I rushed back to the party. My feet felt like they were about to give in and cause me to topple over at any moment. Woohyun had already returned to his brothers, all of which started talking to different princesses from an array of backgrounds and ethnicities. The girls were truly beautiful in every way. They were incomparable in every way.

"Where did you go?" Damien appeared by my side.

"I ran off into the maze as soon as seven pairs of eyes on me; I was uncomfortable in every way."

"But I saw Prince Woohyun go after you," he sounded worried.

"Yeah, he did find me."

"Did he do something to you?" his tone seemed as though he was angry. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I assured him. "Nothing happened; he just asked who I was and stuff."

"That's all?"

"Yes, that's all. Why are you getting so rattled by this?"

"I'm not rattled," he patted himself down. He stopped looking at me at this point, I guess to hide his face from me. "I'm just worried for you okay."

"No need to be worried about me, alright? I assure you I can handle them myself."

"Those boys are not people you want to be around, Soph. They are not who they seem to be in any way," he warned me. "I've been around them enough to know this."

"What do you mean Damien? What do you know?"

He coughed as his eyes trailed off into the groups. I followed his eyes to see he was looking at the boys. It was as if he couldn't talk. "Nothing," he finally spoke. "Nothing. Don't mind me. Just... just be careful, okay? The last thing I want is for you to be thrown around like a doll by any of them."

His words... his words were so harsh, so severe. It was unlike him in every way to say those things. What does he know that I don't? What does he mean by me being like a doll? This palace must have a lot more secrets than I could ever imagine.

What are they hiding and how is Damien involved?

As if on cue to distract my thoughts, they pulled out the cake. It looked even more beautiful now that it was exposed to the light and fresh air. Everyone's eyes glittered as soon as they saw it. It looked even more breathtaking than it did when I was in the kitchen.

"Time for cake!" the King yelled as numerous staff members began cutting and handing out the cake to everyone.

I heard a lot of happy murmurs and sighs in the crowd. Hoya called for Damien, so he had disappeared from my side. I didn't feel like talking to him for the rest of the event after what had happened. I shook the thought out of my head and asked for a piece of the cake. Mrs. Moon personally delivered the cake to me with a big smile.

"You are incredibly popular here," she grinned. "It's probably because of that gorgeous dress you're wearing. I wonder where you got it."

I took a small bite and felt like I was transported into heaven. It was even more delicious than I had expected. "I do not like all the attention though; I feel like a thousand pair of eyes is staring at me at all times."

"Trust me dear, you are garnering positive attention. Especially from the boys."

"When you mean boys.... you mean...?"

"Oh you know, princes—not just your typical ones, ones from here to every land around! Princesses are nothing compared to you in their eyes."

I started laughing. "Good joke Mrs. Moon."

"Sweetheart," she was serious. "I am not kidding. You've drawn the attention of even the King and his seven sons."

My eyes enlarged like the size of the moon. I was taken aback. "Wait... what?!"

"Yup," she smiled. "You are now under their radar!"

"That's not where I want to be at all! I wanted to remain off the radar until another baker position somewhere in town opened with a good enough pay to give to my family."

"Dear! Think of it this way," she placed her hand on mine. She was incredibly cold to the touch. "Once you have their attention, I'm pretty sure they'll do anything to help you."

"Mrs. Moon, you don't underst—"

"I do understand sweetheart. You are a struggling young girl who just wants to help your family at all costs."

"This attention is unneeded; what happens when they find out I'm a maid? All hell will break loose. It's not something someone can easily explain to them."

"We will explain to them tomorrow; the King is already asking around as to who lead in the making of the cake. He noticed it wasn't anything like Chef Francois used to make."

"That means..." a bright future lit up in my eyes.

"Precisely! You can be a baker here instead of a maid now! Isn't that good news? Pay will be enough to support you and your family at all times. You can move into a nicer home; your siblings won't need to reuse fabric for clothing anymore. The possibilities are endless."

As her words did seem encouraging, I was greatly confused. Being a baker here does mean a higher pay compared to what I can get outside of the palace gates. Downside, it'd be for them. The fake, rich, and blind rulers of society—those who I wanted to yell at them most. "This is not where I ever expected I'd be," I sighed.

"Just be positive dear," she patted my back lightly. "Enjoy the rest of your night."

Her small self hurried into the crowd to talk to the King and Queen promptly. I no longer cared if they were talking about me or not. Before I knew it, I was munching and munching away at my cake; asking for more every single time I finished a plate. I probably ate five or six plates before I realized how much I truly ate.

I just noticed that the sun had already set at this point of the banquet. A new invention, the light bulb, kept artificial light glowing in the backyard. The technology of our kingdom was far more advanced then the outside world. The king insisted on inventions being created and rewarded generously for it also.

 The moon was as big as it could ever be. I felt like I could reach out and just grab it.  I thought of my family back home; the kids are probably already home. Mother most likely cooked a beef stew while father continued to fix the stairs. The thought of him crashing through the stairs still makes me laugh. He thought it'd be funny to check the durability of the stairs one day and jumped on every single one numerous times. Well, they were pretty strong at first, but the higher he went, the weaker they got. And then he disappeared and a crash was heard all throughout the home. The kids and I could not stop laughing for days, and we jumped from the missing step to the rest

I was giggling privately before a voice spoke from behind me, "Damn. So you're the one everyone's been talking about Soph?"

Isaiah. I should've known. "I guess so."

"You look so cute!" Anthony appeared from behind him. "Where'd you get the dress?"

"It's Mrs. Moon's. She apparently never wore it."

"It does look like a wedding dress..."  Anthony branched out in thought. "Oh wait, Isaiah, do you think it's true?"

"Probably now that we see Sophia in her dress," Isaiah nodded.

"Wow. Mrs. Moon. Who would've thought."

"What? What happened?" I asked. I hated feeling out of the loop. The saying, curiosity kills the cat, should be a warning enough for me to stop meddling; yet I still do. It's of my nature, so I can't help it.

"Notice that Mrs. Moon is called a Mrs., but she clearly does not wear a wedding ring," Anthony spoke. Now that he mentioned it, she doesn't.

"So her husband died long ago, what's your point?"

"She's never had a husband," Isaiah whispered. "She was engaged; but since there was a clash of kingdoms during her time when she was our age, her lover went to war."

"Her lover is the one who died in battle. His body was transported back to the kingdom. Mrs. Moon broke down mentally and emotionally," Anthony continued.

"Her? Emotionally unstable?" I couldn't believe them. "You have got to be joking. She is all smiles and giggles."

"Take it into consideration. You have a handmade gown, white, fit for a princess..." Isaiah started.

"She did tell me she never got to wear it..." Everything fit together.

"Bingo!" the boys simultaneously exclaimed.

"But you didn't hear it from us!" Anthony winked.

"Nope, nothing from us!" Isaiah dashed off. Anthony followed like a child.

Their story did make sense though in some ways. But... why would she add a title like that to her name?  And why keep her last name even if she did add that title? A gown... a handmade, white gown that was never worn. She probably made this dress while he was at war. Yet again, who was at war? Was he of some importance or just a commoner?

I imagined a whole scenario. Mrs. Moon is in her early twenties, in love with a soldier of the war. She receives the news that the war has not ended and be must soon deploy to a foreign country to fight. The pain was too hard for her to bear, yet she does because she loves him. The one promise they had was that they'd marry as soon as he came back. He has a ring all picked out and ready to give her at the best moment. Departure day eventually happens, and they part. But not long, she hears of news that he was a casualty of war. Her entire world comes crashing down in mere seconds. She wouldn't believe it unless she saw it. Her friends insisted that she not look at his body like this; but she refused. She wanted to make sure it was him. And it was.  It was his face, his lips, his eyes, his soft touch. It was the man she loved with all her heart.

She refuses to give her heart to anyone else. She takes on the title of Mrs. to divert the attention of her beauty to the fact that she is 'married'. She uses it to drive away potential pursuers. She dare not give her heart away, for it remains with the one she loved the most.

It was a farfetched story I created; but one that did bring tears to my eyes.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" people seriously needed to stop popping out of nowhere and talking to me so suddenly.

It was the figure I saw earlier today, with the pink bow. He had dreamy eyes, ones that just drew you in, and a sly smirk. It was as if he was planning something sneaky at all times. His hair was slightly messy, dark; in all the ways accenting his face. Handsome in every way... I guess you could also add chic.

"Yes, yes it is," I agreed.

"You know," he sneered, "I'm pretty sure you were covered in flour earlier today."

"How—"

"I saw you earlier when you left the kitchen... maid."

It was unbelievable. Here he was, being so vulgar and offensive to me. Maid. How dare he add that at the end of the sentence? It was completely uncalled for and unneeded.

"I know what I am."

"Then what are you doing in a gown at the banquet? Do you not know your place?"

"My place is at home, but here I am working so I can keep that home above the head of my family."

"Feisty. We need to change that if you want to keep working here."

I was even more annoyed with him then I was with Woohyun. This boy was testing me. "Who are you to tell me to change my thoughts? Do I not have free will?"

"I am a Prince, so technically, you are under my control at all times unless you'd like to move out of my family's kingdom."

He was the last of the princes for me to formally meet. And boy, was he the rudest of them all. "What are you talking to me for if you know my place? What do you possibly gain from speaking to a commoner like me? I do work for you, correct, but I am not someone who does your bidding for you. I am just a maid."

"I want to know what your mentality is to show up here and steal the conversations of hundreds just by showing up in this gown. You are clearly not suited for it."

"You are clearly not suited to rule a kingdom."

"Excuse me; I can get you killed just for saying that."

"Then do so if you feel like you must. But do not stand here and criticize me with a sharp tongue. It only strengthens my beliefs about royalties."

"Beliefs? What beliefs might those be?"

"That all you care about is what is going on in your palace walls. You are not opening your eyes to what's going on in the town itself. Use and abuse your power as you like. As long as you get what you want."

"And you act as though you know what it feels like to be me."

"I only express what I think; I am not afraid of you. Fear is no longer an option when you have to worry day by day if your family will have enough to feed themselves or if your siblings will have clothes to wear for the harsh winters."

"Your tongue must be cut off, maid."

"And you need a brain, prince."

"How dare you speak to me so informally—"

"Maid? Is that what you want? I'm sorry to tell you this, but your name is not something I'm familiar with. I do not take the time to memorize the names of those I detest. No matter how many times you repeat, I know what I am and who I am. Let me ask you this, Prince, do you know that about yourself? Can you honestly look at yourself and state what you've done to change the lives of those who depend on you and those you love? If you cannot, then you are in no way fit to rule any kingdom."

"I'm going to get you fired, I promise."

"Don't worry. I'm already quitting in the morning," I assured him. I had given up. I was going to stick around and accept that baker position if it was given to me. But this bad-mannered,disrespectful princes was the last straw. He is not someone I want to work for in any way. At least his brothers were polite to me when they had seen me, both in my gown and in my uniform.

"And the name is Myungsoo."

"I never asked for your name."

"Stop referring to me just as Prince. It's rude."

"Talking about rude, go look at your reflection, maybe you'll get the gist of what rude truly is."

"What's your name, maid?"

"Does it matter? I believe not."

"Either you tell me or I will throw everyone I've seen you around to the curb."

"Do not threaten me so cold heartedly."

"Then just tell me."

"Sophia."

"Peasant name."

"Myungsoo isn't that appealing either."

"No one asked for your opinion."

"No one asked for you to talk to me."

After a few more minutes of cold, serious arguing. Myungsoo and I parted ways. I felt extremely heated and angry after talking to him. He was discourteous in every way possible. Does no one teach boys manners and to respect women nowadays? Is it not something normal in today's society? It was uncalled for to be that rude to me. I had done nothing wrong, kept to myself, and avoided as much people as I could throughout the banquet.

What the hell was going through his mind?

~~~~~~~~~
this is the last of it for tonight! :D lol. this chapter was a pretty feisty one. So many damn people kept popping out of nowhere to talk to Sophia!

and how rude is Myungsoo! He is so mean to her... completely uncalled for correct!? I wonder why though...  oh wait I know! But i'm not telling you just yet (; I did want to add some light heartedness in this part though. They do seem to argue like children right? But it's part of their chemistry ^o^ I hope you guys got the feeling that he was enjoying getting to her head, like it's a game for him. This boy needs a hobby, that's for sure.

PS. might I say that the picture i chose for this chapter is so breathtaking. ajhfkasjhf; oh God the boys look so amazing and akhfkajshdf myungsoo just melted my heart. kk. and so did woohyun. you probably can tell the bias coming out in me but kahfkajshdfa. okay that's it. lol

@anaStar--lol woohyun seems to be the flirt in my eyes. well the discreet gentle flirt. dongwoo would be the aggressive to the point one XD haha. i'm happy that you are enjoying my writing so far! stay tuned for more yeah (: