Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom lived a beautiful princess. She was the only daughter of the king of the Galaxy Kingdom, King Kris. Her beauty was known all over the world but she tends to be a little bit boyish sometimes and tends to be a clean freak also. Her name was Princess Lulu and she was coming of age where she should marry off for the benefit of her kingdom.

But she hates the thought of it.

A knock was heard in her room one fine morning and she just woke up. She was braiding her hair before going out to do some archery. “Come in,” she commanded whoever was out of the room. Her personal maid came in, more of stumbled into the room and stuttered,” G-Good morning, kongjumama (Princess).” The princess turned her head and smiled at the maid. “KyungHee-ssi, good morning,” she greeted. KyungHee avoided the princess’ gaze as usual and told her,” The king is calling for you.”

The smile on Lulu’s face disappeared at the mention of her father. Surely, that man arranged another date for her with another prince. First, it was Prince Sehun then there’s Prince Chanyeol and now, she wonders who she was set up with. Lulu nodded and told her to leave her room for a moment, she needs some time to think by herself.

KyungHee nodded and followed the orders given to her. Lulu put her attention back to the mirror and finished her braiding. “When will my reflection show who I am inside~” she suddenly sang. Her voice, by the way, was already praised by many nobles and she performs during balls due to her father’s orders. She sometimes feels more like a performer than a princess.

After contemplating a bit, she went out of her room. She went to the throne room where she saw her father eating chicken. “It’s not what it looks like—Nevermind,” Kris shook his head. “And you still insist chicken is not your ‘style’, appa,” Lulu sighed. “Well, anyways,” Kris slightly raised the leg part of the chicken. “This is a clue for you. This is somehow and strangely related to the next kingdom’s crowned prince you’ll be meeting,” Kris said before munching on the piece.

Lulu glared at the piece as if it was her enemy. “Let me guess, the Chicken Kingdom?” she said before crossing her arms. “Ding ding! We’ve got a winner!” Kris said before biting again. “Sheesh, you could’ve set me up with a prince from a normally named kingdom! But instead, chicken, let me guess because chicken is kind of your style?” Lulu snapped.

“Are you offending Bubble Tea Kingdom and Yoda Kingdom?” Kris narrowed his eyes but Lulu can’t take him seriously with some oil on his face. She sometimes questions if this really was her father and if this really was the king of the Galaxy Kingdom.

“Our kingdom’s name isn’t any better from theirs, appa,” Lulu said. “What’s wrong with Galaxy?” The queen suddenly spoke up. She blinked a few times as she looked over her daughter. “Ah, umma, didn’t notice you there,” Lulu stepped back a bit when her mother randomly appeared.

“Is my skin that dark for you not to notice me anymore, young lady?” Queen Tao Ming pouted a bit. “No, no, don’t use aegyo, my dear,” Kris shook his head. “Buy me some Gucci first,” Tao said before sitting on her throne. “Later, later, the merchants will surely come,” Kris said before turning back to Lulu.

“Galaxy is a good name for a kingdom, young lady and you can’t say no to the arrangement,” Kris said sternly. Lulu practically threw her flat shoes over at Kris and Kris only moved a bit to the left so he could dodge it. “Nice try, now you can go to your archery lessons,” Kris said as he smirked.

Lulu went out of the throne room with loud footsteps and a slam to the door. “I think we should stop forcing her to marry someone if she doesn’t want to,” Tao worriedly said. “Don’t worry, Tao. She needs to enjoy her youth and mingle a little, you know,” Kris said before finishing his last piece of chicken.

A few weeks passed by and the day when Lulu will meet the prince arrived. And because of that, she didn’t bother to get out of bed even though lunch time was near. “Kongjumama! Kongjumama!” KyungHee gently shook Lulu to wake her up. “Wake up! Ireona! Ireona!” She tried shouting but her voice was apparently too soft for Lulu to wake up. KyungHee puffed her cheeks before punching Lulu in her weak spots.

And Lulu bolted up from her slumber.

“Aiya, you didn’t have to hit me that much!” She practically screamed. KyungHee took a step back and looked down, guilty. “M-Mianhe, kongjumama,” she said, with sounds of sniffling. “E-Eh… It’s alright, don’t cry, KyungHee-ssi,” Lulu said, with a hint of worry in her face. KyungHee looked at her with a frown on her face then she suddenly smiled. “You always fall for that, kongjumama,” KyungHee said, making Lulu pout.

“Aish, stop playing around with me, KyungHee-ssi,” Lulu said, crossing her arms. “Anyways, kongjumama, get out of bed! Lunch is dawning and you’re meeting the prince!” KyungHee said energetically. Lulu groaned. “What’s the prince’s name?” Lulu asked before getting out of bed. “I heard he’s Prince Minseok, the eldest son of King Yixing and Queen Joon-bi,” KyungHee answered. “Oh, so this one’s not the only child of his family like the others,” Lulu whispered to herself as she fixed her bed. She never lets anyone else touch her bed. Last time KyungHee tried, she ended up being in her own bed for days because of her injuries. Even Kris doesn’t dare to touch his daughter’s bed.

“Your clothes are already set and I’ll just fix your hair later, kongjumama,” KyungHee slightly bowed before going out of the room. Lulu turned her head to the dresser and frowned. “A dress… A freaking dress, I wouldn’t be able to challenge that dude to soccer then,” she muttered.

She quickly took a bath then changed into her clothes. It was a long dress, reaching the floor. Its color was dark red and it was long sleeved to Lulu’s dismay. Instead of wearing the heels Tao chose for her (Gucci branded as usual), she wore her rubber shoes. She’s still determined to challenge the prince to soccer after all. And she had her shorts in the dress too so she just has to destroy her dress later, and that’s the only exciting part of wearing the dress.

KyungHee fixed her long dark brown hair into a neat bun with the tiara in front of the bun. The maid put on light pink blush-on on the princess’ white cheeks and a bit of pink lip gloss on her lips. Then she added a little bit of eyeliner and voila, she’s done.

Lulu was nervously walking through the rose garden, heading towards the pavilion. She shifted her gaze on the roses then to the white pavilion in the middle of all those flowers. She was relieved when she noticed the prince wasn’t there yet and she sat there to have her own share of afternoon tea.

After a few seconds though, she saw a man, shorter than her she supposed, wearing a dark blue suit with a black tie. He looked fancy and cute at the same time, Lulu thought and she soon found herself staring at him. Once he was around a few steps near the pavilion, Lulu directed her attention back to her tea.

“Good morning, Your Highness,” The prince lightly bowed before sitting across Lulu. “No formalities, please,” Lulu said. She looked at the prince more closely and she noticed he had monolids and features that can be considered feminine. What kind of prince did Kris pick for her? This prince might as well be considered a princess with these kinds of features.

“I’m Prince Minseok,” he offered his hand. “Princess Lulu,” she shook his hand. “Deer maybe?” Minseok chuckled a bit. Lulu puffed her cheeks. “They always tease me with that,”  she told him. “Eh, mianhe,” Minseok apologized before chuckling. “So, you’re from Chicken Kingdom. I’m meaning to ask, why are you named Chicken Kingdom?” Lulu furrowed her eyebrows.

“Alas, I don’t know but my younger brother seems to like it,” Minseok shrugged. “Maybe because my mother is the mother hen of all the countries in this continent?” he guessed. “Well, that’s just plain silly,” Lulu giggled a bit. “And why are you from Galaxy Kingdom—I mean why is it called that way?” Minseok asked, tilting his head. Lulu noted he looked cute. “Appa is addicted to you know, out of this world kind of things. He answers most questions with galaxy and such,” Lulu answered. Minseok laughed as a reaction.

“Our parents would get along pretty well then,” Minseok said. “Hm, maybe so,” Lulu shrugged. “And about you, I hear you never want to marry,” Minseok said before sipping his tea. Lulu lightly nodded. “I’m too young to think of that, Minseok-ssi,” Lulu said, though she knows she might change her mind after knowing this prince more. He seemed nicer than that Prince Sehun and more mature than that Prince Chanyeol after all. He’s just too… short.

“Then whoever you end up with is a lucky man. I would envy him honestly. You are a beauty and I’ve heard you have the brains to back it up,” Minseok complimented her but she already heard those kinds of compliments before. “Ah thank you for saying that. I’ve never heard anything about you though,” Lulu honestly said.

“It’s fine. You can ask your maid about me,” Minseok said. “Which maid?”

“KyungHee-ssi.”

Lulu’s eyes widened. “What? She knows you? Wait, you know her?” “She’s been dating my younger brother, Prince Jong-in, you see for a while now also. But you must keep that a secret between us two.”

Lulu paused for a moment to process that. Apparently, her own maid has her own fairy tale love story without her knowing.

The two royalties shared their own stories and Lulu almost got carried away. “Do you play soccer?” Lulu asked the prince. Minseok lightly nodded. “A bit. Wae?” He asked. “Want to play?” She smirked. She always does this to crush her possible fiancés’ lives. Minseok enthusiastically nodded. “Sure! Sure! It’s been a long time since I last played!”

And that was the start of their friendship actually. And it was the first time Lulu actually established a friendship with a possible suitor of hers though Minseok said it himself that he won’t force her to like him. She was relieved with that but still…

She was kind of sure she will start to like him in the end of her own fairy tale.