You are the daughter of grand duke invited inside the palace for a selection ball to be the empress of the empire, the palace was full of many young women from different clans and families.

You stay in quiet corner of the ballroom, watching women in billowing extravagant dresses twirl and dance with their partners, unamused. You hold a glass of deep red wine, silently taking sip and minding your own business when you see in your peripheral vision a man slowly coming your way.

You assume he comes to you to ask you for a dance.

You sigh, and without even looking directly at the man, politely rejected him even before he could say anything.

"...I have no intetions to ask you for a dance" you hear a low voice say, "..though, certainly you intrigue me enough to come to you. What are you doing here all alone?" He asks, his voice low and monotone.

You turn to look at his face and freezes.

the emperor, Claude?