Finally, it was time to go. Ella put on her golden slippers and the magical hair comb before, once again, Jacquelyn teleported her.

Ella's arrival to the ball was exactly the same as before, if not a little more difficult as her dress was tighter on the legs. 

The hall was decorated the same, tables in the same places, carpets, banners, servants, everything was as the night before; probably for the sake of convenience.

The air was crisp but as dancing ensued the heat from the guests at the ball warmed the hall. 

As Ella loitered on the side of the festivities she heard footsteps approaching her. She turned her head and beheld none other then her eldest stepsister, Veronica.

Ella paled and said "I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-"

"Pardon?" Veronica asked. "Didn't mean to do what?"

It suddenly clicked in Ella's mind why her stepsister was not telling her to 'return home at once': the comb was doing it's magic. "It's nothing, I apologize." Veronica gave Ella a strange look and walked away.

"Thank whatever deities that are watching over me" Ella muttered. She jumped a second later when there was a tap on her shoulder.

"Would you care to dance?" A man asked, his hand stretched out to her and his moppy blonde hair styled back this time. It was the same face Ella had danced with the night before and she readily offered him her hand.

"I would be honored." She said as she followed him onto the floor. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name before." She said after a moment's consideration.

The man laughed, "they call me Casper." He said as he placed his hand on her back.

"I swear it, that names sounds so familiar." Ella said. "Was there a time we met before the king's festival?" Her hand went to his shoulder.

"I doubt I would forget a face beautiful as yours." Casper said with a shy smile. 

Ella felt her face heat up and she looked away from him. "Nor I one as yours."

"Why am I getting flustered?" Ella thought. "If I were to marry him we would need to have sex. I don't want that." But as she looked back at Casper's face she couldn't imagine him forcing her to do anything. He seemed too innocent to do the deed, anyway.

Casper let out a giggle and Ella's attention was brought back to the real world. "What do you find so amusing?" She asked.

The man startled and his face got reddish. "Ah, it's nothing." He said.

"No, no. Tell me!" Ella laughed. "I want to know."

With a quiet voice Casper said, "fine, okay. There is a woman over there and her dress barely covers her chest and sometimes when she moves she flashes people."

"So you were looking at her breasts?" Ella asked with an eyebrow raised. 

Casper's face went even redder and he said, "no! Of course not! I merely thought she looked comical trying to fix her dress every twenty seconds. I'm not a pervert!"

Ella smiled, "no. You don't seem the type. Far too lovable to be a pervert." Her face went even more red then Casper's in that moment and she once again looked away. "I mean, you come across as lovable, not that I specifically fine you lovable."

Casper's face, also got incredibly red and with a quiet voice he said "thank you."

The two continued their dance in comfortable silence for the rest of the song, neither felt as if they needed to fill the quiet void with small talk so they instead enjoyed one another's presence.

The song ended and the Casper bowed to her. "It was a pleasure dancing with you. I hope you'll allow me another waltz while he night is yet young."

"Of course, I would love that." Ella responded with a curtsy. 

An older woman approached Casper and began to introduce her daughter whom wore a low neckline and a tight dress. Ella too have some curves showing but not nearly as much as this girl, said girl was very fine by the way.

Casper shot a look at Ella saying "don't you dare leave me alone."

Ella grinned and gave him a  double thumbs up before she turned towards the refreshment table. She looked only once over her shoulder and saw Casper had been dragged into dancing with the woman's daughter. Ella felt a strange feeling in her chest but she pushed it aside and continued to the scrumptious display of eatables.

"Mm. Créme puffs." Ella muttered when she saw the selection of desserts. She took hold of the serving utensil and place one of the creamy delights on her open palm. She placed it on her tongue and it seemed to melt in her mouth. It was the best dessert Ella had tried in a while.

Ella loitered around the table for a while before Casper found her, he stood there out of breath and sweating. "Goodness! Casper! Are you quite alright?" Ella asked.

"Yes.. just give me.. a moment to.." he got out between breaths. "Get.. my.. bearings.." 

Seeing that he needed help, Ella guided him to a cushioned chair and retrieved a goblet of juice for him. Casper readily accepted her help which was surprising on it's own, most men she had met refuse even the smallest bit of help from a woman.

"Thank you." Casper said with a weak smile when he had caught him breath. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem." Ella responded with her own smile. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Just a bit of rest, I think." He said. 

Ella wanted to ask him about what had made him so tired but she refrained from doing so as he was still trying to recover. What if it was traumatic? Could something traumatic even happen at a place like this? Luckily, he guessed what she was thinking.

"Nothing bad happened, if that's what you're imagining." Casper said. "The last dance was just a fast one and my partner was slow so I had to carry her for most of it.

With a wince, Ella said "I pity you." He nodded. She glanced at the giant clock in the corner and said, "shoot."

"What is it?" Casper asked.

"I need to leave in fifteen minutes." She said sadly.

"Oh."

...

"Would you care for another dance before then?" Casper asked.

"I would love that."