The Other Side of the Mask

Nervousness fills my heart, as I take each step towards the ballroom. I can hear the background noises of the silence and the priest talking. Finally, I arrived. The door opens as eyes lay themselves upon me. I glance up to see XiaoLong, way too handsomely bright for my eyes. He looks at me with a surprised expression but then smiles. I follow the etiquette that was drilled into me this past year and stand in my place. My heart races as we swear the oath and become husband and wife. I stand there, dazed in my thoughts until XiaoLong steals a kiss from me, again! I was going to push him away, but then, I realized this is part of the ceremony and accepted it.

The banquet starts and many officials and envoys come to congratulate us. I stare blankly and bored as they come up, one by one.

"Hello, Crown Prince and Crown Princess, I am Duke…"

I look around the beautiful ballroom. Wow… so this is my home now, huh.

More and more people gather around and talk. I can spy SanXing and Commander Yang on one side of the room and TianYu and KaiZhen on the other. They've already given their congrats and are playing around freely. I sigh, jealous of their freedom. Suddenly, XiaoLong grabs my hand.

"Please excuse us for a bit," he tells the others surrounding us.

We walk onto the terrace and XiaoLong lets out a big sigh.

"This is so boring…"

"Yeah," I agree.

I look around the terrace and into the garden.

"Let's go look at the stars!" XiaoLong exclaims suddenly.

"Sure, but…" I look down at my elaborate dress.

He laughs and sweeps me into his arms. He jumps up onto the tall roof of the castle and puts me down.

"Haha, it's been so long since I've done that," he says as he looks at the beautiful twinkling stars.

��Yeah… all the way back at the time at Yue Castle."

"It was like playing with a game of masks all the time, trying not to get the other to discover you," he says as he laughs.

"And somehow you knew it was me anyways," I say suspiciously.

He smiles, "I can just tell it's you."