Aliya found the new arrivals as they began their tour and slipped in among them unnoticed. The spell had worked perfectly, transforming her from a regal queen into a mousy girl. Her hair was several inches shorter as was her overall height. And to draw less attention to herself she walked with her head down, shrunken in on herself.

            She followed the group into the courtyard, the first stop on the palace tour. Aliya stayed toward the back, searching the 15 people in front of her for any indication of Luhan. She didn’t know much about them other than they was innocent looking, had large eyes and dark hair. But that applied to most of the people in front of her. She blinked as she realized she didn’t even know if Luhan was a boy or girl. The mirror had said “pretty” but most of the pretty people before her now were male. Only about three of the party seemed female.

            The group stopped in the central garden so everyone could take time to appreciate the flowers in bloom. Queen Aliya pounced on the opportunity to truly mingle among them and discover what she could.

            The group consisted of a prince and his entourage so naturally Aliya targeted the prince first. He wasn’t very tall, just a couple inches taller than Aliya when she wasn’t disguised. Objectively Aliya could see why some people would call him attractive, maybe even cute. But prettier than her? He had nice features and his face was a little round which added a youthfulness to his appearance. But that’s as far as the similarities between the prince and the Luhan the mirror described went.

            The prince’s hair wasn’t as dark as night. Dark brown sure but still brown. It was cut short with the front softly tousled up to make it seem like he had casually ran his hand through it and it just stayed styled that way. And his eyes weren’t as soft as a deer’s. If anything Aliya thought they looked sharp, more feline. Throw in the dark jeans, black dress shirt and suit jacket and the word “pretty” didn’t begin to describe him at all.

            It made no sense to Queen Aliya. She quickly scanned the group again but couldn’t immediately find anyone else whose physical features stood out as much as the prince’s. Admittedly there wasn’t a plain face in sight but also no one else who Aliya would consider a threat to her beauty. Turning back to the prince, she decided he was still her best option for finding Luhan.

            Aliya slowly wandered closer to the prince, pretending to just be admiring the garden. She stopped a few feet from his left, angling herself away from him so that if he looked her direction he’d only see her shoulder. He was standing close to the roses with three other people. Two of them looked like close companions from his palace while the third look like a servant. They all seemed to be intensely listening to the prince as he softly spoke to them.

            “We should get some of these. They’re so beautiful and they smell wonderful.” He turned his head a little to the left in the direction of his companions. “Don’t you think so too?” he asked with a smile.

            The taller of his two companions exhaled loudly before answering, “Really Minseok? Are you going to say that at every garden we visit? First it was the tulips, then it was the lilies. Now roses? Do you even have room in your garden?”

            The prince, Minseok, and the shorter companion laughed. Aliya smiled. This wasn’t the person she would be poisoning tonight. Maybe she would send him some roses once all this was said and done. As a sign she’d forgiven him for the trouble he caused her.

            “Come now Kris, let Minseok have his fun. You know he rarely asks for anything and as his friends we should be more than happy to give him the few things he does request.” The shorter of Minseok’s friends spoke to the taller one, Kris, bumping his shoulder as he spoke. He and Prince Minseok began laughing again.

            Minseok’s smile was wide when he spoke again. “Thank you Suho. This is why I keep you around.”

            “And why do you keep me around?” Kris playfully challenged the prince.

            “Where else am I going to find a translator I can blackmail with embarrassing childhood stories into being at my beck and call?” Minseok’s eyes were wide with innocence as he teased Kris. After a second all three burst into laughter again.

            Aliya was growing bored with the conversation. None of them were Luhan and they weren’t pointing her in the right direction. She had no further use for them. She had learned much about the prince which would help with diplomatic relationships between their two kingdoms but none of it mattered. She only cared about finding Luhan and eliminating him.

            Aliya turned away from the quartet, setting her sight on another group of four posing next to the statues.

            “Luhan what do you think about the roses?”           

            Aliya had barely taken a step when Minseok’s voice reached her ears. She whipped her head around to check that she had heard correctly. Yes, Minseok had his back turned toward his friends and was facing the servant.

            Aliya quickly walked around the hedge of roses the prince and Luhan were looking at and poked her head around the edge closer to the servant. He had his head bowed and seemed to be blushing, probably embarrassed by whatever answer he had given Prince Minseok.

            “You see. Luhan thinks I should have as many flowers as I want,” Minseok had turned back to his friends.

            “Of course he does. He always thinks you should have whatever you want,” Kris scoffed.

            Minseok sighed over dramatically. “Suho, Kris is spreading negative energy. Will you take him away please?”

            Suho laughed as he tugged Kris away from the prince. Kris seem reluctant to leave at first but knew better than to argue with the prince and let Suho lead him over to another group who were sitting in the shade of a tree. Once they were out of ear shot Minseok turned his attention back to Luhan and greatly decreased the space between them.

            “Why are you blushing?” Minseok asked in a low voice. Luhan didn’t answer and when it became clear he wasn’t going to lift his head, Minseok sighed and pulled Luhan’s head up so that their eyes met.

            And in that moment Aliya knew she would have to kill Luhan. Everything about him screamed flawless perfection. His hair, dark like the mirror said, looked as soft as clouds and fell perfectly on top of his head, stopping just above his doe eyes. His facial structure was sharp enough to make him stunning but soft enough to look welcoming. His shy smile could melt a frozen heart and the way he carried himself attested to a temperament so sweet he could give a dentist cavities.

            Aliya hated him the moment she laid eyes on him. He put everyone she had ever met to shame and he was only a servant! How dare he be this radiant when he wasn’t supposed to be? She couldn’t let him outshine her. He wasn’t even dressed to impress and he still put a sunrise to shame. Just imagining him dressed as well as the prince made the queen grit her teeth. It wasn’t fair. She was the gorgeous one and now she was expected to step aside for some nobody from another land? It wasn’t happening.

            Queen Aliya quickly began to take note of everything about him. He wasn’t tall necessarily but he was taller than her. He seemed a little shy but that was probably because he spent his life surrounded by royalty and figured he was part of a different world. She remembered that he hadn’t spoken up about the roses except when asked a direct question. That meant he would probably do whatever she, a queen, would ask of him without a fight. He also kept his eyes down as if trying to draw as little attention to himself as possible.

            Perfect. He would be easy to take out. Aliya smiled as a plan formed in her mind. She removed herself from the garden shortly after, satisfied that in a few hours she would once again be the most beautiful person in her world and would never have to worry about Luhan again.