Na Yeon closed the door and sat on her bed. The lovebirds can have a little fling in one of the bathtubs around the castle as long as they get cleaned up and didn't leave a mess in there. Then that servant girl can leave her life as a servant and become a disgraced princess back at that Panyu place. She'd probably be able to fit in, even with her shabby appearance. The Chinese probably liked grimy faces.

"Na Yeon, why aren't you with your fiancé?" Her mom popped her head in. Why couldn't people just leave the princess alone?

"He has a servant to show him around." Na Yeon said while swinging her feet around.

 

Her mother screamed, causing Na Yeon to flinch. The queen started pacing around and mumbling things like, "this isn't how I planned" and "what do I do now?"

 

Na Yeon fell back onto her bed and pressed a pillow to her face, trying to block out her mother's marching sounds. All this pestering was getting annoying.

 

Another shriek escaped from the queen. "Na Yeon! Your hair will be ruined and-- look! You're smearing your makeup!" Her mother pulled her out of bed and into the corridor. "Where is he?"

 

Na Yeon shrugged. "He went with a girl."

 

"A girl?!" The queen was losing her mind. The prince (his name's Kris, right?) was probably having a blast with that girl and if Na Yeon had been left alone since this morning, she'd be pretty happy, too. See, happy endings do exist. The only problem is the intruding mother.

 

The unwilling princess got pulled around the castle, even down to the dungeon where it smelled like a stink bomb had gone off. Her mother tried all the doors on every floor and the pair finally came to one that was locked. It was the bathroom that was two doors down from Na Yeon's own room.

 

She leaned against the wall and waited for the door to unlock. Her mother shot her with a quick glare for messing up the perfectly-coiffed hair but Na Yeon wasn't paying attention. There were voices behind that door...a man and a woman.

 

Ooh, was there a scandal getting ready to brew?

 

"Why is this door locked?" The queen was getting irritated. If Kris wasn't behind that door, she would send out all her knights to look for him.

 

There was silence for a few minutes. The two hushed voices behind the wall dimmed and Na Yeon smiled sadistically. She leaned closer to the door, hoping to be the first to witness two new workers to get caught in a scandal.

 

"I'm...taking a bath." Kris called out from inside the bathroom.

 

Na Yeon recognized the look on my mother's face and, by instinct, ran away. Or at least tried to run away. Her mother didn't know there was another girl behind that door and she was ready to push Na Yeon in there.

 

The queen's foot stamped down on the train of Na Yeon's dress and Na Yeon was under her mother's mischievous eyes again. "Na Yeon. You know what to do."

 

"Mom!" Na Yeon hissed. "There's no way I'm going in there. He's already--"

 

"This is the last time I'm going to try and reason with you, darling."

 

"But there's--"

 

"Look, if you don't accept him as your husband, there will be some major consequences."

 

"Like what?" The princess asked with a harsh tone. There was nothing that the queen could do to get Na Yeon near that guy.

 

"Your books." Na Yeon's eyes widened. How did the queen know?

 

"What books?" The princess choked out after had gone dry.

 

"Don't play dumb with me, Baek Na Yeon." The queen knocked on the door and asked Kris to open the door in her sweetest voice. Then she turned back to the princess. "I know you don't like the horses that much. All those books that you hide in the stable will be nonexistent if you don't follow my rules."

 

"I don't know what your talking about." Na Yeon couldn't let her mother know that she was winning. Those books needed to stay a secret.

 

"Even if you don't, I'm still going to burn those books if you don't act lovingly towards the prince." The door opened and the queen's face softened.

 

Na Yeon stared at the ground. How did her mother know about the books? They were the princess's getaway from the wary life of royalty. In those books were her Prince Charmings. Those books were the only hope she had of finding her own Prince Charming.

 

"Yes?" Kris poked his head out and...he was still as grungy as ever. Did baths not work on him because he was so filthy?

 

"Weren't you in there taking a bath?" The queen was thinking the same thing.

 

"Ahh, I-I was just wondering who to ask for the water." Kris grinned sheepishly.

Na Yeon narrowed her eyes. Didn't he have that servant girl with him? She was just about to interject when her mother clapped.

"No problem! I'll send my men up with loads of the finest water in the nation. You can see for yourself if it's as good as the Chinese water in Panyu." The queen yelled for the footmen and they hurried up the stairs with their buckets of hot water. However, before they could push into the washroom, Kris interrupted.

"Actually, I'd like...umm...my future wife to help me in my bath." He nodded enthusiastically while Na Yeon looked on in shock. "Yes, it's quite traditional in China. You see, this ceremony of the couple's first bath shows the compassion of the wife for her husband."

The queen was nearly jumping from wall to wall. "Oh, what a scandalous but fantastic ritual! Men, please leave these buckets by the door. Na Yeon will bring them in." With that, the queen and her men walked away, leaving Na Yeon to stare wide-eyed at her sheepish prince.

"You made that up, didn't you?" Na Yeon asked when the queen was gone. The princess refused to believe that the ruling country of the Orient had such disgraceful traditions.

Kris nodded. "Yes but I had to--"

Suddenly, a loud gasp came from inside the washroom and a drenched figure rose from the tub. Na Yeon nearly screamed in horror at the figure behind the prince but he pulled her in and clamped his hand over before she could utter a sound.

This was not right. There was a demon in the bathtub. A , faceless demon with her thick head of hair covering her visage. She lifelessly rose from the water, scaring the wits out of the princess.

Na Yeon would've bolted if it weren't for the prince holding her back. If he even was a prince. This monster was holding her to be fed to the demon. This wasn't how a Prince Charming was supposed to act. They saved princesses from demons, not prepare the princess to be the demon's main course.

Na Yeon struggled and squirmed under Kris's hold. She scratched his arms but they wouldn't relent. She was going into a demon's stomach in a few seconds but she wasn't ready to give up easily.

"Please, calm down," Kris hissed with his deep voice. "I'll let you go if you promise not to scream."

Na Yeon took a deep breath. If she could trick the prince into thinking that she was calm, he'd let her go and she'd be able to escape and alert the guards.

"Okay?" Kris loosened his grip but didn't entirely let her go.

Just when Na Yeon was ready to break for the door, the demon parted her hair and bowed. "I'm so sorry, Miss. I didn't mean for this to happen."

Now Na Yeon was ready to scream for a different reason but Kris silenced her again with his hand. Na Yeon was getting tired of this form of restraint.

"Jie jie, get dressed and change the water for us. I'll explain everything to the princess." Kris pulled Na Yeon to a corner away from the servant, probably knowing that the princess was ready to get violent towards the girl changing the water.

Once the tub was filled with clean, steaming water, the girl servant left Kris and Na Yeon in the bathroom.

"Could you please just take a bath already before I pass out from your stench?" Na Yeon said when Kris finally let go of her. She was sitting against the wall with Kris crouching in front of her, making sure she didn't run after the girl servant.

Kris furrowed his eyebrows, confused. "Are you crying? Finding a servant in your tub isn't that scary, is it?"

Na Yeon hurriedly wiped her eyes. "Actually, it is pretty frightening but that's not the reason why I'm crying. You stink so much, you're making my eyes water." Kris nodded in understanding and stood up, heading for the tub.

"I hope you don't punish her too severely." He said as he lifted his shirt over his head. Na Yeon's eyes widened again and she couldn't help but stare. Sitting on Kris's back were deep scars that looked infected. This couldn't be her prince. No prince with true blue blood would have those kinds of scars running down his back.

Na Yeon was just about to question him about his past before she noticed his hands resting on his waistband. She turned away quickly and shielded her eyes. "If you give me a satisfactory explanation, I'll only give that girl a small penalty."

Instead of answering, Kris tore off his rags and sank into the tub of warm water. He sighed as he felt the water soothe his rough skin, reminding him of the easy childhood he had. "First of all, I--"

"Oh, and I don't care about what you and that girl servant do. Just don't interact in public and don't get her pregnant. We don't want any rumours spreading around about your infidelity."

Kris scoffed. "I'm not like that and neither is she."

Na Yeon crossed her arms but didn't turn around to face the prince. "How would you know? You followed her pretty willingly. And you've only known her for a few minutes, how do you know what she's like?" Na Yeon scoffed, mocking the prince. "You even have a pet name for her."

Kris paused in his cleansing as he tried to remember whatever pet name he had given. "I do?"

"Yes. Something Chinese like...jie jie or something."

Kris went back to his washing, scrubbing away the grime to reveal much fairer skin. "That's just Chinese for noona or unnie."

Na Yeon scratched her head. "How could you call a person you've barely met something so personal?"

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Mr. Kang's voice rang from outside. "Milord, your garments."

"Bring them in," Kris addressed with a calm voice even though he was still in the tub.

Mr. Kang shuffled in and took in the situation. The princess was cowering in a corner with her soiled dress and the prince, who wasn't actually a prince, was lounging in the tub. But the butler was trained not to act surprised in strange situations.

As he set the prince's fine clothes on the counter, Mr. Kang turned to the princess. "Your father wishes to see you, milady."

Na Yeon didn't hesitate to rush out of the bathroom, gathering her flouncing skirt under her. Kris couldn't help but wish for her to stay. It was amusing to see her agitate herself with her absurd conclusions. He would need to teach her some patience.

"Kris, you are going to be in a world of trouble if you continue to put up with this charade." Mr. Kang scolded after locking the door. "I recruited you for your military skill to keep the princess safe. I don't know anything about your ability to be a prince." Mr. Kang his mustache as he paced around the small room.

"But doesn't every princess simply want a Prince Charming?" Kris reluctantly pushed himself out of the water and toweled himself dry. "And isn't a Prince Charming's job simply to slay the dragon?" After getting dressed, Kris styled his hair and smirked at the butler. "I think I'm quite able to do that."

Mr. Kang brought a hand to his forehead. "Yes, but you'll surely be hanged if you don't get yourself out of this mess right this instant."

Kris shrugged. "It's not like I have much to live for." He headed for the door, making sure he looked immaculate before opening it. "Might as well live this life of luxury while I can."

"Just don't hurt yourself." Mr. Kang quietly advised as Kris walked out, getting bombarded by the change in temperature. Letting out a sigh and following the prince, Mr. Kang added, "don't hurt the princess, either."

 

---

 

okkkk starting this right before school started wasn't a very good idea but i got this, you guys. i got thisssss.