Despite being the Crown Princess, Henrietta always felt completely and utterly out of her depth.

This wasn't the first ball she'd been to, nor would it be the last, yet every single time she attended one, she always felt completely unprepared. Everyone else seemed fine with it - William had the calm confidence of a future ruler, Nate was… well, Nate, Beatrice was making friends with everyone in the room… heck, even Katherine was deep in conversation with Alexa. She was the only heir who was like this. It must be a 'her' problem.

With a heavy sigh, she leaned back against her chair, letting her hair fall over her face as she tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. Don't talk to me. Please don't let anyone talk to me.

"Henrietta?"

Henrietta peered out from behind her hair to see her brother, Percy, looking down at her nervously.

"Are you-" he began, before being almost immediately cut off.

"I'm fine," muttered Henrietta sharply, sinking lower into her seat. "Go talk to Beatrice or something."

"Okay," Percy said softly, hesitating for a moment. "I can stay, if you want-"

"I'm fine."

"Okay," he repeated, glancing back once last time as he left the table.

Damn. Even Percy was doing fine, and he was one of the most awkward people Henrietta knew. This really was a 'her' problem. Everyone was staring at her, too - she knew it. She could feel it. The stares bore right through her. She wasn't stupid, she could see the people purposely turning away as soon as she looked their way. They were probably all thinking the same thing, weren't they? Wow, THAT'S the Crown Princess of Arrelstead? What a shame. What a disappointment. What a terrible heir. Can't even handle a party.

Henrietta closed her eyes, trying to dull out the blinding lights illuminating the room. It was far too bright in here. And loud. How did people even talk to each other when things were this noisy? Everything overlapped into a horrendous cacophony of sound.

She exhaled softly under her breath, glancing over towards the door. Too much. Everything was too much. It'd be fine to get some fresh air, right?

Nobody would even care if she vanished. Right?

She stood up quickly and hurried across the room, pointedly avoiding eye contact with everyone she passed along the way. It'd be fine. It had to be fine. She needed to get out of there.

Henrietta didn't even know where she was going, in all honesty. Her brain was screaming at her - get away from the people, get away from the chaos - and before she knew it, she was in an area of Asilia Palace she'd never been before.

Her footsteps slowed as she took in her surroundings, trying to figure out whereabouts she could possibly be. She could probably just glance into one of the rooms to figure out what they were, but… no. The doors were shut. She didn't want to open a closed door. They were probably closed for a reason.

Gods above, why was Asilia Palace so big? Arrelstead Palace wasn't even half the size of this place. No wonder all of the events were held here. They could probably house half of the realm in this place.

She turned around, trying to retrace her footsteps, but none of the hallways seemed familiar any more. It was just an endless maze of closed doors and identical walls, stretching on and on in every direction.

This was not good.

Henrietta felt her heart beginning to thump faster and faster as she paced frantically along the hallways, desperately searching for something - anything - she recognised. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she began to breathe heavily, head down, continuing forward… she just had to keep going-

"Oh," she breathed as she turned a corner, suddenly noticing a white-haired woman at the end of the hallway.

Ah.

Henrietta cursed her rotten luck. She recognised that woman. How could she not? The figure at the end of the hall was the object of her jealousy. The person she most longed to be like. The flawlessly put-together Grace Attwood-Stone.

Of all the people here, why did it have to be Grace she'd managed to stumble upon? She didn't want Grace to see her in this state. She didn't want anyone to see her in this state, but especially not Grace.

Grace probably knows the way back, though...

She only hesitated for a moment, but that was all it took. Grace lifted her head, and her eyes widened in surprise as she noticed Henrietta, struggling to catch her breath, frozen on the spot like a deer in the searchlights.

"Henrietta," she called out, unable to hide the confusion in her voice. "Are you quite alright?"

Henrietta bit her lip. Well. Her chance to escape was gone. It'd be rude to run away now, especially after she'd been addressed by name. She slowly began to make her way down the hall.

In one fluid, elegant motion, Grace moved to the side, leaving a space beside her on the seat.

"Well, you look awful," she laughed lightly, smiling at Henrietta as she flopped down onto the seat next to her.

"Yeah," murmured Henrietta in response, exhaling deeply as she closed her eyes. "Sorry."

"Sorry? What on Aulber are you sorry for?" Grace asked, her melodic voice ringing out in the stifling air of the hallway.

Gods. Even her voice was perfect.

Henrietta just shrugged, shoulders slumped.

"Looking bad," she mumbled in response, tilting her head to let her hair cover her face again.

"Well, nobody's perfect," hummed Grace, crossing her legs daintily.

Henrietta let out a bitter laugh in response. Nobody's perfect. Easy enough for the most perfect woman in the entire building to say.

"Really, though," Grace continued, shifting to turn her body towards Henrietta. "Are you alright, darling? I didn't expect to see you all the way back here."

Henrietta took a deep breath, pausing for a moment as she tried to think of a reply.

"Got lost," she eventually mumbled, tilting her head even further forward to hide her face. Gods, Henrietta wished she could just vanish. Grace was being nice to her, and she couldn't seem to say more than two words in response.

"I see," Grace smirked, turning to gaze back down the hallway. "That's almost impressive, in a way. We're pretty far from the main ballroom. I wouldn't be here myself if I wasn't on a mission."

Henrietta looked up, brow furrowed in confusion - a mission? - as Grace let out a giggle.

"Would you care to join me? It's a very important mission," she drawled, tilting her head to drape her snow-white hair over Henrietta's shoulder. "You see, Richard's chambers are just down that way. I'm waiting for him to leave so that I can steal his wine. It's imported from Sol."

At the mention of Aulber Sol, Henrietta's eyes lit up. Oh. Aulber Sol. She knew a lot about imports from Aulber Sol - they all came through Arrelstead, and she'd always been fascinated by the sheer variety of food and drink that passed through the docks, ever since she was young.

"Neyti?" she asked, pushing her hair out of her face.

Grace looked at her blankly.

"The wine," she clarified quickly, feeling her cheeks flush. "If it's from Sol, it's probably from Neyti. Most imports are. They're known for their food and drink. Most of our cheese is imported from there. Cheese and wine. Fruits. Other things, too. There's… a lot."

"Goodness, you do know how to speak!" joked Grace lightly, looking down at Henrietta with an amused expression. "I don't think I've ever heard you speak this much. You should do it more often! Your passion is endearing."

She slowly lifted her head up, letting her long hair slowly drift over Henrietta's bare shoulder.

"I'll be completely honest," she murmured softly, "I truly have no idea. I just know he has expensive wine, and I'm tired of the cheap stuff."

An awkward silence descended between the pair for a moment. Grace shifted her position, leaning closer to Henrietta again.

"So, what do you say?" she said softly into Henrietta's ear.

"That…" Henrietta began, pressing her lips together as she tilted her head down again. "We probably shouldn't steal."

Grace laughed - a melodic, bright laugh that almost made Henrietta want to laugh along, even though she didn't understand what was funny in this situation. They were guests here! It didn't seem right to steal things. Then again, Henrietta had the impression that Grace didn't particularly care about what was right or wrong.

"Is that what you're worried about?" Grace said with a grin, resting her arm along the back of Henrietta's seat. "What if I told you it's not technically stealing?"

Henrietta waited for her to elaborate.

"He offered it to me," Grace continued, holding her other hand to her heart solemnly. "His actual words were - and I quote - 'You should come back to my room and see what actual wine tastes like'. So I do have his permission. Technically."

"I doubt that's what he meant," murmured Henrietta nervously.

"Well, obviously not," Grace scoffed. "He was trying to hit on me. But it's Richard. Who cares? It's basically compensation for having to put up with his horrendous behaviour all the time-"

The two were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a door opening and closing nearby, followed by the sound of footsteps and low muttering. Grace smirked, waiting for the sounds to fade into the distance, then stood up.

"Well, I'm going in," she announced, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Watch my bag for me, would you, darling?"

She was out of sight before Henrietta even had time to respond.

This… was absolutely not how Henrietta had expected the evening to go. She sat in silence, running through the evening's events in her head - the hall was too much, she found Grace, Grace is stealing from Richard, she had Grace's bag, she still didn't know where she was, apart from the fact that it was near Richard's chambers… where even were Richard's chambers? Why were his chambers on the ground floor? Did all of the Asilia royals have chambers on the ground floor? Was that normal in Asilia?

Breathe, Henrietta. Breathe.

She took in a deep breath, holding it in for a few seconds before slowly exhaling. In. Out. Stop spiralling. You're fine. You didn't do anything wrong. She felt her fluttering heart start to calm down again as she continued to take deep breaths. Things would be fine. She may have gotten lost, but Grace clearly knew her way around the Palace. Grace had left her bag by the seat, too, meaning she'd have to return. It was fine. Everything would be fine.

The sharp clicking of stiletto heels brought Henrietta back to her senses, and her head whipped up, watching eagerly as a familiar flash of white hair turned the corner swiftly.

"Mission success!" whispered Grace as she strode over, one hand behind her back. As she got closer to Henrietta, she giggled, bringing her arm forward to reveal an elaborate-looking bottle. "Ta-da! You were right. Neyti wine."

She quickly leaned over to pick up her bag, then opened it swiftly, only just managing to fit the bottle inside. After a short struggle with the zip, she swung it over her shoulder, then held a hand out to Henrietta.

"Care to join me for a drink, darling?" she said lightly.

Henrietta paused for a moment, then took her hand, allowing herself to be helped up. After a short pause, she nodded slightly. Grace's face lit up as she gave Henrietta's hand a squeeze.

"Wonderful," she purred, starting to lead Henrietta down the hallway, still hand-in-hand. "I know where there's a lovely little grove in the gardens. Let's enjoy our own party, hm? Maybe you can tell me a little more about Neyti imports. If this wine is actually good, I may wish to procure some of my own in the future."

As she followed Grace into the gardens of Asilia Palace, Henrietta smiled to herself. Even though she still felt completely and utterly out of her depth - especially next to Grace - she couldn't help but think about how nice it felt to let others lift her up from time to time.