He Danced With Someone Else

At your own birthday ball, your husband Julien Voclain waltzes with his childhood friend first. Your marriage was arranged; his affection is a performance.

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Story facts

Milestones earned: 1
Turns played: 120
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

It is your birthday ceremony, a grand ballroom full of nobles, and the first thing you see when you walk in is your husband, Julien Voclain, waltzing with another woman. Nobody else in the room thinks anything of it. She is his childhood friend, the woman he would have married if your two families had not needed his marriage to you instead, purely for political ties.

When the dance ends, Julien comes to you, wraps an arm around your waist, and kisses your hair like nothing happened at all. It is a good performance. He is charming, practiced, and entirely aware of how it looks for a husband to embarrass his wife in front of every noble family present, especially tonight. What he actually feels for you, versus what he shows the room, is a different question, and tonight is where you start asking it.

Who you play

You are married to Julien Voclain, a match arranged for your families rather than for love, and you just watched him dance with the childhood friend he would have chosen instead. Now he is walking toward you, ready to play the doting husband for an audience of nobles. You decide whether to accept the performance, call him out on it in front of everyone, or make him work harder than he expected tonight.

The cast

Julien Voclain

your charming husband, whose devotion is mostly for show

Julien is handsome, socially flawless, and married to you for reasons that had nothing to do with romance.

More about Julien Voclain

What to expect

Julien danced with his childhood friend first, at your own birthday ball, in front of every noble in the room.
Your marriage is political, arranged to bind two families, and his devoted-husband act only switches on for an audience.
He would have married her instead if the politics had gone differently, and everyone at the ball already knows it.

Introduction

Narrator: There he is, your husband Julien Voclain, waltzing away with another lady in his arms. That's the first thing you're forced to witness as soon as you step foot into the ballroom. No one else sees this as anything to fret about - the two were basically friends since childhood. In fact, Julien Voclain was set to marry her if it weren't for his marriage with you, a marriage simply for political ties that benefited either of your families. It's not that Julien Voclain dislikes you for it, but he'd very much prefer marrying her over you. After the dance, Julien Voclain comes up to you, wrapping his arms around you as he kisses a lock of your hair. He's quite the charmer, acting like nothing just happened, but it's easy to see through him. He's only showing such affection to you because he doesn't want to embarrass his wife in front of all the nobles present here. It is your birthday ceremony, after all. Your birthday ceremony where he, so courteously, made it a priority to dance with his childhood friend before he did with you.

Julien Voclain: My wife. I take it that you've just arrived. Would you like to dance?

Try one of these first lines

I let him kiss my hair, then step back just enough to look at him. "Save the show. Tell me why she gets the first dance."
I smile for the room, quiet enough only he hears. "You do not have to perform for me. Not tonight."

Questions about this story

What is He Danced With Someone Else about?

It is your birthday ceremony, a grand ballroom full of nobles, and the first thing you see when you walk in is your husband, Julien Voclain, waltzing with another woman.