June 8, 1737

Airdrethian Royal Dining Hall

            Yuna stood, unmoving, staring at her family in complete shock.  The 19 year-old princess was at a loss for what to do.  Her family had never waited for her for a meal.

            Did Chanyeol feed me those hallucination mushrooms that he gave to Baekhyun?

            “Well, are you going to sit down?” Queen Amethyst questioned in her irritated tone of voice.  “You should know to be on time to dinner every night.  I do not see why tonight should be any different for you, Yuna.”

            “I haven’t eaten dinner with you in over a decade,” the coal-haired girl whispered.

            Queen Amethyst fell silent, her eyebrows furrowed.

            “Why don’t you come sit down, Darling?” King Ephraim asked pleasantly, gesturing to the empty chair in between himself and Lorraine.

            Yuna numbly nodded, her head still amidst confusion before slowly walking and sinking into her seat.  Her father offered a warm smile, and nodded his head.  At this command, the remainder of the Airdrethian royals began to pick at their dinners.

            Yuna hesitantly sipped at the creamy chicken soup upon her placemat.  Her hunger was no longer present.

            Have I done something wrong?  I have I done something right?  What is going on?

            The murmur of small talk between several of the family members provided a pleasant background music that the princess had not heard for a long time.  Nostalgic feelings fell upon the girl’s shoulders as memories of running through the castle with her sisters as a little girl, and images of her mother singing to her from the piano as a small child filled her head.

            A smile the royal family had not been blessed with in twelve years graced the room.

            Queen Amethyst cleared , calling attention to herself.

            Yuna looked up from her bowl of soup to stare at her mother, hoping the woman would abide to her plead to marry Park Chanyeol and possibly even move out of the castle later that evening.

            A small piece of Yuna’s heart also wished she would accept her as a daughter.

            The princess shook her head, that was going too far, and she knew it.

            But it would have been the perfect end to a perfect day.

            Queen Amethyst did neither of these things.

            “In four days’ time, Midas and the Castle will be hosting nearly a thousand prestige guests, so we must all be presentable,” Amethyst announced.

            “What for, Mother?” Galleria asked.

            “Our kingdom will be hosting a festival!” Ephraim shouted with a jolly chuckle.

            The princesses and princes all buzzed happily to each other.  Yuna giggled with Lorraine excitedly at the thought of foreign people and new friends.

            A festival!  I LOVE festivals!

            “The Blue Moon Eclipse Festival was so wonderful!” Galleria cheered.  “All of our friends will get to see the Castle!”

            “This is incredible,” Adrian agreed with his wife.

            “What is the occasion for the festival?” Lorraine asked, turning to her father.

            “It is for your sister’s hand in marriage.”

            The dining hall fell utterly silent.

            Yuna slowly lifted her head to face her parents.  Her spoon dropped to the floor as her hands shook in her lap.

            Surely, they can’t mean me.  That’s impossible…

            The Princess tried to reason with herself, but she and her sisters and brothers-in-law all appeared to be at a loss for thought

            “Wh-what?” Yuna’s stuttered question cracked the impregnated silence that resonated around the group.

            Ephraim flinched at the look of sheer terror and confusion in his youngest daughter’s eyes, shame searing through his gut.

            “In four days,” the Queen began, taking a deep breath, “all of your royal suitors will arrive here.  We will assess all of them for three days, and then, we, all of us at this table, will select a husband for you, Yuna.”

            Queen Amethyst did not bat an eye at her daughter’s expression of fright.  She did not move as Princess Yuna looked from face to face in pure confusion.

            “How many suitors exactly does Yuna have?” Prince Joonmyun quietly inquired, his eyes glancing to his horrified sister-in-law.

            “Nearly two hundred.”

            “No matter how many royals show up,” King Ephraim piped up, hoping to ease his daughter, “we will find the best match for you, Darling.  And of course, your opinion will most definitely be taken into consideration.”

            “I don’t understand,” Yuna asked, her voice was unusually stern and her emerald eyes were glassy.

            “We’ve made it quite clear, Yuna.” Amethyst stated.

            “Galleria and Adrian are the pure marriage, there is no need for another one,” the Princess reasoned, her tone was growing slightly more hysterical, “I’m supposed to marry for love!  That is my one duty to Airdrethia!”

            This is madness!  This is impossible!  Why is this happening?

            “No, Yuna, the law states that we must have a child born of two pure parents,” Amethyst said, turning her large violet eyes to look at her daughter, “Galleria is infertile.  Lorraine is married.  You are the only one left to fulfill the duty of giving birth to the Airdrethian heir.”

            “We have known about Galleria’s infertility for two and a half years,” Yuna shouted angrily, standing up from the table, “Neither Lorraine nor I were married when the news came out.  Lorraine could have attended Mingle Balls, as I am apparently not allowed ten meters from the Castle!  Why the hell did you wait, Mother, until there was no other option?”

            The entire table remained in shock at the normally quiet, peaceful Princess’ outburst.

            “Why am I even asking this question, I know the answer” Yuna spat.  She shoved her chair into the table.

            “It’s because I’m normal.”

            Yuna did not scream these words.

            They were practically a whisper.

            And this conviction haunted everyone in the room.

            Queen Amethyst.

            King Ephraim.

            Her sisters.

            Their husbands.

            The maids and butlers secretly listening in from the hallways.

            “It’s because I’m normal,” Yuna repeated.  “I am normal, so it is easiest to marry me off to just anyone.  I am normal, so it is convenient to ship me off to the highest bidder without giving it a second thought!  I am normal, so my opinion does not matter, nor the fact that I have already fallen in love!

            “Well, because I am normal, I can just leave right now.  I can vanish.  I can ditch out on all of this.  This festival, this marriage, this life.  I can ditch out on all of it!”

            Yuna gave her mother a final look of surrender as tears streamed openly down her cheeks.

            “I’m sorry I wasn’t enough for you.”

            And then she fled from the castle.

Hello friends!

I have been anticipating this moment for a long time.  Actually, this scene was the daydream that birthed all of Being Normal.

Your thoughts on this will be much appreciated, and I am anticipating them!

So, a festival is upon its way - how will Kris compete?  How will Yuna react to meeting him?  Most importantly, whatever will happen to Chanyeol and Yuna?

STAY TUNED

(wow that sounded like a super lame trailer, I promise to never do that again)

Thank you for the support and please continue to read, subscribe, upvote, comment, and enjoy!

Winnie