CHAPTER 163: CHAPTER 163 ATTENDING A BALL

I stood unmoving in my spot like a statue, watching her disappear into the crowd again, her silver hair catching the light as it vanished behind the corner of a tall building.

I wanted to go after her, but my feet wouldn’t move. My mind was still trying to catch up with what had just happened. She had held me. She had looked right into my eyes... and walked away like she didn’t know me at all.

Guards suddenly came rushing past from behind, their footsteps heavy on the stone path. One of them pointed in the direction she ran.

"There she is, don’t let her get away again!"

I started to follow, afraid that the guards would hurt her, but Alaric caught my arm. "Damon, stop."

I shot him a glare. "Let go. Now."

But Alaric didn’t back off. Instead, he calmly stepped into the path of one of the guards and asked, "Is everything alright? Why are you chasing her like that? She looked terrified. What did she do? Is she a thief?"

The guard stiffened immediately hearing the word ’thief’. "Watch your words, outsider. That is our princess. She isn’t running from us, she’s avoiding the royal ball scheduled for tonight. Again."

Alaric raised his hands slightly in mock surrender and took a step back. "Got it."

The guard gave him one last look, then rushed off to join the others.

Alaric turned back to me. "She’s the princess, Damon. What are you going to do about that?"

Theo finally spoke, his voice low. "She might look like Ember, hell, she might even smell like her. But think about it, she’s royalty. It could just be a coincidence, you all just saw how she acted." He paused, gauging my reaction. "If she were really Ember, she wouldn’t be able to hide her emotions, especially not after everything she has been through."

"What about if she lost her memories? Remember she fell off the cliff." Alaric scratched the back of his head.

"If it was really her, she wouldn’t have been completely healed. Remember she is an Omega and it has only been fourteen days since the incident. And I bet she hates my father right now." Theo stared unapologetically at me.

I didn’t comment on their banter right away. I was still staring at the corner she disappeared behind, the place where I last saw her.

My voice came out darker than I meant it to. "There’s only one way to find out."

Alaric groaned under his breath. "Why do I feel like that involves sneaking into a fae ball?"

....

(A few hours later)

We stood at the gate of the royal castle, dressed in the fae’s clothes. It was more of tight pants and a tunic shirt tucked in the pants, with a three-piece tailored suit. My hair wasn’t sleeked back this time, I let it fall over my face in a small curl, because I wanted a casual look and not one that would scream at the people this man had authority.

It came out good, because I looked like a handsome devil ready to steal people’s hearts.

Alaric dressed in a white three-piece suit designed with golden thread, and navy blue pants. Theo was dressed in a brown three-piece suit and white pants. I wore a black three-piece suit with golden designs and white pants.

"Do you think they will let us in without an invitation card?" Theo pushed back his glasses.

"We will never know if we don’t try," Alaric said only to please my ears, but I knew he was already crying inwardly.

"Let’s go around the wall." I placed my hand behind my back, slowly walking away from the entrance.

We walked several meters, then we appeared in a quiet part, where the fae rarely walked. I looked at the high wall, I knew there must be magic protecting the wall, I could only hope that my magic would work...

"Father, look, there is a hole underneath the wall." Theo removed the dried bush that was used to cover the hole.

I arched one of my brows at him. "You want me to crawl through a hole like a dog?" I glared at him. "Never." I turned away from him.

(A few minutes later)

"Move faster," I barked at Alaric who was in front of me. I had spent ten more minutes searching, but I had no option... except this.

As if this wasn’t embarrassing enough, they had the audacity to crawl slowly through the hole, making me spend more time in the hole.

I sighed in exasperation after we crawled out of the hole. "I can’t believe you two made a King crawl through a hole. So embarrassing." I gritted my teeth, dusting the dirt off my clothes.

Alaric cleared his throat, "At least we are here aren’t we?"

I took a step forward shoving him out of my way. "At least we are here," I grumbled.

"So we are ignoring everything we came here for... to chase after a girl who just looks like Ember? This is very convenient." Theo pushed back his glasses again.

I cleared my throat and kept walking toward the glowing castle. I hated that I had to walk through the bush when I was already well dressed.

"He is hiding something isn’t he?" Theo asked Alaric who was walking beside him.

"Of course he is, but I believe he won’t be able to keep it a secret that long," Alaric said out loud for me to hear.

After dodging the guards and getting lost several times, we finally made it to the ball. The hall bustled with the fae dressed in their best clothes, laughing, chatting, and some dancing. The music was soothing to the soul, completely different from what we play in the upper plain.

The chandeliers glowed with bright golden hues, and luminous butterflies with different colours flew freely in the air. To the right side of the ball was a grand staircase sweeping down to the ballroom.

"I think we smell like grass." Theo scrunched his nose.

I was expecting "Wow" from them, but they were just more concerned about their smell.

Then, her scent hit me again like a tidal wave, she was coming. My heart hammered in my chest.

Thump. Thump. Thump.