"No, mother!" She screamed while running up the stairs to her room, “I will not marry some stranger!” The princess slammed her heavy door shut and slid down to sit against it.

 

She heard a knock and used all her strength to prevent the door from opening. "If you want to be queen of this kingdom, you are going to have to marry the Prince of Panyu." Her mother tried to keep a calm voice as she explained but the princess didn't want to hear any of it. "He will be here either tomorrow or the day after and you should be honoured that his parents accepted. He has traveled for months to reach our castle and is part of a highly prestigious family."

"Out of all the princesses out there, why me? Why can't I choose my own husband?" The princess fought back.

"Because we hired the best painter in the world for you!"

"What painte-- what?" Then she remembered the artist that barged into her room last year, asking to paint her. She specifically remembered her parents saying that they were going to hang the painting somewhere in the castle but it never appeared. "That painting was used to advertise me?" She yelled through the door, feeling even more enraged than before.

"Oh, not to advertise you, dear. Just to persuade the prince to marry you."

"Well, I never got a look at him so if he's not up to par with my standards, there's no chance I'm going to be anywhere near him." The princess crossed her arms in vain.

"There you go again, getting all superficial!" Her mother got angrier by the second. "Be happy that I found a prince for you so that you can be queen. Have you forgotten that your father is sick in bed all day and you will possibly have to rule over NaJu in a couple of months? Have you forgotten your duties?" The princess stayed silent while her mother ranted on about responsibilities. "I apologize but you are not going to be able to choose your own husband. You are a princess that is going to become a queen and take care of your people. Then you will have a child of your own who will be the successor. You have no way out of this life, Baek Na Yeon."

The princess, knowing her mother would always have the last word, heard high heels stomping away before but then the butler called from behind the door. "Miss Na Yeon, I have--"

"Go away!" She screamed and then jumped onto her bed. Behind the door, there was a scuffle of footsteps and the butler whispered something. Na Yeon groaned into her pillow. "I didn't want to be a princess anymore." She said to no one in particular. Falling asleep in that awkward position wasn't the most flattering thing she could do for my face but she couldn't fight sleep.

-

"Miss Na Yeon, it's time to get up." The princess rubbed her eyes as her lady maid pulled back the blanket. "The rest of the castle has already been busy for three hours and you're still in bed. Once your prince gets here, I won't be the one to wake you up everyday." She giggled while Na Yeon stayed sprawled out on the mattress. "How he'll wake you up is none of my concern but it'll be...unfamiliar to a princess like you."

"...Huh?" She groaned, her eyes not adjusted to the sunlight.

"Oh, nevermind." The maid ran towards the closet to get a dress for today. "How about this new one, Miss? The pale yellow is a good match for your fair skin."

"Nice flattery but I want to wear the pink one." Na Yeon pointed to a dress that wasn't nearly as elaborate as the dress that her maid held; it was just much easier to put on.

"But don't you want to look beautiful?"

"Hyo Joo," The princess shot her stout maid a glare. "Are you saying I'm not?"

 Hyo Joo was used to her mistress's confidence but still stumbled out of nervousness. "I'm not saying that at all! Just...try this one on for today? I'm sure you'll feel much prettier than in that pink dress."

The queen came in just as Na Yeon was about to complain some more. "Dear, put on the yellow dress. We don't know when your prince will be here but when he does arrive, you have to be ready."

"If he doesn't accept my clothes for lazy days, then he will never really love me. He should see me for who I am," the princess snorted. A female servant peeked in through the door and Na Yeon glared at her for barging in. The lanky girl servant quickly apologized and then closed the door.

"That's not true." Hyo Joo said softly wringing her wrinkled hands.

"No, I'm serious! He should be marrying somebody he loves--"

"Stop spilling nonsense, Baek Na Yeon." Na Yeon's mother shook the girl's shoulders. "Is the insomnia getting to you again?"

Na Yeon pushed her mother's hands off her shoulder. "What nonsense, mother? Do you not believe in love?"

"Of course I believe in love but your royal duties come first."

 

The princess stomped around her room like a spoiled child. "If he and I are both heartbroken, how can we possibly accomplish 'royal duties'?" She air-quoted.

Suddenly, there was a loud and heavy knock on the front door of the castle and the queen gasped. "That could be him! Maid, get Na Yeon in her dress right now. You have twenty minutes to do her hair and makeup. Quickly!" The queen urged the maid to hurry up as she panicked about the prince being by the door right now. "I'll get the chef to stall the prince with his cookies. Go!"

In a matter of minutes, Na Yeon was in that complicated yellow dress with makeup and hair all done. Hyo Joo wasn't her maid for nothing. "Miss Na Yeon, I'm sure you'll be delighted to meet your new husband."

"Don't call him that until we're married," the snappy princess snarled.

"Then fiancé."

Na Yeon gritted her teeth. "We're not yet engaged."

"Really?" The old maid actually sounded surprised as she worked on her mistress's long brown hair.

"We haven't even met each other!"

Just then, the queen came in again and looked exhausted. "Nobody was at the door. He either disappeared or it was just a peasant playing tricks on us. I looked around the whole castle but there was nobody."

"Oh, what a shame, Madam." The maid ushered Na Yeon's mother out, comforting her in the process. "Would you like a cup of tea?" She asked as they exited and finally left Na Yeon alone.

 

She frowned as she looked out the window. It was such a bright and sunny day and it had to be ruined by the Prince of Panyu. He could be the most handsome guy but if he's some , Na Yeon was not going one step near him. I'm the one who's going to be ordering him around. I have control of the castle. Even if he becomes the king of my land, it is still my land and he'd better let me do what I want with it.

If he doesn't obey me...oh boy, he's gonna face some consequences. The princess almost pulled her hairpins out at the thought of some immature prince ruining her life.

The door squeaked and Na Yeon glared at whoever was at the other side. It was the same girl servant who peeked in earlier. "What do you want?" The princess growled. If the servant noticed the princess's bad mood, she didn't show it.

The servant looked older than the princess but Na Yeon was definitely much taller. "I'm here to collect your bed sheets, Madam."

"You know, calling me madam makes me sound old," Na Yeon informed the servant while letting her take the sheets. The servant blinked a few times, confused. "You either call me Miss or Na Yeon."

"Yes, Miss." She squeaked.

Na Yeon rolled my eyes at the servant's petty attempt to pick up all the bunched up fabric and the second she got out of the room, Na Yeon stood up to shut the door. Just as she was about to lock up the huge wooden door, somebody knocked on it. "Miss Na Yeon, please open the door." The butler said.

"What now, Mr. Kang?" Na Yeon sighed as she opened the door for him. All she wanted to do was to be left alone in her room before that prince came along and took away the freedom. But behind the butler was another man. Na Yeon watched as he helped that girl servant while she stumbled around with the bed sheets obstructing her view.

Mr. Kang ushered the man into the room without Na Yeon's permission and she scowled. "Miss Na Yeon, I present to you--"

This was the Prince of Panyu? This guy was covered in rags. How poor was the land of Panyu, for goodness sake! "You're the prince?" She pointed a deadly finger at the man. He looked like he'd trudged through the Amazon Forest and then the Gobi Desert. The only thing near prince-worthy were his teeth. "You're the man I'm supposed to marry? You're the man my parents are handing down the land to?" Na Yeon got louder with each question. How could a prince look like this? NaJu's royal family wasn't the richest  but at least they had the proper means of transportation to cross vast expanses of land.

What were her parents thinking? Well, obviously, they weren't thinking because this guy was nowhere near any kingdom's standards. The whole kingdom of NaJu was bound to revolt against Na Yeon because of this future king that looked like a slave! Even the peasants are at a higher status than slaves. The commoners are going to think that they can have power in their kingdom. Great. Then the queen's going to blame the downfall of the kingdom on the princess.

"Miss, I think--"

"You think I'm supposed to marry some guy covered in dirt?" Na Yeon barked at her butler. "Not even the poorest peasant living in the deepest of caves would come dressed like this to meet their future wife!"

Mr. Kang sighed in frustration. "Miss, if you would just--"

Na Yeon scoffed. "Give this guy a chance? Why should I let somebody like him any sort of chance to rule over my kingdom?"

"But--"

All of a sudden, Na Yeon's mother burst into the room. "I hear shouting, what's wron-- Oh goodness, what is that smel-- Is this..." She was pointing at the prince (prince, my . Na Yeon thought. He blends in perfectly with the rest of the slaves in the dungeons downstairs) and the princess nodded. "The Prince of Panyu has arrived? Oh my, what an honour to meet you! It must've been a long and harsh journey to get here. After an introduction, don't mind asking a servant to prepare a bath for you." Then she looked at Na Yeon. "Or you can ask your future wife to do it." The queen wiggled her thin eyebrows.

"Mom!"

Her mother giggled like a little girl. "C'mon, Mr. Kang, let's leave this kids to themselves." Na Yeon gawked at her mother's comments as the butler was pulled out of the room against his will.

 

But like any princess raised in a royal family, Na Yeon had the strength to squeeze out her tiny morsel of manners in order to interact with the prince.

"So what's your name?" She asked even though she didn't care.

"He--" Mr. Kang put out one last word before the queen silenced him with a shush.

The prince didn't respond, though. He just looked at Na Yeon with amusement on his lips.

The snooty princess crossed her arms. "What? Are you mute, too?"

He shook his head and crossed his filthy arms. "No."

"Then answer my question."

"I just did." He smirked.

Na Yeon furrowed her eyebrows at his smartass response. She didn't like smartasses. "So your name is no?"

"No."

Okay, this is just gonna go around in circles. "Whatever. Get out." She pointed at the door.

"What?"

"Deaf, too? I said get out." Na Yeon turned the doorknob and opened the heavy door in one swift move. "Why are you still here?"

Outside was that girl servant again. "Forgive me, Miss! I was just--"

"Eavesdropping?" Na Yeon stared down at her. "You’re lucky I don’t waste my energy on people like you."

"By the way, my name is Kris." Na Yeon turned around and saw the prince brushing past her towards the girl servant. "Would you mind showing me where the bathroom is?" He asked her in a totally different tone. Na Yeon's mouth dropped. Was he flirting with a servant?

Before she could utter another word, the two walked away like a pair of grimy lovebirds. There was a retching feeling in Na Yeon's stomach after seeing how disgusting the couple looked.

 

---

 

...i hope you guys feel the same way about Na Yeon as I do......... ( :

school starts in three days T_T forever tears.