𝐴 𝑇𝑖𝑝𝑠𝑦 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒...~

Palais, Doux Palais...

"Ugh... That was terrible.."

Furina sighed, once again another boring court trial.
She stood up, wanting to go home and curl up into a ball and wait for the hangover to go away...
Why must alcohol taste so good, but have so much consequence?

Furina shakily stood up, once the audience all left, she slowly walked to where the others would be waiting for her at the aquabus.
Furina sat down with Neuvillette, Clorinde followed and sat down beside her, other figures of importance sat on the other side.
The Melusine at the front started the Aquabus, it was soon enough drifting down the water road back towards the Court of Fontaine.

During the ride, Neuvillette noticed that Furina seemed... Off.
Her face was just neutral, with no sign of excitement and her usual flamboyantness. She was slouched over and looked very fatigued.

"Furina, are you feeling well?"
Neuvillette asked, his voice filled with concern but also suspicion.

Crap.

Furina stammered as she panicked, she couldn't let him know she had a hangover from the stolen alcohol!

"I-I'm fine.." she lied, "just feeling a little under the weather.. nothing to worry about, don't worry!"

She smiled, Neuvillette looked suspicious but nodded and returned his gaze to the view below.

Phew, crisis averted... Barely.

Eventually, the aquabus reached its destination, and the people on it all got off. Some of them left to return to other business, and the rest approached the Palais Mermonia.

Finally, she was back! As soon as she stepped inside, she darted up to her room.
She slammed the door open and leapt onto her bed, slipping under the warm covers and sheltering away from the light. The soft duvet and pillows were perfect...
Furina smiled to herself, maybe today wasn't the worst.
She managed to fall asleep and napped for about 4 hours...

She soon stirred to the sound of knocking on her chamber door...
"Mm.. Yes? Come in.. yawn"
The door opened and a woman walked in, she gave a light smile.

"Lady Furina, I'm here as a quick reminder for tomorrow. It's best to prepare early for such an event as a masquerade ball..."

Furina's eyes widened,
"Oh yeah, I'll be prepared don't worry!" She grinned. She's always loved the fun of those parties.
The food, the atmosphere, and.. and...
Wait, didn't she run into Miss Arlecchino earlier? And bring up the topic of the ball...
Well, it's not like she would actually show up, would she? With Furina's luck, everyone else she could possibly think of would show, just not her. She looked important, anyway, probably doing some business here and there. Who even was this Miss Arlecchino? Furina thought of what type of job would possibly require such a handsome devil...
Furina blushed. if only she worked at the palace.

Furina also appears to have a thing for women in suits.

She sighed, waving her hand to try to cool her red face as her gaze went back to the woman at the door.

"Well, I'll find a good outfit soon enough, you can leave"
The woman nodded and left as soon as instructed.

Furina made sure the door clicked shut, before smiling to herself.
"Well, time for a little preparation!"
She hopped out of her covers and strode towards her wardrobe.

She swung the two wooden doors open and peeked at what was inside...

Her usual blue suits, blue shirts, various different shades of blue items, more blue...
She likes the colour blue, alright?

"Ugh... This is hopele- huh..?"

Furina noticed a neat box on the floor under her wardrobe. Why was it here? She never got a gift of any sorts... Maybe she just forgot about it. She pulled it out and put it on her mattress, opening it to see what was inside....

"A... Dress?"
She thought for a moment, how convenient! She'll try it on tomorrow once she has the time.

"Hm... This will certainly do!"

But for now?..

She wanted to sleep