unlike before when they would always bump into people. It was cute when they were kids, but it would be plain embarrassing if it were to happen now. After all, people say that dancing shows off a person's status and grace. Luka felt warm as they twirled around the room like they were on air; the longer they danced, the more courage and confidence Luka got.

Luka had wanted to tell Gakupo something for a long time, and now that he was 21, it was the perfect opportunity to do so. To tell him that she really liked him for a long time, and that she wants to be married to him. She had fantasies like this when she was a child, but since they were already of age, she should already tell Gakupo now before any other suitors could take him.

"Gakupo…" Luka said in a whisper that only the prince could hear. "I…There's something I want to tell you…it's really important and I believe this is the best time to say it."

Gakupo sensed that Luka was serious and nervous, so he slowed down the dance a bit to allow Luka to talk to him more clearly. "Yes? What is it?"

"Gakupo…I wanted to say that…I…I," Luka was about to confess to him, but a shade of teal in her vision suddenly interrupted her thoughts. Of course, it could be no-one other than Miku, who else had that kind of hair? But Luka was curious, what was she doing on the dance floor? 'Wait was she…?'

Gakupo gave her a questioning look, but nevertheless, he patiently waited for what Luka was about to say. When the two twirled around to change directions, Luka finally saw a clearer view of Miku. Her eyes widened in shock and what she was about to say to Gakupo got lost in a stream of emotions. Luka saw her beloved servant, dancing with some yellow haired person. His arm was wrapped around her waist and her hand was on his shoulder. They were too close to each other for Luka's comfort, and Miku had a small blush and a shy smile on her face. The way Miku looked at the boy was what made Luka narrow her eyes into a menacing glare. She felt her mind burning and muscles tensing in anger.

Nobody is allowed to see Miku make that face, nor hold her that close.

Nobody, but her.

oooooooooooooooooooo

...

And that's the end of the chapter.

I'm sorry I didn't update since October. Short story long, I had midterms that time, so I lost my writing momentum. It stayed that way until around November or December; I submitted the chapter to Jak656 and he proof read it. But while he was doing that, I re-read the chapter and decided to add more stuff. But it was my finals and I had to put it aside, so there goes the month of December. Before I knew it, it was already January. I just finished my short course, so now it was time to look for a job (which I don't have yet by the way OTL) and I had to make some stuff for my portfolio. January was almost over and I still haven't finished, and I was getting frustrated because of my lack of motivation to write.

Then I suddenly remembered that I work better under pressure. So I asked my friend to give me a dare: if I don't finish writing it by the end of Luka's birthday, then I'll do something embarrassing. If I don't finish, then I have to upload a video of myself dancing Po Pi Po on Facebook. Needless to say, it worked pretty well and I was able to finish.

So special thanks to my friend for scaring me to finish the chapter, lol. We'll be doing that more often so that I can upload faster.

Thanks for being patient with me guys ^.^ And thanks for the reviews as well.