The Unwilling Heir PV closed

Opeila felt like a puppet held upright by strings when she entered the Hunt Manor. After everything that had happened in the last week Opeila felt drained, so drained that she couldn't even be bothered to argue with Lady Virtanen about her outfit. It was alright anyway. A dark green dress with a glittering skirt that fell to the knee and the flat silver shoes she had worn last year.

When they left Virtanen Manor in Finland, Lysander had been quick to offer Opeila his arm before Malyen could do so, really making her decide to drop whatever bad feelings she still held against Lysander. This was a situation that neither of them had expected and Opeila appreciated it greatly that he had her back, as she had fairly little interest to interact with her sister's father, half-brother and his mother.

Yes, there had been a misunderstanding, but after some pondering, Opeila had decided that it didn't change much. Even if he hadn't killed her mother and sister himself, it was his fault they ran away in the first place. Maybell's fate was his fault as was her mother's mental state before her death. Not to start about her poor father and her own situation.

Sadly, after the first days of general distrust, the Virtanens had supported that Opeila spent as much time in the presence of the Ravensburgs as possible. She hadn't dared to openly protest, but instead kept her mouth shut as much as possible. Responded with as little words as she could.
Malyen seemed alright, if there was a different background, maybe they could have become friends, but Opeila could hardly bare his presence.

And then Lysander had eventually started to be an angel. Always happened to be in the room and near when Lord and Lady Virtanen left Opeila alone with the unexpected guests and cleverly diverted from uncomfortable topics. They had basically been inseparable.

And now, after greeting the host and holding some small talk, he asked her to dance too. "Great idea", she murmured and allowed her step-brother to pull her away from the group. "I think that kid tries really hard to be your friend.", Lysander said as he spun her around. "I can live without his friendship. Frankly, I can't wait for all of them to leave again. It's not his fault, but I just can't."

A few weeks ago she had used the same excuse to snap at Miles, but this was different, right? Besides, she never snapped at Malyen, but she blocked off conversation all the time and she would make sure to keep it that way. "Anyone here you know?", she asked Lysander in a very plump attempt to change the topic.

After she had introduced herself the other girl did so as well with the same formalities as Elizaveta, gently shaking her hand. She could feel the eyes of the other scan her outfit, causing her to nervously smooth out an imaginary wrinkle in the soft fabric of the dress. "thank you," she replied politely with a small nod at the compliment. "I like your outfit as well," she returned the compliment just like her parents had learned her to do.

Her green eyes drifted off, looking at the other guests, to find her family members as she had no idea what to say to the other student anymore. Making small talk, especially with people her age, wasn't Eliza's strongest suit. Should she just walk away now? Castor's comment about the dance came just in time and stopped the Russian girl from fleeing the awkward silence and running back to her brother, who she had spotted talking with another guest.

Being a dancer herself she enjoyed seeing people dance and talk about the amazing sport, so the topic made the blond a lot less nervous. "It was amazing," she said as she dreamily stared off in the distance. "The girl looked beautiful. I wish I could dance that good" she shared. "Do you dance?" she asked, surprised by her own bravery to ask a question to a girl she just met. For most people it wouldn't be a big deal to make small talk but to Eliza it was.

Charles was a little younger than he looked, which relaxed Lucia somewhat. Though adults had relationships with much bigger age gaps, Lucia still found it a bit weird for two kids to be engaged when one had already graduated. Actually, was Charles a kid? Didn't Durmstrang have some strange system where everyone was a year older than they would be in the UK? But no, Charles has said he attended Ilvermorny, not Durmstrang. Did Ilvermorny do the weird age thing to? Lucia decided to stop thinking about it and focus on the important thing here: @Eun-ji Lee Hunt. Then she realised what Charles had said. "Four years?" Eun-ji was fourteen, and from the way Mrs Hunt was talking she wanted her granddaughter to be married as soon as possible. "Can't you get married at sixteen? And couldn't you, well-" Lucia glanced between the 'couple'. "-just refuse? You can just... say no. They can't force you, right?" Lucia's mother, though a little controlling, wouldn't force Lucia to get married to someone she didn't love, and Lucia was sure that Eun-ji's parents would be the same. Right?

"Thank you," Willow grinned in response to Eun-ji's compliment, and spinned around in a circle to show off her outfit. "I don't usually wear dresses," she confided to the older girl, "But Ebony said I had to if I wanted to come and I've never been to a ball before so I wanted to see what it's like." After Eun-ji had finished talking, Willow nodded seriously. "Me too. There's less dancing than I'd thought there'd be, though. More talking. Your dance was really pretty though! The adults are all a bit boring, that's all."
Lucia gasped. Despite herself having noticed the same thing at her first ball, she hadn't actually given voice to the fact that balls were nothing like how they were described in the fairytales she'd read in preparation for the event. "Willow, be polite!" Despite almost certainly having received plenty of ettiquite lessons from Ebony prior to the event, Willow's bluntness hadn't changed. Lucia found herself almost proud of her for staying herself in this formal environment where Lucia had to think about almost every move before she made it.

Roleplaying as Castor Alarie July 23rd, 2022 Beauxbatons

French English

Castor could only barely see the tenseness in the other girl, a bare scrap of discomfort visible only in her mannerisms. Castor thought for a moment, considering the reason why she could read the other's mannerisms being the product of extensive practice and personal mental training. She brushed it off, focusing back on the conversation. She was almost worried for a moment that she had scared this new girl off, until the other girl's interest in dance. The French girl made a mental note that this was a topic to stick to.

Castor had considered dancing before, her younger self loving to watch the ballerinas she occasionally saw at certain events. The way they twirled and leaped like gravity was just an added detail, prancing on air as elegantly as a swan. But Castor knew very well that her mother and father would never allow her to indulge in such a frivolous hobby. She could almost hear their remarks about how absurd it was that people flopped around like idiots instead of actually working. Just another thing Castor couldn't say she agreed with, not that she would ever express that to the two. She wasn't that intrigued by dance.

She furrowed her brows slightly. "No, nothing outside of traditional ballroom dancing. I suppose it could be fun, but I prefer more..." she paused, trying to find the words, "Mental hobbies. But yes, I must say she had a kind of grace only achievable from years of work." the French girl tilted her head slightly, looking to the ground slowly as if in deep thought before looking back up. "And you? Do you dance?"

WC: 290

Blue in English, Red in Korean

“Well yes…but I think muggles plan to change the law and make it eighteen no matter the approval. Eun-ji hopes that will be the case though I’m not sure if it will be enough for Mrs. Hunt.” The boy shrugged. He was not wrong of course but he didn’t need to point that out. Lucia already sounded extremely worried as it was. The Ravenclaw cleared her throat and smiled at her friend. “You are right. They can’t force us and my parents didn’t say yes so we’ll be fine.” She lowered her voice then so nobody else would hear. Even walls had ears in this place. “We are just playing along so our less agreeable family members leave us alone.” Charles glanced at her warily but it was a fleeting look that was easy to miss. He knew she was lying. In theory there was nothing wrong with her statement but her grandmother was a scheming snake. One way or another, she would find a way to convince everybody to change their minds. Some things are better left unsaid. The witch thought bitterly but she never dropped her smile.

“Oh yes, your sister is right. Quite annoyingly a lot of times these events have rules but you’ll get to enjoy plenty of balls at Hogwarts and you can wear whatever you want to those.” Sure, they had a theme but nobody would force students to go along with it or tell them to wear a dress if they wanted to wear a suit instead. Flash went to the last one wearing a cardigan for god sake and nobody said a thing. If anything, they were all jealous of how comfy it looked. Eun-ji then let the Hufflepuff reprimand Willow for her bluntness. She wouldn’t intervene or comfort the child as she firmly believed it was for her own good. Here she was safe among friends but who knew what mistake she could make in the future when she was alone? Her older sister wouldn’t always be there to have her back. “True…things like this should be kept a secret.” She kept her tone kind since she actually agreed with the little one and didn't want to ruin her evening. “They are not supposed to know.” Giving her a subtle wink, the Ravenclaw turned to the stage. “Besides, it seems more people are gathering at the dancing floor so I think you’ll get to dance soon. Thank you for the compliment by the way, I’ve practiced a lot.” True to her words when the music started to play again it was a bit louder and a pairs of witches and wizards slowly started filling the floor. “See?” She pointed in their direction.

While Willow appreciated the scene, Eun-ji turned back to her friend. “I’m truly sorry that you got stuck at this event. I hope you’ll have at least a little bit of fun.” She said sincerely. “The food is good at least.” The Ravenclaw still preferred the homecooked ones but nonetheless, the dishes were quite luxurious and well made. A lot of effort went into each one of them for sure. “Also, if you decide to talk to the hosts just…talk to my mum?” She pointed at the correct blonde out of the three Hunt women. “I promise none of the other ones are worth your time…my mum is nice though.” She promised with a soft smile.

Mentioning: Castor Alarie @Edme Achillian
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Bolded Text: French | Regular Text: English | Color: #BF4040

Reducio

The Outfit:

It seemed like there was always a ball going on when it came to the fancy Pureblood families. Be it a holiday ball, a birthday ball, or even an heir announcement ball, as was the reason for the current ball that Florian had found himself at. Once again, it also seemed as if all his older brothers had managed to get out of the obligation of this ball and Florian was jealous. There was a difference when it came to family hosted balls versus school hosted ones, that being, to Florian at least, that the family hosted balls were much more boring. It was mostly adults wandering around, mingling, talking business with endless flutes of champagne being handed to them the entire evening. This left the children to fend for themselves, either finding friends among the families that had come, or, more often than not, causing mischief. School balls of course had their share of mischief, but at least it wasn't so adult focused.

Florian dutifully followed his parents into the large manor, wondering if there would be anyone he knew, but he wasn't especially hopeful. Another downside to this ball was that it was in England, so it was a bit more far fetched for him to immediately know some of the people there, unlike the balls he typically attended in France. That didn't mean he would let his more flamboyant style flounder, of course, as he wore a rather stylish blue jacquard suit jacket with a bow tie, and his hair slicked back with large amounts of gel. Surely he would be able to find someone to talk to while he looked this good.

After the performance, which Florian had to admit, it was quite good, his parents almost immediately ran into another set of parents. Usually this was Florian's cue to run off on his own, but his mother placed a hand firmly on his shoulder, preventing him from leaving. He looked up at her, his eyes questioning. "Ah Florian, we would love to introduce you to the Alarie's." she told him in french, smiling. "They have a daughter around your age that attends Beaxubatons... Castor, yes?" she asked the pair, waiting for a nod of confirmation from the two before continuing. Another French family had attended the ball, this was good news to Florian. Perhaps there would be more people he knew here after all. "Well they are lovely people, I'm sure you would find Castor lovely as well, Florian." What an interesting phrasing... was she trying to set him up? It was clear that the two families at least had some sort of a business relationship, did they want something more? Florian wasn't going to question that now though, he had two parents to impress.

As his mother's grip on his shoulder released, Florian stepped toward the two slightly and bowed to them, as was expected in the realm of the rich. "Bonsoir, Monsieur et Madame. Good evening, Sir and Madame. Florian LeRoy, youngest son of the LeRoys. It is truly a pleasure." He hoped it was a good impression. While he enjoyed his bouts of mischief, there was a time and a place for that. And right now, he was to be the prim and proper son that his parents expected. He didn't know their daughter, she must not be in his year, but he did somewhat recognize the family name. It was certainly apparent that their parents did some sort of business together.

His parents refocused their attention on the Alarie's, and his mother waved her hand to shoo him off so they could begin to get into the details of whatever business they had together. Still attempting to look regal, standing tall and proud, Florian made his way to the outskirts of the room, looking for someone to chat with.

Godmodding of iNPC Castor Alarie's Parents Approved by Edme Achillian

Even though just the traditional ballroom dancing wasn't a lot, it was still something and Elizaveta was glad she didn't embarrass herself with the question. Mental hobbies? In her head, she tried to figure out what these mental hobbies could be. Maybe she didn't understand what they were due to the language barrier or maybe she was just being stupid. "What are... mental hobbies?" she asked nervously. Hoping the other wouldn't judge her for her lack of knowledge, the blonde tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

When asked if she danced, it seemed like Eliza glowed up, a bright smile appearing on her face. "I do," she shared proudly. "I've had ballet class for almost 10 years!" The biggest part of her classes had been private classes as her parents could easily afford these and it also meant she wasn't hanging out with muggles during class. Eliza was fine with it, she honestly preferred the private classes over group classes anyway. The other kids always thought she was weird and sometimes even laughed at her when they thought she couldn't hear them. "Of course, I know ballroom dancing too," she added with a small smile.

In her opinion, one of the few fun things about the balls was the dancing and the conversation about it made her want to join the few people that were already dancing. Being as shy as she was, Eliza hated approaching people to ask if they wanted to dance. Besides, the lady had to be asked to dance, not the other way around. The only person she would ever ask to dance with her was her youngest brother but she knew her parents wouldn't approve of it if she gave her first dance of the night away to him. "Do you know anybody here?" she asked friendly. Being a bit more comfortable around Castor, Eliza thought she could see if Castor knew any guy at the ball and maybe convince her to go to him. Maybe she could even get Castor as far as to hint to a boy that Eliza wanted to dance and he would come over to ask her.

Lucia had never thought about how strange it was that so much of the wizarding world's legislation was bound to the laws of the Muggles. Since there were so few of them in each country - the entirety of the 11-18 wizarding population fitted in one castle, for Merlin's sake - couldn't laws and traditions just be shared throughout the world rather than being dependent on Muggles? Then again, there had to be a reason for it. Lucia was just a kid, not a politician. She had to trust that people knew what they were doing, up there at the top. "...Okay." At least @Eun-ji Lee Hunt didn't seem worried. It would all be okay, eventually. It had to be.

"Oooohhhhh." Willow appeared to take Eun-ji's wink as proof that this was a great secret. Weirdly, the Ravenclaw girl's friendly attitude seemed to be doing far more for Willow's discretion than Ebony's strict rules. When Eun-ji mentioned her practise, Willow nodded vigorously. "Lucia's been practising too! She didn't used to before she met you but now she keeps moving the table in the kitchen so she can dance in there. I don't practise though. It's boring." The penultimate sentence came with a sense of pride, as though Willow's talent was such that she was far above everyone else without even trying.
"Keeps is a bit of an exaggeration..." Lucia explained to Eun-ji, then realised that it sounded like she'd been neglecting her practise. Again. "I mean, Ebony got mad at me for moving the table so I have to use my room now." Which was also Briar's room, and not very big with the two of them in there, so there wasn't much space. Lucia made do though.

Willow turned to look at the dancers, but must have noticed some food because her eyes lit up. "I'm just gonna go-" And then she was off, weaving through the crowd before Lucia could call her back.
"Merlin's beard." Lucia just had to hope that her sister wouldn't get herself into trouble.

"It's okay, I like these! You're stuck here too, though." And Eun-ji couldn't leave. "Your mum looks nice."

Roleplaying as Castor Alarie July 23rd, 2022 Beauxbatons

French English

Castor felt quite foolish for her lacking of a better word. What were mental hobbies? Of course she had other hobbies, with flower research and her strange fondness for fashion, but her mother would kill her if she started telling the world that she was some flower-picking fashionista instead of the stony daughter of two prestigious ministry members. Castor had been given a strict set of hobbies that would seem both appealing and mundane to the outside eye, all that alongside dueling, of course.

"Oh, well, I suppose it isn't all mental, but I do dabble in documenting and career prep. That and dueling, of course, as I can't be an Alarie without it." She offered a small smile, an attempt at seeming more charming while still keeping her distance.

At the other girl's excitement, it was clear to Castor that this was a regular hobby of hers, and for whatever reason that left a pang of envy in the French girl's chest. Of course, she couldn't care less if she were doing those lessons or not, but the idea that someone could be so open about something they cared about made her feel distant and sour. She didn't let this show, though, and just nodded along to whatever the girl was saying. "Of course. I presume I'll get an example of that at some point tonight. If that is of interest to you?"

Looking around the room, it seemed people had begun stepping into their own dances, frolicking around with partners or children or siblings, as joyous as they were elegant. Obviously Castor knew how to ballroom dance, but her parents never went out of their way to teach her, and in doing so she had grown a pair of two left feet along the way. "Not particularly, unless you count my parents..." The girl finally realized that her parents had begun making conversation with a boy around her age and his family. It was strange, but it seemed the conversation had grown a topic of interest to her mother and father as the boy left and the two families began discussing something. Castor couldn't figure out what that something could be. "I suppose they've made some friends. Huh. But uh, no, not really."

WC: 290