47. Gossip and Suspicions.

[Claire]
A few minutes into the ball, I was already feeling inadequate. I talked to a few women at the party but they just kept on asking random annoying questions like who my husband was, who I was wearing, what shoes I was wearing, and even the shade of foundation I had used.
They gossiped alright, but it wasn't about anything interesting, I did, however, get to learn of the Prince's intended, she was a top-class Model and one of the most loved Celebrities in Denmark.
They were all admiring her outfit and judging her actions at the party, they all seemed to be impressed by her relationship with the Prince and many of them expressed their eagerness to attend a royal wedding ceremony.
I tried to find out why the Prince didn't want his photos taken but no one knew. Only one of them remembered his face from when he was younger but they couldn't give a very good description of his face because they hadn't seen it in years.
"Do you know if the Prince has any scars or if his face was mutilated?" I asked, curious.
"Oh my, no, no such thing, the Prince is an epitome of beauty, just like his mother, the late Queen was."
"His mother is late?"
"Oh, yes dear, you don't seem to know much about our history."
"Yes, I'm sorry I only recently moved to Copenhagen."
"Oh, that's nice, no doubt for love." The woman placed her hand on her head and pretended to be faint.
She was a very dramatic person but she was the only one whose company did not seem to irritate me.
"Oh I wish, I do hear Copenhagen is a city to find love." I decided to match her energy.
"Yes dear child, what is your name, you look fair and healthy, maybe I might introduce you to my nephew, he's rich and handsome but alone." She sighed.
"I'm Claire." I chuckled.
"Oh that's very nice, I'm Mrs. Maya Pierson, and keep a little secret for me dear but I also came to Denmark in search of love and I found it." She beamed at me.
"Well nice to meet you, Mrs. Pierson, I take it you know all about the royal family, don't you?"
"Sure I do, the beautiful queen was a friend of mine before her passing, her dear son would have been best friends with my nephew if she were still alive."
"I'm sorry to hear that." I watched as she sniffed and cleaned her dry eyes with a handkerchief.
"Yes dear, the queen died of rare cancer, so sad."
"Cancer?" I asked surprised, Jean had also told me that his mother had died from cancer.
"Yes dear, the Prince left the country a few years before she passed and he recently just returned from America." She said,
"America?" I asked her in surprise.
"Yes dear, America, the Prince recently graduated from Harvard, such an amazing young man."
"From Harvard in America?"
I was shocked to hear that because Jean had also gone to Harvard, what relationship did Jean have with the Prince exactly?
"Are you a bit slow dear because I don't think my nephew will appreciate that?" She scrunched her nose up.
"No, no, no, no." I shook my head. "Do you know any Jean D'aureville by the way, he's supposed to be super close to the royal family."
"Hmm, Jean, doesn't ring a bell but the name D'aureville is familiar, the queen used to be Camille D'aureville before she married the King."
"You don't know any Jean D'aureville, he's one of the palace guards but he's super close to the—"
"Come on child, who do I look like to you, why do you think I'd concern myself with the help." She shook her head and looked away from me.
"Yeah, I'm sorry I just have a friend who… and I just thought maybe you…"
"Forget it, child, put this on." She smiled, putting a bracelet into my hand.
"What's this for?" I asked her, confused.
"It's so that I can find you later, I have poor eyesight but that thing glitters for miles." She smiled at me and then added when I didn't seem to understand. "I'm going to make good on that promise, I'm going to find my nephew and introduce you to him."
"N—" I was about to disagree with her but she just spun on her heel and left me immediately.
I turned back to being the awkward person at the party as I looked around in search of anyone I could remotely recognize.
Sophie had Michele had been contracted to style some of the people at the ball but they had ended up working for the party as well.
I felt parched as I thought over the things I learned from the woman and so I decided to walk towards the bar to get some drink. I wasn't the kind of person to drink but I couldn't help but need a glass of wine or maybe something stronger.
I trusted Jean but I was beginning to question that, I'd never met any member of his family and I still did not know the authenticity of his story.
"Can I have a glass of wine?" I asked the bartender.
"The lady will like a glass of your finest chardonnay and I'll have some too." I froze as I heard the voice behind me.
"What are you doing here, Ivan?" I glared at him angrily.
"Oh calm down Claire, I was invited to the party like everyone else here, lucky that I ran into you here." He had a stupid smirk on his lips.
"What do you want?" I eyed him while the bartender brought out a glass of Chardonnay and two wine glasses.
"First, I want a dance, and second I want you to come back to your senses so that we can both return to America as soon as possible." He leaned closer to me and whispered. "This party sucks, I will take you to real classy events when we get back to America."
Ivan barely looked at me, it was obvious that he had no feelings for me whatsoever, whether love or lust, he just saw me as an item, an accessory to help him get what he wanted.
"I'm so sorry, Ivan but that will never happen, I'm not going anywhere with you and I don't care about my father's company anymore."
He looked surprised by my outbursts but he controlled himself immediately and chuckled loudly.
"You have no idea of what you're saying, let's go dance dear." He said and started pulling me towards the dance floor.
"Let go of me, Ivan, let go of m—"
"She said to let go of her." A voice boomed beside us and Ivan let go of me immediately.
"I'd advise you to stay out of this Mr, this lady is my fiance and she's a bit drunk, I'm just trying to get her to go home." He lied.
"Well, I'm not sure how you're her fiance when she's my girlfriend." I smiled and rushed to his side when Jean opened his mask and glared at Ivan.
"It's you again." Ivan hissed. "You never learn."
"Ivan, you need to leave."
"Fine but just know that one day I'll catch you alone and Mr whoever will not be there to save you, you're going back to America with me, Claire." He was barely finished with his sentence before Jean jacked him up by the collar.
"Don't you fucking threaten her ever, if you ever lay a hand on her, it will be the last time you have hands."
"Please let him go," I begged Jean because I didn't want us to cause a scene.
"Get out of here." Jean let him go and shoved him away from us.
He got up from the floor, dusted his suit, and disappeared into the crowd.
"Are you okay?" Jean asked me, pulling me into his arms.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine." I inhaled deeply, he smelled amazing and I felt so warm and secure in his embrace.
"I've been searching for you." He said, tightening his arms around me. "You look amazing." He whispered into my ear, brushing his lips across my temple.
"My boss is here, so I've been trying to get some work done," I told him and he nodded.
"Do you want to dance?" He asked me and I chuckled.
"I'm not a very good dancer," I confessed.
"It doesn't matter, I'm good enough for the two of us." He told me and lowered his hand from my back to my hips. "If you want to step on me, please don't step on me with your pointy heels." He said and I laughed.
"I'll try not to."
As he led me to the dance floor, I saw Sophie and I waved to her, she waved back quickly before she continued serving the guests and I turned my attention back to Jean.
I knew that eventually, I would have to talk to him about my suspicions but tonight I just wanted to stay in his arms and sway to the music with him.
It was a slow number so I wasn't all that tense when we started dancing, he was not kidding when he said he was good enough for the two of us, he swayed me, spun me around, and even dipped me.
The way he controlled my movements made me feel like I could really dance.
"You're so good, how did you learn to move like that?" I asked him.
"My mother taught me." He tensed up a little and my mind went back to what the woman had told me.
Jean was way too similar to the Prince and I wondered if he hadn't lied about his relationship to the Prince.