I could not believe the person that I waiting to meet, the person I was certain would be a royal pain, turned out to be infront of me the whole time. The rest of the night was spent in confusion, most of the girls were silent as well. Once in a while, I glanced around and saw the prince talking to guests, resuming his place as prince. He didn't bother to change out of the guard's tuxedo, he was like his mother, he could pull off perfection without trying.

" I can't believe you were dancing with the prince. " Wendy whispered to me, and Seulgi tagged along. " I mean, I knew there was something strange about that guard. "

" How so ? " I whispered back.

" Well, he seemed friendlier than the other guards. " Seulgi said. " And he looked...somehow different. Didn't you recognize him, Irene ? " 

I hesitated, " Um, I guess I wasn't paying attention. " 

We were all were getting ready to return to our rooms, until someone called out to us. " Miss Irene ? " the guard was calling me but everyone turned. 

" Yes ? " I said nervously.

" The prince is asking for you, please remain. " he bowed to me. I was flustered, and Wendy squeezed my hand. Did I get into trouble ? 

The other girls left, and I was the only one in the hallway. Then I saw the prince coming, he was smiling. " Hello there, miss Irene. "

" H-Hello. " I said, and hastily curtsied. " I-I'm sorry, your highness. "

" It's all right, save the manners for another day. " he joked. " Now, do you fancy a walk with me in the gardens ? It's quite a view at night. "

I smiled, " Well, I can't miss curfew. "

" Relax, that Xia can boss you around. But he wouldn't dare if you were with the prince. "

We took a stroll in the gardens, and he wasn't lying about it being beautiful. The flowers seemed to glow at night, and the fireflies enhanced its beauty. We didn't talk much, because there wasn't really much to talk about.

" So what's the story behind your entry for my hand in marriage ? " he asked casually.

" Um, you should know the reason behind it, your highness. " I threw back the question at him. 

He looked at me for a second, " I'm not sure I do know, women's minds are difficult to understand. Let alone their hearts. I'd rather ask them directly. "

I raised myeyebrows, " That's quite offensive, your highness. But luckily I'm not someone who's easily offended, you're spared for tonight. "

He stopped walking and crossed his arms at me, " Is that a threat ? "

Did I say something wrong ? I panicked all over again, " Um, no. Please don't misunderstand-"

He laughed, " I'm joking ! I'm not that shallow ! " and he kept on walking. It was quite difficult to keep up with him, and he seemed to be enjoying it. 

" Why did you eliminate so many on the first glance ? " I asked as I walked over to him. " You should've given them a chance. "

He grinned, " Doesn't it make your work easier ? And you sound like you're not happy about being the ones to stay. "

" I-I didn't mean it that way, " I stammered. " It just seemed...unfair. "

" And you don' t need to worry about that. " he assured me. " The judging criteria is quite valid, miss Irene. I know what I'm doing, and it's my decision to let anyone compete in this competition. One of you will eventually become my bride. "

That made me question everything again, " Why did you agree to this...game of thrones anyway ? Why let everyone know your happiness when there are bound to be people that would hate it ? "

He looked up at the sky and sighed, " That is one of the casualties of being a prince, Irene. You need to appeal to the public, whether you like it or not. "

The very next day, Xia informed all of us to be in the dining hall at 8:00 sharp for breakfast, the prince was joining us. I still hadn't gotten over my little stroll with the prince, I didn't know why. 

I had to remind myself the whole reason I was there, in the castle. I wasn't supposed to fall for him, I came here to throw them over. Yet he seemed contemporary to the whole image I made up about him in my mind. He didn't seem to be a royal pain, at least not yet.

We all sat at the long table, with Prince Junmyeon at the very end. He was wearing a grey dress shirt, without a tie, the sleeves pushed up to the elbows and boots. The servants served us pancakes and orange juice, the golden syrup just spilling onto the plate. It looked too delicate to touch.

" I do apologize about last night's sudden elimination. " he said halfway through breakfast. " But I assure you, I'm not a crazy person who eliminates people whenever I want to. "

The girls seemed to find it funny, they giggled. And he seemed to be enjoying the light-heartedness of the atmosphere. Then Jiyeon raised her hand, " Have you found anyone special yet amongst us Selected, your highness ? "

He was quiet, and smiled. " Well, first thing's first, I'd like it if all of you drop the ' prince ' infront of my name. One of you is bound to become my future wife, and I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't call me ' your beloved highnessness ' , or ' prince ' instead of darling. " 

The girls laughed again. 

" Well, since I barely know all of you. I hope you'll spend the next few days getting to know me. " he said. " So please, ask anything about me. "

" Do you recognize any of us ? Like maybe outside the castle ? " Namjoo quirked. 

" In fact, I do recall seeing a few faces here. " he said, and he looked at Wendy. " Um, Wendy right ? "

Wendy beamed, " Yes. "

" I remember seeing you at a talkshow I was on last month. " and he pointed at Mina. " And, you're...Mina ! "

Mina broke into a smile, " Yes ! But how..."

" I recall seeing you in one of my economics classes, you were the earliest to submit the test papers. I'd like to learn from you a bit, Mina. " 

She blushed, " Not at all, your- I mean Junmyeon. " 

Then Yura cleared , " How far have you furthered your studies, Junmyeon ? "

" Hmm, I've graduated from law last year. And I'm studying for my masters in history, I recently got my degree in geography. But I'm still working on international relations, I'm hoping to get a PhD in that by the end of this year. So yeah, that sums up my education. "

I could hear a few girls at my side sigh in admiration, who wouldn't ? He was pretty darn smart for a prince. Until now, I kept my silence, it was as if I was invisible. If I kept being quiet, I wouldn't even stand a chance in getting his attention. But what was it about asking me out in the garden previously ?

Jiyeon batted her eyelashes at Junmyeon, " But you could've had all those classes with tutors in the castle, Junmyeon ? I haven't stepped into school my whole life, and I'm perfectly fine with personal tutors. It helps when we're more focused. Why force yourself into that situation ? "

I sensed a hint of sarcasm in her sentence, was she suggesting he was far too superior to be in public and be like a commoner ? I wasn't sure, but I saw Mina slicing her pancakes quite violently as if it was something she wanted to kill. 

But Junmyeon didn't seem to notice. " Everyone has their own preference, Jiyeon. As for me, I like to push myself into learning something. Plus, the competition in between the students in the class is something that I do like. I like challenging myself, and I'm quite content with the education that I'm receiving now. "

Some of the girls stiffled a laugh, and Jiyeon shot a deadly glare. We continued our breakfast until it was over, and Junmyeon excused himself from the table. Something about attending a talkshow regarding the relation with New York. 

As we exited the dining hall, everyone was already bragging about Junmyeon and his charms. I mean, he was quite an intelligent person, regardless he was a prince or not. The whole time, I watched him as he walked away, with Kyungsoo joining him. He looked quite good with his back turned, not that he wasn't good looking at front though. 

" What did I tell you ? He's even more charming up close ! " Seulgi squealed giddily.

" I can't believe he recognized me ! " Wendy added. " So what did he talk about last night when you two were alone ? "

To be honest, I wasn't really sure what we talked about last night. It all felt like jibberish and everything was in a daze, or was it because I was just focused on winning the competition without remembering what he said ? 

" Oh, stuff. " I blurted. " He talked about...prince duties and all sorts of things. He didn't mention anything else about the Selection though. "

They seemed to accept my answer, " Hmm, okay then. "

That following evening, the queen wanted to gather us together for a small meeting. So all fifty of us were in the drawing room, and she sat near the fireplace. She wore a polyester dress, its navy blue fabric belnded well with the lightting. 

" So I wanted to meet all of you lovely ladies, since any of you might be my future daughter in law. " she chuckled. " Junmyeon, is a very very kind boy. And I'd like to tell you to go easy on him, I know its putting a lot of pressure on his shoulders and of all of you as well. But since he was born into this family, these things are inevitable. "

Sonya took the chance, " How does he view love ? Or marriage, your highness ? "

The queen thought for a second, " Junmyeon's very open, but he never told me anything about his feelings. " she sighed. " That's one regret for me as his mother, he never told me what was his meaning of love. I'm not quite sure what's in that mind of his. "

She talked about Junmyeon's childhood, about he loved animals, he was an equestrian since he was five, he enjoyed chess and action movies...Ninety percent of our conversation was about Junmyeon. And then came the real point.

" I was thinking about having a small get together, and maybe a little show each of you can pull off to show your personal talents. I'm sure all of you are full of charm, and I'll leave you to it. " 

Soon, she left the room. Everyone was chatting feverishly, even Wendy and Seulgi seemed to be engrossed in brainstorming about that little talent show we were going to have. It all seemed like jolly good fun for them, because most of them actually had native talent. Painting, dancing, singing, the list could go on and on to brag about. Only I had one serious problem.

I had none of those talents.