Lily covered her eyes with a hand as her cheeks warmed, shaking her head. "You are incredibly into that idea of yours. It's slightly terrifying." She mumbled, peeking between her fingers to look up at Cinthia. "And have you considered that he might not 'pick' me?"
Cinthia grinned sweetly, putting her hands on her hips. "Considered and deduced that it's a slim possibility. As I said, you're the closest thing to his type 'round these parts, besides maybe a hot bandit. But there is no such person attending this thing, so your chances of winning him over are high."
"I very much doubt I'm his type." Lily said, shaking her head as she lowered her hand and stood. Her cheeks were still a rosy pink, but it was fading a bit as time went on.
"I very much believe you're his type," Cinthia countered, then waved for her to head over to the hallway. "Alright, enough chit chat. You have a prince to dance with, and I have some chocolate to eat."
"Am I required to dance?" Lily asked, looking just slightly uneasy as she stepped out into the hall and turned to look at Cinthia. She clasped her hands in front of her, without much to fiddle with.
"Not necessarily required, but…" she trailed off, shrugging.
Demitri was leaning against the opposite wall, arms crossed and head bowed. He looked up as Cinthia and Lily came out into the hall. "Cin," he said, "Shoes."
She stuck her tongue out at him. "No one but you would notice. It's fine."
"Shoes."
"Ass."
He flicked his brows up slightly, the corner of his lips ever so slightly twitching upwards. "Shoes."
"Fine." She huffed and marched into her room to get some shoes.
Lily raised an eyebrow, watching Cinthia disappear into her room in a huff. "Does she try to go barefoot to formal events often?" She asked, voice quiet as she looked over at Demitri. Cinthia seemed close with him, which meant he was alright, hopefully.
"Every time," Demitri said, shaking his head with a soft chuckle. "Sometimes she gets away with it, and others I make her wear shoes. This time would be the latter. I don't want some chick stomping on her feet with those weapons they call heels."
"Probably a good idea then." Lily said with a nod, looking back to Cinthia's door. "There are going to be plenty of those." She smoothed down her dress, needing something to do with her hands and coming up empty. "Being stepped on by those isn't very fun."
"No, no they are not," he muttered just as Cinthia breezed back into the hall. She linked arms with Demitri and pulled him along with her. "Alright," she declared, "let's get the hell over with, shall we?" She looked over at Lily with a soft smile.
"Gladly." Lily said, huffing a laugh as she followed Cinthia's lead. "The sooner this is over, the better, right?" She raised an eyebrow over at the two of them, a small smile playing on her lips.
"Exactly," she said with a bright smile, leading them both to the ballroom. People and music could already be heard through the large and heavy double doors separating them from the actual party. Demitri sighed and muttered to himself, whereas Cinthia waved to the guards. They nodded to her in unison and pulled open the doors for the three of them.
Lily bit her lip, forcing herself to straighten instead of her go-to of slouching. Small sacrifices. Small sacrifices for family. Just keep your chin up. That familiar anxiety was building up in her stomach again, and she very much would have loved to turn straight around and leave. Instead, she continued to stick close to Cinthia's side.
Cinthia and Demitri dropped their arms as they entered. He leaned down to say something to Cinthia. She nodded and waved for him to go ahead. He left with a quick double tap to her wrist, disappearing into the crowd. She turned to look at Lily. "Alright, so it's just you and me for a bit. Want to raid the chocolates?"
"Sure." Lily nodded, lips quirking in a slightly strained smile. "I haven't had chocolate in forever." She commented, looking around the ballroom. It was half curiosity, half wariness, as she carefully stepped out of the way of someone passing by.
Cinthia waved her hand for Lily to follow, leading her through the crowd of people to the snack bar. It was probably the best part of these things, in Cinthia's opinion. They had all sorts of sweets available for consumption. Even a chocolate fountain with strawberries constantly being restocked by hidden staff. Rhydar couldn't be seen by Cinthia, but she was sure he was here somewhere—as was her other siblings. Magnus had sent a message saying that he'd be up for this slice of torture for his big and annoying brother.
"That is quite a bit of food." Lily said quietly, carefully keeping at Cinthia's side. She'd rather accidentally bump into Cinthia than someone who was a complete stranger. "Is it always-are those strawberries?" Her entire demeanor quickly changed, her wariness fading as she visibly brightened.
Cinthia grinned and picked one up, dipping it into the chocolate fountain. She popped the now chocolate-covered strawberry into her mouth. The best thing about these strawberries was that they were already cleaned and rid of their stems. She nodded in answer to Lily's question, though it should've been obvious.
Lily smiled brightly, happily picking up a strawberry. She, perhaps with a bit too much fascination, dipped the strawberry in the chocolate and pulled it out, taking a bite. She hadn't been kidding. It had been forever since she'd had chocolate, and she usually didn't get much by way of fruit, either, because of how expensive it was.
Cinthia chuckled as she noticed Lily's smile, then swept her eyes over the group of dancers until they locked onto someone. She smirked and gently elbowed Lily, pointing out the familiar figure with tons of piercings who was looking over their way. "I think someone likes your smile," she said cheekily.
"Hm?" Lily looked up from the half eaten strawberry in her hand, head tilted in confusion. "What are you-" She caught off as she followed Cinthia's gaze, her own landing on Rhydar for a moment before she looked back at his sister. "He's not necessarily even looking at me." She tried to reason, shaking her head.
Cinthia gave Lily a flat look. "And give me a good reason why he'd be looking over here at the convenient time when we're standing here—mainly when you are here, smiling like that." She arched a brow, waiting to hear Lily's counter-argument.
"I-" Lily's blush had returned as she struggled to come up with some sort of counter, obviously coming short. "Maybe he was looking at the food?" She offered weakly, lifting a shoulder as though she wasn't even sure she believed herself. Cinthia seemed convinced, but it just…didn't make any sense to her.
"Mmmmhmm." Cinthia didn't look convinced. She grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing servant and nodded to him in thanks. "Well, I'm going to go and find that spy of mine. Maybe you should chat with your thief?" She left before Lily could argue, waving in farewell.
Rhydar saw Cinthia leaving Lily alone, and he silently cursed his sister. He knew what the little mastermind was planning. They both saw how ill at ease Lily seemed in this crowded room, and he had a sneaking suspicion that Cin was expecting him to swoop in and give the girl some company. He wasn't overly opposed to the idea, but he also didn't like how the mind of his little sister worked. Sneaky sneaky. No wonder the spy's so infatuated with her.
Lily blinked, opening her mouth to say something, but Cinthia was already gone. My thief? She shook her head, closing her mouth again as she flickered a glance to the snack bar, and then out at the dance floor. She bit her lip, taking a deep breath to try and quell the anxiety building up once more, and considered taking Cinthia up on that, just to keep from being left alone.