Key falls back on his chair in the dining hall. Why’d you wave to her you idiot? he asked himself. Now that girl might have FEELINGS for me judging by how red her face turned.’ Key heaves a sigh. Just can’t blame me for being this hot.’

“Sire. The dinner is about to start. The princesses will be coming in soon. Please sit up properly.” his adviser, Mr. Lee, told him politely, snapping Key out of his thoughts.

“Of course. Thank you for the reminder.” Key responded, sitting up properly. Stupid adviser. Key thought. I could’ve made it here perfectly fine without you here. You’re just going to ruin everything! Then the trumpet sounds, notifying the guests tonight that the princesses and the queen are coming in. The grand doors open and the dining hall hushes. Queen Victoria was first to be seen as all the princesses filed in right behind her. They all sat down quietly in the seats of the center table, surrounded by all the guests. Oh my god… is she in a DRESS?’Key shouted in his head. Never mind her. Time to eat! I’m starving.

At the center table, the princesses and queen laughed and talked together. Then Luna noticed Key sitting across from them at a different table. Amber, who was sitting next to her, was happily munching on her salad.

“Hey! Isn’t that him?” Luna slightly pointed with her free hand as she shook Amber's shoulder with the other. Amber lifted her head up for a moment, but she had no idea as to who Luna was pointing to. So Amber shrugged and went back to her salad.

“Where?” Krystal, sitting across from Luna, asked.

“The one in white and gold.” Luna pointed. Victoria turned her head to look. Then, everyone else's heads followed besides Amber.

“My, he’s cute.” Sulli shrieked quietly.

“No. He’s not just cute. He’s HOT!” Krystal whispered, fanning herself with her hand. “I can understand why Amber would ever blush for him.” As the girls fangirled over him, Amber enthusiastically ignored all of it. Although, she did glance at him once or twice to see if he noticed their reactions but he apparently seems to be focused more on his food over anything else. However, Key did notice.

Women nowadays.’he thought shaking his head disapprovingly.

“Look’s like you’ve got quite a crowd there.” Mr. Lee giggled.

“This is not your place to be saying such things Mr. Lee. Please let me be at peace and ignore them as much as possible.” Key ordered gently.

“Yes, Sire.” Mr. Lee said and then he shut up. Breathing out heavily, Key eyed Victoria to see if she is fangirling the same way the rest are, but all she did was try her best to hush them, telling them to not be too hyped about it. She was taking her role as the queen as she's supposed to.

After dinner, the guests were brought into the ballroom where the party began. Servants carried around wine glasses, serving them to the guests. So many people. How am I supposed to find Victoria at this rate?’ Key thought. Just when he thought that, he spotted her. He attempted to approach her but she was immediately offered to dance with a duke from Taechon. So he stepped back.

Hour after hour, Victoria was always either busy with guests or being asked to dance. What’d you expect, she’s the new queen.’Key thought. Then he heaved a sigh and spotted Amber talking and giggling with the other princesses. One more hour until the party’s over. Why not.’ So he peeled himself off of the wall that he was leaning on and approached her. He took in a deep breath before tapping Amber on the shoulder.

“May I?” Key asked gesturing his hand for her’s in a dance. Amber felt her face flushed pink.

“Oh, uh….” Amber started. But she just couldn’t find the words to finish it.

“Yes!” Sulli shrieked, pushing Amber closer towards Key.

“Go for it sis!” Sulli giggled in her ear. Amber snapped her head towards Sulli and Luna, giving them a ‘help-me-and-i-hate-you’ kind of look. All they did was give her thumbs up before Amber turned her head back to face Key. She can feel her heartbeating faster than a hummingbird’s flapping wings. You guys are going to pay for this!’Amber yelled in her head. Key gave her a kind smile and extended his hand out again. Amber refused for a couple of seconds before gulping and accepting his offer. Right away, Key placed his other hand on Amber's waist whereas Amber placed her other hand on Key's shoulder. Then they extended their other arms up, Amber's being on top of Key's, starting to waltz.

“Your sisters are quite interesting.” Key laughed, seeing Amber’s face turning redder than beets. They glided across the floor and he spun Amber once every so often.

“Y-yeah… I guess they are.” Amber stuttered, trying her best to not make eye contact. Key gave her a grin. Why am I doing this again?' Key asked himself in his head. When the dance was over, Key gave Amber a bow and Amber gave Key a curtsey.

“Thank you for the wonderful dance. I had fun tonight.” Key said smiling. And I hopefully won’t have to do this again.’he thought.

“I-it was my pleasure.” Amber said, with her head pointing the ground. Key smile once again before turning around and leaving. He walks past Mr. Lee who is leaning on a wall, staring at him as Mr. Lee went,

“tsk, tsk, tsk.” shaking his head. Key snapped his head at him.

“What?” Key asked Mr. Lee with a confused expression. Then Mr. Lee dragged him out of the ballroom and into a more private place for them to talk.

“You don’t happen to like her do you?” Mr. Lee asked teasingly.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Key replied calmly. “It’s an act of kindness.”

“Mhm? Prince Key, I knew your true intentions since day one. You want the throne don’t you?” Mr. Lee smirked. Key opened his mouth but nothing came out, because Mr. Lee was right. But how'd he know?

~

Amber walked back to her sisters as she watched the floorboards move beneath her black high heels.

“So?!” Sulli asked excitedly. “How’d it go?”

“How’d what go?” Krystal came in asking from a dance she had with the Prince of Namp’o.

“Amber just had a really cute dance with Mr. Dreamy.” Luna whispered, careful not to shriek.

“Aww… that means I just missed him! I should’ve went! I would’ve made him swoon for me.” Krystal whined. Frustration slowly replaced Amber’s embarrassment and then she stomped on Luna and Sulli’s toes. Then Amber crossed her arms and turned her side to her sisters. Luna and Sulli were hopping in pain, giggling at the same time.

“Hey! It’s was worth it wasn’t it?” Luna teased.

“You should be thanking us.” Sulli said. Then Amber turned her head to face them.

“You guys should be the ones to talk! Humiliating me like that?! What the heck were you guys thinking?!” Amber yelled, but not loud enough to draw attention.

“Oooo… Ms. I’m-too-cool-for-boys is finally admitting that she likes him!” Krystal teased.

“I hate you guys.” Amber stated, turning her face away in anger with her face was slightly blushing. But all the others did was giggle.

~

“You know, using Princess Amber to your advantage isn’t a bad idea though.” Mr. Lee said slyly.

“I don’t think I’m sure about what you’re trying to get at.” Key responded.

“Well, since Princess Amber is the second eldest, it’s only natural for her to take the throne if anything happens to Queen Victoria. Aren’t I right?” Mr. Lee smirked.

“So if I used Amber’s feelings for me to take the throne, then all I have to do is get rid of Queen Victoria and naturally, I’ll become king of Seongnam.” Key realized.

“Precisely. Of course, you can probably plan this out by yourself, but the plan will never carry out without a person backing you up.” Mr. Lee said.

“Why are you helping me?” Key asked.

“You and I have the same intentions. If you become king, my rank on the hierarchy will eventually go up. It does both you and me good.” Mr. Lee responded. “Surely, you won’t let the person who has helped you so much along the way, go without any reward right?”

“Of course. I promise that once I become king of Seongnam, you’ll be rewarded a good seat in the royal house and riches like never before.” Key promised. Only if you’re alive by then.’ Key snickered in his head.

“Let us raise to the top together.” Mr. Lee offered as he stuck his hand out for an agreement.

“Deal.” Key exclaimed, shaking Mr. Lee’s hand.