46. Almost Caught.

[Luke]
The ball was just as I had thought, it was really boring and all political, I started looking for Claire in the crowd after barely an hour of the event starting but I couldn't find her, Megan was also not making it easy for me as she was basically strapped to my hips and she was not leaving my sight.
Liam was beside me but we had no chance to switch, he hit me purposely more than twice when Megan spontaneously hugged me and pecked me on the cheek.
Like it was my fault.
I had been pulled away by numerous people to talk business and I was getting really tired of it. I had to find a way to switch with Liam so that I could go and find the love of my life.
The majority of the people at that ball including the King wouldn't be able to recognize if I just switched my mask from the golden colored one I wore that represented the royal family and if I took off the hat.
The King and I were not so close so he wouldn't be able to tell if Liam and I switched places, he wasn't also that familiar with Liam so he wouldn't really know that we were almost identical.
At first, Liam and I did not look anything alike but the older we got, the more we began to have similar features to the point where I thought Liam could be related to me somehow.
We weren't though, it was just a funny coincidence that we were so alike.
When Liam and I were younger, I used to have a lot of panic and anxiety attacks because I hated the attention from people and the media, Liam and I made up a bunch of hand signs that would help me secretly inform him that I couldn't handle it again and he would swoop in to rescue me from the pressure somehow.
Right now, the master of ceremony was on stage mentioning the feat the palace had achieved and a bunch of other things that I wasn't listening to.
It was not yet ready for the first dance and I did not want to be caught in Megan's arms.
The King was already at his seat waving at everyone, I made sure that his eyes weren't on me and I turned around to locate Liam, he was standing a few meters away from me and he had on a green face mask which was very unique and had very intricate designs so I could recognize it at first glance.
Sophie and Michele had eventually sent other stylists after the stunt Liam had pulled and I had changed my whole outfit because I did not want to risk being recognized by either one of them.
"If you'll excuse me, my lady, I'd like to talk to someone over there," I whispered in Megan's ear and made my way to Liam.
Just before I reached him, I balled my hands into a fist with a hole in it and I raised up my pinky.
I hadn't thrown up the sign in ages and I hoped he would recognize it.
"Your highness, I've been meaning to talk to you." Someone intercepted me and I frowned.
"Yes, how are you doing?" I smiled politely.
"Oh, forgive my manners, I'm Bernard." He said stretching his hands to me.
An image of him dancing closely with Claire popped into my mind and I scowled at his outstretched hand.
"Mr. Bernard." I smiled and locked my hand tightly on his. "Such a pleasure to meet you, I have heard so much about you, such a diligent business man," I said, crushing his hand under mine.
"Yes, your highness, you've got quite a strong grip there." He smiled trying to hide his discomfort but he was failing because his face started to turn red and I could see the stress veins popping up along the side of his temple.
"I was hoping to see you, to discuss some business." He sighed when I left his hand and immediately hid it behind him.
"Yes, if you'll meet my assistant, he can have it arranged." I dismissed him immediately when I sighted Liam on the move.
I looked around to make sure that no one's eyes were on me, especially Sir Thomas's, and when I didn't see any, I proceeded quickly into the dark hall.
The hall wasn't exactly dark but Liam and I usually called it the dark hall because it was the one spot that did not have cameras that overlapped so it had a blind spot and it did not have that many guards standing around.
"Where are you going, your highness." I nearly shrieked when Sir Thomas stopped me.
Where did he come out from? I did not see him coming.
"Um… I'm… I need some… air."
"At this time, couldn't you have at least waited till after the first dance so you could take your beloved with you outside." He obviously did not believe me.
"I'll be back before the dance and I promise I'll spend the rest of the night with her."
"Some air you say, why are you going towards the hall, the terrace is on the other side?" He asked, looking confused.
"I also needed to use the bathroom." I lied.
"Where is Liam?" He asked out of the blue and my heart began to beat rapidly.
"I don't know, he must be working somewhere." I tried to sound as casual and dry as possible.
"I don't know, he always seems to disappear when he's needed." Sir Thomas shook his head and walked away.
"That was close." I let out a breath and rushed to the hall.
Without wasting any time, Liam and I hurriedly switched masks and hats at the blind spot, there were also no guards around so we were safe.
He tapped me on the shoulder before he ran off and just as I was about to go outside, I ran into Sophie.
"Hey, Claire mentioned that you would be at the party tonight." I moved closer to her, my heart in my mouth because I didn't know what she had seen.
"Yes, are you, Jean, I almost didn't recognize you." She smiled, removing her mask. "Claire has been looking for you."
"Yeah, I was working but now I'm free, do you know where she is?"
"Sure I do, but tell me how you can work with the Prince?"
"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean?"
"Yeah, I heard the Prince is a bit of a xenophobe and that's why he doesn't show his face, he's kind of a weirdo."
"He is not." I defended seriously.
"Oh well, he wouldn't let Michele and I style him today before the ball." She said, eyeing me.
"I don't know, he's very nice to me, I don't know why he would do that." I tried to defend myself.
"I guess I should be used to it by now, it's rich people and their shit." She said,
"Rich people?" I scoffed. "Well, aren't you rich?"
"So you think Michele and I are rich." She shook her head. "If we were rich, we would be attending this ball and not tending to people at the ball." She rolled her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I guess I shouldn't talk like that, we all happen to be in the same boat."
"Yeah, let's go find Claire, her boss is being a dick and asking her to get the Prince's picture."
"What?" I frowned, following her.
"Yeah, apparently the media is very eager to publicize his image, why do you think he's trying to protect his image anyway? He's Prince, he does realize he's going to be King one day." She ranted.
"I think he's just a very private person, you wouldn't get it but not all that glitters is gold and just because you presume he's having a good life doesn't mean he is."
"Oh spare me, Jean." She rolled her eyes again. "The man is bloody rich and famous, what more does he want in life?"
"Maybe the chance to love and actually live his life," I responded in my mind and shook my head sadly.
This was the life I was born into and I couldn't do anything about it. Everyone on the outside thought it was such a blessing to be born into such a life and everyone on the inside thought it was an honor for me to be Prince.
I just wanted to find Claire because she was my happy place, she distracted me from all of my thoughts and she made me feel good about myself.
I did not know what I was going to do yet but it was already clear that I wasn't going to lose Claire, she was worth fighting for and as I caught sight of her in the crowd, I knew that there was no way in hell I was ever letting this angel go.