“Magnolia, please…” You started but the only thing that earned you was an amused look from the prince who was sitting on your very sober couch. It was very weird to see him inside of your house, which was only small and which looked nothing like that castle he had been living in for his entire life. Even though you knew he had seen it before you were still feeling very strange, not only had you expected that you would never be here again, you also had never expected him to ever meet your family in person. To be honest it was a dream coming true, your two worlds had collided and at this moment you felt like the happiest person alive. A feeling of pure rest and peace had fallen down on top of you, it was almost as if all the worry and stress that had been bottling up inside of you during all this time you had been separated from your family was finally fading away. The house was just like you remembered it, but your sisters and your father seemed to be completely different people. The last time you had seen them you had been scared that they wouldn’t have been able to survive one more day but now they looked well fed, they were wearing comfortable clothes and they looked healthy and taken care of. You knew you had Baekhyun to thank for that and there were no words you knew that would be able to describe the gratitude you felt towards him as this moment. Knowing that your pleads wouldn’t stop her you leaned back against the wall and crossed your arms over your chest while looking down on your little sister. Her hair had grown since the last time you had seen her, she was the only one who had your mother’s hair color and the blond and wavy curls that fell down her small shoulders astonished you. 

Slowly your eyes darted around the small living room and even though its beauty was nothing compared to the palace you had been living in for the past couple of months, it still had something that no other home would ever be able to give you. In this house you had spend the most memorable moments of your life, you had grown up here, over here you had become the person you were today. If you hadn’t had the life you had had before then who knew what kind of person you had become? Even though your life hadn’t been easy and you had been through hell, you were grateful for all the moments you had spend here. And while standing here in the middle of this small house it seemed as if all those memories were there for the taken. You could imagine yourself running around through this room as a little girl or see yourself sitting on your father’s lap. Those were things that no other place would ever be able to give to you and it felt amazing to be back. Autumn was gazing at you out of the doorway from the kitchen, she was fifteen now and that made her the second oldest daughter of the family. Normally that would have been Rose, the one who had been born after you, the sister you had been the closest with. Her appearance was something you missed in between these walls, and the feeling of missing her seemed to grow as you looked at your other four sisters. Once there had been six of you, now there were only four left because after all you were also gone. One part of you still felt guilty for leaving them, for never trying to escape from this magical land that had captured you and you hadn’t fought to join your family again. But you knew that you never would have had the happiness you had today if you would have run away. Because no matter how much you loved your family, your heart was beating for the man who was watching your baby pictures on the couch beside your sister. 

Sometimes you wondered if your father ever felt disadvantaged because he was the only male in a house filled with girls. You knew that he would have wanted a son but that he loved all his children out of the bottom of his heart. “Hazel!” Your father’s strong voice resounded through the house and everyone looked up in order to see your youngest sister rush through the hallway, her hands and feet covered in mud with which she left brown spots on the carpets. She had always been the one to cause drama around the place and to make sure that your father could stay occupied. You felt sorry for the man who would ever have to marry her because she would be a tuff one to tame. That left you with the second youngest one, Jasmine, who was rather silent and calm. Something about her personality had always made you feel jealous, you wished that you were able to be as serene as her. If you didn’t know the six of you then you would say that there was something seriously wrong with this family, but the truth was that you fitted together amazingly and that you had always formed a great team. It felt so nice to see them and to finally know for sure that your absence hadn’t caused their destruction. Now the feeling of guilt could finally slide off of your shoulders, from now on you would finally be able to let it go. You hadn’t known what to expect from Baekhyun’s surprise for you, but this was the last thing you had expected. He couldn’t have given you anything more precious than this and it proved to you once more that he was the perfect man for you. He knew exactly what you needed and how to make you happy and while your look released your sister you couldn’t help but stare at him. It almost seemed as if he felt at home here, just by the way he was sitting there on that couch while leaning his chin inside of his hand and while talking to your sister as if it was the most normal thing in the world. It seemed like your sister liked him because she was using her hands while explaining something to him, a smile was plastered over her small face. You were glad that your child pictures seemed to be forgotten, because the thought that he had seen your small when you had been a kid embarrassed you to death. 

As if he could feel that you were staring at him his eyes turned from the girl in front of them to you and the corners of his lips curled up into a soft smile. Did he have any idea what this meant to you and what this was doing to you? While your gazes locked together it seemed as if the world shrank until it only consisted of the two of you. The voices of your family members seemed to fade into the background as you listened to the sound of your own heart beat. At this moment you wished that you could walk over to him and lock yourself inside of his arms, just to show him how thankful you were to him. “___________, can I talk to you for a moment?” Your father was looking at you from the other side of the room and unwillingly you pulled your eyes away from the prince before looking up at him. He had that expression on his face, the one that told you that he was about to act like a father and lecture you. Even though you hadn’t seen him in some time he was still an open book to you. No one was saying it out loud but you could tell that your father was worried about you, just by the way he was looking at you. Who wouldn’t be, you had disappeared for months and now that you finally showed up again you were engaged to a man he had never seen before and he didn’t know. There was no way you would ever be able to tell him what was going on inside of your life and who Baekhyun was, but that he knew that you were in good hands was a start. Though he would never admit it and he would never say it when your sisters were around you both knew that you were his favorite child, you were his first born, the one that reminded him of his wife, the one that had taken care of his family when he had been unable to do so. You still remembered how devastated you had been when you had been taken and you had believed that your dad had never looked for you, that your family had just moved on without you. But technically you had done the exact same thing, you had started a new life, one where your family no longer fitted in. 

A knife always cut two sides, and you were feeling both cuts that this blade had created. “Sure.” You muttered before pushing yourself off of the wall and heading towards the door. When you turned your head to look over your shoulder you could see the prince staring at you with a thoughtful look on his face. He never liked to leave you alone, not even with your own father. Though, he was probably right, he couldn’t trust his own father so why should you trust yours? Everything and everyone could be a threat, but you weren’t in the mood to become suspicious about everything at the moment. A few people stopped walking as you stepped outside, they recognized you from the girl you had been before, but actually you looked nothing like her anymore. You were much fuller, taken care of and you could see a few girls gaping at your complicated hairstyle as they passed you by. Amity would be thrilled to hear that she had caused people to look at you like that just by the simple braids she had softly pinned down on top of your head. You could hear your father close the door behind you, as if he didn’t want anyone to be able to listen to your private conversation. For a while the two of you just stood beside each other and you stared into space, though you knew that you weren’t going to be the first person who would speak up. “That man, are you sure you want to marry him?” With your eyebrows lifted in awe you turned to face him and you were sure that he could sense your change in posture and position. Little did he know that you had been trained to become a queen one day, he just thought you had met a guy and that you had run away with him. If there was one thing you had learned by now it was that you weren’t going to let anyone take from you what you wanted and that you wouldn’t go down without a fight. Your father could dislike Baekhyun all he wanted, but he wasn’t going to win, not this time. You had always looked up to your dad, he had always been your role model but it seemed like this times your opinions were different. 

“Yes dad, I’m really sure. I wouldn’t want to marry anyone else. Why do you ask me that?” You tried to sound as innocent as possible but you were sure he could hear the tiny glint of irritation inside of your voice by his question. When you had still lived here you had wanted to marry a man who could give you the chance to a good life. It