Although he was surrounded by countless ladies and princesses hoping to grab his attention, the prince found himself drawn to no one in particular. He knew he needed to marry, yet no one seemed the right fit. They were all beautiful and charming in their ways, but he found himself bored and restless and oddly compelled to be rude, although he bit his tongue and was charming to every girl who tried to catch his eye.

As he was about to retire and try to find a way to tell his father this was a lost cause, a lady was announced. He sighed, ready to greet the newcomer with a polite smile and perhaps some inane chatter if she was bold enough to approach him on her own. Instead he stopped short at the sight of her, all others in the room forgotten. He vaguely heard some ladies calling his name, but he did not hear them as he approached the Lady Guinevere. There was something that told him this was wrong, that she belonged to someone else, or maybe he belonged to someone else. It was ridiculous though, considering the point of this entire ball.

He walked over to the lady in question, and gave her a polite bow.

"My lady, I don't believe I've seen you before."